THEORIES AND EXPERIMENTS IN ANTISEPSIS. 
549 
Before the “ germ theory ” was accepted, septic surgery was 
the established practice. Micro-organisms were introduced 
into the wounds by unclean instruments or dirty surroundings, 
and the success of the operation was dependent largely upon 
the vigor and vitality of the patient. Statistics show that the 
mortality during this period was very great. Operations in¬ 
volving the opening of any of the body cavities were almost 
uniformly fatal, and a distinguished English surgeon is quoted 
as saying that u ovariotomy is nothing less than murder and 
any person undertaking such an operation ought to be hanged.” 
With the introduction of antiseptic surgery by Sir Joseph 
Lister, the aim was to make the operating instruments thor¬ 
oughly clean and to prevent any activity of the organisms that 
might enter the wound. This system was somewhat more ela¬ 
borate than that subsequently practised, in that he used an 
antiseptic spray to cover the field of operation and even the 
operator, to guard against the ingress of pathogenic germs. If 
the spray had not been used, it is probable that surgery would 
not stand upon the plane that it does to-day ; for during those 
earlier periods the operating rooms were not scrupulously clean 
and the danger of contamination or infection was consequently 
much greater than at the present time. Lister introduced car¬ 
bolic acid as an antiseptic, and although it is not now rated 
among the most efficient, its use is, nevertheless quite extensive. 
Aseptic surgery is the latter-day ideal, and more or less suc¬ 
cessfully accomplished. Its aim is to guard the wound from 
the introduction of pathogenic organisms, by conducting the 
operation in quarters as free as possible from bacteria. 
In septic surgery the organisms had perfect freedom, there 
was no restraint against their activity, save such as the tissues 
of the patient might oppose. In antiseptic surgery, the aim 
was, not particularly, to prevent the entrance of the organisms 
but to inhibit their activity after having once lodged in the 
wound. Aseptic surgery seeks to keep the germs away from 
the wounds and to cause healing by the “ first intention.” 
Veterinary surgery, for the most part, is antiseptic surgery. It 
