CHAPTER III 
THE DESTRUCTION OF BACTERIA 
The destruction of bacteria constitutes what prob¬ 
ably is the most glorious chapter of bacteriology—on 
that alone depended the birth and the development of 
modern surgery. 
Several terms, in this connection, are used, somewhat 
loosely, and the pupil should, at the outset, clearly under¬ 
stand the different ideas conveyed by them: by steriliza¬ 
tion is usually meant destruction of bacteria by heat, and 
is referred to in connection with the boiling of linen, gauze* 
bandages, infected dressings, instruments, cultures, etc. ; 
disinfection usually means destruction of bacteria by the 
use of chemicals—bichloride of mercury, alcohol, car¬ 
bolic acid, etc.—and is used in connection with the ex¬ 
creta, urine, feces, or in speaking of destroying bacteria 
on surgeon’s hands or patient’s body; fumigation means 
bacterial destruction by means of certain gases, e. g., 
formaldehyde, and is used primarily in connection with 
the buildings or individual rooms; thus we sterilize 
bandages or the operating room gowns, or dressings; 
we speak of disinfecting hands with alcohol or the field 
of the operation—e. g., patient’s skin with iodine or 
of disinfecting the patient’s excreta with carbolic acid; 
and, finally, we fumigate the room with formaldehyde. 
These different terms refer, however, to the same pur¬ 
pose, accomplished by different means, namely, com¬ 
plete bacterial destruction, or the production of “asep¬ 
sis”; when a substance does not actually kill the micro¬ 
organisms, but merely inhibits (prevents) their growth 
40 
