He planted those newborn bugs, about a millimeter long, in Taylor's wound and wrapped it in gauze. Gauze let the maggots breathe. Taylor could watch them at work. They fed on the infection, growing to a full centimeter. He said he could feel them gnawing and scratching.
Maggots leave behind a kind of ammonia-like excretion that disinfects the wound.
The healing is cleaner and more complete than it would be after surgery. In the end, those maggots have saved Taylor's leg. That role has been known for a long time. Napoleon's battle surgeon pioneered their use. We dropped it until just now.