, 1891-08-12
LOUIS PASTEUR.
(From "Natufe."
Continued from AUis No. 63.l

-" ave W. 20.
The utility Of he proofthat lamentations
lncIudIng the putrefactiVe. are abso,nfsI,3,
dependent on The action of liviug mirl1
organisms was speedily shown IN IL.nro.
Ventlon or remedy OF diseases far moro i'm
portant than those of wine or been, ma
discovery OF the causes and processes nf
what were justly called the 'diseaSpxo ~
lerlnented liquids enlarged The whole ranon
OF Il great section OF pathology. Showinr
as Il ICON dld, 50 intimate relations brtvpa"
courageous diseases and d~isordered f4rnrnn
ta'IonS that it became sat. 10 annly tha
FACTS found IN the more simple to fine SINH.
and treatment OF The most com3lex ~,
study OF the diseases OF termentpd Iionid,
lei StralghtWay to The practice of ~antIsnn.
TIC surgery. Its first practical application
IN medIcine was i'll 1862, when Pastenr
VINO h0d proved the existence of a liyinr
organism III trImeuth9 ammoniacal urine
from a diseased bladder, recommended
the washing OF such bladderS with a soln.
ton Ct h"laCic acid, nov a well known
"Gelmjc;dg.' This was done Succ,ssrnIlv
Uy NJ. Guyou, and the practice is still com
monty followed. For the treatment of
wounds aad OF parts exposed by wounds
the Whole subject ut The complete exclusion
~ mlcr0-OI ganINmS. aud Of their destruction
II present, was, j. ,Nd after 1865 S+udipd
Nllh special cane ll Sir Joseph Lister and
the results obtained 10y him and others fol-
lowing his example were so CONVINCING that
the antISeptic practice, which many Justly
can LiSterlSm, is followed everywhere nv
e'elN surgeon y Iepute. The methods IF
excluding mioro-Or GaniSmS from all wounds.
The antlSeptic substances employed. the
ilodtSol applying them. are more than need
ut IoIo, anu they increase every year: hut
lhtA nave all til" same deSign-the complete
exclusion or destruction of all living germs
ana nIcrO-OrganlSmS capable of exciting
putretacIlYe or any other fermentation in
parts expos q by wounds their exclusion
from ar, water, SpOngeS, surgical instru.
mehtS, dressings, and everything that can
come IN contact with such parts. And the
system is not nearly limited to the treatment
oI wounds. In various methods and degrees
II Is applied III the construction o. hOspitalN
anu llhrmarleS, III the prevention of the
spread OF infection and of every form of
blood-poisVlin9. 1t is impossible to est.
mate the number of the thousands of lives
that are thus annually saved by the practices
which are the direct consequences OF Pas
teur)S observations on the action OF living
1ermentS, and OF Listers application of them,
III ne practice OF surgery alone, they are
oy 1ar the most important Of the means bv
WHICH, IHe IlShS OF ncaJn or serious Illness
after wounds are reduced to less than half
OF what they were thirty years ago; and of
the means by which a large number of oper-
tons, such as, at that time, would have been
so dangerous that no prudent surgeon would
have performed them, are now safely done.
III antiseptic practice, and in the manu-
features connected with fermentation, the
design is to exclude or destroy all micro
organisms. Many kinds might be harmless
but at present there are no ready and sure
means Of excluding only those from which
mischief might arise, and therefore, in the
schemes for complete exclusion, no account
is taken Ofthe great general principle es-
tabliShed by Pasteur, that each method of
fermentation is due to the action of one
special living organism. This in relation
to contagious diseases, would now have be-
come one of The chief subjects of his study.
But again, he was obliged to change the
subject of his work; for in 1866 he was
urged by Dumas, and was forced to con.
sent to umlHrlhke. The Investigation of g