The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-02-03
How Antisepsis Has Developed in
Life-Saving. e

These two modern discoveries, anaes-
thesia and ant!sepsis. have utterly revolu-
tionized modern surgery. They have made
possible operations which. by reason of
their duration. pain and danger. were utter
ly unjustifiable I'm former days. but are
now the daily occupations of a busy sur
geon. And. far better than this. they have
enabled US to bring to home and hearts.
which otherwise would have been broken
up and wrung with sorrow. the comfort
of life restored to dear ones upon whom
depended the happiness and support Of the
femilies. Translate figures into happy
hearts and prosperous homes II you can.
and then you can tell me what Warren and
Lister have done for humanityf"
The result OF these two wonderful discov-
cries have been to separate US from the
surgical past. as by a great gulf.
One of the immediate consequences of the
introduction of the a~ntiseptic method hrs
been a remarkable mitigation OF the horrors
OF war. Our recent war with Spain has
proved. and the present military operations
in the Philippines and of the British in
South Africa. will stfll further prove its
advantages. Witness a little book written
by Professor Won Esmarch Of Kiel. Ger
many, with the apt title. Tho Fight Of
Humanity Against the Horrors OF War;"
with an appendix entitled. The Samaritan
on the Battlefield" One of the most valua-
BILE means for the preservation Of human
life Is carried by every soldier in q modern
civilized army az q part Of his regulation
outfit. q First Aid Package" for the treat
ment Of any wound or injury. and one OF
the most valuable and interesting papers
read before the American Surgical Associa-
ton. at Its meeting in Chicago in 1899. was
by Professor Sem on the First Aid Pack
age." This first aid package contains a. an
tiseptic dressing. which can be applied to
all but the gravest wounds for the purpose
OF preventing infection. which Is the prin-
cipal danger to life after accident or injury.
The universal testimony of our surgeons In
Cuba was that by its use most wounds were
prevented from becoming infected and.
therefore. infiamed. and that the number
Of operations was greatly diminished by
reason Of it, use.
In experimental science, two methods Of
progress are observed; first, In actual prac-
tice certain methods are adopted because
they are found to be the most advantageous
and useful. though we cannot explain why
II Is 30; 4. O.. practice outstrips theory.
Again. as q result Of experimental inves-
tigatfon. certain facts are discovered which
explain why the practical methods Just al
iuded to are the best. and this in turn sug-
sests further improvements In our practice;
!. e.. theory outstrips practice and enlargss
its domain. Tins outstr1pping theory the
practical advance made by Lister was an
example OF the frst. His striking results In
turn stimulated scientific observers to make
new discoveries OF the greatest Importance.
and thus science immensely improved and
widened our practical methods.
No definite day or year can DO assigned
as the birth date Of Lord Listers entisep-
tic methods. as we can. for instance, FOR
vaccination or for anaesthesia. We may
assume. at least for this country, the sum-
mer Of 1876 as the starting point. During
that year Lord Lister attended the Interna-
tional Medical Congress. held in Philadel-
phia. and demonstrated his then methods
and convinced a few surgeons of their i'm
mense advantages. Even before that date
there had been very many experiments and
observations. especially on the blood. In
1868 Davaine. in France. had discovered
little rod-like bodies in the blood in wool
corters' disease. or anthrax. which he
named from their shape bacteria" or tit
tie rods" This name has been adopted for
all .orms Of germs. though many Of them
are not rod-like in their shape. Not until
1881 was the cause Of Inflammation and
suppuration (the formation Of pus or mat
terri discovered. In that year OEston Of
Aberdeen published experiments which he
believed demonstrated the fact that certain
bacteria were the cause of suppuration.
Since then this has been amply confirmed
not only by experiments upon animals. but