The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-07-06
many new GERMS
LURK IN TRENCHES
Soil infected BY Centuries Of CuI-
tivation Breeds Deadly
Gas Gangrene
Dilute Infusion Of French. Dirt
Sufficient To Kill Guinea
Pigs InoCulated ~
Continued From Page One.)

Continued From Page One.)
same cause within thirty six hours ar
ter receiving the wound which enabled
the germs to enter
Antiseptic Treatment
Antiseptic treatment OF surgical
cases has generally been found neces-
sary, instead of ascptic treatment, for
the reason that it is seldom possible to
hurry a wounded soldier TO. hospita'
in time for him to escape exposure ant
infection. Doctor Keen quotes Sir
Anthony Bowlby's report as follows:
Gin tbs trench warfare, If man
is hit he often falls into filthy mud
and water, which may be three feet
deep or more. The trench Is only two
and a half feet wide. 1t is night.
You can only grOPe about in the dar~
and can do no dressing of any kind,
for you can + even gos. t1e clothes Off
in the dark and in SO eranped a space,
and you must try to get the man away
to dressing station half a mile dis
tant, and thence to field ambulance.
If it Is daylight you can t get a man
out of a, trench at all, and he may
have to be kept there for many hours,
because he would certainly be killed
the water in the trench is hopelessly
polluted and soaks his clothes and his
wound. Large lacerated wounds, ami
especially bad bone s,ras:Ies are so
, contaminated that it can never be pos
sible to render them asePtic."
Case OF Sailors Different
The case of wounded sailors is very
| different. Instead of causing infection
/ like the soil of the trenches, salt waite
! is often positive benefit to the
I wounds the salt solution accelerating
the flow of lymph and serum. Doctor
J Keen quotes Doctor Bowlby as fol.
, lows:
'SailOrs with the most severe type
| Of wounds, ragged, irregular, with un-
| even surfaces produced by herniatel
muscles and retracted severed fbres,
usually have recovered promptly. Sol,
diers suffering from slight wounds
would often have them contaminated
with bacilli from the soil, particularly
the anaerObes
The great problem that surgeons
with the armies are seeking to solve,
| Doctor Keen says, lis how to trans
form a septic wound into an aseptiC
wound and keep it 80, and at the same
| time to combat the toxins already diff
fused throughout the body, but with
out doing Aarm to the patient him.
self
One method, which has Eeen brought
! into use by the war, of treating badly
infected wounds is that of placing the
| patient in the open air and exposing
| the wound, under a thin dressing, t.
wind and sun. This has caused speedy
healing in numbers of serious cases.
Typhoid Not Menace
Doctor Keen quotes the published
; statistics of the British Army up to
March 4, showing that there had Teen
in that period 800 cases Of tv"hoil
among British soldiers. OF the sufferers
from typhoid Ill had been fully vac,
cinated, and 1856 had been partially
vaccinated. There were only two
deaths among the PAT who had been
! partially or fully vaccinated. In the
remaining $50 cases, which were among
those who had not been vaccinated at
all, there were forty eight deaths.
1.-THE one reason for this SPLENDID
showing" Doctor Keen sail, els the
use of the anti-typoid vaccine.
! Doctor Keen points out that, in spite
of this showing, vaccination against tv.
phoid is not compulsory in the British
Army, and that there are still men
and women in England who agitatc
against making it compulsory.