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REMEDIAL AGENTS. 101

antiseptic virtue in oxygen itself as well; but I am apt to think
that its principal use is the mechanical one. And that is a very
important use. Thorough cleaning is excellent antiseptic work,
and the peroxide of hydrogen will do this in many positions
where nothing else will, and at the same time carry the antiseptic
proper to the more remote parts of the wound or abscess."
Sir Joseph Lister is the originator of the antiseptic treatment in
surgery. He first employed carbolic acid as an antiseptic for
surgical dressings, but abandoned it on account of its slow ac-
tion as a germicide and its volatility. He then employed bichlo-
ride of mercury, which was stable and acted promptly, but caused
irritation, and was precipitated by the albumen contained in the
serum of the blood. He then employed the sero-sublimate gauze,
consisting of gauze saturated with a solution of bichloride of mer-
cury, in the serum of the blood ; but this being harsh and non-ab-
sorbent he substituted for it a combination of chloride of ammonia
and chloride of mercury, known as sal-alembroth, which was not
only less irritating, but was soluble in blood serum. Later he pre-
sented the double cyanide of zinc and mercury as the best antiseptic,
on account of its being non-volatile, unirritating, insoluble in water,
and only soluble in 3,000 parts of blood serum, with an inhibitory
power so high that a solution of 1:1200 is sufficient to keep animal
fluids permanently free from putrefaction. The Listerian method
consists in applying over the line of the wound six or eight layers
of the gauze, out of which the bichloride has been washed by
wringing it out once or twice in a solution of i to 20 carbolic
acid. All zymotic diseases are at the present time generally
attributed to bacteria or to their ptomaines, and for a number of
years the theory that all contagious and epidemic diseases are
caused by micro-organisms has been received by the medical pro-
fession. Many diseases are now regarded as contagious which
were not so considered before the discovery of bacteria. Bacteria
are found in great numbers and different varieties in the air, earth,
water, and in every part of the body of man and animals, and
multiply very rapidly by division and by spores. Some va-
rieties are subject to change, others appear to be permanent.
New varieties are supposed to be produced by the same laws by