chairman of the surgical section, and he was courteously allowed all the time and opportunity he desired, which was a good deal, to fully explain his views. But, after all, the section refused to indorse his mode of treating wounds. The presence of germs in the air was not denied; the views of Pasteur were not disputed; but the question was, Have these theories, facts if you please, any necessary connection with putrefaction? The question was and is: Is it true, or not true, that putrefaction cannot take place without the presence of air-gems? Is it true that animal organic matter, when deprived of vitality, will remain undecomposed for an unlimited time unless bacteria seize upon it; or will it not, by a purely chemical process, decompose? Decomposing organic matter, we know by daily observation, is the abode of low, degraded animal life, and the soil in which low forms of vegetable life take root and grow; but are we to regard this as the cause or the result of putrefaction? If it be admitted that putrefaction may, under any circumstances, in the absolute absence of bacteria, take place as a chemical process, is it not begging the question to assert that their presence is ever necessary? Every surgeon knows that putrefaction does often take place in the body beneath an impervious skin. This fact was accounted for by Prof. John T. Hodgen, of the St. Louis Medical College, who was the surgical reporter at the recent congress, upon the subject of antiseptic surgery, on the supposition that the bacteria reached the place of putrefaction through the lungs, or stomach, and the blood. He also declared that bacteria had been found in wounds beneath Prof. Lister's most elaborate and carefully-prepared dressings; and that they must have found their way there through the blood. But Prof. Lister took occasion to repudiate this doctrine. He did not believe the germs arrived at the wound by way of the blood-vessels; and we can understand why he should reject this theory. The writer of this communication then pointed out the uselessness of Prof. Lister's antiseptic dressing externally, if bacteria could enter by another way. Prof. Lister not only denied this theory, but admitted that putrefaction did sometimes take place independently of bacteria as a chemical process. The writer then submitted, and it is submitted now, that if putrefaction ever takes place without the influence of bacteria, it is impossible to prove that it, in any case, depends upon their presence.
It is no uncommon experience of surgeons to see wounds heal rapidly without putrefaction, although no steps are taken to place a barrier to the entrance of air-germs, or to destroy those which may have lodged in the part. Undoubtedly the air is, sometimes, especially in badly-ventilated hospitals, loaded with germs of a specific and poisonous nature, which will contaminate any wound, as the poison of erysipelas, but that common unadulterated air is inhabited by organisms whose existence and operation are essential for putrefaction, remains unproved. The value of carbolic acid and similar agents is generally acknowledged by the medical profession. They are in constant use, but not with the view of destroying germs. They are found to possess the property of arresting or preventing putrefactive chemical decomposition—just as common salt has in preserving meat—and hence their usefulness in the treatment of wounds.
When Prof. Tyndall "passes the bounds of surgery and enters the domain of epidemic disease," and points out the analogy between contagium and fermentation, he gives utterance to views long held by the medical profession. That small-pox, scarlet fever, etc., are developed in the system by "indefinite self-multiplication of germs (zymosis) introduced from without," is a commonly-accepted doctrine.
In support of the statement that Prof. Lister's antiseptic method is not regarded as essential to the successful treatment of wounds, one fact may be given, although more might be furnished. Prof. Spencer, who occupies the chair of surgery in the Edinburgh University, and who is therefore a colleague of Prof. Lister's, and likewise the author of a highly-esteemed work on surgery, continues to treat wounds without reference to Lister's theories, with results quite as satisfactory as any claimed by Prof. Lister.William Canniff, M. D.
INSECTS AND FLOWERS IN COLORADO.
To the Editor of the Popular Science Monthly.
Allow me to express my thanks to Prof. Gray, and Mr. Putnam, in so kindly furnishing the facts I asked for in regard to the insects of Colorado. Since my inquiry was written, Prof. Gray has defined his position in the January number of the American Agriculturist. He does not contend for the general necessity of cross-fertilization as Lubbock, Wallace, and others have done, but simply that an occasional cross is beneficial. When flowers are not visited by insects, they generally self-fertilize. "'Cross-fertilize if you can, self-fertilize if you must,' is Nature's golden rule for flowers." Of course this narrows the question to the benefits of an occasional cross, and renders much that I have written no longer of account. Of this character is this question of the quantity of insects in Colorado.
