Antiseptics

In 1861, a doctor named Joseph Lister become a surgeon at a hospitle in Glascow, Scotland At that time, many patients who underwent surgery later developed infections that resulted in death or the loss of a limb, But no one knew why. then lister read an article written by the French Scientist louis Pasteur, in which Pasteur said that tiny organisms, called bacteria or germs, were responsible for the spoiling of meat and milk. Since Pasteur said that these germs float in the air, Lister wondered ifbnthese same same organisms might be responsible for the infection people developed after surgery

thus, lister become that first man to use an antiseptic, a substancr that kills germs, to fight infection, he used a chemical called carbolic Acid, and made sure that all surgeons cleaned their insstrument in thin substance before they operated on a patient, And a patient developed an infection, lister put the Chemical directly on the wound to kill the germs there.

When lister began his work at the hospital. almost half of all patients who had been operated on died after theire operation, After lister descovered the benfits of antiseptics, the death rate dropped to 15 per cent!

Today, no doctor would think of operating on a patient without washing his hands and his instruments in an antiseptic. And we use antiseptics such as lodine on cuts scratches to kill germs that might cause infection.