Sinclair, Sir William J.: Semmelweis. His Life and his Doctrine (Manchester, 1909)
III. Life in Vienna
EXTENSION OF ETIOLOGY 53 that not only cadaveric particles adhering to the hand, but that putrid matter derived from living organisms produces puerperal fever. Consequently it is necessary that the examining hands, not only after manipulating the cadaver, but even after examination of individuals from whom putrid matter might render foul the hands, must also be disinfected by the chlorine process before another patient is examined. Taught by this sad experience we adopted measures of prevention, and we never again spread the childbed fever by conveying putrid matter by means of the examining fingers from one individual to another. The carrier of the cadaveric particles, and the putrid matter derived from the living organism which might produce puerperal fever, was therefore the examining finger. Incident of the Carious Knee-joint. Another painful experience convinced us that the bearer of the decomposed organic matter which produces puerperal fever may be also the atmospheric air. In November of this same year, 1847, a woman was admitted suffering from caries of the left knee-joint. Her genitals were perfectly sound, so that the examining finger remained for the other patients entirely devoid of danger. But the foul exhalations from the carious joint were so strong, that the air of the labour-room in which she was confined, was so loaded that all the patients in the same room became infected, and they nearly all died. The Report of the First Clinic shews that in November eleven patients died, and in the month of December eight deaths occurred, and they were for the most part caused by the foul exhalations from the woman with the carious joint. The air of the labour-room, loaded with the putrid matter, found its way into the gaping genitals just at the completion of labour, and onward into the cavity of the uterus where the putrid matter was absorbed, and puerperal fever was the consequence. Henceforth patients
