Sinclair, Sir William J.: Semmelweis. His Life and his Doctrine (Manchester, 1909)
III. Life in Vienna
52 EXTENSION OF ETIOLOGY cadaver, and so render their hands unclean. Hence the comparative immunity of the Second Division from puerperal fever. Discovery—Extension of Etiology. The details of the chlorine disinfection were as follows : Every visitor to the labour ward (Kreissezimmer) who might have to make an examination must, on entering, wash his hands in a solution of chlorinated lime, and this chlorine disinfection once for all was considered sufficient for that visit. After making the first examination the student was required, before proceeding to another patient, to employ merely soap and water for the cleansing of his hands. This practice was based on the assumption that cadaveric particles adhering to the hands were the only cause of infection, and the cadaveric poison could be destroyed once for all. But a further extension of the doctrine of infection had soon to be made, and the practice of disinfection modified accordingly. Incidence of the Medullary Cancer. In October 1847 a woman was admitted to the Labour Ward and placed in Bed No. 1. This patient was discovered to be suffering from foul-smelling medullary cancer of the cervix uteri : and Bed No. 1 was that with which the daily visit of the staff and students always began. After examining this parturient patient we all washed our hands merely with soap and water : the consequence of these proceedings was that of twelve women confined at the same time eleven died from puerperal fever. The explanation was that the putrid matter from the foul medullary cancer had not been destroyed by the washing with soap and water, and as the examinations proceeded the putrid infecting material was conveyed to the genitals of the other women who were in labour, and so the puerperal fever was spread. From this experience the inference had to be drawn
