We cannot get rid of these germs, for they are everywhere, to a greater or less degree; but they are more abundant in dirty than in clean places. They cause every degree of inflammation, from a slight redness of the skin to the blood poisoning that brings death.
Real cause of suppuration
Sometimes you will hear people say that a wound suppurated (that is, became inflamed and full of matter) because the blood was in bad condition. As a matter of fact, there would have been no suppuration if germs had not got into the wound. It was not the condition of the blood that caused the suppuration, but the germs.
Sometimes, when only a few germs get into a wound, and when the cells of the body are all in good condition and doing their work properly, the suppuration will be very slight, because the healthy cells of the body will kill the germs. But if very many germs get in, even healthy body cells cannot kill them all.
We have said that the germs which cause suppuration are everywhere, so it would seem almost impossible to keep them out of a wound. This is true in a sense; but even after they have got into a wound, you can wash them out if you use plenty of soap and water to cleanse the wound thoroughly. When I said that it is impossible to keep them out of a wound, I meant an accidental wound, for it is quite possible to keep them out of a wound that is made intentionally, as is done by the surgeon.
How the surgeon prevents suppuration
Do you know how a surgeon gets ready to do an operation? The first thing he does is to see that the room is perfectly clean. He has the carpet taken up, the curtains taken down, and the floor and walls washed. This is to get rid of all the dirt and germs in the room. If you should look at the surgeon's instruments, so clean and bright, you would think it impossible for a germ to find a place to live on; but the surgeon knows how closely the germs cling, and therefore he boils all the instruments he is going to use. Then he puts the towels into a place where they are made so hot by steam that all the germs on them are killed. After everything in the room is perfectly clean, the surgeon cleans his patient with a very stiff brush, using plenty of soap and water which has been boiled to kill all the germs in it. He scrubs the part where the wound is to be made and the skin around it until it is red. Even then he is not satisfied, for he washes it off with alcohol and ether, to be sure that any germs that might be sticking in the fat are removed. He scrubs his hands in the same way. After all this is done, he can perform the operation without fear that any of the germs which cause suppuration will get in, for he knows that he has killed all of them that would touch the wound.
Figs. 51 and 52. Always wash the simplest cut with soap and water; failure to do this may result in infection and much suffering.