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Antiseptic Inventions

Antiseptics slow down the growth of germs that cause infection. They also kill the germs that attack living tissue especially in the case of wounds. Before the nineteenth century, the role of bacteria in infection was not known and although Roman soldiers carried honey into battle to use as an antiseptic, the major innovations in the area of antiseptic development occurred in the nineteenth century after Louis Pasteur's work showed the role of bacteria.

  1. The Ancients

    • Ancient medical practitioners as early as the Egyptians sought mendicants that could assist in healing infection. The Persians thought there might be benefit in drinking water stored in copper vessels. Wine and vinegar were by the Greek healer Hippocrates around at least 300 years BCE. In Asia, doctors looked to balsam for antiseptic uses. These treatments and mixtures of these things with a wide variety of herbs and minerals were employed in the battle against infection.

    Scientific Beginnings

    • The word antiseptic was first used by English physician Sir John Pringle in the mid-18th century in papers he published on his experiments with antiseptic substances. Genevieve Charlotte d'Arconville brought forward the idea of using chloride mercury as an antiseptic not long after and Bernard Courtois discovered iodine in 1811. Iodine became one of longest and most widely used antiseptics for wounds.

    Lister's Acids

    • In "The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine," Roy Porter describes the best known if not most important innovation in the development of antiseptics. English surgeon Joseph Lister contended that microorganisms in the air caused infection to develop in wounds. His work was informed by the work of Louis Pasteur on germs. Lister used carbolic acid as an antiseptic and developed the first surgical procedure using antiseptics in 1865.

    Prevention

    • After Lister and Pasteur made clear the connection between germs and infection and Lister found a way to use carbolic acids, the development of antiseptics was underway. Iodine was used more efficiently as were boric acid and alcohol. The next step in medical settings was to learn prevention methods. Hospitals learned how to keep areas sterile to protect patients. Antibiotics and sulfa drugs made antiseptics less critical in the 20th century.

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