The main currents of zoölogy . , wasdeclared to be due merely to chemical action, butPasteur showed that it depends on the growth ofliving micro-organisms, and he won his case againstthe great opposition of the chemist Liebig. Against his inclinations Pasteur was forced intothe controversy (with Pouchet), concerning thespontaneous generation of life, and, in 1862, made hisdecisive and epoch-making demonstrations—that lifeis formed in nutrient fluids only when living germs areallowed to enter from the outside. All this directedattention to the constitution of the floating matter ofthe air. The
The main currents of zoölogy . , wasdeclared to be due merely to chemical action, butPasteur showed that it depends on the growth ofliving micro-organisms, and he won his case againstthe great opposition of the chemist Liebig. Against his inclinations Pasteur was forced intothe controversy (with Pouchet), concerning thespontaneous generation of life, and, in 1862, made hisdecisive and epoch-making demonstrations—that lifeis formed in nutrient fluids only when living germs areallowed to enter from the outside. All this directedattention to the constitution of the floating matter ofthe air. The impalpable dust that is always presentand that shows in the path of a sunbeam through adarkened room is of complex composition—besidesparticles of non-living matter there are living or-ganisms of different kinds in a dried of these are harmless and others are diseaseproducing. When floating germs are introduced intocanned fruits and meats, they grow and cause themto spoil. Other kinds entering wounds produce. FIG. 6.—Louis PASTEUR (1822-1895) OUTSTANDING BIOLOGICAL ADVANCES 29 suppuration and other diseased conditions. Stillother kinds may produce diseases when breathed intothe lungs, or, introduced into the body through milk,water and various kinds of food. These discoveriesare of the utmost importance. Those micro-organisms that cause canned fruitsand tinned meats to decompose are killed by heatingand when, thereafter, the cans are securely sealed thecontents are preserved in a wholesome more important than this was the recognition(1865-1867) of the Edinburgh surgeon, Lister(Fig. 7) that to keep the floating germs from surgicalwounds would prevent gangrene and pus great ridicule and opposition, Lister made hisexperiments, using carbolic acid dressings and greatcleanliness and, about 1867, established the methodof antiseptic surgery. This followed as a conse-quence of Pasteurs studies but the credit for thisapplication bel
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