Para conmemorar los 120 anos de su escritura, se reproduce el texto que aparecio en 1898, en el numero 25 de la Revista Gaceta Medica, la primera publicacion cientifica que tuvo la ciudad de Cartagena. Colombia. Presenta con detalles la evolucion clinica de un proceso infeccioso en la mano de una mujer, luego de una herida en el dedo pulgar. El texto permite observar que ya se aplicaba y se tenian los conceptos sobre el fenol liquido. Tres decadas antes, Joseph Lister habia demostrado las ventajas del uso de fenol para desinfectar instrumental, lavar heridas e incisiones y senalaba que permitia disminuir la mortalidad por infecciones. Se observa por la profundidad de los comentarios y analisis realizado de la evolucion de la lesion, que el autor del texto se habia apropiado adecuadamente de conocimientos de muy reciente senalamiento e identificaba aspectos referentes al estreptococcus. El autor del texto trato su paciente, cuando se estaba a nivel mundial apenas en el inicio de la era bacteriologica, todavia faltaban varios anos para la antimicrobiana y muchas decadas para el advenimiento de los antibioticos. Rev.Cienc.Biomed. 2014;5(1):171-179 PALABRAS CLAVE Historia de la Medicina; Infecciones Bacterianas; Erisipela; Absceso. SUMMARY To commemorate the 120 years of its writing, the text that appeared in 1898 in the number 25 of the Revista Gaceta Medica, the first scientific publication that had the city of Cartagena, Colombia, is reproduced. It presents in detail the clinical evolution of an infectious process in the hand of a woman after a wound in the thumb. The text allows To observe that the liquid phenol was used and the concepts about it already existed. Three decades before, Joseph Lister had demonstrated the advantages of the use of phenol to disinfect set of instruments, to wash wounds and incisions and was indicating that it was allowing to decrease the mortality for infections. It is observed by the depth of the comments and the analysis of the evolution of the injury, that the author of the text had appropriated suitably of himself knowledges of very recently indication and he identified aspects relating with the streptococcus. The author of the text treated his patient when worldwide scarcely initiated the bacteriological age, still several years were absent for the antimicrobial one and many decades for the advent of the antibiotics. Rev.Cienc.Biomed. 2014;5(1):171-179 KEYWORDS History of Medicine; Bacterial Infections; Erysipelas; Abscess.