New-York tribune., 1896-09-28
cCIENCE AND SURGERY.
,osrpH LISTERS ADDRESS BEFORE
THE BRITISH AssoCIAT1oN-THE
GOLDEN RULE IN MEDICINE.
London. September ~.

London, september ~
,.os,den,ial addresses before the British AS
..,st,on have the qualities impressed upon them
=, tho personal characteristics OF the eminent
IN who deliver them Professor Iyhdall re-
ao,ed the courage of scientific rfdlcai' fro-
lessor Huxley was a controversial eiaoia'o''
- xs,,r was the profound thinker, In man.
rer as modest and unafected as chiiu' anu
I~,a pav,eeh was the mathematician precise
a., abstract statement and without imaginauon.
rro wears AGO there was brilliant and original
ssrass a. oxford for Lord Salisbury, a master
~ English style, in the chair Last year al
>,oru,,cb the honor of presiding over this repre-
,o,,ve council of British science was accorded
. Ctr Douglas Galton, who had earned II by
,e form Of laborious service as General Secre-
.a-y. and his address was one which an ola
.rct,onary would naturally have made. being a
rov,ew Of the progress Of science since the FOUND
tho NJ the British Association This year al LiN-
ernool the most eminent of Englsh surgeons
ctr Joseph Lister. was in the chair ana MS au-
s.uss was perhaps the most practical and useful
- - ,,.hich the Association has ever listened.
ssde from being one OF fascinating interest.
r,a address embraced series of illustrations
-, ,be relations OF science to the healing art Sir
,osenh Lister achieved the distinction OF deaing
nth the most important questions now pelore
tho medical world, ana OF lrdiihi! eAPiVSS"S ~"
a.,., deliberate opinions upon them, without be-
-. controversial in tone While admitting that
40 exclusion Of medicine from the general
.chan,e Of British Association discussion was
.,r,, and indeed inevitable he unconsciously
demonstrated the capacity Of his own procession
,or taking Up controversial questions and consid-
..,,1 them unprofessionally and in a purely
.c,snt,Ac spirit While he had himself been a
,ououer Of Pasteur and a pioneer OF the antisep-
,,o svs,em Of modern surgery. his manner was
=. that OF the advocate making special plea
-, . cause in which he was personally interest
"A hut rather that Of an impartial judge sum-
,,,re I'D the evidence without individual bias.
THE NEW PHOTOGRAPHY
The president naturally found In the new
.,,.o,,snhv his first illustration of the relations
Setween science and surgery. He recited sew
-. instances from hospital practice OF the utlil-
&C. of the R0ntgen rays in enabling surgeons 10
d,.criminate between a fracture and disloca-
,on and TO form an accurate diagnosis OF OBJ
.cuno cases: and he described recent experiments
4, heart photography. BY virtue OF the greater
density of the heart than that Of the lungs IN
tated with air, the form. dimensions and move
ments Of that organ can be displayed on fiuor-
escent screen While this was an important ap
picatjon of photography to medicine, there was
another method of connecting the Rontseh rays
With physiology 1t had been ascertaheo 'ha' IL
the skin were long exposed to their acuoh' II
yould become irritated and affected with a sort
NJ aggravated sun burning. This suggested the
idea that the transmission Of the rays through
the human body might produce upon an internal
orran according to the condition of the part con-
cerned. salutary stimulation as we'll as injurious
irritation.
In anaesthesia and vaccination the president
had striking illustrations of his general theme
the present year being by curious coincidence
the Aftieth since Mortons painless extraction
Of a tooth from patient in Boston. and the one
hundredth since Jenner's crucial experiment IN
,noculation with smallpox Referring TO the two
rtv1l agents employed in anaesthesia, ne ex-
rressed his own belief that chloroform II care
fuI,y administered on right principles. is on the
average a safer agent than ether. The neld Oh
suxery had been widely extended by anaesthe-
sia which was a gift of science; and light hau
been thrown upon biology generally IL hau
been ascertaned that anaesthetics exert 'hen
eooorifc influence upon creatures so remo'e III
structure from man bees and other lhsects'
and that even the functions of vegetapies are
sr.,ended bv their agency aMording strong con-
Ar,nat,on Of the great generalization that living
matter Is of the same essential nature, whether
in the animal or vegetable Kingdom
The fact that Gloucester, where Jenner's statue
has a prominent place in the most beautifui or
West of England cathedrals and where the
horns of the famous COW are displayed IN the
museum had been destined through ignorance
and unbelief to vindicate his reputation IN the
most striking way, did not escape the presidents
observation He did not speak with undue Sc
verify Of the Gloucester Guardians. who, from
criminating between the teachings Of true sci
ence and the defamation of misguided agitators,
had brought upon Jenners native county a ter
rible visitation of smallpox. They had unwit-
tipeiy emphasized the fatal results Of neglect or
vaccination and in this way had celebrated the
centenary Of a wonderful life-saving discovery
AT last the prophet was not without hohor III MS
own country. Gloucester had become the pest
yaccinated city in England. and an oDJect lesson
OF inestimable value had been provided In faVor
Of systematic revaccnation.
SIR JOSEPH LISTERS OWN WORK.
II was not until Sir Joseph Lister took MS L'V-
erpool audience into his confidence and with be-
coming modesty and hesitation told the STORY oi
his own work for medical science that the inter-
est In his address became intense. III was "heh
Pasteur discovered that fermentation and putre-
faction were caused by microbes that his English
disciple made the application Of the principle to
surgery This was done by the use OF carbohc
acid by which the microbes In the wounds were
killed. and the access of other microbes to them
was cut OF. In consequence of the general adop-
ton Of antseptc treatment, operations once at
tended with tremendous risks are conducted win
complete safety; the scourge of hospital gan
creme has disappear d; and there have been mar
vellous developments of medical science Ihe
pesident In his exposition Of the antiseptic sys-
tem was giving to his audience the results OF his
life work and professional trumphs; but 1t was
hard TO realize IT, quietly did he tell the story
s1d 80 careful was he to ascribe all the inspira-
tsa and honor to Pasteur.