Omaha daily bee., 1912-03-09
BENEFAcToR OF MANKIND
Great Medical Reform Wrought by
the Late Lord Lister.
FATHER OF ANTIsEPTIC SURGERY
Development OF system of Treat
ment Changed Public Disfrust
Into Gratitude and Very
High Favor.

Into 6ratftndc and Ncrs
High Favor.
1t seldom falls to the lot OF a man 10
set on foot-a great reform and TO live
TO see Il universally adopted to be
hailed in his own lifetime as one Of the
great benefaciors Of humanity. Yet that
was the fortunate fate Of Lord Lister.
the father Of antiseptie surgery. who died
q week ago at the age OF S..
SO well accepted have his theories be-
come that text books ON surgery speak
Of the days Of ''pre-LAstsrism" as his
torian might speak Of the Dark Ages.
But his first successful demonstration OF
antisepsis dates back only TO 1855. lie
met ridicule. but less than falls TO the
lot OF most originators, and long before
his death be had received every honor
that his own and other countries could
show TO him.
To appreciate fully what Lord Listers
work has meant to humanity, II is neces-
sary to understand something OF the con-
ditions OF hospitals as he found them
Death rates. which 10 the modern sur
geon would seem astounding then were
matter OF course. Any open wound might
lead to death. 'Hospitalism." as Sir
James Young Simpson called II for lack
Of a better word. had become almost a
recognized disease Public hatred OF hos
pitfalls had grown intense. II patients
zufferings had been lessened by the adj
- Ill IaS
really amount 20 II he were TO die Of
blood poisoning after the painless oler-
alton?
Take the first form Of surgery upon
which Lister tried out his theory OF anti
sepsis. the compound fracture. q break
Ing Of the bono in which there Is an open
wound leading TO the. seat Of the Injury.
Cases OF simple fracture came to the hos
pital. were set and recovered much as
they do now. or the compound fractures
in some hospitals 20 per cent proved
mortal. So serious was such wound
regarded that James eyue. the Scotch
surgeon who was Lord Listers preceptor
and father-in-law. openly ADVOCATED Inn
mediate amputation In all cases Of COM
pound fracture. on the ground that the
chances OF recovery were far better by
this method
Great Change Wrouskt.
How great a change was, wrought by
Lister and bis methods u shown also BY
the statistics or the death rate IN the
Royal infirmary at Glasgow. where much
Of his work was done. IN 1854 the rate IN
major operations was Is per cent. Two
years later 'Llsterlsni~ hsa reduced Il to
Is per cent. and from ISL 10 isTf further
betterments and greater ere and cut Il
10 u per cent,
50 great was the public aIstrust Of hos
pitfalls that Lord Lister. might well be
called not the founder but the prescrver
q the modern. hospital. One instance
which the historians Of surgery note Is
that Of the expert from Munich who came
10 study Lord Listers methods. The
Munich hospital was 90 badly infected
that = per cent OF It's patients were dying
o. hospital gApgrens A decision had
been reached 70 destroy II. but as last
resort a surgeon was sent TO study LORD
Listers methods. lie returned fin Of
the new idea and the hospital was saved
ana It's death rate made normal
He came naturally BY his inquiring turn
q mind. this patient Quaker surgeon.
who was TO die a baron OF the United
Kingdom HIS father. Joseph jackson
Lister. was an eminent scientist, his chief
claim to fame being that he had raised
the compound microscope from scien-
tifie tcy 70 q powerful engine q 10
Search" =
He studied in University college, Lon.
don. taking both his arts and his mcN cal
degree there. and A. house surgeon al
the University college hospital first found
himself face to face with the problem he
was destined to solve Hospital gaagrene
broke odt. and he studied Its causes with
the microscope.
Pyaemia. that other hospital scourre
was found on every side OF him. AZ ~ he
went as assistant surgeon 10 the Rdin-
blirgh Royal infirmary and four years
Iaser became professor OF surgery al III,
University OF Glasgow. There the same
situation faced him. II vas 10 question
d external cleanliness. That had been
Taught out. Fresh air and fresh linen
were plentiful. but still infections followed
cpen wounds.
studsinE Causes.
~ this time Lister had been following
his studies Of causes. Meanwhile pastcu,
in France had been carrying ON his re-
searches. which proved that putrefaotio
and fermentation came from germs m IN
air. that the exposed wound does not o
itself develop inflammation any NOR
than fruit perfectly protected win deca,
y ferment. Moreover Pas,eur had shown
that II was possible TO destroy the germ,
the source Of the Infection.
This point Lister seized upon. ana /,
vas the basis Of his system Of surgery.
II was while he was professor az sur.
sery At Glasgow that he first successfully
pnt Into practice the theories that he had
been developing since his college DAYS
me lnfirmary Of that city was "a hal.
bed OF septic disease" An that medical
science then knew had been tried. Ru,
the problem stiil remained. In one hed
a simple fracture Of the leg would do
well and the patient leave the hosps,a!
cured. while in the next bed a patient
with compound fracture. no more
sefioass save that the wound was open
would die
famous French contemporary OF
lister has divided all surgery into the
day. before Lister and the days after.
The dividing line between the tive perioa.
A. commonly accepted was March ls. isss.
when the Lancet printed Listers article
On a new method OF treating COMPOUND
irscture Assesses. etc Observations on
the conditions OF slsuunrzslor &.