Monday, July 27, 2009

July 27: Once Surgeons Operated in Frock Coats (Vol. 38, pp. 257-267)

On this day in 1867, Lord Joseph Lister published a paper on antiseptic treatment, which is today's selection.

Lister, the surgeon to Queen Victoria, built on the work of Pasteur when he realized that the formation of pus was due to bacteria, and proceeded to develop his antiseptic surgical methods.

The immediate success of the new treatment regime led to its general adoption, and infections are a lot less deadly now than they were in the 19th century.

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