158 LOUIS PASTEUR 



was sent out around the seat of operation, in order 

 to kill possible germs that might be floating in the 

 air. The wound was frequently washed with the 

 same solution and the dressings employed were 

 changed with great care. 



Although Lister was criticized by his colleagues 

 for the employment of these curious procedures, 

 the success of his operations as compared with 

 those carried on by the old methods spoke so elo- 

 quently and forcibly that they compelled convic- 

 tion. In 1874 Pasteur received the following letter 

 from this celebrated surgeon: 



My dear Sir. Permit me to present to you a paper 

 sent herewith which gives an account of some investiga- 

 tions of a subject upon which you have shed so much 

 light. . . . Let me take this occasion to extend to you 

 my most cordial thanks for having shown to me, by your 

 brilliant researches, the truth of the germ theory of 

 putrefaction and for having thus furnished me with the 

 sole principle by which the antiseptic system could be 

 perfected. 



If you should ever come to Edinburgh you would be 

 rewarded, I think, by seeing at our hospital how greatly 

 humanity has profited by your labors. I need hardly 

 add what a great satisfaction I should experience in show- 

 ing you here how much surgery owes to you. 



