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BiocHEMicAL Bulletin 



Volume I MARCH, 191 2 No. 3 



IN MEMORIAM 



JOSEPH LISTER 

 Born April 5, 1827. Died February 11, 1912 



Although a believer, with chemists generally of his day, that 

 putrefaction and wound infection were caused by the presence of 

 atmospheric oxygen, Lister was the first to realize the great surgical 

 significance of Pasteur's work on fermentation. 



By his acceptance of Pasteur's discovery of the bacterial origin 

 of putrefaction, and by his practical appHcation of it to the princi- 

 ples of wound treatment, Lister, with his " acide phenique," founded 

 antiseptic surgery. 



His modest but unflinching insistence upon the vaHdity of his 

 new methods finally estabhshed them beyond a doubt and thus pre- 

 pared the way for the invention of the aseptic surgical technique 

 of today. 



Aided by anesthesia and based on disinfection — biochemical 

 agencies of profound surgical import — Lister's methods became the 

 most powerful factor in the development of modern surgery. 



By his revolution in technical procedure Lister advanced every 

 branch of the healing art and brought relief of suffering with Pro- 

 longation of life to all parts of the world. 



He lived esteemed and died revered the world over, an unfor- 

 getable bene factor of mankind. 



