ix KING'S CORONATION 239 



was invited to be present in Westminster Abbey for a 

 joyful occasion, that of the Coronation of his Majesty 

 King Edward VII. As all the world knows, this cere- 

 mony was postponed owing to the King's serious illness, 

 which, happily for the country and the world at large, 

 and thanks to the progress made by scientific surgery, 

 had a happy conclusion. And here I may mention 

 that Lord Lister, to whom suffering humanity owes so 

 much in the application of the aseptic method of 

 surgery, and who, as Sergeant-Surgeon to the King, 

 was consulted, was told by his Majesty, "If it had 

 not been for you I should not have been here now/' 

 A similar case occurring fifty years ago would probably 

 have baffled the efforts of the most eminent surgeons of 

 that time, not in consequence of their lack of surgical 

 skill, but because of their want of knowledge of the 

 existence and of the effects of the poisonous germs 

 which might render their work abortive, and whose 

 attacks now, thanks to Lister, can be averted. 



