PASTEUR AND LISTER 39 



ever, prepared to go so far as to say that a solution 

 of carbolic acid in twenty parts of water, while a 

 mild and cleanly application, may be relied on for 

 destroying any septic germs that may fall upon the 

 wound during the performance of an operation ; 

 and also that for preventing the subsequent intro- 

 duction of others, the paste above described, ap- 

 plied as for compound fractures, gives excellent 

 results. . . . Further, I have found that when 

 the antiseptic treatment is efficiently conducted, 

 ligatures may be safely cut short and left to be 

 disposed of by absorption or otherwise." 



On December 12, 1867, he made his experiment 

 with a carbolised silk ligature, tied in continuity 

 round the carotid artery of a horse : on January 30, 

 1868, he used a similar ligature for a case of femoral 

 aneurysm. On December 31, 1868, he made his 

 experiment with a carbolised ligature of animal 

 tissue, tied in continuity round the carotid artery 

 of a calf. Later, he introduced the use of dressings 

 of antiseptic gauze. 



These crowded years of laborious work refuse to 

 be contained in a few lines of print. He was 

 incessantly watching, judging himself, proving in 

 science every point of practice, repeating for him- 

 self many of Pasteur's experiments, advancing, inch 

 by inch, with profound anxiety lest he should be 

 endangering a life or a limb. There never was, 

 nor ever will be, a surgeon more careful over 



