42 PASTEUR AND AFTER PASTEUR 



that law which was revealed to him in 1865, in the 

 light of Pasteur's work on putrefaction. From 

 the very first, antiseptic surgery had in itself the 

 makings of aseptic surgery. 



Saxtorph, Lucas-Championniere, von Nussbaum, 

 von Volkmann, von Billroth these names come 

 first to be remembered, of the great surgeons in 

 other countries, who were quick to see the truth of 

 his doctrine. In our own country, there was more 

 than enough of controversy : but it is easy to see 

 why he was criticised, even by men of good common 

 sense. To some of them, the work of Pasteur 

 seemed no more than a theory : yet, to believe in 

 Lister, you must believe in Pasteur. To some, 

 the very notion of dressing wounds with " putty ' 

 gave offence. And there was a host of other 

 arguments : that Listerism prolonged the opera- 

 tion, tempted men to bo bold in excess of their 

 manual skill, or made them forget the constitu- 

 tion of the patient ; that cases had occurred of 

 carbolic-acid poisoning ; that good results, as good 

 as Lister's, had been got with half- Listerism, or 

 with non-Listerism ; that you could not separate 

 the credit due to him from the credit due to better 

 nursing, better house-surgeons, less purging, less 



of the patient widely around the situation of the intended 

 operation, and all sponges, sutures, ligatures, and instruments 

 about to be used." 1 Brit. Med. Journ., December 13, 1902. 



