vm CONQUEST OF DISEASE 219 



of preventing inflammation by methods indicated by 

 Lister's work. 



At the present time there is scarcely a hospital in the 

 civilised world where the principles of antiseptic surgery 

 are not carried out, not a household which has not in some 

 measure benefited by it, not a medical man who is 

 unaware of its meaning. The amount of prevention of 

 suffering and the prolongation of life due to it are 

 altogether incalculable. 



At the International Medical Congress at Amsterdam 

 in 1879, Lister's appearance called forth the greatest 

 ovation ever witnessed at one of these assemblies. As 

 the applause subsided, the president of the Congress 

 stepped forth and said : " Professor Lister, it is not 

 only our admiration which we offer you ; it is our 

 gratitude, and that of the nations to which we belong." 



At the close of the nineteenth century it was asserted 

 that " Listerism " had saved more human lives than 

 all the wars of the expiring century had sacrificed. 

 " My Lord," said the American Ambassador, in pro- 

 posing his health at a Royal Society banquet, "it is 

 not a profession, it is not a nation, it is humanity itself 

 which, with uncovered head, salutes you." 



Of Lister's tender-hearted nature and love of children, 

 one of his Glasgow students relates the following story : 



One day when Lister was visiting his wards in the Glasgow 

 Royal Infirmary, there was a little girl whose elbow- joint had 

 been excised, and this had to be dressed daily. Lister undertook 

 this dressing himself. The little creature bore the pain without 

 complaint, and when finished she suddenly produced from under 

 the clothes a dilapidated doll, one leg of which had burst, 

 allowing the sawdust to escape. She handed the doll to Lister, 

 who gravely examined it, then, asking for a needle and thread, 

 he sat down and stitched the rent, and then returned the dolly 

 to its gratified owner. 



