296 



NATURE 



[December 12, miS 



prominenl light the indispensable functions of the 

 laboratories, thanks to which, in the brief interval 

 between the South African campaign and the present 

 war, "disease, nol battle, digs the soldier's grave" 

 lms ceased to be a terrible truth. As regards general 

 recognition, however, the laborator uffei from the 

 curit) which surrounds its work. II" might-be 

 victim hi epidemic disease is unlikel) to entertain a 

 livelj sense of gratitude on account of his deliver- 

 from the attacks oi such minute enemies as tin- 

 germs of enterit fe\ ei 01 1 holera. 



Modern Surgery The Break from the Past. 



A superficial observe] would discern that in on< 

 great particular trie hospitals ol to-day diffei from 

 those 11I even the near past. I refer to the operations 

 of the surgeon, h was nol until towards the middle oi 

 last centurj that the discovery ol anaesthetics enabled 

 the surgeon to operate .is the nature oi the disease 

 demanded, but this liberty of action at first brought 

 small advantage, since wounds became the port of 



entry for sept fection into the bod\ a maladj 



often far more deadly than the ailment which ii was 

 designed to cure. 



Now all this is changed; but no gradual evolution of 

 ideas of common cleanliness, no "broadening down 

 from precedent to precedent," effected ihis revolution. 

 We owe it to Pasteur, who made the fundamental dis- 

 coven that putrefaction was due to microscopic living 

 organisms, and to Lister, who secured the triumph oi 

 Pasteur's principle in its application to surgery. 



Since this work originated from the laboratory, and 

 as its outcome was pre-eminently practical, it is neces- 

 san in consider what the terms "science" and "the 

 laboratory " stand for in relation to medicine. In some 

 quarters even mi the suspicion lingers thai science 

 and practice are antagonistic, and that biological 

 science will not admit of application to the affairs of 

 everyday life, among which must be reckoned the 

 healing oi the sick. Like most other fallacies, this 

 one contains the vestige of a truth, for then- are not 

 lacking scientific pedants who disregard what is 

 practical, and who shirk responsibility by eliminating 

 from their interests whatever promises an outcome 

 valuable to mankind. The spirit which animates true 

 science or pure science, as ii is often called, is, oi 

 course, the search for truth for its own sake, and 

 without, in the first place, entertaining any notion oi 

 practical application. Ii has seldom happened, how- 

 ever, thai a new truth remained long without being 

 harnessed to some carl of progress. 



Enterprise and Ipplied Science in Medicine. 

 While the heaven-sent gift which leads to the dis- 

 of great new- truths is bestowed upon onlj a 

 ndividuals of even generation, there is, short of 

 genius, a most precious faculty which is much less 

 rare, and which perfects itself through opportunity and 

 encouragement, the spirit of enterprise, which works 

 out in and elaborates new practical ap- 



plications. It is given to genius to open .1 door in 

 the blank wall of ignorance by which current know- 

 ledge is confined; then enterprise has the courage to 

 pass through thai door and laboriously to tread oul 

 fresh paths of progress, in spite of prejudice thai 

 -1. mils ii, and neers. Commercial gain is the usual 

 incentive to mi rprise, and the multitude of material 

 conveniences which to the casual eye constitute the 

 distinguishing of ear modern civilisation 



testify to the results. But thi prospeel of commerci il 

 idvantage is In no mi ans the sole spur which stimu- 

 lates enterprise, as thi long line of Vrctic explorations 

 bundantly proves. It is remarkable, however, how 

 little of such enterpri 1 di /oted to the advance of 

 NO. 2563, VOL. I02] 



cim there has been until 1 1 1 entlj , and thai far 

 less attention has been paid to the preservation of 

 health than can he commanded by such problems as 

 the production of a dye, the design oi an aeroplane 

 engine, or the quest for the North Pole. I he 1 xplana- 

 tion of Ihis extraordinary neglect appears to lie 

 fact thai all enterprise demands for its pursu 

 outla\ of capital, and that human nature craves an 

 obvious n turn for its expenditure, whether il be in the 



I'm in nf dividends from a company exploiting 

 industrial invention or the thrilling i ex- 



plorer's hairbreadth escapes. The laboratory worker, 

 perhaps fortunately for his honesty, is a no 



ail of publicity, and his thrilling stor\ is seldom told; 



also the iisuiis of his achievements an- preventive, 



and so destroy or forestall the ven evidenci which 



would continue to proclaim thi necessity for their 



1 11 ion. 



When we consider whal is the actual sphere of 



science and the laboratory in medicine, we find that 

 the laboratory worker ma\ be more or less exel 



1 1 the cognisance of the symptoms ami treal 



of the di-eased individuals owing in a precono 

 noli. m of his functions on the part of those vho con- 

 trol him; whereas the association should bi 



intimate. Where disease i- und isideration, 



science lies hoth in method and in experiment. Ac- 

 cordingly, everything that conduces to precision in the 

 investigation and treatment of disease is scientific. 



The scientific memory substitutes the card-index for 

 the tablel nf the mind and replaces impressions by 

 statistical surveys, for the value of an argument 

 d. pi eds on the validity of premises. We should prob- 

 abl\ object to' receiving a pound of sugai measured 



"li\ the eye" of the vendor, vet until recently the 

 world was content to accept decisions as to the health 

 of its bod\ based mainly on impalpable impressions. 

 Experiment, in addition, is the essential weapon; for 

 Nature, when left to herself, usually presents her 

 problems in so great a tangle that a solution is im- 

 possible until she is, so to speak, bridled In the . x- 

 im 1 inn nter, who then observes the paths she traverses. 

 It is but natural that such activities should he cen- 

 tralised in a particular department, and that certain 

 workers should by inclination and training devote 

 themselves specially to such tasks; hut whoever has 



made the serious attempt to coax a secret from Nature 

 obtains an outlook the value of which he cannot 

 realise until he enjoys it. So it is an ideal In." no 

 "means unrealisable — that every Studenl should bi a 

 participator, even though to a small degree, in the 

 io\s of discovery, and should receive such practical 

 insight into the methods and the results of scientific 

 inquiry as will enable him later on to weigh evidence 

 in'] to undi rstand soundness of proof. 



Past Ichievements of the Laborati ■ 



The recognition of the causes of bacterial diseases 



marked the first step of progress. The methods 

 necessary for the prevention of infective disi ises 

 then often followed as a corollary. Thus the prac- 

 tical abolition of typhoid fever in the Arm\ by 

 me. nis nf preventive inoculation and the detection of 

 .an ieis, also the prevention oi tetanus In the ad- 

 ministration of anti-tetanic serum to the wound.d. are 



iii! nts the magnitude of which it is nol possible 

 to exaggerate, ft is a literal fact that if tun nf the 



■ nt countries neglected to act upon the estab- 

 lished teachings of bacteriology, defeat would over- 

 take ii nn that account alone. The calamities which 

 ensue when the disorganisation due to war destroys 

 arrangements essential for the preservation nf hi 

 masses of human beings have been terribly illus 

 in Serbia and Rumania. The plague nf lice, wl 



