January 2, 19 13] 



NATURE 



501 



generation was still advanced by Bastian ' and other 

 observers, who tried to demonstrate that vital force 

 and living matter may arise de novo under the action 

 of ordinary physical forces. 



Tyndall, Huxley, and Ray Lankesier against 

 Spontaneous Generation. 



Such writings had the effect of confusing the issue 

 and diverting men's minds from the truth, and it was 

 in no small measure due to the powerful help of 

 Tyndall, Huxley, and Ray Lankester that the error 

 was conclusively refuted. 



Dr. E. Ray Lankester (Nature, January 30, 1870) 

 stated that he had performed numerous experiments 

 with turnip solution, made under the conditions given 

 in Dr. Bastian 's book. No life was developed, a 

 result contrary to that obtained by Bastian. 



Prof. Huxlev (N.wure, October 13, 1871) stated that 

 he had seen Dr. Bastian's experiments and prepara- 

 tions, and expressed his belief that the organisms 

 which Bastian got out of his tubes were exactly those 

 which he put into them. 



Tyndall, the illustrious predecessor of Sir James 

 Dewar at the Royal Institution, submitted the ques- 

 tion to fresh investigations. He had gone over the 

 ground on which Bastian took his stand and was able 

 to expose many of the errors by which experimenters 

 were misled. One very beautiful and convinc- 

 ing experiment w^as introduced by Tyndall. 

 He observed the fact that in a box . the 

 sides of which were coated with glycerine, all the 

 particles of dust floating in the inside air fell and 

 adhered to the glycerine in the course of a few days. 

 The air is then optically pure. A transmitted ray of 

 light tells the moment when this purity is obtained. 

 Tyndall proved that to an eye rendered sensitive by 

 remaining in darkness for a few minutes, the course 

 of the ray is visible only so long as there are floating 

 particles of dust capable of reflecting or diffusing 

 light. On the other hand, the course of the rav 

 becomes invisible to the eye as soon as the air has 

 deposited all its solid particles. 



When this deposition has occurred, anv organic in- 

 fusion may be introduced into the box and kept there 

 without undergoing the least putrefactive or fermen- 

 tive change, and without producing bacteria. 



Lister Promulgates and Introduces the Practice of the 

 Antiseptic Treatment oj Wounds. 



While professor of surgery in Glasgow, Lister was 

 constantly speculating on the cause of inflammation 

 and the cause of putrefaction in wounds, and during a 

 discussion with friends, it was suggested to him that 

 Pasteur's papers on fermentation might be of use in 

 elucidating what seemed to be somewhat kindred 

 processes. These papers of Pasteur came as a revela- 

 tion to Lister, especially as he had not been cognisant 

 of the observations made about thirtv vears previously 

 by Scluiltze (1S36), Schwann (1837), find Cagniard- 

 Latour (1838), which had really laid the foundation 

 of the germ theory and modern bacteriology. 



The perusal of Pasteur's work threw a flood of 

 light on the subject of decomposition in wounds, and 

 Lister at once accepted the theor}', and began a search 

 for a something which would prevent the entrance of 

 living organisms into wounds, believing that if such 

 were found the healing of a wound would proceed 

 "just as if it were subcutaneous." 



About this time creosote — the active agent of which 

 was carbolic acid — was used for disinfecting sewaci", 

 and Lister secured a sample of carbolic acid from Dr. 

 Anderson, professor of chemistry in Glasgow Univer- 



" Ba^llan, "The Beginnings of Life," 1S72; "The Evolution and Origin 



Ko. 2253, VOL. go] 



sity. He tried it in August, 1865, with results which 

 justified his hypothesis. 



In the wards of the Glasgow Roj'al Infirmary, 

 1 which, previously, in common with other hospitals, 

 I had been the home of septic diseases, with their ter- 

 j rible issues, the introduction of the antiseptic treat- 

 ment by Lister acted like the magician's wand, dis- 

 pelling the horrors which previously accompanied 

 wound-healing and creating an atmosphere of sweet- 

 ness and health. 



Difficulties in Accepting Antiseptic Theory and 

 ' Practice. 



' The new treatment and the theory on which it 

 ; was founded were received at first — save by a few 

 ; faithful pupils — with scepticism and coldness, and 

 j later on with open hostility. 



Germs in purulent wound secretions were not then 

 demonstrated, and Lister was boldly called upon to 

 show those organisms in such secretion before found- 

 ing a theory and practice upon the assumption of 

 their presence. This desirable demonstration was not 

 obtained until later (1880-81), when Billroth and 

 Ogston demonstrated the presence of organisms in 

 pus taken from acute abscesses. Yet the deduction 

 arrived at bv Lister at that time, from the experi- 

 ments of many able and trustworthy men of science, 

 was not only permissible, but was the only one to 

 which the data then available inevitably pointed. 



Subsequent investigations with which all are now 

 conversant abundantly proved the correctness of the 

 conclusion. 



The usual fate meted out to innovators or disturbers 

 of settled doctrines was shared by Lister. He and his 

 theorv w-ere virulently assailed both from within the 

 hospital and from without. Some colleagues, some 

 governors, and a host of freelances all joined in the 

 [ fray, the most ignorant being ever the loudest. He 

 was despitefullv used, and had to bear the derision 

 and cackle of fools. A scoffer has not necessarily a 

 high standard of intelligence, and at best he does but 

 devil's work. Fortunately such ephemera, trouble- 

 some and annoying as they are, die before the light. 



Gen}ianv readily accepts Antiseptic Teaching. 

 Lister's teaching in this country was at first of no 

 avail. It fell upon ears unprepared to receive it. 

 Except by his own students in Scotland and a sprink- 

 I ling of them in England, the antiseptic treatment 

 I passed unheeded over Britain, yea, even over the land 

 I of Pasteur it passed to other nations, especially to 

 I that country where the scientific education of its 

 1 people, their earnestness of purpose, thoroughness of 

 method, and their desire to see under the surface 

 enable them to appraise quickly any theory and prac- 

 tice having a scientific basis. 



Another reason for the rapid spread of antiseptics 

 among the surgeons of northern Europe was that they 

 bestirred themselves " to go and see " the practice first- 

 hand. Thereafter they returned to their homes with 

 a precise knowledge and a truer conception of the 

 theory and practice than thev otherwise could have 

 had. 



The influence of Danish and German testimony, 

 corroborative of the value of the antiseptic treatment, 

 made itself felt, and did much to render its adoption 

 universal. 



Pyogenic Organisms Discovered, 1880; Organisms 



the Cause of Disease. 



The discovery of pyogenic organisms as the cause 



of suppuration in wounds was of great importance, 



as it demonstrated the correctness of Lister's theory 



and gave a tangible basis for the practice. It placed 



