130 REPORT— 1876. 



engiueeriiig are so patent to all as to excite universal interest, so that you ■will 

 often tind a man of average intelligence readily engrossed in any new discovery of 

 physics or of chemistiy, while he is uiditferent to new facts in the domam of 

 biological science. This state of mind, of course, is due to a want of appreciation 

 of the practical aspect of our work ; and I hold that tiU the man be better informed, 

 he is qvute entitled to take this \iew of the matter. But I wish to point out that, 

 although oiu- sciences occupy their o^vn place as abstract systems of truth, bearing 

 no apparent relation to the wants either of humanity or of the lower animals, still 

 they have also a practical aspect of the highest importance. My belief is that 

 evei*y advance in science, by adding to the sum of himian knowledge, and thus 

 enabling man to have a correct idea of his true position in the universe, and of his 

 relations to it, wiU ultimately promote both his ovm material well-being and that 

 of the other livmg things about him. I do not see how it can be otherwise ; and 

 the history of the past supports this view. Knowledge promotes civilization ; and 

 the progress of civilization, on the whole, lessens suffering and increases the 

 physical sources of happiness both to man and beast. The thought must therefore 

 be urged, that eveiy research, however far removed it may appear to be at first 

 from havmg any relation to the welfare of living things, occupies its j^lace in leading 

 to this grand consummation — Ufe, liberty, and happiness to all. From many illus- 

 trations which occm* to the mind, I shall take oiily one. M. Pastern- proved that 

 in the atmosphere there exist germs or particles of matter, caU them what you 

 will, which excited fermentation and putretaction in certain fliuds. Of this, I think 

 there cannot be any reasonable doubt. Whether fermentation be always the residt 

 of the presence of germs is another question, upon which I shall not enter, nor shall 

 I engage on a discussion of the question of so-called spontaneous generation, which, 

 though higlJy probable, has never, in my opinion, been proved. These investiga- 

 tions of Pasteur, relating to which a great controversy has taken place, referred to 

 animal and vegetable organisms of the very humblest type, organisms so small that 

 to prove their veiy existence in the air, indirect and complicated methods of 

 procediu-e had to be adopted. But Mr. Lister, who once occupied the Chair of 

 Surgery in this University, and who now adorns the Chair of Chnical Surgery in 

 Edinburgh, was attracted, whilst he was in Glasgow, by the doctrines of the 

 eminent French chemist ; he repeated experiments to satisfy himself of their truth, 

 and he came to the conclusion that these particles in the air are the som'ces of 

 disturbance in wounds, leading to suppuration, putrefaction, and many gi-ave 

 constitutional symptoms. To remove the influence of these germs, he devised the 

 antiseptic system of treating wonnds, a .system first put into operation in this city, 

 and which is attended with great success in the hands of tliose who practice it 

 carefully. Slowly but surely this system — the greatest advance in surgery since 

 the days of John Ilmiter — is winning its way in this country, on the continent, and 

 in America. The surgica,l mind is eminently conservative and not easily convinced ; 

 but it gives way after a struggle, and the benefit both of the preliminary caution 

 and of the subsequent vigorous adoption is to humanity. What does the prac- 

 tice of this system of treating wounds mean? It means, speaking generally, 

 the banishment of pyaemia and surgic.al fever from hospitals, the jiossibUity of 

 performing many serious operations with comparatiAe safety to the patient, the 

 relief of pain in the dressing of wounds, and the saving of human lives. I need 

 scarcely add that Professor Lister did much in his earher years to give him a high 

 place among British physiologists, but, in addition, he has showed the successfid 

 apphcationof purely scientific knowledge to the advancement of the art of sm'geiy; 

 and in suggesting a method by which life may be saved and suffering mitigated, he 

 has earned the gratitude of humanity. 



Impobtance of In^t-stigations on the Physiological Action 

 OF Active Substances. 



There is another field of physiological research which promises to confer great 

 practical benefit on the human race. I refer to the investigation of the physio- 

 logical action of active substances, which may lead us not only to the discovery of 



