Joseph Lister

Chronicled events

1. 1867​·​Lister Kills the Germs in Wounds
   #5778

   Wounds fester for the same reason broth goes bad: germs get into them from outside. Kill the germs, on the wound, the instruments, and the surgeon’s hands, and wounds heal clean.

   #5779

   In my wards, 16 of 35 patients died after amputations before I began killing germs with carbolic acid, and 6 of 40 since. The air is the same as before; only the germs are gone.

   #5780

   Decay doesn’t come about by itself. As Pasteur showed, it’s the work of germs, living things that get in from outside and multiply. What spreads infection is the germs, not decaying matter as such.