For many years, Lister has been convinced that scrupulous cleanliness and the use of deodorants is critical in the operating room, and now he shares his new ideas with readers. After Louis Pasteur showed that the formation of pus was due to bacteria, Lister developed novel antiseptic surgical methods. He recommends, for example, using a rag to apply carbolic acid directly to any open wound. The acid appears to exercise a peculiarly destructive influence upon low forms of life there. The treatment may also benefit patients with abscesses or those who are undergoing surgery. Presented here in their entirety, these new techniques will doubtless be widely adopted due to their amazing success at preventing infection. 1867.

Additional information can be found at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1867lister.html.

Available from Science News Books. Prometheus, 144 p., paperback, $7.95.

From Science News, Vol. 156, No. 25 & 26, December 18 & 25, 1999, p. ii. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.