10 February 1912 A.D. Dr. Joseph Lister—Famous Physician, Quaker-Born, Turned Scots Episcopalian
10
February 1912 A.D. Dr. Joseph
Lister—Famous Physician, Quaker-Born, Turned Scots Episcopalian
Graves,
Dan. “Joseph Lister.” Christianity.com. Jun 2007.
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1901-2000/joseph-lister-11630698.html. Accessed 14 Jul 2014.
Joseph Lister belongs on a short
list of the world's greatest doctors. His research taught him that killing
germs would save lives and allow surgeons to operate inside bodies. Fierce
resistance met his ideas and he had to defend them over the opposition of
England's top physicians. But when he died on this day, February 10, 1912, he
was recognized around the world as one of the great benefactors of mankind.
Modern surgery is possible thanks
to the persistence and faith of Quaker-born Joseph Lister.
Before he turned sixteen, Joseph
had made many dissections under the microscope and announced he would become a
surgeon. His surprised mother did not discourage him, although no one else in
the family had ever entered that profession. Friends and family wondered if he
wasn't too kind-hearted and shy to handle the terrible screams he would hear
and the pain and pus he would witness.
Joseph became a doctor partly
because he was a Quaker. Quakers were forbidden to enter Cambridge or Oxford
universities where law and other professions were taught. "Godless"
London University was the only great institution in England that opened its
doors to a Quaker, so Joseph studied there. While still a student there, he
authored a pamphlet on the "Use of the Microscope in Medicine" using
a microscope given him by his father. (His father, J. J. Lister, a
wine-distiller, was co-inventor of the compound microscope.)
With the discovery of chloroform,
surgical pain was reduced. Even so, more than half of all patients died from gangrene
after they were operated on. Dirty conditions allowed germs to infect them.
Joseph Lister became a good
surgeon through careful study and hard work. He pioneered the use of
"catgut" ligatures (actually the intestines of cows or sheep). But
his greatest contribution was to show that infections were caused by germs. A
friend had shown him an article by Louis Pasteur.
Lister hunted for something that
would kill germs while not injuring body tissues. He discovered that carbolic
acid (phenol) kills germs. Its use greatly decreased death rates after surgery.
However, the wet carbolic acid made a doctor's hand's raw during surgery and
bandages soaked in it irritated patients' skin, making them miserable, which is
why hospitals today try to create aseptic conditions instead-- that is, to
isolate the patient from germs.
Because the woman he married was
not a Quaker, Lister had to leave the Society. He faithfully attended the
Scottish Episcopal Church thereafter for the rest of his life. A man of true
Christian character, no one ever heard him raise his voice in anger. If ever he
did anything to give offense, he was quick to apologize. He said of himself,
"I am a believer in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity."
He told a graduating class: "It is our proud office to tend the fleshly
tabernacle of the immortal spirit, and our path, if rightly followed, will be
guided by unfettered truth and love unfeigned. In pursuit of this noble and
holy calling I wish you all God-speed."
Bibliography:
Allen, John. One Hundred Great Lives. New York:
Journal of Living, 1944.
Capper, W. Melville. Some Great Christian Doctors.
London: Tyndale Press, 1960.
Feldman, Anthony. Scientists & Inventors.
New York: Facts on File, 1979.
Graves, Daniel. Doctors Who Followed Christ. Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Kregel, 1999.
Lister, Joseph. "On the Antiseptic Principle
of the Practice of Surgery." Treasury of World Science, pp. 642-653.
Edited by Dagobert D. Runes. New York: Philosophical Library, 1962.
"Lister, Joseph." Dictionary of
National Biography. London: Oxford University, 1968.
"Lister, Joseph." Dictionary of
Scientific Biography. Editor Charles Coulston Gillispie. New York:
Scribner's, 1970.
Noble, Iris. The Courage of Doctor Lister. New York:
Messner, 1960.
Nuland, Sherwin B. Doctors; the Biography of
Medicine. New York: Knopf, 1988.
Sigerist, Henry E. The Great Doctors.
Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1958.
Silverberg, Robert. The Great Doctors. New
York: Scholastic Book Services, 1964.
Wrench, G. T. Lord Lister; His Life and Work. London:
T. Fisher Unwin, 1913.
Last updated June,
2007.
Comments
Post a Comment