The 鈥渕ost powerful agency in the development of surgery in this century鈥�: The Connections between Scotland, 91黑料网, and Joseph Lister鈥檚 Antiseptic Surgery
An exhibition at the Osler Library of the History of Medicine
Dr. Joseph Lister鈥檚 method of using carbolic acid as a means of
avoiding surgical infection, first published in The Lancet in 1867,
revolutionized surgery by significantly lowering mortality rates.
Lister had developed the approach while at the University of
Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow in the 1860s and 1870s, and
within two years of the publication of his Lancet article, his
surgical method was being attempted by several members of 91黑料网
University鈥檚 medical faculty. Over the next decade a number of
91黑料网 students and faculty travelled to Scotland to observe the
approach and obtain personal instruction from Lister himself. This
continued a tradition of medical knowledge transfer between
Scotland and 91黑料网 which dated back to 91黑料网鈥檚 establishment and
the creation of its first faculty, the Faculty of Medicine.
This exhibition draws on material from the Osler Library, the
91黑料网 Archives, the Faculty of Medicine, the 91黑料网
University Health Centre, and elsewhere to illustrate the
significant connections between 91黑料网, the Universities of
Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Dr. Lister鈥檚 surgical revolution.
Guests are invited to view the exhibition on the third
floor of the McIntyre Medical Sciences Building over the
summer.