Lord Lister / by Sir Rickman John Godlee, bt.

Rickman Godlee

Date:: 1918

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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Lord Lister / by Sir Rickman John Godlee, bt. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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Found on image 504 / 738 (page 460)…erials in any proportion.” He then took off his coat, turned up his shirt sleeves, pinned an ordinary unsterilized huckaback towel over his waistcoat (for his own protection not that of the patient) and washed his hands in i to 20 lotion, or even what he called “ the strong lotion ” (i to 20 carbolic acid in i to 500 subl...

504/738 page 460

which clings among the pores of the sponges, becomes liquefied by putrefaction. They can then be washed thoroughly clean of their fibrine, and the washing is continued until they no longer give a red colour to water. They are then put into I in 20 carbolic acid lotion and kept there.” ^ When everything was precisely in the most convenient position, the patient was brought in. The seat of operation had not been specially cleansed. “ It is not needful,” he said, to apply an antiseptic lotion for hours together, as is sometimes done ; a few minutes’ action of the i in 20 carbolic lotion is really sufficient; while its long-continued operation sometimes produces troublesome irritation.” This simple preparation was often performed whilst the chloroformi— it was always chloroform, not ether—was being administered. Lister deprecated the use of soap and water or anything that would remove the greasy matter of the skin, because “ carbolic acid has a powerful affinity for the epidermis, penetrating deeply into its substance ,* and it mingles with the fatty materials in any proportion.” He then took off his coat, turned up his shirt sleeves, pinned an ordinary unsterilized huckaback towel over his waistcoat (for his own protection not that of the patient) and washed his hands in i to 20 lotion, or even what he called “ the strong lotion ” (i to 20 carbolic acid in i to 500 subli¬ mate lotion), an ordeal that few of his adherents could endure. Towels wrung out of i to 20 carbolic acid lotion were arranged over thin mackintosh round the seat of operation. He wore no mask or gloves. Silence was supposed to be maintained as long as the wound was exposed, but the rule was by no means strictly adhered to. During the operation, which was seldom short, for Lister was a slow operator, the hands of everyone concerned were frequently dipped in i to 40 lotion. The sponges, when soiled, were washed in cold and hot water and replaced in the I to 40 lotion. Thus, although they were forcibly wrung out before being used again, a small amount of carbolic acid was constantly conveyed to the wound ; and, as a safeguard ^ An Address on the Antiseptic Management of Wounds,” Brit. Med Journ. 1893, vol. i. pp. 161, 277, 337. Collected Papers, vol. ii. p. 353.

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