Lord Lister 1827-1912 : an oration / [Sir Hector Clare Cameron].

  • Hector Clare Cameron
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Lord Lister 1827-1912 : an oration / [Sir Hector Clare Cameron]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    in-Ordinary in Scotland on the death of Mr. Syme. On arrival there he found the Queen more ill and Jenner more anxious than the nation knew. An acute abscess of considerable size had formed near the armpit of one side of the body, and was occasioning much pain, rest¬ lessness, and fever. In due course it was opened with all antiseptic precautions, the line of incision in the skin having first been frozen by means of Richardson’s spray apparatus. Up to that time it had been Lister’s practice in such cases to introduce a narrow strip of lint dipped in an oily solution of carbolic acid through the incision with the object alike of preventing primary union and of acting as a drain. This practice was followed on the present occasion. Next morning he was disappointed to find that little or no drainage had taken place, and, on withdrawal of the lint, thick matter, similar to that of the original contents of the abscess, escaped in quantity. Fever and local tenderness still also persisted. The same state of matters was found at one or two subsequent dressings. During a walk in the open air (a favourite practice with him when trying to solve a perplexing problem) it occurred to him that if he could make use of some aseptic tubular drain, instead of the oiled lint, matters might progress more favourably. Accordingly, on retiring that evening, he cut out a piece of the india- rubber tube of the Richardson’s spray apparatus of suitable length, and having cut holes in its sides and sewed into the end of it a piece of silk thread, he placed it to soak all night in the soap-dish in his bedroom in some watery solution of carbolic acid. In the morning he was pleased to find that the rubber was in no way weakened or altered in structure by its immersion in the acid, and
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