The Goulstonian lectures on puerperal fever : delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, London / by Robert J. Lee.

  • Lee, Robert James, 1793-1877.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Goulstonian lectures on puerperal fever : delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, London / by Robert J. Lee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

    25/64 page 19
    As we have brought our review of the theories and different kinds of practice which prevailed at different periods, from the time of Hippo- crates to the latter part of last century, when William Hunter, Cullen, Denman, and many other celebrated men, were contributing in their several departments to the advance of medical science in this country, I shall ask your careful attention to a work which apparently produced no great impression at the time it was published, but which has since had an important influence on our views of the nature of puerperal fever. This work is by Dr. Alexander Gordon, and contains evidence that the fever depends on a particular poison, which may be communicated by direct contact from one person to another, and that the occurrence of a number of cases of the disease is to be explained in that way rather than by atmospheric or other conditions ; that is to say, that the dis- ease does not occur epidemically. It is usual for modem authors to mention the names of Denman in England and Semmelweiss in Ger- many as the chief contributors to this important fact. When I say that these names are associated by modem authors, I mean simply that in our text-books we find some such sentence as the following :—“ As a result of clinical observation, on the one hand, the febrile puerperal diseases were proved with certainty to be due to secondary infection first by the English (Denman), afterwards by the Germans (Semmel- weiss).” I am now quoting from the German text-book on Pathology by Klebs. It may be presumed that the priority thus acceded to us by German authorities has induced our own writers on the subject to be content with this division and distribution of fame. By way of diversion from the direct path of investigation we have been pursuing, I shall ask your attention to this question of priority; not so much because it is of any great importance to determine how or when the fact was first brought to light that puerperal fever depends on a special poison, as to relieve the mind from an uncomfortable feeling that somebody may have suffered neglect. It always appears to me to be better to omit in edu- cational text-books as much as possible all mention of names ; but, if they be mentioned, it is necessary that whatever is stated about them should be as certainly true as possible. It is a subject deserving of the consideration of the learned Fellows of this College, why there is such a scarcity of really good works for educational purposes at the present day. It will be answered probably, that science has made such rapid progress as to render it difficult to compose such works as text-books.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3