Lister’s colleague Morton didn’t just find fault with his methods. He also didn’t accept the premise that germs were to blame for putrefaction. Morton characterized Lister’s published research as fearmongering. “Nature is here regarded as some murderous hag,” he wrote, “whose fiendish machinations must be counteracted. She must be entrapped into good behavior, she is no longer to be trusted.” Even the editor of The Lancet refused to use the word “germs,” instead calling them “septic elements contained in the air.” It was difficult for many surgeons at the height of their careers to face the
...more
