Cane walking stick belonging to Joseph Lister

Cane walking stick, formerly belonging to Joseph Lister.

Joseph Lister is the surgeon who introduced new principles of cleanliness which transformed surgical practice in the late 1800s.

He read Louis Pasteur's work on micro-organisms and decided to experiment with using one of Pasteur's proposed techniques, that of exposing the wound to chemicals. He chose dressings soaked with carbolic acid (phenol) to cover the wound and the rate of infection was vastly reduced. Lister then experimented with hand-washing, sterilising instruments and spraying carbolic in the theatre while operating, in order to limit infection.