Listerism

“But Listerism and the possibility of surgical invasion of the body cavities was a construction after the fact. By the 1860s surgeons, notably the ovariotomies, had begun to enter the abdomen. By harnessing a technology of cleanliness, the isolation of the operating field and chemical purification into an integrated system they were able to perform internal surgery. John Erichsen in 1881 saw the origin of this not in Listerism but in obstetrics. . . . By the 1879s, non-Listerians, such as Lawson Tait, had a technology at their disposal which allowed them to remove gallbladders safely. The germ theory and the creation of Lister as its prophet sanctioned an enterprise that was well underway” (Lawrence II , 26).