own in two ways: first, in a great increase of courage, by which
the surgeon has been led on to the performance of operations that were
hitherto considered rash, audacious or impossible; and secondly, by
the immunity which the surgeon has gained in the treatment of wounds
through the increased knowledge he possesses of putrefaction and the
means of preventing it. It were hard to say whether the surgeon's
increase of skill and courage in performing operations has equalled
his increased skill in the after treatment of wounds.

These improvements have all proceeded from scientific investigation.
They have come of the application of scientific methods to the
treatment of surgical diseases. With the investigations of Pasteur and
the development of the science of bacteriology, it was seen at a
glance how large an influence such investigation must have in the
work of the surgeon. The publication of Tyndall's "Essays on the
Floating Matter of the Air in Relation to Putrefaction and Infection,"
in 1881, gave a great impulse to the new practice; but that practice
had been already confirmed by the great and original work of Sir
Joseph Lister, an English surgeon who as early as 1860 had introduced
the antiseptic method of bandaging.

It is within the last forty years that the greatest marvels of modern
surgery have been performed. It would seem that no part of the human
body is now beyond the reach of surgical remedy. Almost every year has
witnessed some new and daring invasion of the fortress of life with a
view to saving it. Old opinions with respect to what parts of the
human economy are really vital have been abolished; and a new concept
of the relation of life to organism has prevailed.

Until recently it was supposed that the peritoneal cavity and the
organs contained therein, such as the stomach, the liver, the bowels,
etc., could not be entered by the surgeon without the certain result
of death. To do so at the present time is the daily experience in
almost every great hospital. The complexity of civilization has
inflicted all manner of hurts on the human body, and the malignity of
disease has spared no part. It was supposed that the cranial cavity
could not be entered or repaired without producing fatal results. It
was taken for granted that certain organs could not be touched, much
less treated capitally, without destroying the subject's life. But one
exploration has followed another and one successful adventure has bee