when in 1869 his father-in-law, owing to
ill-health, resigned his professorship, and a number of Edinburgh
students addressed an appeal to Lister to become a candidate for the
post, he was strongly drawn towards the city where he had married and
spent such happy years. No doubt too he and his wife wished to be near
Syme, who lived for fourteen months after his stroke, and to cheer his
declining days. Lister was elected in August 1869 and moved to Edinburgh
two months later. For a while he took a furnished house, but early in
1870 he made his home in Charlotte Square, from which he had easy access
to the gardens between Princes Street and the Castle, 'a grand place'
for his daily meditations, as he had it all to himself before breakfast.
Altogether, Edinburgh was a pleasant change to him, and refreshing; and
the one man who was likely to stir controversy, Sir James Simpson, died
six months after Lister's arrival. Among his fellow professors were men
eminent in many lines, perhaps the most striking figures being old Sir
Robert Christison of the medical faculty, Geikie the geologist, and
Blackie the classical scholar. The hospital was still run on
old-fashioned lines; but the staff were devoted to their work, from the
head nurse, Mrs. Porter, a great 'character' whose portrait has been
sketched in verse by Henley,[47] to the youngest student; and they were
ready to co-operate heartily with the new chief. The hours of work
suited Lister better than those at Glasgow, where he had begun with an
early morning visit to the Infirmary and had to find time for a daily
lecture. Here he limited himself to two lectures a week, visited the
hospital at midday, and was able to devote a large amount of time to
bacteriological study, which was his chief interest at this time.

[Note 47: W. E. Henley, poet and critic, 1849-1903. His poems, 'In
Hospital' include also a very beautiful sonnet on 'The Chief'--Lister
himself, which almost calls up his portrait to one who has once seen it:
'His brow spreads large and placid.... Soft lines of tranquil
thought.... His face at once benign and proud and shy.... His wise rare
smile.']

He stayed in Edinburgh eight years, and it was during his time here that
he saw the interest of all Europe in surgical questions quickened by the
Franco-German war, and had to realize how incomplete as yet was his
victory over the forces of destruction. Some enterprising British and
American doctors, who volunteered