In 1927 a series of events were held to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Joseph Lister, 1st baron Lister, 1827-1912. When the Regius Professorship of Surgery at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, fell vacant in 1859 Lister was selected from 7 candidates. In August 1861, he was appointed surgeon at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary and put in charge of its new surgical building. Due to the high level of death from sepsis (known as'hospital disease') in his amputation patients, Lister began to experiment using carbolic acid during surgical procedures. This lessened the death rate from amputation dramatically and marked the development of aseptic surgery.
Events held to mark the centenary included receptions by the British Medical Association and the Royal Society of Medicine and Royal College of Surgeons of England, and a service of commemoration held at Glasgow Cathedral.
From the guide to the Collection of material relating to the centenary of the birth of Joseph Lister, 1927-1912, surgeon, 1927-1930, (Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department)
