Semmelweis: his Life and Doctrine

Abstract

“IN the history of midwifery there is a dark page, and it is headed Semmelweis.” Semmelweis was a prophet, and he was misunderstood by the people he came to save. The services he rendered mankind cannot be overestimated. His discovery was epoch-making. He established the cause of puerperal fever, and threw light on all septic conditions. Before his time the cause of wound infection was not understood. Semmelweis proved that puerperal fever was analogous to wound fever, both being due to contamination from putrid organic matter. The cause of puerperal fever having been established, Semmelweis worked at its prophylaxis. He insisted on the cleanliness of the patient and her surroundings, and sketched the principles which underlie the antiseptic and aseptic treatment of wounds, and so laid the foundation for modern surgery, gynæcology, and obstetrics. During his life Semmelweis was misunderstood and misrepresented; he met with opposition, jealousy, and hatred from his own profession; he was degraded and belittled; yet, to-day, his conclusions are universally accepted and form the foundation of surgical thought.

Semmelweis: his Life and Doctrine.

By Sir William J. Sinclair. Pp. x + 369. (Manchester: University Press, 1909.) Price 7s. 6d. net.