Joseph Lister and his 1876 tour of America.

Objective: To explore the events and people that shaped Joseph Lister's 1876 tour of America and how the journey became a landmark episode in the history of surgery.

Background: In a little known chapter in American medical history, Joseph Lister toured the United States in 1876 in an attempt to convince physicians that they should accept his ideas about surgical antisepsis. His 2 month-long visit, which included a transcontinental railroad trip across the North American continent, sparked controversy as doctors struggled to understand the relationship between bacteria and disease.

Methods: An analysis of the published medical and lay literature and unpublished documents pertaining to Lister and antisepsis for the 15-year period, from 1865 to 1880.

Results: Joseph Lister's 1876 tour of America proved a turning point in the slow process of accepting the principles of antisepsis by the nation's doctors. This visit laid the foundation for the blossoming of medical care in America and the remarkable advances that followed.

Conclusions: Among the most debated topics in the American medical world of 1876 was whether to accept Joseph Lister's principles of surgical antisepsis. He was invited to address the issue and gave a series of lectures in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York. The presentations marked the beginning of a significant change in American physicians' awareness of the correlation between wounds, germs, and pus. Lister's visit is a crucial milestone in the history of medicine.