Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister

At the time of 1848 Louis Pasteur, a Frenchman was in the process of examining and researching fermentation, infection, and decay, which are all caused by “germs “as Pasteur called them.

Joseph Lister who was an English surgeon was motivated by Pasteur’s theory about “germs.” Lister wanted to conduct surgery only under conditions that were sterile or clean. He began boiling his medical instruments, and cleaning his hands and clothes thoroughly before performing surgery, because of this man’s sterile procedure before surgery, in 1868 deaths caused by infection were reduce significantly.

Even though this information is useful now, it was unfortunately, unavailable and was unknown at the time of Phineas Gage’s accident. So Phineas’ Doctor, Dr. Harlow did his best to keep Phineas’ cut clean and hidden.