Entre les miasmes et les germes: L'impact de la bacteriologie sur la pratique medicale en territoire Canadien 1870-1930

Goulet, Denis

doi:10.1590/S0104-59701995000100003

Abstracts

This article analyzes some aspects concerning the introduction of bacteriological theory and practice into Canadian territory from 1870 to 1930. The author begins by presenting the principal explanatory models characterizing the transition period from pre-bacteriological discourse- referring to infectious diseases and surgical infections- to new bacteriological paradigms. He goes on to analyze the different ways in which the germ theory and then bacteriology spread into Canadian territory. The transition periods, where old and new coexisted, reveal a kind of syncretism by physicians in relation to both aetiology of infectious diseases and surgical procedures. The author then shows that there were two distinct phases in the overall context of the history of antiseptic surgery from 1868 to 1890. He demonstrates that the use of antiseptics did not necessarily mean either adherence to Pasteur's postulates on fermentation or strict observance of Listerian methods. Finally, the article expounds on the role played by European institutions in importing bacteriological knowledge and institutionalizing this new discipline in Canadian territory.

history; bacteriology; antisepsis; Listerism; surgery

O artigo analisa alguns aspectos da introdução das teorias e práticas bacteriológicas em território canadense. Apresenta inicialmente os principais modelos que caracterizaram o período de transição do discurso etiológico pré-bacteriologia - referente às doenças infecciosas e às infecções operatórias - aos novos paradigmas bacteriológicos. São analisadas então as modalidades de penetração da teoria dos germes e posteriormente da bacteriologia, a partir de 1870 até os anos 20 do nosso século. Os períodos de transição revelam a presença de um certo ecletismo e até mesmo de um sincretismo dos médicos no que diz respeito à etiologia das doenças infecciosas e às práticas cirúrgicas. No contexto geral da história da cirurgia antisséptica no Canadá, houve, entre 1868 e 1890, duas fases distintas no processo de implantação das técnicas antissépticas. Demonstra-se que o uso de antissépticos não significava uma adesão aos postulados pastorianos da fermentação e nem correspondia a uma estrita observância dos métodos listerianos. O artigo evidencia o papel representado pelas instituições européias na importação do novo saber bacteriológico e na institucionalização desta nova disciplina em território canadense.

história; bacteriologia; antissepsia; listerismo; cirurgia

history; bacteriology; antisepsis; Listerism; surgery

história; bacteriologia; antissepsia; listerismo; cirurgia

ANÁLISE

Entre les miasmes et les germes. L'impact de la bacteriologie sur la pratique medicale en territoire Canadien 1870-1930

From miasmata to germs. The impact of bacteriology on medical practice in Canadian territory from 1870 to 1930

Entre os miasmas e os germes. O impacto da bacteriologia na prática médica no territorio canadense: 1870-1930

Denis Goulet

Directeur de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Côtes-des-Neiges, Montreal. Je remercie le Conseil de recherche en sciences humaines du Canada pour son aide financière, aux professeurs O. Keel et R. Ward pour leur assistance, et Lorelai B. Kury

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes some aspects concerning the introduction of bacteriological theory and practice into Canadian territory from 1870 to 1930. The author begins by presenting the principal explanatory models characterizing the transition period from pre-bacteriological discourse referring to infectious diseases and surgical infections to new bacteriological paradigms. He goes on to analyze the different ways in which the germ theory and then bacteriology spread into Canadian territory. The transition periods, where old and new coexisted, reveal a kind of syncretism by physicians in relation to both aetiology of infectious diseases and surgical procedures. The author then shows that there were two distinct phases in the overall context of the history of antiseptic surgery from 1868 to 1890. He demonstrates that the use of antiseptics did not necessarily mean either adherence to Pasteur's postulates on fermentation or strict observance of Listerian methods. Finally, the article expounds on the role played by European institutions in importing bacteriological knowledge and institutionalizing this new discipline in Canadian territory.

Keywords: history, bacteriology, antisepsis, Listerism, surgery.

RESUMO

O artigo analisa alguns aspectos da introdução das teorias e práticas bacteriológicas em território canadense. Apresenta inicialmente os principais modelos que caracterizaram o período de transição do discurso etiológico pré-bacteriologia referente às doenças infecciosas e às infecções operatórias aos novos paradigmas bacteriológicos. São analisadas então as modalidades de penetração da teoria dos germes e posteriormente da bacteriologia, a partir de 1870 até os anos 20 do nosso século. Os períodos de transição revelam a presença de um certo ecletismo e até mesmo de um sincretismo dos médicos no que diz respeito à etiologia das doenças infecciosas e às práticas cirúrgicas. No contexto geral da história da cirurgia antisséptica no Canadá, houve, entre 1868 e 1890, duas fases distintas no processo de implantação das técnicas antissépticas. Demonstra-se que o uso de antissépticos não significava uma adesão aos postulados pastorianos da fermentação e nem correspondia a uma estrita observância dos métodos listerianos. O artigo evidencia o papel representado pelas instituições européias na importação do novo saber bacteriológico e na institucionalização desta nova disciplina em território canadense.

Palavras-chave: história, bacteriologia, antissepsia, listerismo, cirurgia.

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text available only in PDF format.

Recebido para publicação em julho de 1993

Bernier, J. 1989 La médecine au Québec, naissance et évolution d'une profession. Québec, Les Presses de l'Université Laval.
Bilson, G. 1980 A darkened bouse. Cholera in nineteenth-century Canada. Toronto, University of Toronto Press.
Brieger, G. H. 1968 The dawn of the germ theory: particles, infection and biology'. Dans Medicine and Society in the 1860s. Londres, Poynter Ed.
Brieger, G. H. 1966 'American surgery and the germ theory of disease '. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, pp. 135-45.0
Calvert, F. C. 1863 'On the the therapeutic properties of carbolic acid'. Lancet, nş 2, pp. 362-3.
Canniff, W. 1868 'Some remarks upon carbolic acid as a remedial agent in the treatment of wounds'. Canada Medical Journal and Monthly Record, vol. 5, p. 309.
Cartwright, R. 1879 L'Union Médicale du Canada. Vol. 8, nş 1, p. 112-3.
Codell Carter, K. 1985 'Ignaz Semmelweis, Carl Mayrhofer, and the rise of germ theory'. Medical History, vol. 29, pp. 33-53.
Cope, Z. 1958 'The treatment of wounds through the ages'. Medical History, vol. 11, pp. 163-73.
Crellin, J. K. 1966 'The problem of heat resistance of micro-organisms in the british spontaneous generation controversies of 1860-1880'. Medical History, vol. 10, pp. 50-9.
Cushing, H. 1925 The Life of Sir William Osier. Vol. 1, Oxford, Clarendon Press.
Déclat, G. 1865 Nouvelles applications de l'acide phénique. Paris, s. ed.
Fraser, R. 1871 Canada Medical Journal and Monthly Record. Vol. 7, p. 272.
Goulet, D. 1993 Histoire de la faculté de médecine de l'Université de Montréal 1843-1993. Montreal, Editions VLB.
Goulet, D. 1992 Des miasmes aux germes. L'impact de la bactériologie sur la pratique médicale au Québec (1870-1930). Thčse de doctorat, Departement d'Histoire, Université de Montreal.
Goulet, D. e Paradis, A. 1992 Trois sičcles d'histoire médicale au Québec. Chronologie des institutions et des pratiques médicales (1639-1939). Montréal, Editions VLB.
Goulet, D. e Keel, O. 1991 a 'Généalogie des représentations et attitudes face aux épidémies au Québec depuis le XIX^e sičcle'. Anthropologie et Sociétés, (L'univers du SIDA). Vol. 15, nş 2-3, pp. 205-28.
Goulet, D. e Keel, O. 1991 b 'L'introduction du listérisme au Québec: entre les miasmes et les germes.' Actes du XXXII^e Congrčs International d'Histoire de la Médecine. Bruxelles, Fierens éd., pp. 397-405.
Goulet, D. e Keel, O. 1988 'L'introduction de la bactériologie au Québec'. Actes du XXXI^e Congrčs International d'Histoire de la Médecine. Bologne, Monduzzi Editore, pp. 823-8.
Grenier, G. 1872 Contagion de la variole. Montréal, Typographie Le Nouveau Monde.
Guilherme, J. 1977 'Le sain et le malsain'. XVIII^e Sičcle. Número especial.
Haller, J. S. 1981 American Medicine in Transition, 1840-1910. Urbana, Chicago, Londres, University of Illinois Press.
Hamilton, D. 1982 'The nineteenth-century surgical revolution antisepsis or better nutrition?' Bulletin of the History of Medicine, nş 56, pp. 30-40.
Keel, O. 1977 Canabis et la généalogie de la médecine clinique. Thčse de doctorat, Département de Philosophie, Université McGill, Montreal.
Lécuyer, B. P. 1986 'L'hygične en France avant Pasteur'. Dans Pasteur et la révolution pastorienne. Salomon-Bayet, G., org. Paris, Payot, pp. 65-139.
Lemaire, J. 1865 De l'acide phénique et de ses applications. Paris, s.ed.
Léonard, J. 1986 Archives du corps. La santé au XIX^e sičcle. s. ed. Ouest-France.
Lister, J. 1867 a 'Antiseptic principle in the practice of surgery'. pp. 246-8.
Lister, J. 1867 b 'On new method of treating compound fracture, abcess, & c., with observations on the condition of suppuration'. Lancet. nş 1, 2.
Ogston, A. 1881 'Report upon micro-organisms in surgical diseases'. British Medical Journal, pp. 369-75.
Parsons, G. P. 1978 'The british medical profession and contagion theory: puerperal fever as a case study, 1830-1860'. Medical History, vol. 22, pp. 138-50.
Piquemal, J. 1959 Le choléra de 1832 en France et la pensée médicale. Thalčs, pp. 27-73
Roland, C. G. 1967 'The early years of antiseptic surgery in Canada'. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, pp. 380-91.
Rosenberg, C. E. 1987 The care of strangers. The rise of America's hospital system. Nova York, Basic Books Inc.
Rosen, G. 1974 From medical police to social medicine, essays on the history of health care. New York; Science History Publications.
Upmalis, I. H. 1968 'The introduction of Lister's treatment in Germany', Bulletin of the History of Medicine, pp. 221-40.
Wangensteen, O. H. & Wangensteen, S. D. 1978 The rise of surgery. From empiric craft to scientific discipline. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.
Wangensteen, O. H., Smith J. & Wangensteen, S. D. 1967 'Some highlights in the history of amputation reflecting lessons in wound healing'. Bulletin of the History of Medicine. Vol. 41, pp. 97-125.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
24 July 2006
Date of issue
Feb 1995

History

Received
July 1993

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

[1] Bernier, J. 1989 La médecine au Québec, naissance et évolution d'une profession. Québec, Les Presses de l'Université Laval.

[2] Bilson, G. 1980 A darkened bouse. Cholera in nineteenth-century Canada. Toronto, University of Toronto Press.

[3] Brieger, G. H. 1968 The dawn of the germ theory: particles, infection and biology'. Dans Medicine and Society in the 1860s. Londres, Poynter Ed.

[4] Brieger, G. H. 1966 'American surgery and the germ theory of disease '. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, pp. 135-45.0

[5] Calvert, F. C. 1863 'On the the therapeutic properties of carbolic acid'. Lancet, nş 2, pp. 362-3.

[6] Canniff, W. 1868 'Some remarks upon carbolic acid as a remedial agent in the treatment of wounds'. Canada Medical Journal and Monthly Record, vol. 5, p. 309.

[7] Cartwright, R. 1879 L'Union Médicale du Canada. Vol. 8, nş 1, p. 112-3.

[8] Codell Carter, K. 1985 'Ignaz Semmelweis, Carl Mayrhofer, and the rise of germ theory'. Medical History, vol. 29, pp. 33-53.

[9] Cope, Z. 1958 'The treatment of wounds through the ages'. Medical History, vol. 11, pp. 163-73.

[10] Crellin, J. K. 1966 'The problem of heat resistance of micro-organisms in the british spontaneous generation controversies of 1860-1880'. Medical History, vol. 10, pp. 50-9.

[11] Cushing, H. 1925 The Life of Sir William Osier. Vol. 1, Oxford, Clarendon Press.

[12] Déclat, G. 1865 Nouvelles applications de l'acide phénique. Paris, s. ed.

[13] Fraser, R. 1871 Canada Medical Journal and Monthly Record. Vol. 7, p. 272.

[14] Goulet, D. 1993 Histoire de la faculté de médecine de l'Université de Montréal 1843-1993. Montreal, Editions VLB.

[15] Goulet, D. 1992 Des miasmes aux germes. L'impact de la bactériologie sur la pratique médicale au Québec (1870-1930). Thčse de doctorat, Departement d'Histoire, Université de Montreal.

[16] Goulet, D. e Paradis, A. 1992 Trois sičcles d'histoire médicale au Québec. Chronologie des institutions et des pratiques médicales (1639-1939). Montréal, Editions VLB.

[17] Goulet, D. e Keel, O. 1991 a 'Généalogie des représentations et attitudes face aux épidémies au Québec depuis le XIX^e sičcle'. Anthropologie et Sociétés, (L'univers du SIDA). Vol. 15, nş 2-3, pp. 205-28.

[18] Goulet, D. e Keel, O. 1991 b 'L'introduction du listérisme au Québec: entre les miasmes et les germes.' Actes du XXXII^e Congrčs International d'Histoire de la Médecine. Bruxelles, Fierens éd., pp. 397-405.

[19] Goulet, D. e Keel, O. 1988 'L'introduction de la bactériologie au Québec'. Actes du XXXI^e Congrčs International d'Histoire de la Médecine. Bologne, Monduzzi Editore, pp. 823-8.

[20] Grenier, G. 1872 Contagion de la variole. Montréal, Typographie Le Nouveau Monde.

[21] Guilherme, J. 1977 'Le sain et le malsain'. XVIII^e Sičcle. Número especial.

[22] Haller, J. S. 1981 American Medicine in Transition, 1840-1910. Urbana, Chicago, Londres, University of Illinois Press.

[23] Hamilton, D. 1982 'The nineteenth-century surgical revolution antisepsis or better nutrition?' Bulletin of the History of Medicine, nş 56, pp. 30-40.

[24] Keel, O. 1977 Canabis et la généalogie de la médecine clinique. Thčse de doctorat, Département de Philosophie, Université McGill, Montreal.

[25] Lécuyer, B. P. 1986 'L'hygične en France avant Pasteur'. Dans Pasteur et la révolution pastorienne. Salomon-Bayet, G., org. Paris, Payot, pp. 65-139.

[26] Lemaire, J. 1865 De l'acide phénique et de ses applications. Paris, s.ed.

[27] Léonard, J. 1986 Archives du corps. La santé au XIX^e sičcle. s. ed. Ouest-France.

[28] Lister, J. 1867 a 'Antiseptic principle in the practice of surgery'. pp. 246-8.

[29] Lister, J. 1867 b 'On new method of treating compound fracture, abcess, & c., with observations on the condition of suppuration'. Lancet. nş 1, 2.

[30] Ogston, A. 1881 'Report upon micro-organisms in surgical diseases'. British Medical Journal, pp. 369-75.

[31] Parsons, G. P. 1978 'The british medical profession and contagion theory: puerperal fever as a case study, 1830-1860'. Medical History, vol. 22, pp. 138-50.

[32] Piquemal, J. 1959 Le choléra de 1832 en France et la pensée médicale. Thalčs, pp. 27-73

[33] Roland, C. G. 1967 'The early years of antiseptic surgery in Canada'. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, pp. 380-91.

[34] Rosenberg, C. E. 1987 The care of strangers. The rise of America's hospital system. Nova York, Basic Books Inc.

[35] Rosen, G. 1974 From medical police to social medicine, essays on the history of health care. New York; Science History Publications.

[36] Upmalis, I. H. 1968 'The introduction of Lister's treatment in Germany', Bulletin of the History of Medicine, pp. 221-40.

[37] Wangensteen, O. H. & Wangensteen, S. D. 1978 The rise of surgery. From empiric craft to scientific discipline. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.

[38] Wangensteen, O. H., Smith J. & Wangensteen, S. D. 1967 'Some highlights in the history of amputation reflecting lessons in wound healing'. Bulletin of the History of Medicine. Vol. 41, pp. 97-125.

Brasil

Brasil

Entre les miasmes et les germes: L'impact de la bacteriologie sur la pratique medicale en territoire Canadien 1870-1930

From miasmata to germs: The impact of bacteriology on medical practice in Canadian territory from 1870 to 1930

Entre os miasmas e os germes: O impacto da bacteriologia na prática médica no territorio canadense: 1870-1930

Abstracts

Publication Dates

History