On the Mode in which External Applications Act on Internal Parts

Abstract

From a dissertation by Joseph Lister

Lister joined the Royal Medical Society in 1854 and delivered this dissertation to the Society on 21st December 1855. In this dissertation he propounds the idea that there is "sympathy" between external and internal parts such that treatment of internal disease can be adequately treated by applications to the skin such as leeching, cautery and blistering. He illustrates conditions which may be treated by external applications, and attempts to describe the physiological basis of the treatment.