Halsted vs Lister: should the surgeon cut boldly or clean first?

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HALSTED vs JOSEPH LISTER go head to head — and every jab is rooted in real history.

HALSTED

Speed is butchery, Lister. I handle tissue like a mother handles a newborn, and I gave surgeons gloves to protect it.

JOSEPH LISTER

Gentle hands mean nothing if your instruments swarm with unseen killers, Halsted; my carbolic spray banished the sepsis that emptied your wards.

HALSTED

Your carbolic mist choked the surgeon and scorched the patient, while my clean, unhurried dissection saved the vessels you'd have severed.

JOSEPH LISTER

Better a coughing surgeon than a rotting corpse, my friend; you perfected the cut, but I made it worth surviving.

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