ABSTRACT
Prince Albert had died of typhoid fever in December 1861, leaving Victoria in blackest mourning and darkest depression. Sir James Clark, who had acted as physician to King Leopold in the past, was consulted and advised that the King should be seen by Sir Benjamin Brodie, the Queen's surgeon – the same Benjamin Brodie who, forty-two years before, had been in attendance when Sir Astley Cooper removed George IV's sebaceous cyst. On June 1, Thompson passed a sound into the bladder and detected what he thought to be a stone. On June 6 lithotrity was carried out, and a further crushing was performed four days later. By now Thompson was aware of the antiseptic theory and realised that his new instruments, freshly unpacked from their greasy, oily, and therefore sterile wrappings, were uncontaminated by previous use on other patients, while those of Civiale and Langenbeck were contaminated by the bacteria of dozens of French and German bladders.
