Early in the 20th century, the practice of medicine was at a similar point. For example, research had long since identified the importance of bacteria in disease, and by 1865 Joseph Lister had demonstrated the effectiveness of antiseptic procedures in surgery. In the 1890s, William Halsted at Johns Hopkins University introduced rubber gloves, gauze masks, and steam sterilization of surgical instruments and demonstrated the effectiveness of these procedures. Yet it took 30 years to convince tradition-bound physicians to use sterile procedures. If he dropped his scalpel, a physician in 1910 was as likely as not to give it a quick wipe and carry on.