This article recounts the clinical background and the legacy of tuberc
ulosis chest surgery, the historical alliance of two McGill teaching h
ospitals, and the timing of and way in which a joint medical-surgical
decision to attempt the first human lung transplantation in Canada was
made. The experimental phase, involving the use of identical twin cal
ves, was accomplished with the help of L'Ecole de medecine veterinaire
de Quebec. The reasons are given for the universal failure of all the
early cases, and an updated summary is provided of the remarkable res
ults obtained in the last decade.