Sir Alexander Ogston (1844–1929), a Scottish surgeon, first isolated and described Staphylococcus aureus in 1880 from pus of surgical abscesses. He named the organism Staphylococcus (Greek: 'bunch of grapes') for its characteristic grape-like cluster arrangement under the microscope, and identified it as a cause of surgical wound infections. Ogston's work established the role of this pathogen in human disease. Passet later cultured it in pure form.