"Surgery in the Penninsular War" Topic

Of possible interest?

Free to read
PDF link

Amicalement
Armand

William Brown (a Scotsman) of the 45th (1st Nottinghamshire) Regiment, tells in his autobiography of how he was afflicted by malaria in the Peninsula (He must have been sick for about 12 months of his service there) and of him becoming the servant to the Regiment's assistant Surgeon, Charles Cook. An interesting read of which I am halfway through.

link

Paul :)

Tango, that is a great find. The author has already contributed much on this topic through his role at the RCS London.

The accounts of surgery performed are well described, even for those who have never wielded a toothed forceps or number 10 blade in anger.

Of course most deaths were due to diseases that the art of surgery could never treat. Physicians were few and far between and their "tools of the trade" only started to emerge decades in the future. Hygiene and prevention could have done so much, but I guess if you have never even contemplated bacterial existence…..

If only surgeons had thought to use the tourniquets to produce limb anaesthesia. Left on, with pressure correctly applied, an arm or leg will soon "go dead" and away you go. I suspect the bone or periosteum might know about it though.

Easy to be wise when you have been taught all this by two centuries of advances

Merci bien mon cher ami!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand