[ExI] for all those people who say they were born too late...

Tue Feb 3 04:39:37 UTC 2009

A chilling article that gives actual excerpts from a medical handbook from
nearly 300 years ago.  Reading things like this make me shake my head at
people who claim they dearly wish to have been born centuries ago.

22nd century doctors that still have human minds and emotions will recoil in
horror at the crude techniques shown in our current medical tomes.

I consider myself to have been born too early.  Anyone else?

John Grigg

http://www.livescience.com/history/090128-medical-history.html

Book Tells Horror of 18th Century Surgery

By Robert Roy Britt<http://www.livescience.com/php/contactus/author.php?r=rb>,
Editorial Director

posted: 28 January 2009 11:18 am ET
 [image: first surgery with
anesthesia]<http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?s=history&c=news&l=on&pic=090128-ancient-surgery-02.jpg&cap=This+widely+circulated+photograph+is+of+a+re-enactment+of+the+first+operation+under+anesthesia+on+Oct.+16%2C+1846+in+the+operating+room+of+the+Massachusetts+General+Hospital%2C+Boston.+Credit%3A+Library+of+Congress&title=>
This widely circulated photograph is of a re-enactment of the first
operation under anesthesia on Oct. 16, 1846 in the operating room of the
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Credit: Library of Congress
 Full Size<http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?s=history&c=news&l=on&pic=090128-ancient-surgery-02.jpg&cap=This+widely+circulated+photograph+is+of+a+re-enactment+of+the+first+operation+under+anesthesia+on+Oct.+16%2C+1846+in+the+operating+room+of+the+Massachusetts+General+Hospital%2C+Boston.+Credit%3A+Library+of+Congress&title=>
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 [image: first surgery with
anesthesia]<http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?s=history&c=news&l=on&pic=090128-ancient-surgery-02.jpg&cap=This+widely+circulated+photograph+is+of+a+re-enactment+of+the+first+operation+under+anesthesia+on+Oct.+16%2C+1846+in+the+operating+room+of+the+Massachusetts+General+Hospital%2C+Boston.+Credit%3A+Library+of+Congress&title=>This
widely circulated photograph is of a re-enactment of the first operation
under anesthesia on Oct. 16, 1846 in the operating room of the Massachusetts
General Hospital, Boston. Credit: Library of Congress[image:
rbritt-headshot-01.jpg]<http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?s=history&c=news&l=on&pic=rbritt-headshot-02.jpg&cap=In+The+Water+Cooler%2C+Robert+Roy+Britt+takes+a+daily+look+at+what+people+are+talking+about+in+the+world+of+science+and+beyond.+%5B%3Ca+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livescience.com%2Ftopic%2Fwater-cooler%22%3EWater+Cooler+Archive%3C%2Fa%3E%5D&title=>In
The Water Cooler, Robert Roy Britt takes a daily look at what people are
talking about in the world of science and beyond. [Water Cooler
Archive<http://www.livescience.com/topic/water-cooler>
]

We all know medicine has come a long way in the past century. Now a
300-year-old guidebook, recently found on a dusty shelf, reveals how
horrible things were way back then.

The book, written in 1712 and titled "Treatise of the Operations of
Surgery," gives advice on such horrific procedures as amputations — before
anesthesia was invented. The publication's discovery was reported
today<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1130463/Revealed-The-18th-century-guide-amputations-operations-medical-tips.html>by
the
*Daily Mail*. Here are some of the gory details within, according to the
British newspaper:

*On amputating a leg: *"Cut quick with a crooked knife before covering the
stump with the remaining skin," French medical author Joseph Charriere
recommended.

*On treating wounds:* "If the wound be only in the flesh you may bathe it
with brandy and cover the part with a compressed dip in a warm wine
quickened with spir vini," Charriere wrote. "If the wound is to the nervous
parts you can dissolve sugar candy, camphire and myrrh in it." (Charriere
was kind of onto something: A study in 2007 found wine kills
germs<http://www.livescience.com/health/070705_wine_mouthwash.html>in
the mouth and throat.)

*On the best time for surgery:* "Either Spring or Autumn," Charriere
advised. "In the Spring, the blood is revived with greater heat whilst in
the Autumn blood is calm."

Surgery was a last resort in the 18th century that often resulted in
infection and death anyway.

"Having a limb sawn off without
anesthetic<http://www.livescience.com/culture/081106-conscious-anesthesia.html>is
just unimaginable," Howard Ellis, professor of surgery at the
Westminster
Medical School and author of "A History of Surgery," told the newspaper.

Things changed in 1846 with the use of general anesthesia and again in 1867
when antiseptics to control infection came into widespread use.
(Interestingly, even today scientists do not fully understand how anesthesia
works <http://www.livescience.com/culture/081106-conscious-anesthesia.html>.)
Meanwhile, the harnessing of
morphine<http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/050519_morphine_200.html>as
a painkiller in the mid-1800s was a big relief, too.

"The book would have proved invaluable to surgeons in its day — it would
have been like a bible for them to use and refer to when operating," said
Charles Hanson of Hansons Auctioneers.

The book will be auctioned next month.

   - Maggots and Leeches: Old Medicine is
New<http://www.livescience.com/health/050419_maggots.html>
   - Yeeowww! Prehistoric Dentists Used Stone
Drills<http://www.livescience.com/history/060405_neolithic_dentist.html>
   - Music During Surgery Reduces Sedation
Needs<http://www.livescience.com/health/050525_music_surgery.html>

 *Robert Roy Britt is the Editorial Director of
Imaginova<http://www.imaginova.com/>.
In this column, The Water
Cooler<http://www.livescience.com/topic/water-cooler>,
he takes a daily look at what people are talking about in the world of
science and beyond.*
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