Ship surgeons

[Mission]

Oh, I do like this.

“For one must aim at attaining a certain measure, and yet this measure admits neither weight nor calculation of any kind, by which it may be accurately determined, unless it be the sensation of the body; wherefore it is a task to learn this accurately, so as not to commit small blunders either on the one side or the other, and in fact I would give great praise to the physician whose mistakes are small, for perfect accuracy is seldom to be seen, since many physicians seem to me to be in the same plight as bad pilots, who, if they commit mistakes while conducting the ship in a calm do not expose themselves, but when a storm and violent hurricane overtake them, they then, from their ignorance and mistakes, are discovered to be what they are, by all men, namely in losing their ship.” (Hippocrates, On Ancient Medicine, Hippocratic Writings, translated by Francis Adams, 1952, p. 3)

[Handcannon Chris]

Does anybody know of other merchants to buy medical equipment from besides G. Gedney Godwin? Their capital saw, metacarpal saw, and scarificator have been on backorder forever. They say that metacarpal saw should be in this week but have no date for the others. I did notice that they have a wooden case for their medical instruments now. It's $350 price tag is a little steep for my 1 and a half shares though.

[Mission]

GGG is about as close as you get to period repro that I've found. Their stuff seems to be dated around the time of Rev War as near as I can place it (maybe F&I war). There are some Civil War repro companies I've come across that make repro surgical stuff but since GGG compares pretty favorably to them in price, I don't see the point of purchasing stuff that far from period. I actually think GGGs prices are pretty decent, all things considered. My primary complaint about GGG is that they don't have all the stuff you need to make a full out surgeon's kit (Although they just added sort of crane's bill forceps, which makes me really happy. I've not seen any on eBay in the past two years and I've been actively looking. In fact, I was considering buying their regular forceps and bending them myself.) There's also the wait time...I waited over a year for one piece from them. I guess it's because their stuff is hand-made.

The other option I've found is eBay. But they are extremely hit & miss, you've got to know what will at least pass for period (because the true period stuff is really expensive), and even the pass-for-period stuff makes GGG look cheap by comparison. I bought an 1750-1800 bone saw off eBay, spending several times what they charge, making theirs look like a steal. The fact it, outfitting to be a surgeon is sort of expensive. If you want a decent medical kit, I'd be prepared to spend at least a thousand on your stuff. (This is why it's best to acquire stuff over time and build your collection gradually.)

Now as to their new box...it doesn't quite look correct to me. Since we don't have extant examples, it's hard to say if velvet-lining for medical tool chests was appropriate or not to period. Even if it is, that seems like a luxury. Most sea-surgeons were newly trained and couldn't find land-based positions. So they would go to sea instead to get experience. They would typically be financially strapped and probably would not have spent the extra money required for such luxurious accommodations for their tools. (This is admittedly guesswork on my part based on what I have read about sea surgeons.) I think you'd be better to make your own...which I plan to do some day. Some day... See the thread On Making a Medical Chest for my research progress (if not my actual construction progress).

[Handcannon Chris]

Well hopefully we wont be bidding on the same things.

[Mission]

Fair winds to you if we are. (But not too fair. )

I am only looking for a few things at this point (or really interesting things that I didn't know I wanted) and I have definite price points in mind for them, so I doubt we will cross paths too many times.

What I really want to get my grubby paws on is a dental pelican. I wish someone would make a repro pelican because the cheapest I've found a real one for is $400+.

[Mission]

I thought this was pretty funny. It's from T. Aubrey's book The sea-surgeon, or the Guinea man's vade mecum [handbook]. Based on his comments, I suspect Mr. Aubrey is a physician or an apothecary writing this manual focusing on fevers and medicines for the (in his opinion, hapless) sea surgeons.

"They had a kind of Barber-Surgeon on Board, which they might have as well been without, only that he served well enough to shave and bleed. I demanded of him, how he treated the Mate [the patient - Thomas Wright, "on Board a West-India Shallop" who had "Relicks of a Diarrhœtic Fever"], he said he had blooded him three times, and purged him as often, but with what he could scarcely tell me, or else was ashamed to let me know, altho' he had a Chest very handsomly furnished with Medicines for such a Vessel, had he had but Judgment to make use of them. Thus many pour Souls are cast away by the Ignorance of such Vermin, who without Consideration, or Conscious, undertake the charge of a Vessel." (Aubrey, p. 80)

[Daniel]

Mission, here's another paragraph from Rodger's Command of the Ocean that I thought might be particularly interesting to you, dealing as it does with Navy surgeons and medical care.

In the long term one of the most significant developments concerned the Navy's relations with the rival medical corporations: the College of Physicians of London, the Barber-Surgeons' Company and the Society of Apothecaries. By demanding practical remedies for mass outbreaks of disease (something impossible and disreputable according to orthodox Galenic medicine), by distributing its official favours between the medical bodies, and by requiring (in 1709) that naval surgeons undergo a qualifying course in medicine (the physician's preserve), the Admiralty and Navy Board began to undermine the official divisions of the medical world. This effect was reinforced by an act of 1698 permitting 'discharged soldiers' to practice outwith [sic - probably should say "without"] guild regulations, which led to a growing number of ex-naval and military surgeons, trained to some extent as 'general practitioners', taking up practice ashore.⁶⁵

Rodger, p. 196.

⁶⁵ Cook, 'Practical Medicine'. Rodger, 'Medicine and Science'. KMN II, 202, 265-76. Holmes, Augustan England, pp. 193, 197 and 203.

[Mission]

Interesting that the qualifying course requirement occurred during our period. It definitely goes along with the concept of standardizing medicine. Most surgeons during period were apprenticed for 7 years and then had to take an oral test with surgeons of the Barber-Surgeon's Company to become practicing surgeons. (There were other levels of competence in the organization as well.) The Navy wanted fast results, for obvious reasons. They were also involved in searching for medicines that would be quick-fixes. I remember reading this long article on how they put their money behind some such medicine to cure Scurvy despite the fact that (based on the ingredients) it wouldn't do much good.

[Mission]

Captain Sterling asked me "have ye ever come across 18th c. surgeons wearing blue linen aprons?"

Now, I had not looked into the question of the surgeon's apron in any depth before and the answer surprised even me, so I thought I would share it as others might be interested in knowing the answer.

The ONLY near-period reference I found to a surgeon having an apron is from John Woodall's book the surgions mate, 1639 edition:

"If the Surgeons Mate cannot trimme men, then by due consequence there is to be a Barber of the ships Company, and he ought not to be wanting of these following necessaries.

One Barbours case, containing,

Rasours foure. |Aprons three.

Scissers two paire. |Shaving towels twelve.

Combes three. |Water-pot one.

Combes-brush one. |Sweet water one.

Bare-picker one. |Washing-bols lesse or more.

Curling Instruments. |Hoane one.

Turning Instruments and Spunges. |Whet-stone one.

Mallet one. |Basons two.

Gravers two. | And what else is necessary to

Flegme one. | the Barbers profession, as the

Paring knives two. | expert Barber better knoweth."

(Woodall, Contents of the surgeon's chest, 6th page)

Woodall does not indicate what these three aprons would be made from, however. From this, it also sounds as if an apron was something used more by barbers than surgeons. (Note that barbers would also do bloodletting, which may lead to further need for an apron.) This sort of apron reminded me of a sketch made in 1669 by Maurice Sands for the comedic play Monsieur de Pourceaugnac:

This is a drawing of an apothecary (druggist in our terms) and since it is for a comedy, it may well be exaggerated. However, it is probably also reminiscent of what such people would wear, even if it may be overstated, because otherwise the image would not be recognized to contemporary audiences.

The only other account I have of a change of clothes for the operating theater is from a modern book, albeit a very well and fully researched one by Guy Williams called The Age of Agony:

"Near this, there is a row of pegs on which the surgeons would hang their ‘operating coats’ –discarded frock coats, usually, which, after they had been used in the theatre for any length of time, would be stiff with dried pus and blood. On entereing the theatre to operate, an eighteenth-century surgeon would take off his street coat and then would put on his ‘operating coat’, rolling up his sleeves and turning up the collar over his white linen to save it from becoming unnecessarily stained." (Williams, p. 117)

However, this is also not an apron, it is a coat and it is also for a land-based operating theater. This actually agrees with period and near period images of surgeons operating (on land.)

From Traite des Operations de Chirurgie, by Rene Garengeot, p. 365 (1723)

From A General System of Surgery, by Lorenz Heister (1743)

Leg Amputation, from an 18th c. Painting in the Royal College of Surgeons

I do have one image that may be of a surgeon wearing an apron, but it's not very good and I collected it before I started keeping track of sources and dates:

You may argue that these are not of ship's or even military surgeons, and I would agree that's a fair point. Such men would be going from patient to patient, encountering all manner of bodily fluids and may need better protection. The only sketch I have found of a ship's surgery is from the early 19th c., but it again fails to show anyone wearing an apron. Rather, they seem to be wearing regular clothes for that period:

Ship's Surgery, unknown artist (1820)

So, taken all together, it is probably more appropriate not to wear an apron in the role of a ship's surgeon than it is to wear one. Which, as i mentioned, shocks even me, especially since I shelled out $60 for one several years ago.

[Swashbuckler 1700]

Sorry if I somehow misunderstood the matter

What is interesting that there so few pictures of 18th century doctors with aprons

This one has some kind of cloth to cover his pants -much like the thing that apothecary had in that earlier picture....

These are doctors studying death bodies by Hogarth (the two people with aprons with one button thingy) (similar than this You are wearing http://www.piratesurgeon.com/pages/pip07/images/Mission_Posed_Gear_Main_Page.jpg )

and this is a bit unclear but it seems that he has something like the brain surgeon was wearing earlier.

Country surgeon circa 1747

(http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/collections/collection-items/fine-art/le-chirurgien-de-campagne-fa-2000-001-140.aspx)

Also note this earlier Teniers school Foot operation 1663

Edited July 23, 2013 by Swashbuckler 1700

[Mission]

Excellent finds! Thank you for posting them here. (This is turning out to be more interesting than I thought.)

Most of them appear to be cloth, although the apron on the dissectionist is pretty clearly leather. It is also the sort I purchased - with the button. It's not very far from that to the grisly scene a ship's surgeon would face during battle, so an argument could be made. (Although someone of my SJ Facebook fan page pointed out the dissectionists did wear them.)

[Swashbuckler 1700]

You welcome

Further to this.... Well not Gaop but 18th century

The Persevering Surgeon by Thomas Rowlandson, c. 1775

(that looks like an apron of some sort at least in my opinion)

http://willigula.tumblr.com/post/35078968646/the-persevering-surgeon-by-thomas-rowlandson-c

Edited July 23, 2013 by Swashbuckler 1700

[Mission]

Here are some other images of surgeons at work...the majority of what I've seen to not wear aprons.

Adriaen Rombouts, mid-17th century

Surgeon attending to a wound in a man's side, by Johan Joseph Horemans (Antwerp), early 18th c.
(Say, I like that red, sleeved coat...)

Surgeon letting blood (to the right of the patient), unknown Flemish painter, 18th c. He may be wearing an apron or that may be his belt and breeches. It's hard to tell.

Bleeding a patient, Wolf Helmhardt von Hohberg, 1695

Bleeding, by Cintio Damato, 1671 from the book Nuova et utlilssima prattica di tutto quello ch'al diligente barbiero s'appartiene

By Garret Lundens (1649)

Leg Amputation from the book Chiurgia Curiosa (1716)


Amputation, From the book De Gangrena et Sphacelo by Hildanus (1617)

[Swashbuckler 1700]

Certainly most surgeons had normal clothes on during operations.

But if we generally look into use of aprons we can see at least that innkeepers alike had those

Hogarth again (right side)

And well I am going a bit off-topic but this is only tells that doctors could cover themselves with special equipment.... but well it is not a surgeon but a plaque doctor and the suit is to prevent infection ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Johann_Melchior_F%C3%BCssli_(1677%E2%80%931736),_Sketch_of_a_Cordovan-leather-clad_doctor_of_Marseilles.png

anyway

Edited July 23, 2013 by Swashbuckler 1700

[Mission]

Plague Doctor costumes are wonderful. I thought about making one up, but they would not really apply to a ship.) There's actually a thread about it that was split off from another topic.

[Mission]

Hey, John Moyle's book for sea-surgeons "Chirurgus Marinus" is now available on line! I just stumbled across it.

Most people who want to do pirate surgeon impressions look for John Woodall's book (which is also available on-line), which had been out of print for almost 50 years by the time the Golden Age of Pyracy began in the 1690s. Moyle's book is ten times easier to read than Woodall's, is much shorter and far more direct and to the point. I highly recommend to those interested in reading about period sea surgery.

John Moyle's is the only sea surgeon's book published during period. It was (apparently) first published in 1686 as Abstractum Chirurgiae Marinae, then greatly revised and published as Chirurgus Marinus in 1693 and slightly revised and republished in 1702. (For some reason, the 1702 version is listed as the 4th edition. I have only found two other editions, so someone either made a mistake or one of the versions has not been found and digitized.)