A report of the trial of Cooper v. Wakley, for an alleged libel, taken by shorthand writers employed expressly for the occasion : with an engraving of the instruments, and the position of the patient / together with B. Cooper's "Prefatory remarks" on the evidence, and a copious explanatory appendix, by Thomas Wakley.
- Date:
- 1829
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A report of the trial of Cooper v. Wakley, for an alleged libel, taken by shorthand writers employed expressly for the occasion : with an engraving of the instruments, and the position of the patient / together with B. Cooper's "Prefatory remarks" on the evidence, and a copious explanatory appendix, by Thomas Wakley. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![attending his elevation tolas present situation, justice, humanity, tha interests of the medical profession, and the safety of the public at large, call alike for investigation. Whether this investigation be of a judicial character or not, we are indilFerent. We are prepared to meet Mr. Bransbv Cooper, if he thiiilv fit, in a court of justice; we will roeet hi in iu our own person, (for this will not bq a case to intrust to a lawyer, however eminent or highly-gifted,) and weshall see whether Mr. Biiansbv CooPF.a will be equally prepared to meet us, the public, the relatives of the unfortunate patient, and Mr. Har- rison, the governor of Guy's Hospital. The damages were laid at 2000Z. The defendant had justified, and the fol- lowing were his pleas of justification :— 1st Plea.—And as to the composing, writing, and publishing respectively, and causing to be composed, written, and published, the said supposed libellous matters in the said first, second, third, and fourth counts mentioned, the said defendant, by leave, &c. saith, that the said plaintiff ought not to have or maintain his aforesaid action thereof against him ; because he saith, that before the composing, writing, or publishing the said supposed libellous matters in the introductory part of this plea mentioned, or either of them, to wit, on the 18th day of March, A. D. 1828, in the county aforesaid, the said person in the said declaration in that behalf mentioned, to wit, one Stephen Pollard, was a patient at the said hospital called Guy's Hospital, iu the said declaration mentioned; and the said plaintiff, then and there being such surgeon to the said hospital aforesaid, did then and there perform a certain surgical operation, to wit, the operation of lithotomy, upon the said Stephen Pollard, who was placed on the operating table at the said hospital for the purpose of the said operation, at a certain time, to wit, at a few minutes past one o'clock, on the day and year last aforesaid ; and that the only one of the surgical staff who was then present besides the operator was the said Mr. Callaway, and that the straight staff' was introduced and held by Mr. Callaway. That on the performance of the said operation by the said plaintiff, the first incision through the integuments appeared to have been freely and fairly made, and that after a little dissection the point of the knife was fixed (apparently in the groove of the staff'), which was then taken hold of, and the knife carried onwards somewhere; that a small quantity of fluid followed the withdrawal of the knife ; that the forceps were then handed over, and for some time attempted to be introduced, but wilhont effect. That the said plaintiff being such operator, thereupon then and there said, J must enlarge the opening, give me my uncle's knife ; that the said knife was given, and a cut was made with it without the staff being re-introduced; that the forceps were again used, but as un- successfully as before, that they were pushed onwards to a considerable distance, and with no small degree of force; that the said plaintiff, being such operator thereupon, then and there said, It is a very deep perineum ; I can't reach the bladder with my finger. That iu the further perlormauce of the said operation by the said plaintiff'the staff' was re-introduced, and a cutting gorget passed along it; tliat various forceps were employed; that a blunt gorget, a scoop, sounds, and staves were introduced at the opening iu theperiueum; that the said plaintiff' thereupon then and there said, I really can't conceive the difficulty—hush! hush! don't you hear the stone! That the said plaintiff' thereupon then and there in a hurried manner, turning to one Uodd, being the demonstrator on the occasion aforesaid, said, Dodd, have you a long finger.' Give me another instrument—Now I have it! Good God ! I can hear the stone when I pass the sound from the opening, but the forceps won't touch it. That every now and then there was a cry of hush ! which jVvas succeeded by the stillness of death, broken only by the horrible squash! squash I of the forcep-i in the perineum. That the said Ste])hen Pollard constantly cried out, Oh, let it go ! pray, let it keep in ! Tliat the performance of the said opera- tion by the said plaintiff hereiiibefore mentioned occupied a long space of time, to wit, a space of time exceeding fifty minutes; and that the stone was eventually laid hold of. That tlie said plaintiff being such operator thereupon, then and there turneil to the students and said, I really cannot conceive the cause of the diffi- culty. That the said patient was upon the table, bound, whiUt the said operator was explaining. That the said patient was put to bed much exhausted, hut rallied in a few hours alterwards ; that leeches were applied iu consequence of the tenderness of the abdomen ; that he passed a restless night, was in great jiain, and was bled from the arm on the following morning ; that leeches were applied in the afternoon ; and that about seven o'clock iu the evening death ended the said patient's sutt'eriugs. about tweuty-uine](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21460875_0017.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
