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
Catalogue details

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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    for a crooked pair of forceps, which he passed in upon his finger into the wound. (.Lord lenterden. Go on.) And poked them about in the wound, and he used great violence in sodomy. lie then withdrew ilieni, and passed them in a second time; and he again withdrew them, and passed them in a fourtii time. (Lord Ten- terden. Well, go on.) Then lie called for Sh- Aslley Clouper's kniCc—Sir Asliev Vas mentioned {\.qx([ Tcnlerden. Sir Astley's knife? Well, goon.) And he made a cut with this knife, and passed in his finger into the wound again, and used violence m passing his hnger, twisted the linger round several times iu the wound; then lie did not succeed in extracting the stone. He then began to appear to be very much confused; his hand sliook a great deal. (Lord Tenterden. Go on.) And appeared very pale, and his lip shook very much, and that, as I considered, was about thirty- nve nnnutes,at the expiration of which time, I quitted the theatre. Mr. Wukley. What was your impression relative to the operation, as far as you saw It before you left the theatre? Why, Sir, I thought it was badly performed, very badly. Lord Tenterden. Very what? Very badly performed : very improperly performed. Mr. Wakley. Have you witnessed many operations of lithotomy? A great many Sir, How many do you suppose ? At least twenty. .. How long have they lasted, generally? I never saw one last longer than from seven to ten minutes. And how quickly have you seen the operation performed ? In less than a minute. In less than one minute ? Yes, Sir. Cross-examined by Sir James Scarlett. Where do you carry on your profession ? At Beaminster, in Dorset. How long have you been there? Four years and a quarter. Are you an assistant of any gentleman ? Yes. ' What is his name? Mr. Fhelps. Is he a connexion of the defendant, Mr. Wakley ? Yes. What connexion ? He married Mr. Wakley's sister. What were you doing in this town at the time this operation was performed? I came to pass the College. Did you go to Guy's irom curiosity? No, I went there to be instructed. ■ Lord Tenterden. Were you a pupil there ? I was, my Lord. Sit James Scarlett. You went there to be instructed ? Yes. Why did you not wait till the end of the operation? Why, Sir, my feelings would not permit me to do it. Did you see the report before it was printed ? No, Sir. Eh? No, Sir James, I did not. Kor hear of it ? No. You were in London when it was printed, of course, but you had not got'your certificate at that time? I beg your pardon,—1 did not hear what it was you said. You were in Loudon at the time, but had not got your certificate ? Yes, I saw it in The Lsiucet, but not before. But you had not seen Mr. Wakley in the meantime? No. Now you have given us a very succinct account of this operation, but you jump from the first to the second cut; I should suppose, from your account, he could not have got to the bladder ? He could not have cut the bladder in the first incision. No, 1 don't mean the incision of the integuments: are you of opinion he reached the bladder ? He did not at that time. Is the first incision cutting into the urethra? No. What then } You are to avoid the urethra at first. What are you to do then ? To lay open the integuments. Then you are to cut the flesh ? No, the fat and skin. What then? You are to ])ass your finger in and avoid a certain part of the urethra; then you feel for the groove of the staff which is in the penis.