The improvements in modern surgery : being the oration delivered March 8, 1854, before the Medical Society of London, at the eighty-first aniversary / by Henry Smith.

  • Smith, Henry, 1823-1894.
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The improvements in modern surgery : being the oration delivered March 8, 1854, before the Medical Society of London, at the eighty-first aniversary / by Henry Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    coming away, and the parts be thus placed in a condition to escape further mischief. That this practice, based upon these views, is correct, I have not the slightest doubt. Every surgeon almost, of the present generation, has been educated in the idea that it was a hazardous procedure to make an opening into a joint when filled with matter, but Mr. Gay has now shown us that a free opening into a diseased knee or hip joint, is not only not hazardous, but is likely to be followed by the very best results. It is when a small opening only is made into a joint that mischief is likely to ensue. It is impossible for any one taking a sketch of some of the more striking achievements of modern surgery, to overlook that department which relates to the treatment of deformities of the human body. The present generation of surgeons has seen a vast revolution take place here. The practice, by division of tendons for the cure of the various deformities to which the ex¬ tremities are more especially liable, first advocated by Delpeck, and practised by Stromeyer and Dieffenbach abroad, has of late years been brought almost to a state of perfection, mainly by the efforts of some of our own countrymen, amongst whom I may mention the names of Dr. Little and Mr. Tamplin. It is impossible to view the results of the treatment of club foot by the division of the contracted tendons, and the subsequent use of mechanical appliances, as also the beautiful effects of the division of the internal rectus muscle in strabismus, with¬ out feeling that the resources of surgery, when wielded scienti¬ fically and skilfully, are very comprehensive. It is a subject of pleasure to me to be able in this place to refer to the labours of a distinguished Fellow, and late President of this Society, in connexion with the subject of deformities; for although the views of Mr. Bishop are at variance with the majority of those who more strictly practice orthopoedic surgery, it is im¬ possible to acquaint oneself with his opinions, and not observe that he has laboriously investigated this difficult subject, and that he has applied to this investigation the resources of a philosophical mind. He is strongly opposed to the section of tendons, not only in distortion of the spinal column, but also considers that tenotomy, as a remedy in instances of club foot, is unscientific and inexpedient, inasmuch as it deals with effects instead of causes. This reasoning, as applied to the treatment of disease in general is doubtless correct, but there