The village-pastor's surgical and medical guide, in letters from an old physician to a young clergyman, his son.

  • Skrimshire, F. (Fenwick), 1774 or 1775-1855.
Date:
1838
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The village-pastor's surgical and medical guide, in letters from an old physician to a young clergyman, his son. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    The patient, or his officious friend, will often, before you arrive, have stuffed into the wound dry rags, or rags soaked in vinegar, perhaps a piece of tobacco, or a piece of felt from his hat, or some other substance supposed to possess the power of staunching blood—a rude and painful piece of surgery, and unnecessary with a view to stopping only a slight or very moderate degree of hemorrhage; because the same porous substances applied over the wound with moderate pressure, after bringing its edges together, would be equally efficacious by retaining the clotted or coagulated blood, which alone gives to such substances their styptic quali- ties. Remove all such foreign matter with the utmost care, for in wounds where the hemorrhage is slight, and the cut surfaces can be brought into apposition, and the edges brought into contact, this of itself will staunch the bleeding; and where the hemorrhage is considerable, other means must be resorted to, which I shall explain in the suc- ceeding letter. These, or any other foreign matter, allowed to remain within the wound, must necessarily prevent the approximation of the cut surfaces, and thus pre- vent the healing of the wound by what surgeons call the first intention, which means the re-union of divided parts without the formation of matter and the growth of new substance. This constitutes one of the most important improvements in mo- dern surgery, and I wish to impress it strongly on