A system of practical surgery / by William Fergusson ; with notes and additional illustrations by George W. Norris.

  • Fergusson, William, Sir, 1808-1877.
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A system of practical surgery / by William Fergusson ; with notes and additional illustrations by George W. Norris. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    Viii PREFACE. that laboured style of certain treatises on surgical anatomy, which, in describing minute divisions and subdivisions of regions has, it is feared, induced the Student to suppose that these imaginary, or, at best, artificial lines, are of equal importance with the relative posi- tion and appearance of the organs and textures themselves. The arrangement of the contents is such as has been thought most desirable. In the progress of the work it was found that unless such a section as that which has been named The Ele- ments of Practical Surgery were given, there would be a series of repetitions elsewhere, which could not have been avoided. The section in question is, like the others, devoted almost exclusively to practical details, and the author hopes that it will be taken in this light alone by the Student and all who may look into these pages,— for, strictly speaking, the true elements of Practical Surgery are to be found chiefly in a complete system of education. Each subject has been treated according to the author's estima- tion of its utility and importance, and this estimation has been founded partly on his own education, partly on the writings of others, but more particularly on his experience among pupils, among surgeons of his own age, and among his seniors in the pro- fession ; and he has assumed that his personal opportunities have been such as to entitle him, on all fitting occasions, to illustrate his precepts by his own practice, although he must here express a hope, that in the following pages he will not be found deficient in respect for the opinions of others. The limited extent of the work has necessarily prevented notice being taken of many subjects which are of interest to the Practical Surgeon, and also of those historical details which some might desire. While the author cannot but regret the omissions, he trusts that, in some degree, they will be compensated for in other respects, and that few of his readers will be without that admirable emporium of surgical lore, Cooper's Surgical Dictionary, or the Cyclopaedia of Practical Surgery, as far as it has gone, in which they will find all that may be desired on such topics. The present work has not been produced to compete with any already before the profession,—the arrangement,—the manner in which the subjects have been treated, and the illustrations, are all different from any of the kind in the English language. It is not in- tended to be placed in comparison with the elementary systems of Mr. Samuel Cooper, Mr. John Burns, Mr. Liston, Mr. Syme, Mr.