Account of a case of successful amputation of the thigh during the mesmeric state, without the knowledge of the patient. Read to the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, on Tuesday, the 22nd of November, 1842 / By W. Topham and W. Squire Ward.

  • Topham, William, Sir.
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Account of a case of successful amputation of the thigh during the mesmeric state, without the knowledge of the patient. Read to the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, on Tuesday, the 22nd of November, 1842 / By W. Topham and W. Squire Ward. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    21/58 (page 13)
    afterwards, he declared that the pain had ceas- ed; and I again mesmerised him, in four minutes. Ina quarter of an hour, I informed Mr. Ward that he might commence the opera- tion. I then brought two fingers of each hand gently in contact with Wombell’s closed eyelids ; and there kept them, still further to deepen the sleep. Mr. Ward, after one earnest look at the man, slowly plunged his knife into the centre of the outer side of the thigh, directly to the bone ; and then made a clear incision, round the bone, to the opposite point, on the inside of the thigh. The stillness, at this moment, was something awful: the calm respiration of the sleeping man alone was heard ; for all other seemed suspended. _ In making the second incision, the position of the leg was found more inconvenient than it had ap- peared to be; and the operator could not pro- ceed with his former facility. Soon after the second incision, a moaning was heard from the patient, which continued, at intervals, until the conclusion. It gave me the idea of a troubled dream; for his sleep continued as profound as ever. The placid look of his countenance never