COMMENTARIES
ON THE
Surgery of the War
IN PORTUGAL, SPAIN, FRANCE, AND
THE NETHERLANDS,
FROM THE BATTLE OF ROLIÇA, IN 1808, TO THAT OFWATERLOO, IN 1815;
WITH ADDITIONS RELATING TO THOSE IN THE CRIMEA IN1854-1855.
SHOWING
THE IMPROVEMENTS MADE DURING AND SINCE THAT PERIOD IN THEGREAT ART AND SCIENCE OF SURGERY ON ALL THESUBJECTS TO WHICH THEY RELATE.
REVISED TO OCTOBER, 1855.
BY G. J. GUTHRIE, F.R.S.
SIXTH EDITION.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1862.
TO
The Right Honorable
The Lord Panmure,
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE WAR DEPARTMENT,
ETC. ETC. ETC.,
THESE COMMENTARIES
ARE, BY PERMISSION,
INSCRIBED,
BY HIS LORDSHIP’S VERY OBEDIENT
AND FAITHFUL SERVANT,
G. J. GUTHRIE.
PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.
Twenty months have elapsed since the IntroductoryLecture was published in The Lancet; fifteen otherssucceeded at intervals, and fifteen have been printed separatelyto complete the number of which the present workis composed. Divested of the historical and argumentative,as well as of much of the illustrative part, containedin the records whence it is derived, it nevertheless occupies585 pages—the essential points therein being numberedfrom 1 to 423.
Sir De Lacy Evans, in some observations lately madein the House of Commons on the subject of a Professorshipof Military Surgery in London, alluded to theseLectures in the most gratifying manner; he could not,however, state their origin, scope, or object, being unacquaintedwith them.
On the termination of the war in 1814, I expressed inprint my regret that we had not had another battle inthe south of France, to enable me to decide two or threepoints in surgery which were doubtful. I was called anenthusiast, and laughed at accordingly. The battle ofWaterloo afforded the desired opportunity. Sir JamesM’Grigor, then first appointed Director-General, offered to[6]place me on full pay for six months. This would havebeen destructive to my prospects in London; I thereforeoffered to serve for three, which he was afraid would becalled a job, although the difference between half-pay andfull was under sixty pounds; and our amicable discussionended by my going to Brussels and Antwerp for five weeksas an amateur. The officers in both places received mein a manner to which I cannot do justice. They placedthemselves and their patients at my entire disposal, andcarried into effect every suggestion. The doubts on