FRONTISPIECE.Photo, H. Kisch Ladysmith. Engraved and Printed by Bale and Danielsson,Ltd.
SURGICAL EXPERIENCES
IN
SOUTH AFRICA
1899-1900
BEING MAINLY A CLINICAL STUDY OF THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF INJURIESPRODUCED BY BULLETS OF SMALL CALIBRE
BY
GEORGE HENRY MAKINS, F.R.C.S.
SURGEON TO ST. THOMAS'S HOSPITAL, LONDON
JOINT LECTURER ON SURGERY IN THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF ST. THOMAS'S HOSPITAL
MEMBER OF THE COURT OF EXAMINERS OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF
SURGEONS OF ENGLAND, AND LATE ONE OF THE CONSULTING SURGEONS
TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN FIELD FORCE
LONDON
SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE
1901
TO
SURGEON-GENERAL W. D. WILSON
PRINCIPAL MEDICAL OFFICER TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN FIELD FORCE
THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS
EMPLOYED IN SOUTH AFRICA
AND TO THE
CIVIL SURGEONS TEMPORARILY ATTACHED TO THAT CORPS
These Experiences are Dedicated
AS AN EXPRESSION OF APPRECIATION
OF THE INVARIABLE KINDNESS AND SYMPATHY EXTENDED
TO THE AUTHOR
WITHOUT WHICH THE BOOK COULD NOT
HAVE BEEN WRITTEN
PREFACE
A word of explanation is perhaps necessary as to the form in which theseexperiences have been put together. The matter was originally collectedwith the object of sending a series of articles to the British MedicalJournal. Various circumstances, however, of which the chief was thefeeling that extending experience altered in many cases the viewsadopted at first sight, prevented the original intention from beingcarried into execution, and the articles, considerably expanded, are nowpublished together.
As to the illustrative cases introduced in support of various statementsmade in the text, only those have been chosen from my notes which wereunder my own observation for a considerable time, and many of these havebeen brought up to date since my return to England. I have, as a rule,avoided the inclusion of cases seen cursorily, and few simple ones havebeen quoted since their character is sufficiently indicated in the text.These remarks seem necessary since the mode of selection has resulted inthe inclusion of a number of cases of exceptional severity, and anyattempt to draw statistical conclusions from them would be mostmisleading.
The first two chapters have been added with a view to affording someinformation, first, as to the conditions under which a great part of thesurgical work was done, and, secondly, as to the mechanism and causationof the injuries, which would not readily be at hand in the case of thegeneral surgical reader. For much of the information contained inChapter II. I must express my indebtedness to the work of MM. Nimier andLaval, so frequently quoted.[Pg viii]
The only other object of this Preface is to express my thanks to themany who have aided me in the task of amplifying the observations onwhich the articles are founded, and I think no writer ever received moresympathetic and kindly help in such particulars than the author.
My first thanks, those due to the Members of the Royal Army MedicalCorps,