English medicine and surgery in the fourteenth century / by D'Arcy Power.

  • Power, D'Arcy, 1855-1941.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: English medicine and surgery in the fourteenth century / by D'Arcy Power. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    14 British Museum.’ The section treats “ of wounds of the gut and liver.’ It says :— Yf a gutte passe out of the wounde and it be not wounded reduce him in again, and yf you may not reduce him procede in this manner, ffirst chaufe ye guttes that ben oute and mollifie hem with a gret sponge (wetted) in water of ye decoccion of camomulle & anys & enoynte hem with hoote oile of camomulle & when they be chaufed with the aforeseid sponge putte hem in agen as well as you may & yff you may not reduce hem by this weye open ze wound a litell more liztly & widely & then reduce hem & sewe ye wounde & yf the gutte that passe out be wounded then that wounde ben dedlye but yet leve not the resonable cure of the wound. An ye guttes be kutte all otmest so that ther leve nothyng hoole thane natheless the wound is mortal and may not receive no curacion; but yf ze guttes be kutte on lengthe other in partie on breadth but not fully cut in sonder hardily conduce ye parties of ye gutte that is kutte, whether that it be kutte ye lengthe other brede, & sewe hem in ye manner as skynners sewen ther furroures [furs], for in this case it is ye best maner ; & anone as it is sewed lay on a poudir that mo cleve together to the guttes & the sewing the weche is made in this manner: Take Mastic, draganth & gum arabick, &c. In the same manner it is recommended that a ruptured liver should be treated by suture. The Barbers. The term “ leech ” was used familiarly as the term “ doctor ” is at present, and was applied to all members of the medical profession. The general or family practitioner, at any rate in London, was obliged to be a member of the guild or fraternity of Barbers. He was a Barber and was called a Barber or, at the best, a Barber practising surgery, for there were no Barber Surgeons, since the Barbers and Surgeons did not unite until 1540. Some jealousy existed between the operating surgeon and the barber who practised surgery, for Arderne says, in speaking of the treatment of thrombosed piles by incision : “ And be the lech ware that non