A vindication of the forceps described and recommended by Dr. Leake : in which the injudicious and illiberal remarks on that subject, signed Thomas Denman, are examined and refuted / by a late pupil of Dr. Leake's.

Date:
1783
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A vindication of the forceps described and recommended by Dr. Leake : in which the injudicious and illiberal remarks on that subject, signed Thomas Denman, are examined and refuted / by a late pupil of Dr. Leake's. 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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    / C 8 ] you apprehend ; for if the blades contain a body within' their Curve, the action for the extraftion of that body, mu ft ftiil be derived from their Junction as a refting Point, other wife they would want a Fulcrum, and therefore could not aft at all.—If this is difficult to be underftood, you may, if you pleafe, fup- pole two Blades without fuch junction, to be pa fled up along the Child’s head, and as thefe Blades could not poffibly then be locked, they would not aft on the Child’s head, and confequently it could not be extrafted. Befides, the Blades of the Forceps, confidered as two Levers, do not aft alternately as you tell us ; for as both of them clofely and equally embrace the Child’s head, the one cannot poffibly be made to aft without the other; their aftiou therefore is not alternate but fimultaneous. Such frivolous and far-fetched Objeftions ffiew that you have taken great pains to find them out, and that you have been at whip and fpur in purfuit of Game ; but like an unfkilful Hunts- man who miftakes the metal of his Steed, as well as his own ; you have unfortunately quite unhorfed yourfelf in attempting the five Bar-gate. Upon the whole, either your knowledge of Me- chanics fhould have been greater, or your prefumption lefs, in contradifting eftabliflied and felf-evident principles. So much for your Accuracy and Skill ; I fhall next quote your iecond Article verbatim, as a curious fpecimen of your Candour, and the refpeft due to your Superiors :—Reader, pleafe to attend to the following: modeft AiTertion. Profejfors have generally mifled us in the purfuit of practical knowledge, being too often of that order op men, who are the bane of real improvement. Inquirunt, fays Dr. Harvey, non quomodo res lunt, led quid alii dicunt. If fuch Prorefiors are any where to be found, your preceding Remarks evidently fhew, that you have no fmall fiitle to be included