Truth : a libel by law : the evidence of Sir J.Y. Simpson, bart., M.D., and others, in the case of Sharp versus Wilson, with diagrams and correspondence / by James Wilson.

  • Wilson, James, L.F.P.S.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Truth : a libel by law : the evidence of Sir J.Y. Simpson, bart., M.D., and others, in the case of Sharp versus Wilson, with diagrams and correspondence / by James Wilson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    ing ordeal of giving bii-th to their fii-st-born, the confinement of Mrs Helen Geddes, when she was attended by the pursuer, was described to me with such life-like correctness that one could not help feeling a chill of horror come over him, and wondering -within himself if such things could be—the lying-in chamber converted into a pandemonium—the forceps shpping eight times—the case given up—a proposal made to break open the head of the infant—a second practitioner rushing to the rescue, and, by one sldlful application of the forceps, suo- ceeding in reHeving the mother of her torments by biiaging to the world a livuig child, the occiput and inner angle of the right frontal part of the head presentmg frightful wounds, proving an important point in relation to the application and the frequent slipping of the short forceps—whether a weak or a powerful instrument—by silent hut incontrovertible logic. On several occasions, when attending cases of confinement, the conversation seemed frequently of its own accord, as it were, to turn to scenes of horror and distress. Terrible doings have been related to me by women of sterling and unwavermg in- tegrity as having taken place at Cathie, Gray's Yards, and in a house near the Windmill, &c., where it was found necessary for the accomplishment of delivery that the child should be either cut into pieces or forcibly extracted by means of a strong cord; all the mothers dying a few hours after such treatment! In November, 1863, Mrs Longmore was attended in her con- finement by the pursuer. The forceps was used; an attempt to turn was made; a cord was attached, says a reliable wit- ness, to the child's leg, and traction made on the cord for the purpose of effecting delivery; the pursuer asked for something to put below his knees; and the woman died undelivered! 1 was intimately acquainted with the deceased Mrs Longmore, having attended professionally several of her family, and also herself during a long and severe attack of typhus. In February, 1864, Mrs James Wilson, a sister of the late Mrs Longmore, and wife of Mr James Wilson, farmer, Knowes of Deskford, was seized with what appeared to be labom- pains, and Dr Greig of Portsoy, her usual medical attendant, was called to attend on her. That gentleman bemg m bad health, however, could not attend, and the pursuer was taken instead. The alarm, however, was a false one, and the pur- suer soon left his patient as he fotmd her, no delivery havmg been effected. Taking into consideration all that I had heard from reliable sources regarding the cases of the late JMrs