Surgical instruments in Greek and Roman times / by John Stewart Milne.

  • Milne, John Stewart, 1871-
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Surgical instruments in Greek and Roman times / by John Stewart Milne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    Sibrjpov opyava Ti\vr}S rbv aibt]pov 7repiT7?KOWt, irvevfJLaTL avayKa- Covres to Ttvp, TrjV vnapyovaav rpo<pr\v afyaipiovTts, apaibv he TT0l7](TaVT€S, 7TCLL0V(TL KCLL (JVVtXaVVOVGTlV. XlbcLTOS S£ CiWoV TpO^lj loyypbv yivzrai (ii. 641). 1 The instruments of iron working soften iron by driving the fire with wind and taking away the supporting sub- stance, and when they have rarefied it they strike and beat it. By the nourishment of water it is again strengthened.' This is the earliest reference to tempering steel by the Greeks with which I am acquainted. It is a curious com- mentary on the relative destruction of iron instruments compared with those of bronze, that cauteries, which are always described as made of iron and which must have existed in enormous numbers, are among the rarest surgical instruments found. We have a few cauteries of iron, how- ever, and some knives and knife-blades and other instru- ments remain. Pots for ointments of certain kinds were made of iron, and we have actually two of these which had been the property of a Roman oculist whose full name is known. I have entered into this discussion because there seems to be a general tendency to underestimate the extent to which iron was employed by the Greeks and Romans. The quantity of scoria left by the primitive founders should alone be sufficient to teach us to how great an extent iron was in use. Wherever there was good iron in any of the Roman provinces, veritable mountains of scoria are found. The heaps of scoria left in the Forest of Dean by the Roman founders contained such a large percentage of iron still remaining that they were smelted over again in later times, and to do this occupied over twenty furnaces for a couple of centuries. Tolouse calculated that similar heaps in Gaul contained over 120,000 tons of scoria. If, however, we tend to underestimate the extent to which iron was in use among the Greeks and Romans, still more, I believe, do we tend to underrate the quantity and the quality of the steel available in those times. This comes about from the fact that in our day we require such enor- mous quantities of iron and steel that we have to employ iron