A system of practical surgery / by William Fergusson.

  • William Fergusson
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A system of practical surgery / by William Fergusson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    44/878 (page 20)
    eruditus, which is considered so essential to the efficient practice of surgery, and to the acquisition of which a due attention to the above hints will in no small degree contribute. It will also be well before commencing, to have made some ar- rangements as to the chief objects to be attended to in the dissection. A previous knowledge of descriptive anatomy, and what the dissector may already know of surgery, will enable him to arrange some conve- nient plan : a work on anatomy or surgery may be consulted, but it will be perceived that, in the following pages, every care has been taken to point out the manner of displaying each part to the greatest advantage for surgical purposes. , The dissection may now be commenced, and pursued in accordance with the object in view. It is a good general rule, in prosecuting sur- gical anatomy, to cut away as few textures as possible, and to displace no structure until its relations to the neighbouring organs have been fully examined. In order to examine deep-seated parts, it is necessary to lay aside, or remove, those that lie over them; but it should never be forgotten, that removing, or even turning them aside to any grea extent, cannot be done on the living body; and the more, therefore, /that a person accustoms himself to look at deep-seated textures with (the surrounding parts in as near proximity as circumstances will hermit, so much the more readily will the same individual expose such textures, should it be necessary to reach them on the living body. It will be of consequence to become familiar with many deep-seated, tissues by touch as well as by sight, and the fore-finger, of the left hand in particular, should be employed on these occasions. In lithotomy, for example, though the surgeon ought to be familiar by sight with all the parts concerned in the operation, the touch is of as much consequence to him as the sight: more so, I should say, as all the most difficult steps are done, where and when the eyes ^ of little or no avail. The portion of the body about to be dissected should be placed in the most convenient attitude; each texture about to be cut should be put on the stretch, with the fingers and thumb of the left hand, or with the forceps and hooks, as already described at pp. 7 and 8. Occasionally, the assistance of a friend will be of service; but, undoubtedly, the more the dissector trusts to his own resources, the better will it be for himself; and, with practice, the ring and little finger of each hand can be used to stretch the parts, even when the scalpel and forceps are both in use. , . It is well known that much of the dissectors skill may be exhi- bited by attention to these matters, and an equal extent of arrange- ment and design is of the utmost consequence to the practical sur- geon. Before commencing any operation, its various steps should be carefully thought over, and all reasonable contingencies provided for some wUl occasionally occur which no experience or foresight could have anticipated; but no such negligence as the formation oftheflaps in a capital amputation, without a saw being in the apartment, wherewith to divide the bone, should ever occur. I have seen such a