The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1881-09-25
PROGRESS IN MODERN SURGERY.

hUuhhpD lN luODnhN oOhubhl'
The medical bulletins issued by ,he presi
dents physlcians during the last three
months, have given she public an interest
and education in medical subjects ii mas
never possessed before, and this little know!~
edge, which is proverbially dangerous is
now being used by tho prose to criticize tho
attending physicians and the practice Of
surgery itself. They seem to think with
Napoleon that because men die thero is
something wrong with tho system. This
uucducated criticism is undoubtedly humil-
iating TO oil true physicians, but
much good is-to DO hoped for tho poo
plo by an increased knowledge of y science,
which affects so much their physical we'll
being and tends, more than any other study,
TO liberate the mind from that superstition and
overweeaiug credulity that is such a clog to
modern advancement. l! 10 HARD tor mon
who have not given tho matter attention TO
comprehend tho present condition of sur
k'Vhi nIhShNu' hNoi hhOoNho O5SuNoIl VI
anosthoiiGi, the advances made. in surgery
have been 60 rapid and permanent that
Ericsson the great London sur,
geon, said the other day that hs
no nsiderOd the operation
mechanical part OF surgery as practically
perfect, and that any changes made in the
future would be notifications OF present
principles, This assertion is startling but
undenlAbly true. Now whom We consider
the clinical part of surgical practice, thero
arc equal grounds for congratulation,
and its present condition was most sptly
described by Prof, Volkman, in his address
before the International Medical Congress,
whom ho said "But n short time ago the
surgeon when no h,d, according to the rules
of his art, mado wound, was
like the husbsndmsn who, when
no had sown his field, patiently
awaits tho harvest, aud accepts itas it may
turn out, poworloSsly exposed to tho ole
monts which may bring him rain and sun
shide, storm aud hail. Now he Is the manu-
factuver from whom wc expect good wares.
by rescaing from the domain Of chance, the
results of our lsbors,as lsr as they depend on
operations and the treatment of wounds,
and this will always remain chief and es-
pecial work of surgery. The aniiseptC
method nae elevated surgery to the rank Of
tho least experimental of tho
sciences. To discuss modern sur-
gerry without realizing the value
orcarbolic acid would DO like trying to con.
ceive Of our present railroad syslom without
steam or the telegraph without sulphuric acid.
Il |, this antisephc method or Lls!eiism Rs
Il Is called In honor OF Us discoyeror Joseph
Lister, Of England, that enAblea tho eur,
g,on TO penetrate any part Of tho body and
perform operations with an slmos, certainty
Of eueeeas which any years ago would have
been considered reckless madness and e0ry
tain death. Formerly complicated fracture
and ampu.a,ions Of the thigh were almcs,
Always fatal, and surgeons stood helpless al
DO werlcas before the conditions causing this
frgh,ful mortality. Now, the percentage
Of deaths s only four or i've per cent. 70,
IN ,rly the operation Of ovario,omy was Q
seldom successful, that some surgeon
diub,ed It's being jus,iasble. Now spOnc,
welu has just completed report of lOcC
successful cases, and jus, that many homsi