The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-11
ARMY SURGEONS or OLD.
Horrors of Ancient Military Hospi-
tails COntrastcd With Modern


From the London Pal1 Mall Gazette.
1t is poor consolation in time of dis
tress to recall that others are worse off
than ourselves. Present pains and anx-
ieties cannot be relieved by the assurance
that human beings were still more mis-
cradle in ages gone by. Yet, somehow,
worthy folk persist in thinking that the
sufferer will be cheered by that demon
stration. AT least, it should teach him
patience; unfortunately he is seldom in
The mood learn lessons of any sort. But,
if there be any solace in such reflections,
a comparison of the medical service now
established I'm European armies, or in
the Boer army, or even In the Turkish
army, with that of former times. must
be comforting. 1t is true that ouriously
little informato has come down TO us
upon the subject. If any learned per-
son has collected the scattered hints 1
never CHANGED to see his work; it would
rather an interesting theme. But one
may venture to assert that in the whole
corps of Greek literature. though such
a vast proportion of it deals with war,
there are not six illusions to the medi-
cal arrangements of an army Homer
speaks of doctors, so to call them, tend
not. 1t would be rash to draw the con-
clusion that they did not exist. But
surgeons were needed in the wars of old
at least as urgently as at this day; If
nothing is said about them IL may pro-
badly be because they were of no ac-
count-a class of practitioners whom
skilled doctors, and the public also. look
ed down upon. 1t is open to doubt
whether the Ten Thousand" had any at
all, though of the two references known
to us one is connected with them
Xenophons says that on the fifth day
of the world-famous retreat they halted
at certain villages and appointed eight
surgeons, for their were many wounded"
The expression is odd. Medical men are
not commonly appointed like regi-
mental officers, to do piece of work.
Bearing in mind that there is no mem
ton of these surgeons elsewhere, II seems
probable that they were only men chosen
from the ranks who had special exper-
fence or aptitude for dressing wounds,
Thus Hippocrates says that the two sons
of Aesculapius praised by Homer for
their skill were not priests" but war
riors. The other reference occurs in Keno
phons report of the Spartan military
system, where he observes that In battle
"a safe place is found for the surgeons
and those who looked after the wound
cd" In fact. it may be said briefly that
all we know about the army medical
service of the Greeks is the bare facts
that something of the kind existed.
How the Romans Managed 1t.
And no more could be said of the Ro-
mans IL we had only the written evidence
| to guide us. Mr. Long says outright In
his careful study of the republican system:
| Il find nothing about surgeons in the Ro-
| man army" And he suggests that the
| Fabri, the engineers, may have been told
| off to do what was necessarily julius
| Caesar remarks on one occasion that he
waited some days after a battle In order
| 10 look to the wounded, but that Is all.
| Who looked after them, and how, is no
| where limited. Fortunately, Inscriptions
| remain to show that legion had it's med
ical service; a doctor was attached to
| each cohort probably. Neither in this
nor in any other science did the Romans
| approach the level Of the Greeks. but their
| reglmental surgeons were competent
| enough to earn the gratitude Of the troops,
| anyhow. Several stones have been found
upon the wall dedicated by soldiers to their
| p. M. o., as one to Anicius Vergenuus by
the First Tungrian Cohort; another by an
Ala, squadron. of Spanish cavalry; also
| stamps of stone. inesed with the name Of
Ithe doctor, the disease, and the title Of the