Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-24
ARMY SURGEONS OF OLD
Some of the Horrors of Military Hospitals
Of the Ancients.
n contrast With the Advanced Mod.
erh conditions of Our own Time
In the Middle Ages.


TO recall that Others are worse OF than our
| selves Present pains and anxietie.. cannot
| be relieved by the assurance that human
| beings were still more miserable i'm ages
gone by. Yet. somehow worthy folk nor
sist in thinking that the sufferer viii be
cheered by that demonstration. At least
IL should teach him patience: unfortunately
| he is seldom in the mood To learn lessons of
any sort But, if there be any solac.. i'm
SUCH reflections, n comparison OF the mrdi-
cal service now established in European
\ armies, or in the Boer army or rvep II, IN,
turkish army. with that OF former times.
| must be comforting. 1t is true that curl
| ouslN httle information has come down ia
| US upon the subject If any learned n,rson
| naS coliected the scattered hints | never
'hdlteu 10 See his work: it would he ratbar
| an interesting theme. But one may ,ant,,rs
TO assert that in the whole CORPS of Grrcl,
| literature, though such a vast propnrfion
OF IL deals with war. there ara MOI six al
luslofs TO the medical ARRANGEMENTS of an
| army Homer speaks of doctors 50 10 cali
mem iehuing wounded heroes. but Thu
| - Hlues docs not II would be rash to draw
! the conclusion that they did not exist Euf
! surgeons Were needed in the wars of ola a.
ieaSt as urgently at this dav: II nothing
Is SAID about them it may probably be be-
cause they were of no account-9 c1a-s 80
pla, itlonerS whom skilled doctors and tho
| pubic also. looked down upnn In is -,
| 70 u"upt whether the Ten Thousand" had
| anS AZ an though of the two references
hio"il TO us one is connected with thprn
| Aehophon says that on the fifth day ~ -
M0rla-iamous retreat they halted al car1sir
.Llases and appointed eight surgeons f,r
| there We're many woun3ed" Tho expr.Ssi,,
| - ouo- Medical men are not commoni,
! aPpplhue', like regimental officers Ia ID
| d piece OF work Bearing in mind tbat tbaro
| :. y" mention of these surgeons elsewhere
\ = seems probable that they were only mn
| CHOSEN from the ranks who had sr..ci,1 =.
| p1riehGe or aptitude for dressing wounds
| nus Hlpp0crateS SAYS that Tho two sops
81 oi,iif f'Sculaplus praised by Homer for their
skill Were not priests hut warriors -
othet reference occurs in XenQnhon's rcnar,
| ~ the spartan military system wbcri H.
| S S that in battle "a safe place 10
| lnund for the SURGEONS and those VII, -, -
ed after the wounded" In far, i, y, -. ipo n
| SaL4 briefly that all we know aha,,t ~
| aIihS medical service OF the Greeks is he
pare pare tact that something of the kind cx-
And no more could be said of tb, r,,,,,,-
We mad only the written eyidanca ~,
guide us Mr.. Long says outright in bis
| Ga IN u :! uuS OF the republican system. II
a,lu hol hllS about surgeons in the Roman
| my ANA he suggests that the Eah,5
u IN tilslheers, may have been told off Ia AZ
, maaat was necessary! Julius Caesar re-
| I 1 ms on one occasion that he vaitcl sor,.
| Gays after a battle in order Ia IL LII IN
| Mcounued, but that is all Who Inollnd
aiter them, and how. is nowhere binitd
| tbat y faas;9s, inscriptions remain to show
| al
| Sor was attached to each cohurt. prnhabIy
- eitii IL IN inns nor in any other science ala
| go c,e ,noinans approach the level of The
| IIeekS nut their regimental surgeons w..
| competent enough to earn the f,ratiI,,5, -
| tne troops, anyhow. Several stones haye
p 1th round upon the wall dedicated by snI
! dlers to their p. VI. O., as one Ia Anic1,',
| NergenuuS by the First Tunpria,, G.l,, iua
ahother by an Ala. a squadron of Spanisb
| cavalry: also stamps of stone frcised y-i,b
| me name of the DOCTOR the disease ana tba
Ihat an impression of this stamp ON va
| h Shs carried 10 the regimental dispensary
oE way OF prescription. The Incidents
| OF course, We're such as we should caiI -
| eht, recognized by their names n,ant,' 80
| them are mentioned by Pliny and vri,,.rS
| OF all sorts. But the dispensary had 1r1,es
| IN store and made them ur1" ar mel
| For such an establishment was disco,.,,o,
| ldst year at Baden, near Zurich forming
| part as We should expect OF a hosnitai
Anu Anu II may be assumed that the hospital
| was military one, designed for the Tse
| OF the Very strong garrison the IN ana
| Slh l-eglonS, occupying Efndoujssa clasa
ps. II Is a discovery unique up TO tn.
| present. and profoundly Interesting on tba+
| account, though among the objects fonnd
there was nothing to astonish the learned
Ihey nave long been aware that surgical
ms uinents or complicated form 0liita
| modern inventions with us We're nsad j.,
rome and even in Athens for the things
| themselves may be inspected under a glass
case In the museums there RlIt tho ,,7,hlj,
at large may be surprised to hear that his
ancient hospital furnished as -,
Times report states, with m.s.-II,z sis
nleuical' pharmacegtic2l--an snrpicaI 90. %
phIdtus' the la-"r including nrobeS -, ~
plhcer- eauterizfng instruments or5 'G a1'T,
collection OF safety pins used I'm ha
| dagtng wounds. There were also ,nadJcin,
| spoons in bone, and silver measuring YES
| sells. jars and pots for ointment some -stfII
| containing traces of the ointment useS -
| AS for safety pins. such an Ingenious dis
eoneES OF our own times. they will be
t to q among the prehistoric antiquities in
| the Copenhagen Museum.
| descending to the middle ages blank
| oarkneSs ehVelops US again. Doctors 'or
| Sorts accompanied feudal army. perhaps
| for they are mentioned occasionally Holm
| vile speaks of them once. When the con-
/ STAPLE OF France was stunned in an en-
| gagement several of the surgeons and
| doctors in camp FASTENED to his tent" Bur
all through the horrors of plague that fol-
| lowed there is no further reference 10 these
| gentlemen. The illness of the king is de-
| scribed at length, but never word ahout
| his doctors. He who can read the account
| OF the camp sickness without a thrill
must nave a strong stomach; but there is
only one allusion TO medical attendance.
When the gums of our people Were so
| orerladen with dead flesh that it had to I've
cut away by the BARRIERS. so that they might
eat and swallow 'C'etait grand pilie d CUR
| crier dams lie camp les gems auxuuels on
coupait la chair morte: car lis criaiart afnsi
que les femmes nui sont e.. -G.--- .'anra,1t =,
! 3-.--v i's't'.- OF Austria broke his thigh
| badly; 1t served him right for his treatment
| of that gallant brute, Couer-de-Lion. Doc
tors enough attended him, no doubt. but
the chroniclers do not notice them Anv-
how. the wound began TO mortify Leopold
| did not think of calling in professional aid
With his own hands he held an ak in posi-
| ton while his chamberlain struck it with a
| hammer. The duke lived just long enough
| to note the success of the operation
When the most fashionable doctoxs in
large practice Were idiots-unless indeed
they had studied with the Arabs or the
Jews-we can imagine what sort of men
followed the army. But there is no need to
imagine. When the middle ages were past
in the reign of Henry VIII, the barber sur
geons begged charter, and in support of
their petition DR.. Gale recounted his eN-
perience when ordered to report upon the
medical service of the English army he
sieging Montreuil: According to COM
mandment, we made search. Some
were sow-gelders and some horse-gelders
with thinkers and cobblers. We de-
manUeu stun Tney fIad 10
cure men withal, and they would show us
pot or box which they had in budget,
wherein was such trumpery they did use
to grease horse heels. and laid upon scabbed
horses backs, with REVEAL and such like.
II. - Il