The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-03
The History of the
81 z Cen c nc rURY'
SURGERY,
W. KEEN, M. D, IL D. F. R. c. (ionl
of
IDEAL o.ege,P


cry who had never become intimately ac-
quainted with all the parts of such ma
chine and could take it to pieces and put
it together again with ease and intelli-
gonce. Yet. until comparatively recently.
this knowledge of anatomy was both re-
guired and yet at the same time the
of obtaining it were forbidden the
medical student II he performed an oper-
alton and was guilty of negligence or er-
ror, due to his want of anatomical knowl-
edge, he was liable to a suit for malprac-
tice. Yet his only means of becoming ac-
quainted with the anatomy of the human
body was by stealing the bodies of the
dead. In England. up to 1892 this was
equally true. A regular traffic in human
bodies existed, there as well as here. and
By reason of its periis. the cost of bodies
for dissection was very great: but it was
only a question of money. In his testi-
mony before the Parliamentary committee
Sir Ashley Cooper made a shiver run down
the backs of the noble Lords who listened
to him, when he said that in order to dis
sect the body of any of them it was only
necessary for him to pay enough. The
large pecuniary profits of such business.
when the supply was very small, led to
the horrible atrocities of Burke and Hare
in Edinburgh in 1892. They deliberately
murdered a considerable number of per-
sons and sold the bodies to the dissecting
rooms in that city. The discovery of their
crimes finally led to the passage of the
Anatomy act, which has been in force in
Great Britain ever since. Similar viola
lions of graveyards in this country have
led to the passage in various States of
somewhat similar laws usually giving for
dissection the bodies of those who were so
poor in friendship that no one would spend
the money necessary for their burial. Yet
today, in a large number of our States.
the former anomalous condition of affairs
exists. The increase of anatomical ma
terial Which has resulted from the enact
ment of wise and salutary laws for this
purpose has given a great impetus to the
study of anatomy, and has produced a far
better educated class of physicians in most
parts of the Tilted States within the last
few years. The enlightened sense of the
has perceived that to deny che
medical schools the means of properly
teaching anatomy was a fatal mistake
and resulted in an ignorance of which the
were the victims. As re-
suit It Is possible now. by law. in most
States. to obtain = reasonable number OF
cadayers, not only for the study OF anat-
omy. but for the performance OF all the
usual operations.
V.-MEDICAL LIBRARIES
Along with this there has been through
out this country a marked movement in
favor of medical libraries. II is to tbs
credit of the Government of the United
States that the whole world is debtor to
US. not only for the foremost medical
library in the world, that of the Sur
peon General of the Army in Washing
ton. but also for the magnificent index
catalogue, not only of the books, but of all
the journal articles in every language in
the world No better investment of money
was ever made than the establishment of
this library, and its allied museum. and
the publication of the index catalogue.
vI-EMBRYoLoGY.
As a result of all these means and meth
DDS Of study, and as a part of the great
educational and scientific movement of
the century. medical men now take
wholly different view of the normal and
abnormal structures of the human body.
The study of embryology has shown us
that many of the deviations from the nor
NAL DEVELOPMENT of the human body are
easily explained by embryology. One of
the most important changes in our idea,
for example, Of tumors is due to the fact
OF nr he
tissues of the embryo, have shown us that
diseased structures, which lack explana-
ton entirely when compared with the
adult human tissues, readily find their
explanation. and fail into an unexpected
order. when compared with the tissues of
the embryo. Not only, however, has the
study of embryological tissues thrown a
flood Of light on diseased structures, but
we have obtained new views of the rela-
ton OF man to all creatures, lower in the
scale of life Largely owing to the doc
trine of evolution. we now recognize the
fact that. so far as his body is concerned.
man is kindred to the brutes; that his dis
eases. within certain limitations. are iden-
teal with similar diseases of the lower
animals; that his anatomy and physiology
are. III t5Htltts INT StliIlt d. lilt dIldlDiny
and physiology of the lower animals. even
the very lowest, and that many Of his
diseases can be best studied in the lower
animals, because upon them We can make
exact experiments which would be impos-
slble in man. While it is true that each
animal has disorders which are peculiar
to itself and that it is not subject to some
of the disorders TO which man Is a vic
tim, and, per contra, that man is a victim
TO some disorders which animals do not
suffer from. yet taking them as a whole,
the diseases of man and of animals and
the action of remedies on both are prac-
ticalIy identical. To this 1 shall have oc-
casion to refer again.
VII.-PATHoLoGY
Among the laboratories which I men
toned. one of the most important is that
Of pathology and morbid anatomy. or the
study Of diseased tissues and organs The
first work on pathology IN this country
was written by one Of our best-known sur
geons, the late Samuel ID. Gross, and one
Of his most important contributions 10
surgical progress consisted in his persis-
tent advocacy of the need for the study of
pathology as basis for all our means of
cure. This is evident, If we consider the
Illustration l used a moment ago of a
steam engine. Unless one knows precisely
the defects of such a machine, the in
fiuence of fresh or salt water on boiler.
the influence Of rust, the effect of oils en-.
tirely apart from the mere mechanism of
the engine, an engineer might make the
most serious mistake resulting in fatal
damage, both to the machine and probably
to life. So surgical pathology is the study
of the processes Of disease. the alterations