The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1908-12-02
OLOEN DAY SURGEONS
They We're Exempt From Jury
Duty In Capital Cases.
IN A CLASS WITH BUTCHERS

Thought to Be Too 5loodthirsty to
Calmly Pass on the Taking of tlu
man Life - ENecutioners Performed
Operations and Acted as Doctors.
When Great Britain's statute book
was still ia the pracouian state from
Which II MAS redeemed by Sir Samuel
Romilly and the penalty of death WAS
inflicted for the most trivial otIenscs,
surgeons We're exempted from serving
on juries In capital eases
II must not he supposed, however,
that this WAS because their profession
WAS believed To make them too humane
for such work rs was then imposed ON
jurymen We are sorry To say II WITS
for the opposite reason. They We're cN-
empted on the same ground as butch
ers whose occupation. it was thought,
tended TO make them too bloodthirsty.
This ought not perhaps surprise us.
ecutleners not infreQuently performed
surgical operations. This seems to
have been particularly the casc III ben
mark. At any rate. we have more
knowledge on this point In regard to
that country than any other.
In Janus some time ago pr IL. Caroe
of Copenhagen published II number of
documents bearing ON the subject. The
most ancient Of these bears date July
II. l5t9, and Is Il license issued by
Frederick H. To Anders Frclmut, cN
ecutioner of Copenhagen, granting him
the right 10 set bones and treat old
wounds lie was expressly forbidden
to meddle with recent wounds In
1899 ii Is recorded IN the municipal
archives of Copenhagen that Gaspar,
the hangman, had received four rigs
dalcrs for the cure of two sick chill
dren In the iutrmarv
In l63S Christian ~. summoned the
eXeeutioher of GluckStadt. In llolsteln,
to examine the diseased foot of the
crown prince In a letter addressed 10
Gle Worm. Il leading nauish physi=
elan Of the day. Henry kostcr, physi
clan In ordinary 10 the king, complains
bitterly of the slight thus put upon
him He says that for two whole
months the hangman, WHO Is rs fiji Ia
treat the case rs an ass Is 70 play the
Tyre" had The easc In hand, and tie
doctor was not asked for advice and.
although the ease went steadily from
bad TO worse. the cxceutiener received
I. "A.
silver goblet rewards" says the doc.
tor plaiulecly, (which the greatest
among us would not lave received
according 10 the rules Of art"
Again. In lGSl Christian Y. gave II
fee Of 200 rigsdalers 10 the cePen-
hagen hanglnan for curing the leg of
Il page In 1868 Andrcas liebLhccht,
the GopenhaEcn eNcrutioner, was In
such rcpute or his treatment of dis
ease that he wrote n bool, on the
subject in the name Of the holy and
ever blessed TfIuity" Ia i732 bergen,
an executloncr IN Norway, was au-
thorizcd by royal decree To practice
surgery
Even UP Ia the early years of the
nineteenth century this extraordinary
association Of surgery with The last
penalty OF the law continued ERIK
Peterson who was appointed public
eNecutioncr ut TrondhIem IN 1896,
serN ed ms surgeon 10 m Infantry regi
ment in the war with Sweden and re
fired IN 1911 with the rank OF surgeon
ma Ior Frederick / Of Prussia chose
his faYorltc hanginnn, toblellz, to be
his physician IA ordinary
Ii might be suspected thnt this pc
ctllar combination of functions had
It's origin IN satirical View Of the art
Of healing. but in the records we have
quoted we can trace nothing OF the
Kind Perhaps the oNeemiener drove
a trade lu InmNn fat and other things
supposed 10 possess marvellous heal
Ing properties lie mnY thus have
come to lie credited with skill In heal
ing. though the association surely rep
resents The lnN est degree 10 which the
surgeon has ever fallen IN public es
teen and social position Compared
with the tunglnau. Il Glndiator and
even an undertaken may BE- considered
respectable British Medical journal