The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-01-04
OLOEN DAY SURGEONS
They Were Exempt From Jury
Duty In Capital Cases.
IN A CLASS. WITH BUTCHERS

Thought 70 0s Too Bissdthirsty e
Calmly Pass on the Taking Of ~.
man Life - Exseutiensrs Performed
Operations and Acted ~ Doctors.
When Great Britain's statute book
was still in the Dracsnian state from
which it was redeemed by Sir Samuel
Romilly and the penalty Of death was
indicted for the most trivial o6enses,
surgeons were exempted from serving
on juriss in capital cases.
1t must not be supposed, however,
that this was because their profession
was believed to make them too humane
for such work as was then imposed on
jurymen. We are serry to say 1t was
for the opposite reason. They were ex-
empted on the same ground AZ butch.
ers, whose occupation, it was thought,
tended to make them too bloodthirsty.
This ought not perhaps surprise US,
since two or three centuries ago ex-
ecutioners not infreQuently performed
surgical operations This seems to
have been particularly the case in Den
marx. At any rate, We have more
knowledge on this point in regard to
that country than any ether.
In Janus some time ago DR.. x. Caroe
Of Copenhagen published q number Of
documents bearing on the subject The
most ancient Of these bears date July
"A. 1879, and II . license issued by
Frederick II. to Anders Freimut, ex-
ecutioner Of Copenhagen, granting him
the right to set bones and treat old
wounds. He was expressly forbidden
to NEEDLE with recent wounds. In
1900 1t II recorded in the municipal
archives Of Copenhagen that Gaspar.
the hangman, had received four rigs
dalers for the cure Of two sick chill
dren in the inhrmary.
In 1888 Christian ~. summoned the
executioner Of Gluckstadt. In Holstein.
to examine the diseased foot Of the
crown prince. In letter addressed to
Ole Worm. a leading Danish physi.
clan Of the day. Henry Roster. physi-
clan in ordinary to the king. complains
bitterly Of the slight thus put upon
him. He says that for two Who'll.
months the hanSman, who IS ~ At to
treat the case ~ an as u to play the
Tyre" had the case in hand. and the
doctor was not asked for advice. and,
although the case went steadily from
bad to worse. the executioner received
q fee Of 200 rigsdalers and a large
silver goblet-"rewards." says the doc.
tor pIaintively. (which the greatest
among u would not have received
had he succeeded in curing the prince
according to the rules Of art"
Again. in 1881. Christian v. gave .
hagen hangman for curing the leg Of
a page. In 1866 Andreas Liebknecht,
the Copenhagen executioner. was in
such repute or his treatment Of dis
ease that he wrote a book on the
subject ''in the name Of the holy and
ever blessed Trinity" In 1892 Bergen.
an executioner in Norway, was au-
thorized BY royal decree to practice
surgery.
Even up to 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
executioner at Trondhjem in 1706
SGIVcO - DuI8cOu " III lu1duuy ESBA.
ment in the war with Sweden and re-
tired In 1914 with the rank Of surgeon
major. Frederick I. Of Prussia chose
his favoxite hangman. Coblenz. to be
his physician In ordinary.
1t might be suspected that this pe-
culiar combination Of functions had
its origin in q satirical view Of the art
Of healing. but In the records we have
quoted We can trace nothing Of the
kind Perhaps the executioner drove
q trade In human fat and other things
supposed to possess marvellous heal
ing properties He may thus have
come to b crsditad with skIl In heal
Ing. though the association surely rep
resents the lowest degree 20 which the
surgeon has ever fallen IN public e.
TEEN and social position Compared
with the .hangman, . giAdiatoe and
even aneundertaker may b ecpGdered