The pork cylinder
A few days ago I was reading an article about foreign bodies in the bladder – for what better way […]
Unfortunate predicaments
Shear bad luck
In 1809 the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal printed this striking report of an agricultural accident from a surgeon in Ripon: August
Unfortunate predicaments
An immense plug of wood
Sometimes a headline says it all. In June 1842 the London Medical Gazette printed a letter under this memorable title:
Bewildering research
Scalpel, suture and Swedish turnips
Here’s an intriguing article from the American Medico-Surgical Bulletin of 1895, summarising a paper published in a German journal: The
Unfortunate predicaments
Occupational hazard
Here’s a striking report from The London Medical and Surgical Journal, originally published in March 1837. The headline is straightforward
Notable deaths
Frightened to death
In 1873 Thomas Lauder Brunton was asked to give a lecture to the Abernethian Society of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in
Unfortunate predicaments
Jumping over a broomstick
During a meeting of the New York Pathological Society in 1872, a local physician called Dr Post gave a short
Unfortunate predicaments
Degloved by a donkey
Mercer’s Hospital, founded in 1734, was for many years one of the most important teaching hospitals in Ireland – but
The stomach snail
William Rhind, a Scottish surgeon of the nineteenth century, had impressively broad interests. He was a botanist of some eminence,
Unfortunate predicaments
Fourteen fingers
August is sometimes known as the ‘silly season’: a period of the year when little seems to be happening, politics