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History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

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General Surgery 177Dr. Gahn, a chemist <strong>in</strong> Upsala, Sweden, recently had advised the use <strong>of</strong>boric acid as a new antiseptic, as already tried by Lister. Employ<strong>in</strong>g largecompression dress<strong>in</strong>gs, boric l<strong>in</strong>t had been applied to burns and foundbetter than carbolated oil.Dr. A. C. Rank<strong>in</strong> reported on morbus coxarius, the method <strong>of</strong> cont<strong>in</strong>uedelastic traction devised by Davis <strong>of</strong> New York be<strong>in</strong>g used.1877Dr. T. D. Fitch reported that he had discovered the structure <strong>of</strong> bloodcorpuscles and had demonstrated it to English and Scotch doctors <strong>in</strong> 1868.Dr. Freer died at this time from men<strong>in</strong>gitis follow<strong>in</strong>g undue exposure<strong>in</strong> the cold anatomy laboratory while teach<strong>in</strong>g.Dr. E. Fletcher Ingals reported on an improved method <strong>of</strong> perform<strong>in</strong>g aradical operation for empyema thoracis.Dr. G. L. White as President said:1878"In a country like ours where all arestriv<strong>in</strong>g after the almighty dollar, and especially <strong>in</strong> times <strong>of</strong> f<strong>in</strong>ancialtrouble such as we are now pass<strong>in</strong>g through, we f<strong>in</strong>d a large class <strong>of</strong> personswith overtaxed bra<strong>in</strong>s suffer<strong>in</strong>g from a great variety <strong>of</strong> ailments symptomatic<strong>of</strong> nervous prostration." He also quoted Dr. L. Yandell, Jr., who said:"It is my belief that from the sick, and not from the laboratory, from experimentaltherapeutics and not from the microscope, our practical knowledgeis to come." Dr. White cont<strong>in</strong>ued: "To this I cannot give my entireassent, but it has <strong>in</strong> it a great deal <strong>of</strong> truth." There w r as evidently stillsome block to progress by early scientific methods.Tarnier's forceps for obstetrical use were described. Dr. D. W. Graham <strong>of</strong>Chicago was then editor <strong>of</strong> the Medical Register.An Act to regulate the <strong>practice</strong> <strong>of</strong> Medic<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> Ill<strong>in</strong>ois had been passedby the State Legislature <strong>in</strong> 1877, which also created the State Board <strong>of</strong>Health.Dr. Gunn was aga<strong>in</strong> Chairman <strong>of</strong> the Committee on Surgery,and hereported that there were but few po<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>in</strong> the literature <strong>of</strong> the past yearwhich he was <strong>in</strong>cl<strong>in</strong>ed to call to the <strong>Society</strong>'s attention, but he did give areview <strong>of</strong> the literature. He then reported the <strong>in</strong>vestigations <strong>of</strong> a committeeappo<strong>in</strong>ted <strong>in</strong> 1876 by the Surgical <strong>Society</strong> <strong>of</strong> Moscow, and mentioned Newman's(Western Infirmary, Glasgow) <strong>in</strong>strument for "aortic tourniquet" tosave all the blood possible <strong>in</strong> amputation at the hip jo<strong>in</strong>t. Dr. Gunn personallyhad no use for excision <strong>of</strong> the knee jo<strong>in</strong>t, not from the standpo<strong>in</strong>t<strong>of</strong> any particular method <strong>of</strong> operation, dress<strong>in</strong>g or after treatment, but"because the section is made through cancellous bone tissue at that po<strong>in</strong>t<strong>of</strong> the head <strong>of</strong> the tibia and the condyles <strong>of</strong> the femur where the bone is

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