Journal of a Cavalry Officer; Including the Memorable Sikh Campaign of 1845-1846Humbley, W. W. W. (William Wellington Waterloo)
History
Journal of a Cavalry Officer; Including the Memorable Sikh Campaign of 1845-1846
Humbley, W. W. W. (William Wellington Waterloo)
India -- Description and travel; Sikh War, 1845-1846
The new hospital was opened in August, 1848, since which time people
have come from great distances to undergo a "painless operation."
If Dr. Elliotson, who is considered, by many, to be one of the most
accomplished medical men in Europe, and, luckily, a man of property,
lost many of his patients in consequence of his advocacy of the new
theory, Dr. Esdaile surely was a bold man to propose Mesmerism in
Calcutta, where there are so many "ditch" jobs carried on. Had a
Governor-General undergone an operation, under its mild influence,
Mesmerism would have been the order of the day; for then all the
members of council and secretaries of government would have become
converts, as a matter of course.
The objections of the medical members who drew up the unfavourable
report, were most singular. Some thought Mesmerism would affect the
nervous system; others said that as it had only been tried on natives,
they doubted whether Europeans could be influenced by it. Latterly,
however, there has been a reaction. It is known that ether and
chloroform have been extensively used in England, France, and America;
indeed, in one large hospital in London, all surgical operations are
effected under the influence of chloroform. Both ether and chloroform
may become safe means in process of time; but as yet it cannot be
denied that many fatal results have occurred. With a large army on
active service, one or the other of the remedies will, doubtless,
often be resorted to, after an action. But the mesmeric process would
not always answer in such cases, as it frequently requires time. Some
patients are altogether incapable of being affected in one day.
As to Europeans, the answer is simply this; if one manipulator be not
sufficient, two, three, or more operators must be called in. At Madras,
a short time ago, it was proposed to place a lady about to be confined,
under the influence of ether, when her husband objected, because it is
written in the Bible (Gen. iii. 16) "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow
and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." Upon
the same principle a man ought to object to another person's taking
medicine to alleviate pain. Such an unchristian perversion of doctrine
was never before resorted to; as if it could be displeasing to God,
that his creatures should use any means to mitigate the sufferings of
humanity.
The Eye Infirmary was established about thirty years since. It is a
very useful hospital, for many of the natives suffer from cataract.
About twenty years ago it was proposed to establish an Eye infirmary
at Meerut, and there certainly appears to be an opening for a second.
About two-thirds of the Bengal army is now stationed in the Upper
Provinces; and, if one such infirmary be required for the city of
Calcutta, it is to be presumed that another would be necessary in a
position so distant as 900 miles. The population of the North-Western
provinces is, as I have stated, 23,199,668, not including some 60,000
soldiers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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