A BARONET BONESETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 143, 19 June 1934, Page 6

A BARONET BONESETTER.

ADVANCE IN ORTHOPAEDICS.

(By H.A.Y.)

1 There was in Liverpool (England) a bonesetter named Thomas who had a large practicc among- the working- class of th© district, tc which he himself belonged. He was assisted j by his son, who, not satisfied to be outside the , pale and unqualified professionally, like his , father, went to college and hospital, and , returned., as a qualified and registered doctor . of medicine. It was not long'.before he took 3 exception to his father's methods, and, part- » rag from him, started in practice for himself. [ The old man died; the son continued. The . unregistered Thomas was called a "boner setter/' the qualified son an "orthopaedic sur- > geon." There'is much in a name! About 1873 s there came to Thomas, junior, a young student ; named Robert Jones, He soon grew into an t enthusiastic disciple, and improved upon the : work of Dr. Thomas, who was known for hie disregard of pain. So great was the success i of -these men, that doctors came from all over i I'U rope to sec and study their methods of i dealing with defects in, and injuries to, bones, the correction of bone deformities, and relief of cripples. Robert Jones became the greatest living authority, but up to the war period he . was mostly admired and respected in the . North of England As an authority on bone injuries, he was of the greatest value during and after the war, and as men engaged in this work were few in number in England, more than half a hundred doctors who were orthopaedic specialists were brought from America to act as his assistants. Mr. Frederick Watson has written a biography of this great doctor."' Old- thoughts go back to Thomas the bonesettcr, who with his two strong hands and common sense, laid the foundation on which all this subsequent benefit to the world was built Thomas sowed the seed, Sir Kobert "xit the increase. Sir Robert gained his great position not only by his enthusiastic devotion to his profession, but by a bright, cheerful and deeply sympathetic personality. He won the immediate confidence of patients, was "all things to all men," and his only pride seemed to bo in the perfection of his professional work. In 1870 and onwards, doctors were mostly content to go oil in the old way. and a description of operations in a Liverpool hospital as told in Dr. Macalister's "History of Royal Southern Hospital" will show what the work and influence of Sir Robert and such progressive men as he did to improve conditions and lead up to our modern almost painfully detailed asepsis. "Every member of the staff was piesent,' he says, "together with nurses ancl students. There were no precautions taken with reference to the cleanliness of their varments. The surgeons wore old coats bespattered with blood and discharge from other operations. The sleeves were probably unbuttoned at the wrists and rolled up. The lapels of 'the coat were buttoned across to prevent soiling the shirt or collar of the operator. It will be noted that it was the operator and not the patient for whom this solicitude was exercised. Then came the female staff The matron was generally present at -these operations; she and the sisters wore stuff dresses -long enough to sweep on the floor. The nurses wore ordinary pink uniforms. The students came direct from the wards, containing- plenty of septic patients, even from the post-mortem room. Soon after the operation commenced the old doctor (superintendent) walked in wearing a very tall silk hat, which he did not remove. The patient was covered with a red blanket, used _ for every operation, and only when it was -sufficiently soiled. When j-a certain stage in the operation had been reached each member of the staff was invited to dip his hands in carbolic solution, and examine the wound. Numerous half-disinfected hands surmounted by dirty sleeves came in contact with a .susceptible surface." Well, all that has been altered, thanks to one or two men who had wit, and such love of the work, that they had more vision than others. It is strange to think that perhaps in another fifty , yeans a description of what we do to-day will seem as crude to doctors then ■as these old methods seem to us now. Experience and concentration are said to have made the diagnosis of bone conditions coming before Mr. Thomas quick and accurate, and Sir Jlobert 1 was as keen an observer, and even more definitely desirous of attaining perfection. All over England are centres of orthopaedic industry founded by his eft'orts, and his name is to be perpetuated in scholarships. * "The Life of Sir Robert Jones," by Frederick Watson. (Hodder and Stougliton.) 1