Annals of medical history . ecases in whichAbernethy clearlysaw its operation hadbecome in the handsof some operators a mischievous con-ventionalism, likeso many others,e\ en in our own en-lightened day. Thedevelopment of adexterous facility inthe performance ofan operation, with-out the surgicaljudgment to recog-nize its indicationsand its contraindi-cations, renders asurgeon a menaceto society. Aber-nethy, like the surgeon he was, providedthe judgment which showed the caseswhich should be trephined and those thatshould not. Abernethy was distinctly aninvestigator. He was const
Annals of medical history . ecases in whichAbernethy clearlysaw its operation hadbecome in the handsof some operators a mischievous con-ventionalism, likeso many others,e\ en in our own en-lightened day. Thedevelopment of adexterous facility inthe performance ofan operation, with-out the surgicaljudgment to recog-nize its indicationsand its contraindi-cations, renders asurgeon a menaceto society. Aber-nethy, like the surgeon he was, providedthe judgment which showed the caseswhich should be trephined and those thatshould not. Abernethy was distinctly aninvestigator. He was constantly carryingout scientific experiments of a chemicaland physiological character. He was fondof comparative anatomy, and the studyof the structures and of the physiologicalprocesses in the lower animals constitutedone of his favorite pastimes. While Cooperwas the great practical surgeon of his time,Abernethy was the great scientific assistant surgeon at St. Bartholomews,a position which he held for twenty-eight. John Abernethy, F. R. S years before being made surgeon, he hadlittle opportunity for operative work inthe wards, but during this period hisscientific investigations, his constant contri-butions to surgical literature and his teach-ing won for him a wide reputation at homeand abroad and brought him a lucra-tive private practice. When he was finallyelected surgeon toSt. Bartholomewsin I 8 I 5, he ex-pressed his inten-tion of resigning atthe age of sixty,and urged upon theBoard of Governorsto pass a rule mak-ing retirement atthis age with apension compul-sory. Although thesuggestion was notadopted, Abernethyhimself resigned assurgeon when hereached the age ofsixty, but servedone year additionalat the earnest solici-tation of the Gov-ernors. He had suf-fered from thatvicious systemwhich existed inmany London Hospitals up to fairly recenttimes, of keeping capable and distinguishedmen in the position of assistants, when theirseniors had long since passed the age
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Keywords: ., bookauthorp, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmedicine
