THE TRUE METHOD OF REDUCING RUPTURES; AND Retaining Them in the ABDOMEN, and in the NAVEL:
TOGETHER WITH TESTIMONIES to the Merits of Mr. BRAND's ELASTIC TRUSS; and several Authenticated CASES of the most EXTRAORDINARY CURES.
TO WHICH IS ADDED, A POSTSCRIPT.
By ROBERT BRAND, Inventor of the ELASTIC TRUSS, and ELASTIC NAVEL BANDAGE; And TRUSS-MAKER to his MAJESTY'S R
HOSPITAL at GREENWICH.
LONDON: Printed for the AUTHOR, and Sold by Him at his House (No. 31,) Long-Acre.
Sold also by S. BLADON, in Paternoster-Row; and Messrs. RICHARDSON and URQUART, at the Royal Exchange.
MDCCLXXI.
TO Mr. HUNTER.
SIR,
SINCE it is principally to you I am obliged for my knowledge in the reduction of Ruptures, I cannot with so great propriety dedicate the following Sheets to any other person. Added to this, the consideration of that generous friendliness, (so predominating in men of frank natures) which you have, on many occasions, exercised towards me, prompts me to snatch the opportunity of confessing my gratitude. At the same time, I am happy that not the most censorious caviller can pretend this address is founded on
interested
motives.—I have nothing to ask of the World but
Candor:
—from YOU, Sir, I am assured of meeting with it in the most refined sense.
I am, Sir, With the most unfeigned Respect, Your much obliged, and Very obedient Servant,
Long Acre.
ROBERT BRAND.
THE TRUE METHOD OF REDUCING RUPTURES, &c.
M Y Truss is only intended for the benefit of such Ruptures in the Groin and Scrotum as there is a possibility of returning again into the Abdomen; tho' I make others of a different construction, according to the situation of the part from whence it proceeds, and other circumstances that may attend it; and in particular a new invented Elastic Bandage for a Rupture in the Navel; for the invention of which I am in part obliged to Dr. ALLEN, of
Dalwich College.
BEFORE I give any directions how to apply my Truss, it may be proper to say something with regard to the safest and easiest manner of reducing the Intestine, when fallen down; and the following is the method I have always practised with great success.
I MUST too premise, that I have some hopes my Readers will not entertain a less favourable Opinion of me, if I avoid the pomposity of some persons who have wrote on this subject; if I do not endeavour to raise my merit on the sound of a word, and torture language for new-fangled and varying names, merely because the symptoms of the disorder are triflingly different.
IF the Rupture then be much enlarged, or painful, it will be of great service to the Patient, before the reduction is attempted, to take a gentle cooling purgative, such as a decoction of Tamarinds with Sena, or a solution of Salts and Manna; and if he is of a plethoric or full habit of body, to let a moderate quantity of blood will be proper; and at the same time the parts should be fomented with a piece of flannel wrung out of a warm decoction of emollient herbs, such as Chamomile Flowers, Mallows, &c.
AFTER these preparations, you should proceed in the following manner: Lay the Patient upon his back in such a posture that his Buttocks may be considerably higher than his Head, as by that means the Bowels that are within the Belly will fall more towards the Breast, and not only give way to what is to be returned, but be of some assistance to the reduction. Then you must examine carefully as to the situation of the Testicles; and if you find they are forced up towards the sides of the Scrotum by the size of the Rupture, you must be very cautious not to squeeze them in your attempt. If you find them compressed at the bottom of the Scrotum, you must with the fore-finger and thumb of one hand separate them from the ruptured part, and with the same fingers of the other hand take hold of the upper part that is next the Ring of the Muscles, or place from whence the Rupture comes out, and work it gently in, in the same manner as you observe Women do with a cow's teats when they milk her. By observing this method you will never be apt to strain the Rings of the Muscles, nor hurt the Intestine, so as to occasion an inflammation of any of these parts.
As to the application of the Truss, it will be more convenient to put it slack round the Patient's Body before he is laid down, as by his getting up after the reduction there might be some risque of the Bowel falling down again. Take hold of each end of the spring, and open it wide enough to receive his Body side-ways; and after you have got the Bowel fairly reduced, apply the Cushion of the Tr
ss upon the Rings or Orifice from whence the Bowel came out. It must have a gentle hold of the upper part of the Os Pubis or Sharebone; but take care it is not placed too high or too low: The Spring will be a direction, which should come round the Os Ilium, and close to the juncture of the Thigh-bones, and touch the Rump just
here the clift of the Buttocks begins; which parts are called by the Anatomists, the Great Trochanter of the Thigh-bones, and the middle of the Os Sacrum. The Truss must be made so tight as to make it sit close, otherwise it will neither do its office, nor be easy to the wearer.
ALWAYS keep under the Cushion four fold of old coarse linnen, which will keep the part cool and easy, and prevent the Cushion from being spoiled by the moisture of the Skin. It will be a great addition to the Truss, if for six or seven weeks, or longer (that is to say, till the Patient has compleated his cure, which, if he has youth on his side, may possibly be in two months; of which, indeed, I have seen some instances, but then the Patient has been very observant of the rules prescribed him) the parts are bathed with very cold water every night and morning, which may be done conveniently in the following manner: Take a piece of large linen cloth, fold it up pretty thick so as to be about six or seven inches square, a few stitches may be put into it to keep the folds together; dip it into a bason of cold water, (but, that you may not wet the Truss, loose it, and lay the Pad or Cushion that was in the Groin up to the Navel out of the way of the water) then squeeze and apply it to the Scrotum and Groin, and as it loses its coldness dip it in the water again and again, which should be continued for half an hour at a time: It is most convenient this cold bathing should be performed when the Patient is naked in bed. It is necessary that the Patient's breeches should be very long in the Thighs, so as to allow the waistband to come high up on the Pelvices above the Truss, for if it bear thereon it will add so much to the pressure, which will make it very uneasy.
I MUST here advise my Reader, that in examining any thing like a Rupture, he does not mistake a Swelling of the Spermatic Chord, or in the Groin, for one; as by handling any thing of that kind roughly, he may not only give the Patient an exquisite deal of pain, but do great mischief. If it is really a Rupture, gentle means, without being in too great a hurry, will answer best. A very gentle pressure of the Fingers in an erect posture will sometimes cause it to disappear: But if this shold fail, lay your Patient on his Back; then rub your Fingers upwards and downwards obliquely from the Os Ilium to the Os Pubis. This is to be continued for a considerable time; but if it should not remove it, and it still continues to the touch as at first, the Patient must continue in the same situation, and have the part fomented, and the above operation again performed: After which, should it still continue hard, it is certainly no Rupture
When a Surgeon measures a Patient for a Truss, he is to take it round very close to the juncture of the Thigh-bone to the Os Ilium, which is the proper place for the Truss to be wore; then sending the number of inches that the measure contains to the Truss-maker, he never can make an error; but he must, too, be informed on which side the Rupture is; whether it is double, or whether it is only in the Groin, or in both Groins, so as to descend as low on one side as the Testicles.
.
I HAVE been frequently shocked at the cruelty with which I have seen Surgeons use their Patients, merely by mistaking a Swelling for a Rupture.—On these occasions I have remonstrated;—but as I was not bred a Surgeon, my counsel was treated with contempt, altho' they quickly found their attempts in that way were in vain.
IT may not here be improper to observe, that my knowledge in these matters took its first rise from being afflicted with a Rupture myself. I tried all the different kinds of Trusses that have been used and recommended by Surgeons for many years back, but found the best of them subject to some inconveniency. However, as I was originally a Mechanic, I went to work with an intention to avoid the inconveniencies of those I had used; and after trying several different new forms, I at last hit upon that which I now offer to the Public, and has given so much satisfaction to all who have used it. As to any farther knowledge I have of Ruptures, I am obliged to some Gentlemen of the Faculty, particularly Dr. Hunter and Dr. Livingston; also to Dr. Barry, for the books he recommended to my perusal. When put you in mind how ridiculous the Surgeons of former times appear in this more enlightened age, in having rejected
Frere Jaques
's new method of Cutting for the Stone, for no other reason but because he was not a regular bred Surgeon, I hope no Gentleman of the Faculty will condemn my Truss, till he can prove its having any deficiency, and has compared it very narrowly with others that continue in use. The recommendation of those who have experienced its benefit (which some thousands in the dominions of Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, and Portugal, have done) would perhaps be sufficient, but that many people who are subject to any disorder of that kind are fond of concealing it, and consequently will never mention any thing of my Truss. However, in my being constituted Truss-Maker to his Majesty's Royal Hospital at Greenwich; even when Mr. Alexander Reid, first Surgeon's Mate of Chelsea Hospital; Mr. William Blackey, of the College of Surgeons at Paris; and Mr. Eddison,
Bedstead-Maker,
of Hanover-Street, Long-Acre, with a letter of recommendation signed by a great number of
regular-bred
Surgeons, (amongst whom I wish Mr. Hawkins had not been one) some of them too the most eminent in the profession in Trusses in London; were candidates in opposition to me, cannot fail to give the Public a just idea ofits merit. These gentlemen, it is well known, did stand a fair trial with me every day, almost for two months, before the Physicians and Surgeons of the Royal Hospital made their report of the candidates different merits; on which I was appointed Elastic Truss-maker by the Honorable Board of Directors of his Majesty's Royal Hospital.
I THINK it would be here an unpardonable offence to posterity, not to inform my Readers, that to this day a Surgeon of the greatest eminence recommends a
Shoemaker.
to all his Ruptured Patients to make the Trusses for them, though I am very certain he does not know iron from steel, when it is made out of the common sizes of the bars thereof. This I have from jobbing-smiths, some of whom the seller has employed ever since he was converted from a
Shoemaker
into a Truss-maker. It is this
eminent Surgeon
and this
Shoemaker
that Counsellor Brand, at May's Hill, Greenwich, means in his letter therefrom to me, which is hereafter inserted for the use of the public, amongst others sent me, together with Certificates of the Efficacy of my Trusses above all others made use of.
SHORTLY after I had invented my Elastic Truss, I had an opportunity of sending some of them to Mr. Ranby, Principal Serjeant-Surgeon to his Majesty; in consequence of which I received the following letter.
To
ROBERT BRAND,
Cutler, in
Aberdeen.
"SIR,
SOME time ago, I believe about the time you mention, a Soldier left two Trusses at my house, and in a day or two afterwards took them away. I understood from my servant that he was the maker of them. They appeared to me to vary a little from the common ones: However, when you come up in June, bring some with you, which if upon trial answer better than those used now, you will certainly meet with encouragement.
I am Your most obedient Servant, J. RANBY."
Chelsea College,
April
10, 1764.
"THAT I bought one of these Trusses from the bearer, Robert Brand, Cutler, and that it has done better with me than one I had from England, or one I had made in this place; is in justice and gratitude to his merit
Attested, at Aberdeen,
May 30th, 1764,
by
J. OGLEBY, Minister, at Aberdeen."
"I SHALL only add (which is indeed truth) that this Truss is so very convenient, that I can walk and do every thing else as freely with it as if I had no ailment at all.
J. O."
"IN justice and gratitude to Robert Brand, Truss-maker, in Aberdeen, I acknowledge that I have had a Rupture for these five years; that about that time I was an invalid, doing garrison duty at the Island of Guernsey, I had a Truss purchased at London for me by Mr. Rose, the King's Receiver in the island; which I wore, but with great pain, for the space of four years. I then got a Truss which came from Chelsea Hospital, but with no better success; until about a month ago, I purchased one from Mr. Brand, being a single Truss and fitted for the right side, which has answered the intent, by giving me no pain in my walking, keeps up the Rupture, and without the incumbrance of a Thigh-strap: Is attested to be truth by me, this 30th day of May, 1764.
ALEXANDER FORBES."
Aberdeen.
"THE above declaration is attested by me, John Dye, of Tilligrieg, one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Aberdeen,
JOHN DYE, J. P."
Aberdeen,
May
30, 1764.
"I Doctor Thomas Livingston, Physician to the Infirmary at Aberdeen, do hereby certify, that Robert Brand, Cutler, in this City, has bestowed great pains and attention in contriving a new construction of Rupture-trusses, which, for ease as well as prevention of the disease, seems to answer better than the ordinary Trusses formerly in use; and it consists with my particular knowledge, that many people have used them with great benefit and satisfaction.
Attested by THOMAS LIVINGSTON."
Aberdeen,
June
2, 1764.
IN January, 1765, the following Memorial was presented to the
Edinburgh Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c.
by Mr. Barclay, their Secretary.
"My LORDS and GENTLEMEN,
I HUMBLY beg leave to represent to you, that Ruptures are unfortunately too common: Perhaps the fourth part of mankind labour under them in old age; and as to women who have had children, if half of them escape accidents of this kind, it is a miracle.
BEING originally
When I say
originally,
I would be understood that it was the first trade I followed: and I am not, I ought not to be ashamed of saying, though I practised it some years with great sucess, I was not regularly bred even to
that,
nor any other trade whatever.
a Cutler and Surgeon's Instrument-maker, and having been for many years afflicted with a Rupture which greatly incommoded me in the necessary functions of life, I had recourse to the various Trusses and Bandages made use of for relieving that misfortune, both from London and Paris; but finding them very incommodious as well as ineffectual, I applied myself with great attention to the improvement of those necessary contrivances; and, after many years repeated trials and many years experience have at last happily succeeded, and so greatly improved the Steel Truss, as to make it answer every desireable purpose for the curing as well as palliating that troublesome disorder; which numbers as well as myself have experienced, both here and in London; to authenticate which assertion, letters, should it be thought necessary, can be produced from Patients resident at both places.
THE great advantages which my Trusses have, in consequence of this Improvement, above others, are as follow:
FIRST, by an Elastic Spring, peculiar to themselves, they are accommodated equally well to persons of every Age and Size; so that two different Sizes is the only requisite for making them fit every person of above two years of age; and the same circumstance likewise makes them more proper for exportation than any hitherto invented.
SECONDLY, They do not require that troublesome and incommodious appendage a Thigh-strap, so commonly used in other Bandages.
THIRDLY, They by the Elasticity abovementioned maintain a constant, equal, and uniform pressure on the part only affected, and imitate the kind pressure of the Hand in all its degrees, in all the different attitudes of the Body; whereby the parts making the Rupture are so constantly kept from coming down, that an opportunity is given to the relaxed and ruptured parts through which they descend to recover their former state, and thereby prove to the Patient a radical Cure.
FOUR THLY, I can afford to sell the abovementioned Trusses at as low a price as the other Truss-makers in Britain sell their Iron Trusses, without any other property to them than dignifying them with the names of Steel and Spring Trusses.
THESE, and other advantages, too tedious to mention, convince me that this improvement, when generally known, will prove a very great benefit to a very great part of mankind: And therefore I persuade myself that should it meet with your approbation, I shall not fail of sharing that encouragement and generosity which so highly dignifies your honourable Society.
I am, My Lords and Gentlemen, with the most profound respect, your most obedient Servant, ROBERT BRAND."
[TRUE COPY.]
Aberdeen,
Jun.
28, 1765.
IN consequence of the presentation of the foregoing memorial I received the following letter:
To
ROBERT BRAND,
Cutler,
and
Truss-Maker,
in Aberdeen:
SIR,
YOU here have the report Dr. Monro gives the Society of Arts, on the back of your memorial, which I returned this day to Mr. Barclay, who said it would make nothing as to premium. After his respectful compliments to the honourable Society, Dr. Monro says, "The Trusses Mr. Brand presents is no new invention, as there is of the same kind and same materials used by most Surgeons in Europe for many years past: The only essential circumstance is, the circular Steel Spring is more strict than those in common use, which makes them sit easier on the Patient, and better fit persons of different sizes." He adds, "that this last is scarce worth observation, as each person ought to have his measure taken in the most accurate manner.
March
6th, 1765."
Your most obedient Servant, JOHN PIRRIE.
Edinburgh,
March
7th, 1765.
"P. S. A few days after I delivered your memorial to Mr. Barclay he called at my house, and told me the Society had pitched on Dr. Monro to examine into the merits of your Trusses; which the Doctor very readily assented to, and that I must carry them to him directly; which I accordingly did. On opening the box, taking them out, and shewing them to the Doctor, he said they were made in the same manner as Mr. Auchinlec here makes them. I said there was a
great
difference. But still the Doctor insisted there was
none.
On this, his son stept into another room, and brought one of Auchinlec's making out, and on comparing them together, he confessed there
was
a difference.—Had he suffered as much pain with Trusses as I have done, he would sooner have seen it.
WHEN persons of confined ideas, and who have not the advantages of education, fall into an error, there is an excuse ready for them: The gross mistakes of a man of letters are unpardonable. Dr. Monro's misapprehension indeed seems WILFUL. Could any thing be more uncandid than his declaration that my Trusses and Mr. Auchinlec's were alike?—Could any thing be more mean than the hard-strain'd acknowledgement, that
"there was
some difference?"
In his report he says,
"that my Truss differs from others, only in the circular Steel Spring being more strict than those in common use; which makes them sit
easier,
and better fit persons of
different sizes;"
but this
ease
and this
convenience,
it seems, are not worth thinking of, because
"each person ought to have his measure taken in the most accurate manner."
—Here is philosophy! —I frequently send Trusses to the East and West Indies—Were Dr. Monro living, I would ask him, if I should make a voyage every time I receive an order.—
HERE follow several testimonies to the merits of my Truss, which, without further ceremony, the Reader will, I believe, accept.
To
Mr. BRAND, in
Great Peter's Street,
Westminster.
SIR,
"THE Machine you last left with me does its office very well, and sits easy.
Your humble Servant, J. B."
Greenwich,
August 7th,
1765.
To
Mr. BRAND, in
Great Peter's Street,
Westminster.
Mr. BRAND,
"AFTER a variety of Trusses I have made use of from different persons recommended to me by a Surgeon of great character in Town, which did not do their office; yours that I have now on, and have worn constantly nine or ten weeks, not only fully answers its purpose of keeping the Gut up, but sits very easy, and is attended with little or no trouble.
J. BRAND, Counsellor at Law."
Greenwich,
Sept. 11th,
1765.
"ON the recommendation of Dr. Hunter, I made use of Mr. Brand's Elastic Truss, to a youth about seven years of age, who had been afflicted with a Scrotal Rupture for two or three years. I had used in the course of that time several ineffectual means without success: Yours he wore with great ease, and intirely prevented any return of the disorder.
Witness my Hand
this 27th Day of
Feb.
1766.
W. TAYLER, Late Surgeon of the Dock-Yard at
Woolwich,
a new Surgeon of
Greenwich Hospital."
"THESE are to certify that I have seen Mr. Brand's Bandages for Ruptures, and that from the several opportunities I have had for them, find they answer better than any other I have had occasion to use.
W. NORTON, Navy Surgeon."
Strand,
June 2d,
1766.
"THIS is to certify, that I have frequently recommended Mr. Robert Brand, Truss-Maker, whose Bandages always gave great satisfaction to my Patients, and to me.
R. BROMFIELD, M. D."
Gerard-Street,
July 18th,
1766.
"THESE are to certify, that I have seen and carefully examined the Elastic Bandages for Ruptures, made by Mr. Robert Brand, of Peter-Street Westminster, Truss-Maker; and am of opinion, that they are neat and strong in their construction, very ingenious in their contrivance, and more peculiarly adapted to several purposes of a Truss than any other Bandage I have ever seen.
Given under my Hand,
this 18th Day of
July,
1766.
St. Martin's-Lane.
C. KELLY, M. D."
"HAVING made use of the Trusses made by Mr. Brand, on some Patients afflicted with Ruptures, I think it no more than a piece of justice due to his ingenuity, to acknowledge, that they have succeeded very well in fulfilling the intention for which they were applied; nor have I ever seen any Trusses which I should prefer to them.
W. HEWSON, Surgeon."
Now in
Argyle Buildings, Oxford Road,
July
17, 1766.
"THESE are humbly to certify the Governors of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, that I have seen several instances of Ruptures, where the Patients have unsuccessfully made use of several Operators Trusses, which were painful and uneasy to them; and afterwards being advised to use Mr. Brand's Elastic ones, they found speedy ease, and no pain therefrom; and for that reason, in my opinion, his deserves the preference of all other Trusses.
T. POOLE, Surgeon of the Royal Navy."
Savoy,
August,
29, 1766.
"I HAVB seen some instances where Mr. Brand's Elastic Trusses have been successful, where others have failed.
E. BARRY, M. D."
Now in
Bath,
August 20th,
1766.
"I HAVE seen some instances where Mr. Brand's Elastic Trusses have been successful, where others have failed; therefore I think they deserve peculiar notice.
F. PINKSTON, Surgeon."
St. Alban's-Street
August 29th,
1766.
"THESE are to certify that I recommended a Patient to Mr. Brand, who had been afflicted from his infancy with an inguinal Rupture, and had tried all means for a cure, with the different sorts of Trusses, without success, giving him great pain in wearing them, so that he was often obliged to leave them off, and his Rupture would as often come down; but after applying Mr. Brand's Truss, he found to his great satisfaction that he could wear it with great ease, and declared himself much obliged to the ingenious Author of such a Truss, from which he had found so much relief.
As witness my Hand, HUGH CRAWFORD, M. D."
Leicester-Fields,
August 25th,
1766.
IN the case referred to by this Gentleman, on reducing the Rupture, if great care was not taken to divide the Testicle from it, the latter would follow the former into the Belly.
"THIS is to certify that I have often examined, and seen applied, Mr. Brand's Steel Trusses, and I do imagine that they are better adapted for the cure of Ruptures than any I have seen.
JOHN HUNTER, Surgeon."
Now in
Jermyn Street,
August
24, 1766.
"I Hereby certify, that after having recommended various sorts of Trusses to my Patients, I can find none so easy to the wearers, or so well adapted to the relief of their disorders, as the Elastic Trusses made by Mr. Brand, of Peter-Sreet, Westminster.
C. HALE, Surgeon."
Parliament-Street,
August
25, 1766.
To
Mr. ROBERT BRAND, TRUSS-MAKER
to his Majesty's Royal Hospital at Greenwich: At his House in St. Martin's-Lane, near Charing-Cross, London.
SIR,
"THE generosity and humanity with which you treated me demand the most grateful acknowledgments, and nothing gives me more concern than to think that necessity should oblige me to leave London without being able to pay you, as my friend was not in town, and the ship going away. Therefore I must intreat you to be patient for a short time, and you shall have no cause to complain. In the interim I send you my Note for 2l. 10s. payable in six months after date, tho' the sum I owe you is only 2l. 2s. And as I shall make a remittance by the return of the ship from South Carolina, to Mr. Edward Upton, in Paternoster-Row, I shall desire him at the same time to take up the Note. Permit me to assure you, Sir, that I shall spare no pains to recommend your Trusses in South Carolina: And in the mean time please to pay my compliments to your good spouse and son.
SIR, I am, with the greatest respect, Your much obliged humble Servant, G. SPENCER."
Deal,
July 30th,
1767.
MR. Spencer was a gentleman of the clergy, and had a living in North America. Being afflicted with a very large Femoral Rupture, he applied to several for relief without any success; among whom was the ingenious Mr. Blackey, of Paris, who applied a Truss that was adapted for a Groin Rupture on his Femoral Rupture; however, I made a proper Truss for him, and applied it; which I had no sooner done, and he finding that it would do its office, than he desired me to take it off. I asked him why? He said because he had not money sufficient about him to pay for it, and that his friend was not in town. I told him I had no doubt of the money, for I believed him a gentleman. On which we parted; and I never faw, nor heard from him, till I received the letter inserted.
HE faithfully remitted the money, and I received it.
To
Mr. ROBERT BRAND.
SIR,
"A SHORT time since, I desired my brother to call on you for an Elastic Steel Truss, for a Patient I have here. During the time he has used it, has found the greatest benefit. Have reason to think he will get a perfect cure, by persevering in the use of it. This morning, as he was applying it as usual, the part broke as you see, which beg you to get mended, and send to the bearer for conveyance to,
"SIR, Your most humble Servant, WILLIAM ROBBINS."
Axminster,
February
11, 1771.
POSTSCRIPT.
HAVING received several letters containing the most illiberal abuse, in consequence of the publication of the preceding pages, some of which I have reason to suppose were written by Counsellor Brand's
See Page 20.
Surgeon of Character;
I think it necessary to declare, that I never intended, nor, indeed, could I form an idea, that the Treatise in question should give the smallest offence to any Gentleman of the Faculty. My sole object was—the relief of my fellow-creatures, and the instruction of the ignorant in that which it is necessary they should know.—Besides improving their practice, I have a right to the thanks of the Faculty, for pointing out the most efficacious cure of a Malady, from which
they
are by no means exempt—and which the most eminent of them have had no little trouble to remove.—And I sincerely wish I could not say with truth, that numbers have, within these few years, lost their lives, after having paid very considerable sums for pretended assistance, and ineffectual advice. It is interest, then, alone that prevents these cavillers from doing justice to my performances, and which prompts them to cheat the disordered of assistance.
I AM acquainted with Surgeons who have been many years in practice, and who have assured me they never had an opportunity of reducing a Rupture, or of applying a Truss.—A midwife, too, who has been upwards of twenty years in practice, lately declared to me, that, to her knowledge, she never had delivered a woman that had a Rupture either in the Groin or Navel.—Yet have I applied Bandages on a variety of both.—
NOTWITHSTANDING the
true method
of applying Trusses, or
reducing Ruptures,
is a matter of the utmost importance in the treatment of that malady, and in the highest degree conducive to the ease of the Patient, I am bold to say, that in all the treatises I have perused, both antient and modern (and they are not a few), I never met with any thing like a clear instruction to that purpose.—Something
curious,
tho' by no means advantageous, may be collected from a book lately published.—(The Author, I think, dignifies his name with,
"Master of Arts and Surgery, Member of the Royal Academy of Surgery at Paris, Demonstrator in the School of St. Come, Surgeon for Ruptures of the Hospitals of Hotel Dieu, the Invalids and Incurables, of the City of Paris, and of all the military Hospitals in France.")
A process is there advised for making an ointment of a solution of Gold Pearls, to be used for assisting the reduction of strangulated Ruptures.—When this ingenious and most expensive preparation is compleated, it will probably be as efficacious as the same quantity of clay, in the same manner applied.
I HOPED in the treatises above hinted at, to have found something that would, at least, have been capable of improvement in the true method of applying Trusses, and the reducing Ruptures:—On the contrary, they contain merely long and unsatisfactory details of the manner in which the antient Surgeons commonly burnt the Ruptures of their Patients, and destroyed the flesh of those parts to the Bone, with a view of avoiding the more necessary application of Trusses.—This is one proof, among many, that Surgeons never encouraged Trusses, altho' it is universally acknowledged that it is impossible a cure can be perfectly obtained without such an assistant.—The pain attending the wearing of some Trusses, it must be acknowledged, has prevented many persons from adhering to the most salutary method of cure; but such neglect is often attended with the most dreadful consequences; it being no uncommon thing to meet persons in the street, whose Guts partly falling into their breeches, exhibit a deplorable and pitiable spectacle.
AND here it may not be improper to inform the Reader of the encouragement I received from the Faculty on my arrival in London, which was in June, 1764. Mr. Ranby being the only gentleman of the profession I had the honour of knowing, I waited upon him; and, by his desire, afterwards attended the Gentlemen of St. George's Hospital. With the countenance of such a Gentleman as Mr. Ranby, whose name and letter to me at Aberdeen I had the liberty to use, I could not but form the most pleasing hopes of convincing some of the first Surgeons in England of the merit and utility of my Trusses.—But I was disappointed: I found, tho' they were men of learning, they were not men of candor. —Mr. Bromfield said,
"he believed they
might do."
Mr. Gataker said,
"he could see nothing more in
my
Trusses than in
any
other."
However, while I was one day attending a person, then under the care of Mr. Hawkins, he informed me that he had long been an Out-patient of that Hospital, and had Trusses from every Truss-maker in Town, but that none of them would keep his Rupture up; and that since he had been under Mr. Hawkins's care, he had procured him a Truss from a person in Bartholomew Close, which would by no means keep up his Rupture, tho' he had been to the maker twenty times to have it altered, who told him his Rupture would never be well 'till he had it cut. I looked upon this as an opportunity, offered me by Providence, of at once doing a service to a fellow-creature, and bringing conviction of the use of my Elastic Trusses to those who had ignorantly or interestedly denied their merits. I brought the youth to my lodgings, and there applied a Truss on him; my honest endeavours had the desired effect; and in about three months, he obtained a compleat cure.
LEST any of my Readers should doubt the truth of this relation, I desire to inform them that the name of the above-mentioned youth is John Pellerst, whose uncle, of the same name, lives in Downe-street, near Hyde-Park Corner; and I believe that something relative to this affair will be found in the books of St. George's Hospital, from the beginning of April 1764, to the end of August in the same year.—To this case I have only to add, that notwithstanding this ample proof of the merits of my Truss, I cannot charge Mr. Hawkins with recommending a single Patient to me, tho' he has often confessed my Trusses were more efficacious than those of any other person he had knowledge of.
IN Mr. Pott's Treatise on Ruptures, second Edition, Sec. 1. Page 29, that gentleman says,
"The cure of a Rupture is either perfect (called also radical) or imperfect, which is called palliative. This distinction, which, he says, is just and true, and founded both on reason and experience, has frequently been misunderstood by the generality of mankind, and has therefore been the cause of much undeserving censure on the practitioners of Surgery."
He adds,
"the truth is, that tho' the events are extremely different, yet the chirurgical means which are made use of in either case are exactly the same, viz. the reduction of the protruded parts, and retention of them when so reduced by proper Bandages."
—I wish Mr. Pott had given the address of his
proper Bandage-maker,
as Dr. Smellie did of his proper Midwifery Instrument-maker. I could never find those Bandages at the
Shoemaker
's, nor at the RUPTURE-CURER'S, who has his name distinguished in the Court and City Register for 1771.—Convinced at least of their politeness in thus dignifying a man who has little pretension to public favour, I had no doubt but that the compilers, or compilers directors had complimented me with a similar appellation;—but I was again mistaken: I found (in Page 142)
my
desert would procure me barely the title of plain
Truss-maker.
—I wish some of those persons whom this RUPTURE-CURER has assisted, would persuade me out of a notion that it is death which generally performs the cure for this worthy gentleman. I am assured that those Trusses said to be of his making are too painful even for a horse to wear. He prides himself, I am told, on employing the same persons who did business for my Predecessor.—As a proof of the absurdity of building on another's supposed reputation, when I was appointed Truss-maker to Greenwich Hospital, I could not find one in twenty of the ruptured men in that place, who could wear the Trusses made by my predocessor; and those who did wear them were so miserably fretted and galled on their Hips and Loins, that they were obliged to attend the Surgeon every morning to have their Wounds dressed: So that by my appointment, I had the pleasure not only of relieving the diseased men from the misery they suffered by the iron Trusses before made use of, but prevented the surgeons from being troubled with the like complaints, and saved the expences of the house.
BEING, about twenty-eight years since, afflicted with a Rupture, I consented to become a Patient to Messrs. Woodward and Hunt; and from a strict attention to their method, I am enabled to give the Reader some idea of it. The first object then with them was, to examine the Patient—with respect to his circumstances. If he would part freely with his money, they first applied a linen Bandage; and shortly after informed him, that was not sufficient of itself to perform the cure, and that they must call in the assistance of proper Medicines, with which they would furnish him at one Guinea per Month.—And in this way did they cajole me out of Fourteen Guineas; and my Rupture was greatly worse at the year's end than when first I became their Patient.
I AM here induced to relate a Story which cannot be contradicted, and which will serve sufficiently to expose the fallacy of trifling and vain pretenders. A gentleman of 70 years of age, who has been afflicted many years with a Rupture, and who has worn a Truss of my making for upwards of these five years, which rendered his Rupture, tho' by no means curable, of little trouble to him, was very lately persuaded to apply to Mr. L. a Surgeon, for a complete cure. He accordingly waited on that gentleman, to know if he would take his case in hand, and what the expence would be. Mr. L. told him he had no doubt of effecting a cure, even if he was eighty years old; and as he was only a Tradesman, he believed he could do it for about 30 Guineas; but that the Patient must wait on him every morning. This, the gentleman informed him, was a thing he could not do; and the Surgeon, therefore, consented to call upon him.—Next morning Mr. L. dressed in a suit of black velvet, drove in his chariot to his Patient's. The tradseman, reflecting that this appearance of grandeur was not kept up at a small expence, determined to make a sure bargain, and accordingly told the Surgeon,—
"Sir, before we proceed to business, let me know exactly what the expence of this cure will be; and if no cure—no pay."
—At this the Surgeon "started like a
guilty thing,"
and turning on his heel, whipp'd into his chariot, and drove home,—no doubt sufficiently mortified at the disappointment.—I have only to remark, that if every afflicted person would endeavour to make as certain a bargain as my Patient intended to do with the above-mentioned impudent assertor, the velvet suits of such pettifoggers in genius would soon be rusty, and their Chariots without a wheel.
I AM acquainted with many persons of both sexes who have been Patients to Mr. L. and they all agree that the following is his method of operation: First, he applies a Bandage, as Woodward and Hunt used to do. The Patient must then attend on him once a day for so many times as he shall appoint, and at these times he applies a brush dipt in something which he calls an Astringent. When he is tired of brushing, he pronounces a complete cure; which should the Patient presume to doubt, he is capable of behaving in the most insolent manner, which he justifies by the affront offered to his knowledge:—and should their spirit on the occasion equal his impudence (which is barely possible), he will even go so far as to threaten a prosecution for defamation. To corroborate this fact, it is well known that, about seven years ago, this same Mr. L. obtained a verdict of eighty pounds from a Surgeon of eminence, and another of an hundred pounds from a Gentleman in the same profession equally respectable, for a pretended defamation; and has since been at the point of being pilloried for his mal-practices on his Ruptured Patients.
I MUST here beg leave to introduce a passage from Mr. Pott's Treatise on Ruptures, p. 169.
"The histories of Prior, Cabriere, Bowles, Sir Thomas Renton, Dr. Littlejohn, &c. &c. to be found in Dionis, Houston, and other writers, will furnish to the Reader an idea of the practice and performances of some who have stood at the head of those bold promisers."
—
"This is a subject in which mankind are much interested, and on which a good deal might be said; but as an honest endeavour to save the afflicted from the hands of those who have no character to lose, and whose only point is money, might from one of the profession be misconstrued into malevolence and craft, I will not enter into it; but shall conclude by wishing, that they who have capacity to judge of these matters (which are as much the object of commonsense as any other kind of knowledge) would not suffer themselves to be deluded by the impudent assertions of any Charlatan whatever; but determine in this, as they do in many other things, that is, by the event."
—There is a sentence in sacred writ which naturally strikes me on the present occasion—
"Out of
thy own
mouth will I
condemn
thee."
—Let the Reader join the above quotations, and think for himself.—I snall only say, that I sincerely wish Counsellor Brand's
Surgeon of character
would reflect on the very
excellent
opinion of Mr. Pott, before he receives his fee merely for approving what the
Shoemaker
has done, or preparing the way for what he is to do.
WITH respect to myself, without a vain pretence to a thorough knowledge of Surgery, it is my boast that a studious application, long experience, and, above all, a strict adherence to the principles of
My Readers, I hope, will not accuse me of ostentation when I remark, that from the 7th of November, 1770, to the 31st of January, 1771, I have given away Trusses to persons who were incapable of purchasing them, to the amount of 23l. 2s.—Attestations of the truth of which from the Overseers, &c. of the different parishes to which they belong, are ready to be produced to those who shall desire to see them: A greater sum, I believe, than is dispensed to the poor afflicted with Ruptures from all the Hospitals, except Greenwich and Chelsea, in the same period of time.
Humanity, have fixed me in the midst of a most extensive practice. That there are persons who bear me illw-ill, I have no doubt; but I have the consolation, that, in this case, those who are
my
enemies are the enemies of Society.—I despise the reflections thrown out against me on account of my former professions: Such reflections are at once a proof of ill manners and ill principles. The good and the sensible will acknowledge, that it is as possible for a soldier to attain a knowledge of the true method of reducing Ruptures and applying Trusses, as it was for Frere Jacques to discover the proper manner of cutting for the stone; for a friar to instruct the world in the use of Gun-powder; or a soldier to invent the important and useful art of Printing. From a conviction that the Pupils in the different Hospitals in town seldom had an opportunity of seeing a Rupture, and from a desire to render a knowledge of its proper treatment more general; I very lately gave them a public invitation to see me perform the operation of reducing Ruptures, and the retention of them when so reduced by applying Trusses, which is the only remedy, at all ages, and in all states, of reducible Ruptures. At the same time, I provided a number of cases, some of which were acknowledged by Mr. Hunter to be the most singular he remembered to have met with.—However, this good disposition in me could not escape censure;—an undistinguishing haughtiness construed it an affront—and I was informed, that if I persisted in that practice, it would greatly offend the Faculty. To exculpate myself from a design to give offence, I shall only refer to the feelings of every candid Reader, and say, that I meant a service to the world. In conclusion, I shall subjoin a few Cases, and for the present take my leave,—wishing those who condemn from ignorance, more knowledge;—those who asperse from malevolence, more good-nature.
CASES.
ON the 20th of January, one of the Inpensioners of Greenwich Hospital applied to me, in the Surgery of that place, for a Truss for a double Rupture. Upon examining him, I sound the Rupture single only, and in the right Groin; in the left Groin the Testicle lying in an oval figure, across the orifice, where a Rupture generally descends, and no appearance of the Scrotum on the left side of the Penis. This most extraordinary situation was occasioned, he informed me, by a fall across the gunnel of a boat about twelve months ago. When the Truss was properly applied, the Bandage did not in the smallest degree compress the Testicle opposite to the Rupture; and I have the satisfaction to say, that there is now the greatest probability of a palliative cure being effected. Those who doubt the authenticity of this relation are intreated to refer to the cheque book, which is kept in the Surgery of the above-mentioned Hospital.
ON the 7th of November last, a poor man, recommended by Mr. Benjamin Morris, Overseer of the Poor of St. Luke, Middlesex, came to me for assistance. He said, that about ten Months before that time, he felt something in his Groin which was not then attended with any pain: However, it by degrees increased, and increasing grew very painful, and much larger; and that very often it made him so sick, that it would occasion him to throw up what he had eaten, and was often incapable of working for his bread;—for that when he was in an upright posture his Rupture would sometimes fall down with that violence as to burst open the codpiece of his breeches. I applied a Truss; and the last time I saw him, which was the 14th of January last, he informed me, that ever since I applied the Truss to his Rupture, it had not fallen down once, nor had he lost a day's work. Any person who shall doubt this, may be satisfied of the truth of the case by applying to Mr. Morris above-mentioned, or at my house, where they will be shewn a letter of thanks from the Patient himself, whose desire it is the same may be publicly seen.
THOMAS West, a young man about twenty, applied to me on the 24th of December last, for relief in the case of a Rupture, which he had had ever since he was fourteen years of age. It was, at the time mentioned, increased to the size of eight inches circumference from the Testicle above the Os Pubis. I reduced it all, and applied a Truss thereon, at the same time informing him in what manner he should proceed to obtain a perfect cure. In about ten days he came to me again, said he had been very punctual in the observation of my directions, and that he was completely cured, notwithstanding he had used all manner of common exercises. He then pulled off his Truss, coughed and blowed his nose in a violent manner, and said there was no occasion for wearing the Truss any longer. I asked him if wearing it gave him any pain; he replied no; and I ordered him not to leave it off for a few months.—This extraordinary case will be authenticated by applying to Mr. West, Lighterman, in King-Street, Deptford, who is the Patient's Brother.
ABOUT two years and a half ago, a lad of twelve years of age was brought to me by Mr. Macguire, Peruke-maker, of Hedgelane, for the cure of a Rupture. When I examined him, I found the Rupture, which was in the right Groin, prodigiously large, with the Testicle at the lower extremity of it: The left Testicle was confined in the abdomen, and had been so ever since he could remember. By the proper application of my Elastic Truss, he obtained a radical cure in about nine months; the right Testicle at that time remaining in its proper and natural state in the Scrotum. I then told him he might lay the Truss aside. In a few months after, Mr. Macguire brought the boy to me again; said his Rupture was extremely bad, and that he must have another Truss.—On examining him, so far from having a Rupture, his right Testicle had followed the Rupture into the abdomen, and, with the left, remains in that state to this day; and what is still more remarkable, there is not the smallest appearance of the Scrotum, altho' the Penis remains in its natural state.
FINIS.