The extraordinary case of Sarah Hawkes : one of extreme deformity, cured by a method founded upon simple principles / [Edward Harrison].

  • Harrison, Edward, 1759-1838.
Date:
1832 [i.e. 1833]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The extraordinary case of Sarah Hawkes : one of extreme deformity, cured by a method founded upon simple principles / [Edward Harrison]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ages,, were much investigated and successfully reme¬ died. Hippocrates bestowed a considerable share of his attention upon them, and adopted such me¬ thods of cure as shewed that he well understood their nature and importance. In his chapter on Dislocations * the Father of Medicine treats of vertebral luxations at consider¬ able length; and recommends the employment of mechanical means for their cure. His observations and directions, however, are wholly confined to in¬ curvations induced by violence. The remedies were selected with considerable judgment, although they were unnecessarily complex ; but I believe they were, in many instances, successful. As he made no at¬ tempt to cure deformities arising from constitutional causes, his treatise is, on that account, very imper¬ fect, or rather defective. Galen and Celsus followed in the same track ; and each, being attentive to the subject, contributed materially to enhance the labours of their illustrious predecessor; but, like him, they confined their cu¬ rative attention to injuries inflicted upon the spine, by falls, blows, and other species of accident or violence. Although spinal complaints are frequently the consequence of hurts, they more commonly proceed * Hippocrates de articulis. Sect. vi.