A Manual of Surgical Treatment, Vol. 2 of 6 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from A Manual of Surgical Treatment, Vol. 2 of 6<br><br>The subject of surgery has now become so extensive that any work attempting to deal with it in an exhaustive manner must necessarily be so large and unwieldy as to be suitable only for purposes of reference, or for the use of those who devote themselves exclusively to its practice. In any text-book of convenient size the information given in certain branches of the subject must therefore be considerably condensed, and, as the first essential for the beginner is to have the fullest knowledge of the nature and characters of the diseases that he has to study, special stress is usually laid upon pathology, symptomatology, and diagnosis. For the practitioner, on the other hand, who is already acquainted with these points, the great essential is full and detailed information as to the best methods of treatment.<br><br>We have ourselves frequently experienced the want of detailed information, especially as regards the after-treatment of our cases, and have had to learn the best methods of procedure from experience. Nothing can of course replace experience, but it is often of the greatest advantage to have a detailed record of that of others upon which to base one's work. It is this want that the present work is intended to supply. We have tried to put ourselves in the place of those who have to treat a given case for the first time, and we have endeavoured to supply them with details as to treatment from the commencement to the termination of the illness. We have assumed that the reader is familiar with the nature and diagnosis of the disease, and we only refer to the pathology and symptoms in so far as it is necessary to render intelligible the principles on which the treatment is based, and the various stages of the disease to which each particular method is applicable.<br><br>We have purposely avoided attempting to give anything like a complete summary of the various methods of treatment that have from time to time been proposed: to do so would merely confuse the reader. Only those plans are described which our experience has led us to believe are the best, but with regard to these we have endeavoured to state exactly and in detail what we ourselves should do under given circumstances. In some cases no doubt several methods of treatment are of equal value, and while we have only discussed at length that which we have ourselves been led to adopt, we have referred shortly to the others.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.