Source: File: Sir William Watson Cheyne.jpg, 2015. From
Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. [online] Available at:<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watson_Cheyne> [Accessed:
15 February 2015].
At The Royal
College of Surgeons,
On Monday
February the fifteenth, was
Held a
'Hunterian' talk - which meant,
By use of
observations and methods
Employed in
science, for advancement
In the
development of treatments.
A lecture given
by Sir Watson Cheyne,
Described his
ongoing experiments,
For the
disinfection of wounds, made
By gunshots - at
the initial stages, prior
To being treated
at a base hospital.
Lantern slides of
microscopic images
Were used by the
surgeon, in a show
Of bacilli
colonies on waxy substances.
These represented
suppurating sores,
Which were
subjected to antiseptics.
They had made a
discovery to prove
Effective use of
creosol and carbolic
Acid - one
surprise for Sir Cheyne
Was a corrosive
sublimate i.e. mercury -
That completely
dispelled the bacilli.
A committee of
three then formed,
With himself, the
Royal Naval colleges'
Arthur Edmunds
and the fleet surgeon
Basset Smith - to
take on experiments,
To effectively
resolve shot wounds,
At earliest
possible point at the front.
This applied
antiseptic would remain
Diffusing within
the tissue's blood,
To inhibit the
bacteria’s growth - then
Temporarily
putting bacilli out of action,
Until the point
when a victim's wound
Would receive
full medical treatment.
Sir Cheyne stated
their trials showed
How these dangerous
delays, when
Transporting
wounded from frontlines
To base hospital,
would be removed;
An issue that had
to be solved at the front.
Sir Cheyne added
an idea, that if he were
An author of
sixpenny novels, he would
Devise shells for
gunners that contained
Anesthetics -
these being heavier than
Air, would drift
across the ground - For
An unconscious
enemy to awake to find
Themselves taken,
as prisoners of war.
One sad fact
about a war is the proviso
Of plenty of
injured, maimed subjects,
On which to test
out theories - where
In time of peace
would be frowned on -
The sufferings of
many young bodies,
Therefore
provides allowance for surgeons
To take
liberties, without fear of reprisals.
by Jamie Mann.
Anon.,1915. Gunshot
Wounds in War - Hopeful Experiments. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 16 Feb. P.4. Col.5. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/11411729/Daily-Telegraph-February-16-1915.html
[Accessed: 16 February 2015].
Mann, J., 2015. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 16 February 2015).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1London
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