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OLD 1840 ACCOUNT BY NAVAL SURGEON ON FRIGATE USS BRANDYWINE
This item is a TWO-page 8 x 10” manuscript written in dark ink by Naval Assistant Surgeon J. Malcolm Smith. The document is undated but was written sometime in the late 1830s or early 1840s. The document may perhaps have been an examination paper for a Naval Medical Review Board—perhaps written when Smith was trying to advance in rank from Assistant Surgeon to Passed Assistant Surgeon. Smith served in the US NAVY first as Assistant Surgeon from 6 September 1837, and then as Passed Assistant Surgeon from 14 March 1843. He died on 29 April 1848 while still in Naval Service.
This old document describes in medical terminology, four possible types of dislocation of the hip or femur, and on the second page, provides a fascinating specific account of treating one case of dislocation of the femur that occurred when Smith was serving as the only available medical doctor on the Frigate USS Brandywine.
A partial transcription follows:
“Assistant Surgeon J. Malcolm Smith
DISLOCATIONS OF THE FEMUR
Dislocations of the Os Femora’s are divided into four varieties(?) viz
1st Upwards on the dorsum ilii
2nd Downwards and upwards into the foramen ovale
3rd Upwards and forwards on the Pubis and
4th Backwards and into the Sciatic notch.
A dislocation on the dorsum ilii may be known by the following signs: The limb is shortened from 2 ½ to 3 inches. The foot is turned upwards, . . .
The following case of dislocation on the dorsum ilii, which occurred on board the U. S. Frigate Brandywine and which came under my treatment, being at that time the only Medical officer (on duty) in the Ship, will illustrate the application of the usual means employed in these cases.
George Fields, Gunner’s Mate, suffered a dislocation of the femur on the dorsum ilii produced by a fall from his hammock, the ship rolling heavy at the time. On examination the nature of the case was evident from the signs briefly enumerated above. Being an extremely muscular man, I thought it necessary to (?) the usual debilitating means. He was placed in a warm bath and took while in the bath, nauseating doses of antimony. He was then placed on the table. A shirt applied to a staple applied in the groin of the dislocated limb, pulleys by means of roller and shirt above the knee and a towel under the upper part of the thigh. These arrangements having been made he was bled from a large orifice to approach of syncope [fainting] and extension immediately commenced in the most gradual manner. When the head of the bone had been brought by the extension opposite the acetabulum the pulleys were suddenly relaxed, the upper part of the thigh raised by means of the towel by an assistant whom I had stationed for the purpose, and the bone was immediately restored to the socket with a jerk but no audible snap. From commencing extension to the reduction of the bone, the time occupied was 12 minutes.
In dislocation into foramen ovale the pulleys are applied to act on the head of the bone in the groin and the dislocated limb drawn towards that of the sound side by the hand of the Surgeon.
J. Malcolm Smith”
The USS Brandywine was a United States Navy 44-gun sailing frigate launched in 1825
On 8 September 1825, she sailed from Washington Navy Yard with the Marquis de Lafayette on board, returning to France after a visit to the United States. She joined the Mediterranean Squadron in November.
In 1861 Brandywine was returned to service in the Civil War and converted to a store ship for the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. She then moved to Norfolk, Virginia where she was destroyed by fire 3 September 1864. The USS Brandywine was notable as the final evolution of the 44-gun frigate design that began with the USS Constitution.
This old document is written on paper of good rag content. The top 2 ¼” of the page has been folded back to shorten the paper. The resulting crease line has weakened and the paper is in some danger of separation along this fold. It is currently stable, but the document should be flattened out and immobilized as soon as possible. Also, from indentations along the left edge, it appears that the page was once bound into a ledger (see scan). Finally, there is a ½” x 2 ¼” section missing at the top of the page. Otherwise the document is in quite good condition as shown in scan below of front and reverse.
Price= $125.00
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