312 SURGERY 



the opportunity offered to make possible the practice of surgery 

 of the present century. The valuable services of Mrs. W. H. Osborn 

 for nearly thirty consecutive years and the untiring labors of Mrs. 

 W. P. Griffin, who has been its faithful president for nearly twenty- 

 one years, entitles them to a high place of honor in the estimation 

 of the medical profession. The progress of surgery in this country 

 has been largely influenced by the help and aid which this depart- 

 ment of philanthropy has offered to suffering humanity. 



It is indeed a truth that without the Bellevue Training-School 

 for Nurses, and the influences which have sprung from it, the sur- 

 gery of the present century and notably of the last quarter of a 

 century in America would not have been possible. The lady mana- 

 gers of the noble charity can feel a just pride in the silent and bene- 

 ficent work which they have accomplished on behalf of suffering 

 mankind, and can feel, moreover, that they have participated in 

 the great work that marks a milestone in the progress of surgical 

 science in the United States. 



That medical museums have exerted an important influence is 

 apparent from the fact that a century ago there were none in the 

 land, while now there are many. Not a few of these are admirably 

 equipped and appointed. They contain over 200,000 gross speci- 

 mens. For their maintenance nearly $200,000 is expended annually, 

 or one dollar each for the preservation of each specimen. 



The history of surgery during the past century furnishes one of 

 the most remarkable chapters in human affairs. It is obvious that 

 life is the most important factor and element in the history of the 

 race. Without life, of what avail is all else in the world? Surgery 

 has to do with the saving of human life, and as such is the grandest 

 and noblest of the sciences, and the most beneficent to mankind. 

 A study of its development brings us face to face with the most 

 startling and miraculous discoveries which have had an influence 

 upon the health, the happiness, and the mortality of the race. 



It is only necessary to remember that a little over a hundred 

 years ago there were scenes enacted in the name of surgery which 

 eclipsed in horror the frightful cruelty of the Spanish Inquisition, 

 the untold miseries of the Bastile, the indescribable sufferings of 

 the Black Hole of Calcutta, the excruciating pains of the Turkish 

 bastinado, and the cruel massacre of the Huguenots. One shudders 

 at the horrible cruelties which were perpetrated on withering mor- 

 tals in the name of surgery. The records of suffering which have 

 come down to us through the years of the century have no coun- 

 terpart in the various experiences of modern life. Patients were 

 held down upon the operating-table by brute force and were operated 

 upon while in the full possession of their senses; they were heard 

 to shriek and to cry out in heartrending screams for a discontinua- 



