Lectures on surgery given by Henry Cline junior at St Thomas' Hospital, London. There are 8 lectures in total, the first 6 of which are individually numbered 1-6, and all are dated with first having been delivered on 25 April 1814 and the last on 3 May 1814. The lectures cover the first 40 folios with final 6 left blank, the writing is on the recto and verso throughout, there is no attempt at pagination, and no index is provided.
The content of each is lecture is as follows:
- (1) union of wounds (effusion of blood, adhesion, inflammation) & hydrophobia [rabies] (effect on different animals and reference to Ormskirk as a 'quack medicine')
- (2) harelip [cleft lip] (appearance, treatment, appropriate age to operate), cancer of the lip (formation, cause (including 'tobacco pipe sticking to the lip'), treatment), fistula lachrymalis [lacrimal fistula] (definition, formation, treatment), empyema, spurious empyema, paracentesis.
- (3) on surgery (required knowledge of the surgeon, necessity of surgery, consideration of the patient), sutures (method, instruments, interrupted suture, ligatures for arteries, looped or quilled suture, uninterrupted or glover's suture), harelip [cleft lip] (method of performing operation), cancer labii (method of performing operation).
- (4) empyema, method of performing paracentesis, fistula in ano [rectal fistula] (cause, appearance, medical treatment, surgical treatment, associated local diseases and constitutional diseases).
- (5) operation for aneurysm (modern operation, former use of amputation), popliteal (method of performing, instruments, reference to working with nails of finger and thumb rather than instruments, common outcomes), cancer penis (development, extent of disease, amputation, free haemorrhage, return of disease).
- (6) disease of the breast otherwise known as scirrhous, cancer or sarcoma [breast cancer, breast neoplasms] (undetected in early stages, symptoms, progression of disease, spread, common age for onset, medical treatment, advisability of operating, method of performing the operation, post-operative care), cancerous affection of the eye (appearance, extirpation of the eye, treatment afterwards).
- (7) on cataract (forms, removal of lens, couching or depression and objection to, method of extraction or total removal, difficulties of operation, duties of assistant, Saunders's operation), injuries of the head (difference of opinion in treatment, concussion or commotion, varying symptoms, treatment, bloodletting, opening of bowels, opium, antimony, blistering, diet, fracture, operation for fracture).
- (8) trephining (danger of injuring dura mater, parts to avoid, method of performing, treatment of injury of dura mater, references to specific named patients).