An essay on the diseases of the joints by an unknown Manchester medical student who uses the Latin term Spes as a pseudonym. In his introduction the author makes reference to having attended the surgical lectures of Mr Ransome but it is not clear whether he is referring to John Atkinson Ransome (1779-1837) or his son Joseph Atkinson Ransome (1805-1867) both of whom lectured in surgery in Manchester in the first half of the 19th century.
The author sets out the structure of the essay in the introduction saying he has first provided a description of the various structures which compose a joint before proceeding to treat of the causes, symptoms, and treatment of dislocations generally without entering at all upon the individual dislocations, and finally he has treated minutely of the different diseases to which the joints are liable. He also refers to a number of drawings which he has copied from different works and which were submitted alongside the essay to illustrate certain points but unfortunately the whereabouts of these drawings is currently unknown.
The manuscript has come free of its binding and is collated into 6 parts, the first having 22 folios, the next four having 24 folios, and the final part having 14 folios. The main body of the essay bears the original pagination pp.1-257 and the writing is on both the recto and verso throughout.