Surgical Observations On the More Important Diseases of the Mucous Canals of the Body

Surgical Observations On the More Important Diseases of the Mucous Canals is a clinical work by George Macilwain (1797-1882), the London-based surgeon who wrote across his career on practical surgery and on medical reform. The book reviews surgical management of conditions affecting the mucous-lined passages of the body, with chapters on the urethra, the oesophagus, the rectum, and related sites. Macilwain draws on his own hospital case work and on the wider surgical literature of the early Victorian period to argue for systematic, conservative treatment in place of aggressive intervention. He was a vocal critic of routine bloodletting and an early voice for dietary reform within the London medical establishment. The book is now a useful primary source for the history of nineteenth-century English surgery. Free PDF download available on BDeBooks.