Palla Ákos szerk.: Az Országos Orvostörténeti Könyvtár közleményei 3. (Budapest, 1956)

J. BALOGH, M. D.: The hungarian traumatic surgery in the first part of the 19th century

jury, 14 of sword cut, the rest being stab wounds. Plaster of Paris casts and splints were applied in 420 cases. Verebélyi recommanded that one must be absolutely conservative in cases of shot wounds complicated by fracture of the bone. He claims, on grounds of personal experience, that the wounded should be transported with their affected limbs immobilised in plaster of Paris cast, so as to avoid further damage. Cases are presented to support this claim. Verebélyi often used windowed plaster of Paris casts and intrudoced the use of cotton, as a dressing. It is remarkable that not even masked attempts are to be found to describe the experiences obtained by our surgeons on the battlefields of the War of Liberation. The first book on war surgery was written by Lumniczer, under the title: „Ideiglenes utasítás a földunai magyar királyi hadsereg orvosai számára miheztartás végett a hadifővezérség megbízásából, Lumniczer Sándor törzsorvostól, Kassa 1849". (Temporary directions for the surgeons of the Upper-Danubial Hungarian Royal Army, to guide them in action. Written under orders from the General Staff by Alexander Lumniczer, Kassa, 1849). Unfortunately. I have not been able so far to locate this work. The picture unfolding before us reflects enormous progression. In spite of oppression and backwardness, our surgeons did everything they could to overcome the difficulties they had to face in practicing their profession. The results deserve even more praise in view of the fact that at the clinic at which our doctors were trained in surgery there were only 28 beds, and this meagre patient material had to suffice for 173 doctors and 56 students of surgery! The reactionary Imperial government did not care much for the Hungarian University of Sciences. At the same time, there were 2 Clinics of Surgery in Wien, with 5 times as many beds. Lumniczer, the veteran of the War of Liberation served as a sanitary private for five years after the defeat in the Austrian army in Italy and could not find a job for years after his return to Pest. He earned a meagre living by acting as a private assistant to Balassa. It is another typical feature of that age that Lumniczer and Markusovszky could not