Very interesting Rita.
Paula
WaupacaCC
From: Rita <ocontogal2000(a)yahoo.com>
Reply-To: WIGEN-L(a)rootsweb.com
To: WIGEN-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [WIGEN-L] FYI - Survival of Civil War Ancestors
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 13:47:30 -0400
After the war, 1861 - 1865, the medical doctors from North and South
came together in an attempt to exchange what they had learned. This
information was to be used in the emergency treatment of civilians.
One glaring difference was the substantially higher number of
ancestors who survived major surgery in the South than in the North,
where the post treatment infection rate caused high numbers of
fatalities.
The doctors of the North (often called "sawbones" for all the
amputations done) used imported silk thread for stitching wounds. It
was strong, light and "slick" , making use much easier during
stitching.
Because of the naval blockades, there was no silk thread in the
South, for even the most prominent of patients. Cotton thread was
not a success as it broke down before the wound had healed
sufficiently. Horse hair was tried. But because it was too stiff to
make sutures in it's natural state, it was boiled in water to soften
and become more pliable.
The result was that the Northern silk thread had been handled by
countless unwashed hands from several continents and introduced all
the pathogens it carried right into the wound.
The horse hair was sterile when it came from boiling, and handled by
significantly fewer numbers of people. Far fewer pathogens were
introduced right into those wounds.
With antibiotics and sterile procedural practices still years away,
many folks owe their ancestral branches to the boiled horse hair
sutures, and to the women and men who devised that method of
softening the fibers for using in textiles.
Have a fun weekend.
Rita - Oconto County WIGenweb Coordinator
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