A Practical Treatise on Fractures and Dislocations, (1860) by Frank Hamilton, M. D.

Published in Philadelphia, Blanchard and Lea., 1860.,

A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS 1860 BY FRANK HASTINGS HAMILTON MD [First Edition] was one of the most important medical books published during the civil war.

This important medical treatise was authored the famed Frank Hastings Hamilton and is the FIRST EDITION (the third edition of 1863 does not have the gilt stamp cover, at least in my collection).

“The first complete book on the treatment of fractures and dislocations in English”. -[Garrison & Morton 4420 commentary on A Practical Treatise on Fractures and Dislocations.

During the Civil Wаг, Hamilton served as surgeon of the 31st New York infantry, which he accompanied to the front, being made brigade surgeon after the battle of Bull Run, and later U.S. medical director.

Dr. Frank Hastings Hamilton organized the U. S. General Hospital, New York city, in 1862, and in February, 1863, was made medical inspector, U.S. army, with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

He resigned his military connections in September, 1863, and resumed his private practice and instruction.

Throughout his career he was recognized as one of the most skillful surgeons of the metropolis. He originated a safe method of cutting the sternal portion of the sterno-cleido-mastoid; was the first to operate for simple talipes where there is no disease of the joint; was the first to excise the central portion of the thyroid gland; originated the now accepted theories in relation to resection in compound dislocations of the long bones; was one of the earliest to operate for closing old ulcers by the transplantation of new skin; was the first to use gutta-percha for interdental splints; was largely instrumental in introducing gulta-percha splints for support of irregular joint surfaces, and devoted considerable attention to plastic surgery, having performed rhinoplasty more than twenty times.

Among his most valuable inventions and contrivances are: a bone drill, appliances for treating fracture of the jaw and of the long bones, an improved Nelaton probe, a modified Liston artery forceps, an improved Owen toiisillotome, a serrated giant bone-cutter and other instruments equally valuable.

His method of manipulating the body in asphyxia from drowning and his system of “keys” and “guides” for securing precision in amputation through the joints give him a title to enduring fame. Besides originating several new and radical operations, he was the first to work from the palm of the hand, a method now widely adopted.

He was rated one of the foremost American authorities on military surgery and gunshot wounds, and on the assassination of President Garfield was called in consultation, remaining connected with the case until the close.