Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Narrative Of The Sufferings Of Lieutenant George Spearing,
to take the least exercise to keep up a proper circulation of the blood , my legs were much swelled and benumbed . Some of my friends , observing this , proposed to send to Glasgow for medical advice . 'I at first declined it , and happy had it been for me had I pursued my own inclinations ; but unfortunately forme a physician and surgeon were employed , both of them ignorant of what oughl ; to have been doneInstead
. of ordering my legs into cold water * or rubbing them with a coarse towel , to bring on a gradual circulation , they applied hot bricks and large poultices to my feet . This by expanding the blood-vessels too suddenl y ^ ' put me to much greater torture than I ever endured in my life , and not only pre ^ •vented me enjoying that refreshing sleep I so much wantedbut
, actuall y produced a mortification in both my feet . I do not mean , by relating this circumstance , to reflect on the faculty in general at Glasgow ; for I was afterwards attended by gentlemen ' who are an honour to the profession . The same method was pursued for several days , without even giving me bark till I mentioned it myself . This happily stoped the of the mortificationwhich the
progress , doctors did not know had taken place till the miller ' s wife shewed them a black spot , about as broad as a shilling , at the bottom of my left heel . In a day or two more the whole skin , together with all the nails pf my . left foot , and three from my right foot , came off like the fingers of a glove , ... . . . Opposite the riveron whichthe mill stoodthere was a
bleach-, , , field . It is customary for the watchman in the night to blow a horn to frighten thieves . This I frequently heard when I was in the pit ; and very often , when I was in a sound sleep at the miller ' s I have been awakened by it in the greatest horrors , still thinking myself in the pit ; so that , in fact , I suffered as much by imagination as from" reality . : .- '¦ -
"•I continued six weeks at the miller ' s , when the roads became too bad for the doctors to visit me , so that I was under the necessity of being carried in a sedan chair to my lodgings in Glasgow . By tlnVtime my right foot-was quite well ; but in my left , where the above-mentioned black spot appeared , there was a large wound , audit too plainly-proved , that the oscalciswas nearly all decayed ;' for the surgeon could put his probe through the centre of it ! The
flesh too at the bottom of my foot was quite separated from the bones and tendons ,-so that I-was forced to submit to have it cut off ' . In this painful state I lay . several months , reduced to . a mere skeleton , taking thirty drops of laudanum every night ; and though it somewhat eased the pain in myfoot , it was generally three or four in the morning before I got ' rest . - Msituation now
any y became truly alarming : I had a consultation of surgeons , who advised me to wait with patience for an exfoliation , when they had not the least dpubt but they should soon cure my foot . At the sametime they frankly acknowledged that it was impossible to ascertain the precise time when that would happen , as it might be six or even twelve months , before it came to pass . In my emaciated
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Narrative Of The Sufferings Of Lieutenant George Spearing,
to take the least exercise to keep up a proper circulation of the blood , my legs were much swelled and benumbed . Some of my friends , observing this , proposed to send to Glasgow for medical advice . 'I at first declined it , and happy had it been for me had I pursued my own inclinations ; but unfortunately forme a physician and surgeon were employed , both of them ignorant of what oughl ; to have been doneInstead
. of ordering my legs into cold water * or rubbing them with a coarse towel , to bring on a gradual circulation , they applied hot bricks and large poultices to my feet . This by expanding the blood-vessels too suddenl y ^ ' put me to much greater torture than I ever endured in my life , and not only pre ^ •vented me enjoying that refreshing sleep I so much wantedbut
, actuall y produced a mortification in both my feet . I do not mean , by relating this circumstance , to reflect on the faculty in general at Glasgow ; for I was afterwards attended by gentlemen ' who are an honour to the profession . The same method was pursued for several days , without even giving me bark till I mentioned it myself . This happily stoped the of the mortificationwhich the
progress , doctors did not know had taken place till the miller ' s wife shewed them a black spot , about as broad as a shilling , at the bottom of my left heel . In a day or two more the whole skin , together with all the nails pf my . left foot , and three from my right foot , came off like the fingers of a glove , ... . . . Opposite the riveron whichthe mill stoodthere was a
bleach-, , , field . It is customary for the watchman in the night to blow a horn to frighten thieves . This I frequently heard when I was in the pit ; and very often , when I was in a sound sleep at the miller ' s I have been awakened by it in the greatest horrors , still thinking myself in the pit ; so that , in fact , I suffered as much by imagination as from" reality . : .- '¦ -
"•I continued six weeks at the miller ' s , when the roads became too bad for the doctors to visit me , so that I was under the necessity of being carried in a sedan chair to my lodgings in Glasgow . By tlnVtime my right foot-was quite well ; but in my left , where the above-mentioned black spot appeared , there was a large wound , audit too plainly-proved , that the oscalciswas nearly all decayed ;' for the surgeon could put his probe through the centre of it ! The
flesh too at the bottom of my foot was quite separated from the bones and tendons ,-so that I-was forced to submit to have it cut off ' . In this painful state I lay . several months , reduced to . a mere skeleton , taking thirty drops of laudanum every night ; and though it somewhat eased the pain in myfoot , it was generally three or four in the morning before I got ' rest . - Msituation now
any y became truly alarming : I had a consultation of surgeons , who advised me to wait with patience for an exfoliation , when they had not the least dpubt but they should soon cure my foot . At the sametime they frankly acknowledged that it was impossible to ascertain the precise time when that would happen , as it might be six or even twelve months , before it came to pass . In my emaciated