TO JOSEPH HENRY GREEN, F.R. S. PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY TO THE ROYAL ACADEMY, AND SENIOR SURGEON OF ST. THOMAS'S HOSPITAL, THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED, AS A TESTIMONY TO HIS HIGH PROFESSIONAL AND MORAL WORTH, AND WITH CHERISHED REMEMBRANCE OF A WARM AND STEADY FRIENDSHIP, UNDER MANY TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES, DURING MORE THAN THREE AND THIRTY YEARS, BY HIS AFFECTIONATE FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE, JOHN F. SOUTH. Blackheath Park, 1847. a AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. THE object I had in view in the production of the present work was a short and clear description of Surgical Diseases and their Treatment; in which I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to point out the best works both of these and foreign countries. According to the plan of this book, many things are slightly treated of, and many only hinted at, which will be enlarged on in my oral lectures. I must not be blamed for having omitted Diseases of the Eye and Ear; for Ophthalmic Surgery has attained so great importance as to require a special treatise; and, like many other Teachers, I deliver a separate course of Lectures on Diseases of the Eye and Ear. Heidelberg, November 1821. PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.* THE short space of time in which a new Edition has become necessary, (although the fourth consisted of above two thousand copies,) and the translations of it which have appeared in seven different languages, are such honourable and pleasing testimonies of the continued favourable reception of this book, that I have, with the greatest diligence, endeavoured to enlarge and improve it, in correspondence with the present state of Surgery. The last six years have been specially fruitful in important events throughout the whole realm of Surgery, and I trust I have not overlooked anything of consequence. To M. PIGNÉ, I must offer my best thanks for the many additions he has made to his French translation. Heidelberg, June 1839. * Second Edition, Dec., 1825; Third Edition, April, 1828; Fourth Edition, April, 1833. PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION. ALTHOUGH from the extremely short space of time which has rendered a sixth edition of this Handbook necessary, very numerous additions and alterations cannot be made, yet I hope, by much improvement, to have increased its utility. May it still continue to merit the favourable reception it has hitherto enjoyed. CHELIUS. Heidelberg, August, 1843. |