Even amid the falling ranks, where he is exposed to as great danger as any, he must completely forget self, and give his whole mind to the condition of the sufferers around him; for often do his decisions, formed in a mere instant of CIVIL ANI> MIUTAIIY si Kr life or death fate of the fellow-being before him. Then his powers of observation must be GO well trained that he ran discriminate between different diseases, whose tvj.es an- mingled and masked by their union, as these are only seen in armies in the time of The hardships incident to a soldier's life fall equally on the surgeon as upon his comrades; and, besides of battle and exposure, he runs the risk of those epidemic diseases which devastate armies, and which are the product of excitinir causes, to which he has been as liable as any of those actually seized, and to the infection of which, when developed, he is ever exposed.
In civil practice, on the other hand, a surgeon is not subjected to predisposing and exciting causes of disease cold, want of food and clothing, Cv'c. which cause its the mass of the population, nor docs Inn-main exposed to its infection longer than is necessary to prescribe for his patient. 'The want of libraries for study and self-improvement arc also drawbacks to the exercise of the profession in armies, of which the civilian The strict discipline which prevails in military hospitals, gives the army snrp-on some advantages the civilian in the treatment of his cases. No interference the ill- judged kindness of relatives, or from the the patient him.-rlf, can occur, pinion is a law from which there is no appeal, and thus fewer obstacles Maud in the way of Ms giving a 'rial to i.lie has, also, the advantages so d the r continuing his itmcnt by after-death examination a point of the greatest moment.
He can, in general, exercise his judgment also to the fullest without having his decision criticised by a host of ignorant censors, and thus the moot points in surgery can often be determined by him in a manner not permissible in civil life. The greater uniformity in age, constitution, and external circumstances that is to be found among patients in the public services, than among the mass of the population who enter civil hospitals, makes conclusions drawn from their treatment more reliable for future guidance in dealing with them, than any statistics derived from civil practice can be for general purposes. But how different are the means of treating injury in the field and in civil life! The ample space, established routine, careful nursing, many comforts and appliances of a civil hospital, contrast strongly with the temporary nature, hurried extemporised inventions, and incomplete arrangements of a military hospital in the field.
The influx of patients from the works of a besieging force, or the shifting from place to place of an army during a campaign, makes the removal of the sick to the rear a necessity. Then, as this transference has often to be accomplished by means little adapted for the purpose, and at a period of the treatment the worst fitted for its execution, the evil done is often irreparable; so that injuries which might be completely cured in stationary hospitals have often to be relieved by amputation, while others whose treatment might, under more favourable circumstances, have afforded a fair prospect of success, are placed beyond recovery. From this it follows that the military surgeon cannot always choose either his own time or circumstances in performing his AS PAT 1 1. He must be content to do the best he can in the Is, ami thus his experience has sometimes to be sacrificed i" expediency.
Mis operations, too, often differ widely from tinclassic procedures of civil life. The adage, that "a good anatomic may operate in any way," has often in him its illustration. The object being to save as much as possible, compels him to tax his ingenuity in order to take advantage of the eccentric manner in which the ball has half accomplished the severance of the limb, and to seize his flaps here and there where they can be got; and thus, though the immediate result may not appear so satisfactory, the final ill is probably as effectively secured. In die practice of field surgery, moreover, methods of operating will often succeed which are not adapted for civil practice. Thus, in the resection of joints which come to be performed in the field, a comparatively small and simple -ion will enable the operator to remove the injured 'lile in those cases in which the operation is commonly performed in civil life, a much larger and more complex incision is generally required in on! permit nf the extraction of the enlarged, adherent, unl-n-ken hone which has to be removed, and perhaps to allow of the excision of part of the articular cavity at the same time.