Although individual antique surgical instruments are to be found in fairly large quantities in private collections and museums all over the world, apart from cased sets used in individual procedures, a complete departmental grouping of surgical instruments in the original state is almost unknown. It is therefore very interesting to come across a “time capsule” of surgical instruments, compiled with scrupulous accuracy by a contemporary surgeon, providing in detail the complete contents of a major hospital’s surgical store.
Recently, three such inventories from the Glasgow Royal Infirmary were located and examined, one from the College collection and the others from GGHB Archive.
The documents consist of
1. A small notebook, hand written (the 1825 inventory), stored in the RCPSG archive (RCPSG 28/1)
2. Loose quarto sheets, hand written (the 1815 and 1817 inventories), stored in the Greater Glasgow Health Board Archive (HB 14/6/1).
GRI 1815 Surgical Inventory page 1 (4.82 MB)
GRI 1815 Surgical Inventory page 2 (4.60 MB)
GRI 1815 Surgical Inventory page 3 (4.33 MB)
Transcription of 1815 Surgical Inventory (PDF)
GRI 1817 Surgical Inventory page 1 (4.38 MB)
GRI 1817 Surgical Inventory page 2 (3.55 MB)
Transcription of 1817 Surgical Inventory (PDF)
These documents have now been transcribed from the manuscript originals exactly as written, and it is clear that these inventories provide a very precise picture of an array of surgical instruments that a modern, well-equipped British hospital of the early nineteenth century would have been expected to hold.
When looking at the lists, they suggest that the instruments were held in a designated room, contained in “presses” (a Scottish term for cupboards), in individual drawers. The press was probably secured with a lock, as in the 1815 and 1817 lists, a differentiation is made between the press and other “shelves”, which were presumably open. By 1825, clearly a new press or cupboard had been built, with 20 drawers, but the old presses were still used to contain instruments.
1825 Inventory of GRI Surgical Instruments
Transcription of 1825 Inventory of GRI Surgical Instruments
At the time that these inventories were drawn up, the annual report of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary managers routinely contained the details of the numbers and types of surgical operations for each year, including these years for which we now have the surgical instrument inventories.
Two points emerge from these records. Firstly how relatively few surgical operations were carried out during these years, being between 2.28% and 3.75% of the total number of hospital patients (both surgical and medical) admitted in any one of these years.
Secondly, it is again worth noting the fairly limited range of surgical procedures performed, being mainly confined to amputations of digits and limbs, “extirpation” or excision of tumours of breast, lip and other areas, lithotomy, hydrocoele tapping and occasional cataract surgery and trepanation.
Glasgow Royal Infirmary Annual Reports
1815 List of inpatient admissions and discharges
1815 List of inpatient diseases treated and also surgical procedures
1817 List of inpatient diseases treated
1817 List of inpatient admissions and discharges and also surgical procedures
1825 List of inpatient diseases treated page 1
1825 List of inpatient diseases treated page 2
1825 List of inpatient admissions and discharges and also surgical procedures
The surgical instruments held by the GRI at that time clearly would have been more than sufficient in type and number to deal with this range of surgical work.
Dr R. Fairweather