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Ira M. Rutkow, MD, MPH, DrPH

Arch Surg. 1998;133:579.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

With the beginning of meaningful American contributions to surgical literature in the early 19th century, the manifold epic events that enliven our country's surgical past began to receive wide dissemination. Of the various surgical texts published in this still preanesthetic period (ie, prior to fall 1846), the most physically impressive and artistically dazzling is Joseph Pancoast's (1805-1882) massive A Treatise on Operative Surgery. With 80 quarto plates comprising 486 separate illustrations and 380 pages of description, the tome's most distinguishing features are the wonderfully executed lithographs, many of which are from drawings of surgical operations by Pancoast.

"Operation for Cancer of the Tongue." It almost seems impossible in today's world to imagine that this surgical procedure was carried out without benefit of anesthesia. Following a long tradition of European surgical illustration, the idealized patient is depicted as being placid in demeanor while undergoing . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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