RCSI Heritage Collections

Rolled up x-ray prints While wandering through the archives just before the Christmas holidays, the two rolled up bundles shown above caught our attention. Written on one of the bundles was the word 'X-rays' while on the other one can make ' Mauser in abdomen...' On returning from the holidays it was decided to investigate further. And what a belated Christmas present we found! All together there are 28 x-ray prints in fairly good condition. Not only that, the majority of them have details about the injury shown in the x-ray, where it happened, when it happened and how it happened written on the back. An archivist's delight! So when are the majority of these x-ray prints from you ask?? Black Week (10-17 December 1899) of the Second Boer War  The first print to be unfurled was the one with 'Mauser' written on it. The handwritten note states 'Mauser in abdomen - lodged in front colon - localised and extracted'. The print itself is below ...

During the American Civil War (1861-1865) military surgeons carried a book with them through the battlefields and army hospitals. This book was adopted by the Surgeon-General of the United States Army soon after it's publication in Dublin in 1860. It was a 'bible' to army surgeons. The book was Anatomy of the Arteries of the Human Body, Descriptive and Surgical with the Descriptive Anatomy of the Heart by one John Hatch Power FRCSI. Power's Anatomy of the Arteries of the Human Body published in 1860 John Hatch Power was born on 24 November 1806 in Dublin. From a young age he showed an interest and aptitude in surgery. So after receiving some instruction in surgery he was apprenticed to Robert Adams at the age of 19. On 7 May 1831 Power received his licence from the College and soon afterwards became Demonstrator in the Richmond Medical School. In 1838 he graduated M.D. from Glasgow University and in December 1844 Power became a Fellow of the College. Powe...

If you are one for a little light reading, why not visit the RCSI Heritage Collections webpage where you can now find a transcription of the entire charter granted to the College by George III in 1784. In 1765   Sylvester O'Halloran , a surgeon from   Limerick , had proposed a College of Surgeons in Ireland along the lines of the College de St. Cosme in Paris, which had been regulating French surgery since its creation by royal charter by   Louis IX   in 1255. The Dublin Society of Surgeons was founded in 1780 at The Elephant public house on Essex Street (now Parliament Street).  Surgery in Ireland was without regulation. Top page of the RCSI Charter The main goals of the society were to separate from the barbers and provide surgical education in Ireland. They lobbied for a royal charter in 1781 and presented the   Lord Lieutenant  with their  petition. Finally a   charter   was granted by  King George III   on 11 Febr...

The surgical skills needed to remove, rebuild and reconstruct a persons face after major surgery have been perfected over the centuries. When these surgical techniques and skills were being discovered there were no small incisions, cameras or keyhole surgery! To see the before and after of major surgery is something we can easily do now through magazines, the internet, newspapers etc. What about in 1869? Enter:  Maurice Henry Collis Maurice Henry Collis presented a photograph album to the RCSI in 1869 which contains before and after photographs of numerous surgical reconstructions carried out by Collis. In 1867 Collis successfully removed an enormous ossified enchondroma from the left side of Mr. Battersby's face. Mr. Battersby was a well known individual in Dublin whose tumour had been growing for 20 years. Mr. Battersby before his surgery (RCSI/IP/Collis/1) Mr. Battersby after his surgery (RCSI/IP/Collis/1) It is not known what year Collis wa...