Life of a Navy Surgeon in 1800

What do you do to keep busy these days?  One of my favorite things to do is listen to Road Scholar virtual lectures, which are available live, twice a week.  Some of the topics are very interesting to me, others not so much, but I listen to them all (only 30-40 minutes) and often a topic I thought would be uninteresting turns out to be fascinating.  That's what happened when I listened to a recent lecture on Naval Medical Service in the 1800's.

Navy doctors ended up on a navy ship for a variety of reasons, usually not because they had a calling for the profession.  The men who became navy doctors we often social misfits who had trouble dealing with people, some were alcoholics, some had bad home lives, etc.  In short, most navy doctors were in some way dysfunctional.  They usually had some medical training, then ended up doing a long apprenticeship.  They were not held in high regard, although they should have been, with what they had to deal with.

Typically they treated typhoid, thyphis, scurvy, malaria, yellow fever, hepatitis, smallpox, syphillis, alcoholism and all kinds surgeries for tumors, broken bones, etc.  They did it all.  Scurvy was very common at this time.  It was James Lind, a naval surgeon, who discovered that lemon juice would cure scurvy.  Often naval ships did not have lemons, and used limes instead.  This is how British sailors came to be called "Limies."

Lord Nelson (1785-1805) was a British Naval hero of the time, who survived almost every possible disease, only to be shot and killed at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.  He died, but the English won the battle.  His medical problems included seasickness, malaria, yellow fever, scurvy, a sword cut to the back, a blast injury which left him with only one eye, and right arm amputation from a battle.  Remember, this was a time BEFORE anesthesia or pain medication.  He was one tough man!!

The lecturer who taught me all this said that the great advancements made to naval medicine at the time was hygiene.  The surgeons were mostly not recognized for their skill and importance in keeping men safe and healthy.  What a time to be a doctor!!