Published by Wm. J. Dornan, Printer, Philadelphia, 1889
A seminal medical text that documents the shift in surgical philosophy regarding abdominal trauma at the end of the 19th century. McGraw, a Civil War veteran and founder of the Detroit Medical College, used this work to argue for active surgical intervention over the "expectant" (non-operative) treatment that had been the standard for decades. The pamphlet, originally published in the Transactions of the American Surgical Association, focuses on several key areas of military and civilian medicine: the Case for laparotomy; aseptic and antiseptic evolution; and surgical Innovation (The McGraw Ligature). McGraw's work is considered a cornerstone of Detroit's medical history. His transition from a battlefield clinician to a pioneer of abdominal surgery helped establish the Detroit College of Medicine (now Wayne State University School of Medicine) as a center for surgical innovation. Original printed, sewn wrappers, 25 pp. Two vertical creases from folding, some toning to the rear wrapper, very faint dampstain to the bottom edge. A scarce work.