omas Wotton, were
surgeons. Captain John Smith on three occasions, it is to be
remembered, emphasized the importance of the surgeon to pioneer
settlers and explorers in the New World. When injured by the stingray
in 1608, Smith's first thought was of his need for a surgeon and
"chirurgery"; so the success of physician Russell's soothing oils came
as a pleasant surprise. On a subsequent expedition he included the
surgeon, Anthony Bagnall, rather than Dr. Russell, to treat the
stingray wound; and in 1609 when he received the powder burn, he left
Virginia "seeing there was neither chirurgeon nor chirurgery in the
fort to cure his hurt."

Throughout the century surgeons rendered services to colonists engaged
in fighting with, or defending themselves against, the Indians. When
the Indian massacre of 1622 occurred, costing the lives of more than
350 colonists in the settlements, it is possible that the two surgeons
who sailed to Virginia with Dr. Pott in 1621 gave assistance to the
wounded. In 1644, when a retaliatory attack on the Indians was made by
the settlers because of a recent massacre, the General Assembly
provided for a surgeon-general to accompany the militia, at public
expense.

Again, later in the century, the General Assembly gave evidence of
recognizing the importance of surgical care for soldiers when it voted
for supplying a surgeon with "a convenient supply of medicines &
salves, etc. to the value of five pounds sterling for every hundred
men" to each of eight forts planned to protect the settlements against
Indian attacks. Throughout the last half of the century references were
made to surgeons ministering to companies of soldiers or to various
garrisons and forts. Judging by the consistent employment of surgeons
for military duties, it would appear that the profession of surgeon
during the century was much more intimately associated with the
military than was that of physician. The relationship between the
surgeon and the military is similar to the early one between civil
engineer and the army in Europe.

HYGIENE

The restoration of the patient to health is not the only important
aspect of medical practice; the prevention of illness is also vital to
the health of a community. Much more attention is given to preventive
medicine in the twentieth century than in the seventeenth, but the
value of cleanliness, fresh air, and quarantine was known. Hygienic
measures taken, or recommendations made, by publi