The Doctor's Bag: Medicine and Surgery of Yesteryear

Written by an English doctor born in Scotland with a fascination for the American Old West, The Doctor’s Bag is a carefully researched book about illnesses, cures, medicines and practices of that time period. Dr. Souter has a habit of intermingling medical terms with layman language in an entertaining fashion that make this an enjoyable and easy read. But more importantly for the serious writer of Western fiction, his thorough study of what life was like for a doctor on the American frontier—the medicines available to him, the diseases he would see, and the surgical practices he would use—prove an invaluable reference. Of particular interest is the section on removing arrows and bullets.This is a good buy for the casual reader with an interest in medicine during the Old West, and a great reference book for those doing research for that time period.

This is a wonderful book and I feel it should be in any writer's library who is doing historical fiction, or personal history. I wish I had purchased it when I started writing personal history / historical fiction. It would have saved me so much time on internet searches. I has a warm and cozy spot on my reference shelf and it's not going anywhere, at least not as long as I'm alive and kicking. Absolutely amazing book, well organized, easy to find exactly what you need. A must-have.

More than I expected. Not just "doctoring" in the Old West, but history of medicine down through the ages. I LOVE History and the West both. Dr. Adams on Gunsmoke is one of my favorite characters. Wonderful to know more about the real facts of how medicine was practiced "back in the day".

I have great respect for Dr. Souter's knowledge of Old West medicine and medical practices. This book is as interesting from a historical perspective as it is an invaluable resource for writers of the western genre.

What a great resource book for historical writers. I have read online articles by this author, but I had to have the book where all his knowledge he has shared is in one collection.

A very interesting book and written in a way that an ordinary person can understand it.

Very pleased with this purchase. Just what I needed in terms of research.

This book is a wonderful resource for those wanting to understand a basic history of medicine, particularly as it applies to the Old West. The author, a physician himself as well as a writer of fiction, has blogged extensively for the “Western Fictioneers” group and this book compiles those blog posts into one comprehensive and thoroughly readable text. Major topics include what a doctor of the 19th century would carry in their doctor’s bag, what surgery was like, a full compendium of diseases and how doctors of the era would attempt to treat them, and much more. Ever want to know how they might have diagnosed cholera? Or how you really tackle removing an arrow stuck in a shoulder? He delves into subjects like dysentery, anesthesia, midwifery, and dentistry as well as providing brief biographies of many of the most important scientific pathfinders of history. There is even a nice educational section on snake-oil salesman.But it doesn’t stop there. Along with how 19th century doctors might treat certain conditions, there is a wealth of deep historical background as well, from the ancient Romans up through Louis Pasteur, describing the path of how diagnoses and treatment evolved over the centuries. It’s laced with insight as well as a nice dose of humor, prompting the reader to start just one more chapter.I originally purchased this book to assist in my own writing. I envisioned using this book as a reference tool, looking up what I might need to know should my doctor protagonist need to diagnose scurvy, for example. And while it certainly will be a handy reference tool, once I dug into the introduction, I just kept going and going, all the way to the end. It’s a fun read.Highly recommended.