| Popis: |
T HOSE who, by severe accident or disease, have been maimed beyond recognition and thus damned to a Iife of misery, are most urgentIy in need of skilfuI pIastic surgery. Such deformity means socia1 and economic ostracism, with its inevitabIe deIeterious effect on behavior and character. In cases such as these beauty cannot be restored. The pIastic surgeon can, however, restore normaIity to the features and make Iife IivabIe for the unfortunate individua1 who once again may find his pIace sociaIIy and economicaIIy. This cannot be done overnight. The greatest assistants to the surgeon are time, patience, and painstaking Iabor. A burned chiId whose chin is fastened to its chest by a hideous scar, the victim of an explosion whose mouth is no Ionger human and whose eyeIids are turned out of their sockets, the wretched being whose ear has been torn away by a whirIing machine, the sufferer whose Iip has been destroyed by cancer, a baby born with a cIeft in the roof of its mouth---a11 these victims of ghastIy disfigurements can be aided by pIastic surgery, for a11 of these distortions can be reIieved by the mercifu1 art of transpIanting tissue. The desire to be norma in appearance is as oId as history, and from the beginnings of time those affIicted with a facia1 disfigurement sought surgica1 rehef to attain peace of mind. Therefore, contrary to popuIar beIief, pIastic surgery is not a modern invention. It is true that the restoration of features ravaged by the World War gave a great impetus to this branch of surgery and for the first time brought its more popuIar aspects to the attention of Laymen. But pIastic surgery had already been practiced for tens of centuries before the war. Though its earIy practitioners may have been singuIarIy inept, it is as old as facia1 abnormality itseIf. The Aryuveda, a sacred journa1 of the ancient Hindus, reveaIs the fact that marked efficiency in pIastic surgery through the use of skin grafts was attained in India more than 2500 years ago. In those days it served a curious cause. A distorted conception of justice provided that the noses of girIs of too amorous a disposition or of unfaithfu1 wives might be mutiIated by their irate fathers or husbands. NaturaIIy enough, the victims of this brutaI Iaw sought the aid of surgeons who, it is recorded, were occasionaIIy summoned by the remorsefu1 fathers and husbands in an effort to atone for their momentary harshness. Thus at first the art of pIastic surgery Aourished in India mainIy to correct nasa1 disfigurements infficted in the name of chastity, to heIp victims of a barbaric Iaw to Iive again the Iives of normaI human beings. MutiIating the nose was aIso sometimes practiced on prisoners of war. One Indian potentate, a king of Ghoorka, having captured a hostiIe city, commanded that the noses of a11 the inhabitants, except those of infants and of aduIts who pIayed wind instruments, be cut off in order to remind them constantIy of his power. The conquered province henceforth was known as the City of Cut Noses. Because it was apparentIy effective and easiIy performed, the mutiIation of the nose became eventuaIIy a stock punishment for various crimina1 offenses. It was simpIer and cheaper to disfigure a crimina1 than to keep him in jail. NaturaIly, this barbaric practice made much work for the corrective surgeons. |
