SH09 SURGEONS ON WHALING SHIPS IN THE SOUTH SEAS, 1800–1850

• Published in: ANZ Journal of Surgery
• Main Author: Watters, D. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2009
• Subjects: Coulter; Pacific; Sperm whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1445-2197.2009.04931_9.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1445-2197.2009.04931_9.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1445-2197.2009.04931_9.x

1814 saw the end of a monopoly of trading privileges for the East India Company in the Pacific Ocean. This brought British whaling ships into the Pacific spurred by rising demand for sperm whale oil. The 1830's were boom years for whaling but the price fell due to a reduction in duty on foreign whale oil, most of which came from America. By 1843 only 16 British whalers scoured the Pacific compared with 88 from America. By then, Australian vessels had also entered the market, electing to freight their oil to London. British and French whaling ships were required by law to have a surgeon on board, but not the Americans. The surgeon's share of the profit was less than that of the carpenter, and never amounted to more than a ninety‐fifth (the captain got a 16th). The position tended to attract single, young, recently qualified doctors who wanted adventure and the chance to obtain a lump sum which would enable them to set up in practice when they returned. The paper reviews accounts written by whaling surgeons. The characters include Drs John Coulter (The Stratford 1827, 1832), Frederick Bennett (The Tuscan 1833), John Wilson (The Gypsy 1839), John King (The Aurora), Eldred Fysch (The Coronet, 1837). Some of their surgical cases are reviewed. On board the standard medicine chest included dressings, sticking plaster, an amputating knife, tourniquet, saw, tooth key and hooks, bleeding lancets (for blood letting), suture needles, a large injection syringe (for enemas), and two penis syringes.