ABSTRACT

Using diaries, journals, and correspondences, Druett recounts the daily grind surgeons on nineteenth-century whaling ships faced: the rudimentary tools they used, the treatments they had at their disposal, the sorts of people they encountered in their travels, and the dangers they faced under the harsh conditions of life at sea.

chapter |8 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|22 pages

Shipping Out

chapter 3|27 pages

The Medical Chest

chapter 4|25 pages

The First Leg: Day-to-Day Life

chapter 5|18 pages

The Whale Hunt

chapter 6|18 pages

Accidents, Injuries, and Ailments

chapter 7|25 pages

Battling Scurvy

chapter 8|17 pages

Encounters with Native Peoples