ABSTRACT
Dr. Stephen Maturin is a short, slender, highly intellectual physician, but a landlubber with little interest in navigation, often stumbling and falling while stepping from the barge onto the deck of a ship. Throughout the adventure-rich time Jack Aubrey and Maturin bond in a friendship based on mutual respect and loyalty. Patrick O'Brian equips Maturin with the totality of medical knowledge and the full medicinal armamentarium available at the beginning of the 19th century. Maturin relies heavily in his practice on bleeding, cathartics, exceptionally bitter drafts and tonics, and he is an advocate of purging. His reputation in the British Navy is one of scientific eminence. His library contains several widely read textbooks on a variety of medical and surgical subjects. He treats members of the nobility and admirals successfully. His wide-ranging skills even include delivering babies when they unfortunately arrive aboard ship to women either supposed or not supposed to be there.
