{"id":"01KG8AMGMFCHRSG1QPFJ6PX1N8","cid":"bafkreicftrkw7tu755ausr3dltzchwru4m2qqnkdxqku4l4uqrju7mniiq","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":9830,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":9757,"text":"CHAPTER LXIII.\r\nTHE OPERATION.\r\n\r\n\r\nNext morning, at the appointed hour, the surgeons arrived in a body.\r\nThey were accompanied by their juniors, young men ranging in age from\r\nnineteen years to thirty. Like the senior surgeons, these young\r\ngentlemen were arrayed in their blue navy uniforms, displaying a\r\nprofusion of bright buttons, and several broad bars of gold lace about\r\nthe wristbands. As in honour of the occasion, they had put on their\r\nbest coats; they looked exceedingly brilliant.\r\n\r\nThe whole party immediately descended to the half-deck, where\r\npreparations had been made for the operation. A large garrison-ensign\r\nwas stretched across the ship by the main-mast, so as completely to\r\nscreen the space behind. This space included the whole extent aft to\r\nthe bulk-head of the Commodore’s cabin, at the door of which the\r\nmarine-orderly paced, in plain sight, cutlass in hand.\r\n\r\nUpon two gun-carriages, dragged amidships, the Death-board (used for\r\nburials at sea) was horizontally placed, covered with an old\r\nroyal-stun’-sail. Upon this occasion, to do duty as an\r\namputation-table, it was widened by an additional plank. Two\r\nmatch-tubs, near by, placed one upon another, at either end supported\r\nanother plank, distinct from the table, whereon was exhibited an array\r\nof saws and knives of various and peculiar shapes and sizes; also, a\r\nsort of steel, something like the dinner-table implement, together with\r\nlong needles, crooked at the end for taking up the arteries, and large\r\ndarning-needles, thread and bee’s-wax, for sewing up a wound.\r\n\r\nAt the end nearest the larger table was a tin basin of water,\r\nsurrounded by small sponges, placed at mathematical intervals. From the\r\nlong horizontal pole of a great-gun rammer—fixed in its usual place\r\noverhead—hung a number of towels, with “U.S.” marked in the corners.\r\n\r\nAll these arrangements had been made by the “Surgeon’s steward,” a\r\nperson whose important functions in a man-of-war will, in a future\r\nchapter, be entered upon at large. Upon the present occasion, he was\r\nbustling about, adjusting and readjusting the knives, needles, and\r\ncarver, like an over-conscientious butler fidgeting over a dinner-table\r\njust before the convivialists enter.\r\n\r\nBut by far the most striking object to be seen behind the ensign was a\r\nhuman skeleton, whose every joint articulated with wires. By a rivet at\r\nthe apex of the skull, it hung dangling from a hammock-hook fixed in a\r\nbeam above. Why this object was here, will presently be seen; but why\r\nit was placed immediately at the foot of the amputation-table, only\r\nSurgeon Cuticle can tell.\r\n\r\nWhile the final preparations were being made, Cuticle stood conversing\r\nwith the assembled Surgeons and Assistant Surgeons, his invited guests.\r\n\r\n“Gentlemen,” said he, taking up one of the glittering knives and\r\nartistically drawing the steel across it; “Gentlemen, though these\r\nscenes are very unpleasant, and in some moods, I may say, repulsive to\r\nme—yet how much better for our patient to have the contusions and\r\nlacerations of his present wound—with all its dangerous\r\nsymptoms—converted into a clean incision, free from these objections,\r\nand occasioning so much less subsequent anxiety to himself and the\r\nSurgeon. Yes,” he added, tenderly feeling the edge of his knife,\r\n“amputation is our only resource. Is it not so, Surgeon Patella?”\r\nturning toward that gentleman, as if relying upon some sort of an\r\nassent, however clogged with conditions.\r\n\r\n“Certainly,” said Patella, “amputation is your only resource, Mr.\r\nSurgeon of the Fleet; that is, I mean, if you are fully persuaded of\r\nits necessity.”\r\n\r\nThe other surgeons said nothing, maintaining a somewhat reserved air,\r\nas if conscious that they had no positive authority in the case,\r\nwhatever might be their own private opinions; but they seemed willing\r\nto behold, and, if called upon, to assist at the operation, since it\r\ncould not now be averted.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJTJS3AFC49VHXZ381X49","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMGMF104XYMQ9ZR3H7DMF","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:39.567Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:51.015Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}