Page 38 - Il Mediterraneo quale elemento del Potere Marittimo - Atti 16-18 settembre 1996

24 HAROLD LANGLEY

Assignment to the Mediterranean was also provided opportunities for some
naval medical officers to observe European practices and to improve their educa-
tion. One of the first to do was Surgeon Usher Parsons of the frigate Java. In 1819
he asked to be detached from the ship for chronic liver problems. His request was
granted, and Parsons proceeded to visit hospitals in Palermo, Naples and Rome
and a medical school in Florence. He then travelled to Paris where toured the ho-
spitals and visited with French physicians. While in Paris he purchased books and
medical instruments including a stethoscope that had been designed, examined and
used by its inventor, Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec. From Paris Surgeon Par- ·
sons travelled to London where he met a number of prominent surgeons, visited
hospitals and attended lectures. Following his return to the United States in De-
cember 1819, Parsons was assigned to the Boston Navy Yard, where he presuma-
bly applied the lessons he learned. In 1823 he resigned. his commission and began
private practice in Providence, Rhode Island. He soon became one of the leading
surgeons in the state OO>.
Subsequently other U.S. Navy surgeons and surgeon's mates took advantage
of their assignements to the Mediterranean Squadron to visit hospitals and medical
schools in Italy and France. For most officers such exposure was of brief duration,
but some had opportunites for more extensive study. In December 1835 Assistant
Surgeon Lewis Wolfley was given a leave of absence to study in Paris. For the next
eleven months, W olfley attended lectures and observed operations at Paris hospi-
tals, thereby improving his knowledge of surgery and clinical techniques. He paid
a french surgeon for a private course in dissection, and from another he learned
hoy.r 'to use the stethoscope. When his leave was up, Wolfley rejoined his ship in
the Mediterranean. Later he was assigned to the Naval Asylum in Philadelphia and
was promoted to the rank of surgeon in 1841. Other naval officers were given lea-
ve for shorter periods of time to audit lectures in Paris. These officers learned the
latest developments in European medicine and surgery and applied the lessons at
the naval hospital at Port Mahon, in various warships, and in naval bases in the
United States (11).
While engaged in treating American sailors at Port Mahon, U.S. Navy medi-
cal officers had occasion to observe the health and living conditions of the inhabi-
tants of Minorca. Sometimes a local physician would invite a navy doctor to be
presence at a operation and in such circumstances his advice might be sought. From
such contacts Americans sometimes developed critical attitudes about the state of
medicine on the island. While civilian doctors were required to he licensed, there
were indications that bribes could be used to purchase a license. Such unqualified
people then preyed upon the local inhabitants. From time to time individual Mi-
norcans of limited means app_lied to American doctors for treatment. This was gi-
ven but as the number of such incidents increased, complaints were filed by members
of the local medical community and these came to the attention of the Spanish au-
thorities. The Americans were reminded that they were not licensed to treat the