Essentials Of Surgery

Author: Dr. Lakshan Karaliedde and Dr. Philip Veerasingam

Essentials Of Surgery (by Dr.R.L Spittel) කෘතියේ සිංහල පරිවර්තනයකි.

Publisher: Sooriya Publishers

First Edition 1932

ISBN 978-955-656-416-7

702 Pages

R.L. Spittel is famous not only in Sri Lanka but also internationally as a writer who documents the life of a primitive people, called the Veddahs of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, and served as a Surgeon in the Colombo General Hospital. But he also worked as the “surgeon of the wilderness” adapting and innovating his methods to the needs of the present scene and the availability of resources. He learned to do what was absolutely essential. In 1932, R.L. Spittel wrote that the purpose of his book Essentials of Surgery was, “to inculcate the general principles of surgery and to present in a concise form the instructions contained in larger standard textbooks”. He continued stating, “if fundamental principles are thoroughly grasped by the student, their application to diagnosis and treatment becomes a habit.”

He emphasized that his book differed from a synopsis, “it strived to be more explanatory and practical.” In dedicating the book to the “students of the Ceylon Medical College”, he wished that it would enable students to see the ‘wood for the trees’ when bulky textbooks take ‘so long to get through…. And the student is apt to forget one part while he studies another’.

In reprinting this book after three-quarters of a century the editors, Lakshman Karalliedde and Philip Veerasingam have added a collection of annotations which bring its contents up to date. These annotations place the book in context and in the perspective of history and current practice. A Foreword by the Emeritus Professor of Surgery, Dr. Sheriffdeen, also clarifies its role and place.

How does R.L. Spittel as a man figure in this discussion? Spittel’s contribution as a surgeon and textbook writer can be placed in the context of his much varied and rounded life and work. He spent so much time and energy among the Veddahs, even living among them, often accompanied by his daughter Christine Wilson that he began to refer to himself in his narrative as “Strangeways.” His work as a whole can be described as “presentational literature” using a phrase created by Ross Winterowd, an American rhetorician. Such literature is about real-world experience as is found in Robinson Crusoe or Robert Knox’s Ceylon and contains emotions as well as observations of the external world. R.L. Spittel’s many books including his best novel, Savage Sanctuary, have this quality of anecdotal or emotional progression or the focus on a process of fact and argument. Spittel was a master in the literature of both kinds.

Dr R.l. Spittel’s (RLS’S) parents were Dr. Ferderic George Spittel (FGS) and Zilia Jancz. Having been trained in Britain, on his return in 1910 he was appointed Third Surgeon, General Hospital, Colombo. His home in Colombo named “Wycherley” functioned both as home and private hospital, where he treated patients. It is now a private school but I remember it most as the place where my father, who had eczema, finally found a cure from Dr R.L. Spittel with just one bottle of “sulphur bitters”, when other specialists had failed.

Dr. Wilfred Jayasuriya – PhD(English) USA, Dip Econ (Oxford), BA (Hons) Ceylon

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