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“…a doctor poked a finger…”

“Observations on the Caesarean Operation, accompanied by the relation of a Case in which both Mother and Child were Preserved,” Joseph Nancrede, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 16, No. XXXI, May 1835, p. 351.

“…an additional incision…”

“Observations on the Caesarean Operation, accompanied by the relation of a Case in which both Mother and Child were Preserved,” Joseph Nancrede, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 16, No. XXXI, May 1835, p. 351.

“…wet knuckles of intestines…”

“Account of a Case in which the Caesarean Section, performed by Prof. Gibson, was a second time successful in saving both mother and child,” George Fox, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, May 1838, pp. 18-19.

“The child, a large girl…”

“Observations on the Caesarean Operation, accompanied by the relation of a Case in which both Mother and Child were Preserved,” Joseph Nancrede, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 16, No. XXXI, May 1835, p. 351.

“Cesarean Section,” Unsigned, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 17, No. XXXIII, June 1835, p. 265.

“…down through her uterus…”

“Observations on the Caesarean Operation, accompanied by the relation of a Case in which both Mother and Child were Preserved,” Joseph Nancrede, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 16, No. XXXI, May 1835, p. 351.

“The wounds were closed…”

“Cesarean Section,” Unsigned, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 17, No. XXXIII, June 1835, p. 265.

“…through the scar of his previous incision.”

“Account of a Case in which the Caesarean Section, performed by Prof. Gibson, was a second time successful in saving both mother and child,” George Fox, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, May 1838, p. 18.

“…the uterus clamped around the baby’s head…”

“Account of a Case in which the Caesarean Section, performed by Prof. Gibson, was a second time successful in saving both mother and child,” George Fox, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, May 1838, p. 19.

“…gossiped freely…”

Sims’s autobiography does not specify that McClellan’s and Pattison’s feuds with William Gibson were subjects of conversation among Jefferson students, but it’s hardly a stretch to say that students gossip about their professors, and later episodes make it clear that McClellan and Pattison both had somewhat informal relationships with their students. Additionally, later in life Sims adopted a virtually identical policy of attacking his attackers—I’m proposing that he learned how to execute the profession’s often venomous internecine squabbles from these early teachers.

“In 1822, McClellan had reviewed…”

McClellan’s ultimate reply to the scandal was printed as “A Statement of Facts,” privately published in Philadelphia. A copy is held by the special collections department of the Scott Memorial Library at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“Gibson rejected the apparatuses…”

Notably, Gibson’s original paper makes no reference to Astley Cooper, though McClellan claimed it did.

“Reflections on the Treatment of Fractures of the Thigh; with an Account of a New Apparatus,” William Gibson, The London Medical and Physical Journal, Vol. 47, June 1822, pp. 445, 441.

“A Statement of Facts,” George McClellan, p. 4, held by the special collections department of the Scott Memorial Library at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“…based on a single case.”

“A Statement of Facts,” George McClellan, p. 4, held by the special collections department of the Scott Memorial Library at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“…resulted in failure.”

“A Statement of Facts,” George McClellan, p. 5, held by the special collections department of the Scott Memorial Library at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.