Louisbourg had one of North America's first hospitals prior to 1750. Administered by the Brothers of Charity, this institution had no shortage of patients as work on the fortifications could be quite hazardous. Broken bones and wrenched backs were commonplace, but more serious injuries requiring extensive hospital care were also frequent. The men who stood guard were more prone to illness than injury: prolonged exposure to adverse weather resulted in numerous cases of pneumonia.
Compared with the wonders of modern medicine, surgical procedures of the period were crude and sometimes riskier than the ailment itself. The instruments and technique shown here appeared in Diderot's and D'Alembert's Grande EncyclopÄdie of 1765. Such operations were not, of course, as calm and controlled as this illustration suggests: modern anesthetics were not available to deaden pain.
