Pegleg

An articulated wood and leather prosthetic leg of a Slovenian soldier wounded in World War I (1917)

A pegleg is a prosthesis, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg. Its use dates to antiquity.[1]

By the late 19th century, prosthetics vendors would offer peglegs as cheaper alternatives to more intricate, lifelike artificial legs.[2] Even as vendors touted advantages of more complicated prostheses over simple peglegs,[2] according to a contemporary surgeon, many patients found a pegleg more comfortable for walking.[3] According to medical reports, some amputees were able to adjust to the use of a pegleg so well that they could walk 10, or even 30, miles in one day.[4]

Nowadays, wooden peglegs have been replaced by more modern materials, though some sports prostheses do have the same form.[5]

Notable pegleg wearers

Pegleg of Józef Sowiński

Historical

Railroads

References

  1. ↑ Cantos, Mae (2005) "Pirates & Peg Legs: a Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics" In: Whitelaw, William A. (2005) (editor) Proceedings of the 14h Annual History of Medicine Days Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, pp. 16–20, OCLC 225558769, page 16
  2. 1 2 Marks, George Edwin (1888), A Treatise on Marks' patent artificial limbs with rubber hands and feet, A. A. Marks, p. 47
  3. ↑ Tillmanns, Hermann (1895), Stimson, Lewis Atterbury, ed., itle The principles of surgery and surgical pathology: general rules governing operations and the application of dressings, D. Appleton and company, p. 128
  4. ↑ Teale, Thomas Pridgin (1858), On amputation by a long and a short rectangular flap, pp. 29, 31
  5. ↑ Clarke, Carl D. (1965) Prosthetics Standard Arts Press, Butler, Maryland, OCLC 5083790, page 182
  6. ↑ "...he lost his leg at Saint Martin.."
  7. ↑ Mason, Christopher (21 September 2000) "At Home with Christopher Gibbs: A Parting Embrace For a Lifetimes Quirks" The New York Times, page 2 of electronic copy; for full details see Poole, Steve (2000) The politics of regicide in England, 1760-1850: troublesome subjects Manchester University Press, Manchester, England, pages 169-172, ISBN 0-7190-5035-9

Further reading

Books

  • Murdoch, George and Wilson, A. Bennett (1998) A primer on amputations and artificial limbs C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, ISBN 0-398-06800-3
  • Pitkin, Mark R. (2009) Biomechanics of Lower Limb Prosthetics Springer verlag, New York, ISBN 978-3-642-03015-4
  • Seymour, Ron (2002) Prosthetics and orthotics: lower limb and spinal Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ISBN 0-7817-2854-1
  • Warren, D. W. (2001) James Gillingham: surgical mechanist & manufacturer of artificial limbs Somerset Industrial Archaeology Society, Taunton, England, ISBN 0-9533539-5-8

Articles

  • Bliquez, L. J. (1996) "Prosthetics in classical antiquity: Greek, Etruscan and Roman prosthetics" In: Haase, W. and Temporini, H. (editors) (1996) Aufstieg und niedergang der Römischen welt II Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, pp. 2640–2676
  • Cantos, Mae (2005) "Pirates & Peg Legs: a Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics" In: Whitelaw, William A. (2005) (editor) Proceedings of the 14h Annual History of Medicine Days Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, pp. 16–20, OCLC 225558769
  • Finch, J. (2011) "The ancient origins of prosthetic medicine" Lancet 377(9765): pp. 548–549
  • Padula, Patricia A. and Friedmann, Lawrence W. (1987) "Acquired Amputation and Prostheses Before the Sixteenth Century" The Journal of Vascular Disease 38(2 Pt. 1): pp. 133–141, doi:10.1177/000331978703800207
  • Reeves, Nicholas (1999) "New lights on ancient Egyptian prosthetic medicine" In: Davies, W. V. (editor) (1999) Studies in Egyptian Antiquities. A Tribute to T.G.H. James British Museum Press, London, pp. 73–77, ISBN 0-86159-123-2
  • Thurston, Alan J. (2007) "Paré and prosthetics: the early history of artificial limbs" ANZ Journal of Surgery 77(12): pp. 1114–1119, doi:10.1111/j.1445-2197.2007.04330.x
  • Wilson, Philip D. (1922) "Early weight-bearing in the treatment of amputations of the lower limbs" The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 4: pp. 224–247
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