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[1/7] Have you ever wondered what the atmosphere was like in a 19th c operating theatre? We heard in the #oldopgrapevine that there is a greate description from the memoirs of the surgeon Sir John Flint (1797–1882),who’s career spanned the entire period of our operating theatre!
![[1/7] Have you ever wondered what the atmosphere was like in a 19th c operating theatre? We heard in the #oldopgrapevine that there is a greate description from the memoirs of the surgeon Sir John Flint (1797–1882),who’s career spanned the entire period of our operating theatre!](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpHgwd_XUAcGiwD.jpg "[1/7] Have you ever wondered what the atmosphere was like in a 19th c operating theatre? We heard in the #oldopgrapevine that there is a greate description from the memoirs of the surgeon Sir John Flint (1797–1882),who’s career spanned the entire period of our operating theatre!")
[2/7] This is what he had to say: “The general arrangement of all the theatres was the same, a semicircular floor and rows of semicircular standings, rising above one another to the large skylight which lighted the theatre.
![[2/7] This is what he had to say: “The general arrangement of all the theatres was the same, a semicircular floor and rows of semicircular standings, rising above one another to the large skylight which lighted the theatre.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpHg0tRXMAYReYC.jpg "[2/7] This is what he had to say: “The general arrangement of all the theatres was the same, a semicircular floor and rows of semicircular standings, rising above one another to the large skylight which lighted the theatre.")
[3/7] On the floor the surgeon operating, with his dressers, the surgeons and apprentices of both hospitals, and the visitors, stood about the table, upon which the patient lay … The floor was separated by a partition from the rising stand-places, ...
[4/7] ...the first two rows of which were occupied by the other dressers, and behind a second partition stood the pupils, packed like herrings in a barrel, but not so quiet, as those behind were continually pressing on those before, ...
![[4/7] ...the first two rows of which were occupied by the other dressers, and behind a second partition stood the pupils, packed like herrings in a barrel, but not so quiet, as those behind were continually pressing on those before, ...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpHhNgLXYAARFyX.jpg "[4/7] ...the first two rows of which were occupied by the other dressers, and behind a second partition stood the pupils, packed like herrings in a barrel, but not so quiet, as those behind were continually pressing on those before, ...")
[5/7]...often so severely that several could not bear the pressure, and were continually struggling to relieve themselves of it, and had not unfrequently to be got out exhausted. There was also a continual calling out of ‘Heads, heads,’ to those about the table …
[6/7] The confusion and crushing was indeed at all times very great, especially when any operation of importance was performed, and I have often known even the floor so crowded that the surgeon could not operate till it had been partially cleared.”
![[6/7] The confusion and crushing was indeed at all times very great, especially when any operation of importance was performed, and I have often known even the floor so crowded that the surgeon could not operate till it had been partially cleared.”](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpHhos7XUAMIuti.jpg "[6/7] The confusion and crushing was indeed at all times very great, especially when any operation of importance was performed, and I have often known even the floor so crowded that the surgeon could not operate till it had been partially cleared.”")
[7/7] Quite a change from the spotless, sober setting we expect today! We can’t even imagine how the poor patient must have felt! 
Experience a sense of that atmosphere yourself when you book a Time Bubble for the museum! Get your ticket here
http://ow.ly/m0Zr50CHZbk
Experience a sense of that atmosphere yourself when you book a Time Bubble for the museum! Get your ticket here
http://ow.ly/m0Zr50CHZbk
