Charles Bell's illustrations of war injured

Sir Charles Bell (1774 - 1842), was a Scottish anatomist, neurologist, surgeon and natural theologian. He and his brother had remarkable artistic gifts, and together they taught anatomy and illustrated and published two volumes of A System of Dissection Explaining the Anatomy of the Human Body.

He also served as a military surgeon, making elaborate recordings of neurological injuries at the Royal Hospital Haslar and famously documenting his experiences at Waterloo in 1815, where the anatomist Robert Knox commented very negatively on Bell's surgical abilities; (the mortality rate of amputations carried out by Bell ran at about 90%). All these illustrations are from injured soldiers during Waterloo battle.

Bell's career was characterized by the accumulation of quite extraordinary honors and achievements, and by acrimonious disputes unusual even by the standards of medicine during the regency.

You can find more illustrations from Waterloo injured soldiers in Welcome Images by typing "Charles Bell" in search.