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A peg leg is a prosthesis, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg, especially a wooden one fitted at the knee.[1] Its use dates to antiquity.[2]
History
By the late 19th century, prosthetics vendors would offer peg legs as cheaper alternatives to more intricate, lifelike artificial legs.[3] Even as vendors touted advantages of more complicated prostheses over simple peg legs,[3] according to a contemporary surgeon, many patients found a peg leg more comfortable for walking.[4] According to medical reports, some amputees were able to adjust to the use of a peg leg so well that they could walk 10, or even 30, miles in one day.[5]
Nowadays, wooden peg legs have been replaced by more modern materials, though some sports prostheses do have the same form.[6]
Notable peg leg wearers
- François Le Clerc (died 1563), privateer
- Cornelis Jol, (1597–1641), privateer and Dutch West India Company admiral
- Peter Stuyvesant (1612–1672), Dutch Director-General of New Amsterdam[7]
- Blas de Lezo (1687–1741), Spanish admiral
- Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816), American politician
- Brook Watson (1735 -1807), Lord Mayor of London
- Pierre Daumesnil (1776 – 1832), French general
- Józef Sowiński (1777–1831), Polish General
- Billy Waters (1778–1823), aka Black Billy, former African American slave, then sailor in the British Navy until he became an amputee. Also a busker of prolific merit.
- Vuk Karadžić (1787–1864), Serbian linguist
- Thomas L. Smith (1801–1866), American mountain man
- Albert Chmielowski (1845–1916), Polish artist, founder of the Albertine Brothers and Sisters, saint of the Catholic Church
- Robert McAlpin Williamson (1804?–1859), nicknamed "Three-legged Willie", Republic of Texas Supreme Court Justice, state lawmaker, and Texas Ranger
- Kushibiki Yumindo (1859?-1924), Japanese impresario
- Peg Leg Bates (1907–1998), dancer
- Peg Leg Sam (Arthur Jackson) (1911–1977) American blues musician
- Joe "Pegleg" Morgan (1929–1993), first non-Hispanic member of the Mexican Mafia, an American criminal organization
- Sita Subedi (1985-), Nepalese classical dancer and winner of Ms. Nepal International 2023.
References
- ^ "Peg leg". Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Marks, George Edwin (1888), A Treatise on Marks' patent artificial limbs with rubber hands and feet, A. A. Marks, p. 47
- ^ Tillmanns, Hermann (1895), Stimson, Lewis Atterbury (ed.), Title The principles of surgery and surgical pathology: general rules governing operations and the application of dressings, D. Appleton and company, p. 128
- ^ Teale, Thomas Pridgin (1858), On amputation by a long and a short rectangular flap, pp. 29, 31
- ^ Clarke, Carl D. (1965) Prosthetics Standard Arts Press, Butler, Maryland, OCLC 5083790, page 182
- ^ ""...he lost his leg at Saint Martin.."". Archived from the original on 2011-03-12. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
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, Lawrence J. (1996). "Prosthetics in Classical Antiquity: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Prosthetics". In Haase, Wolfgang (ed.). Philosophie, Wissenschaften, Technik. Wissenschaften (Medizin und Biologie [Forts.]). doi:10.1515/9783110809008-009. ISBN 9783110809008.
- 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, Jacqueline (2011). "The ancient origins of prosthetic medicine". The Lancet. 377 (9765): 548–549. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60190-6. PMID 21341402. S2CID 42637892.
- Padula, Patricia A.; Friedmann, Lawrence W. (1987). "Acquired Amputation and Prostheses Before the Sixteenth Century". Angiology. 38 (2): 133–141. doi:10.1177/000331978703800207. PMID 3548491. S2CID 37784673.
- 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): 1114–1119. doi:10.1111/j.1445-2197.2007.04330.x. PMID 17973673. S2CID 10255728.
- Wilson, Philip D. (1922) "Early weight-bearing in the treatment of amputations of the lower limbs"[permanent dead link] The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 4: pp. 224–247
