Until around a hundred and fifty years ago, surgeons would always wear a black coat when operating. That made it less obvious that it was covered in blood and they did not have to wash it so often. Some surgeons used to boast that their coats were so stiff from all the blood that they could stand upright on their own. So you had to be quick, otherwise it would end badly. Speed meant safety. And that called for short, deep and accurate incisions – in the right place, and passing through as many layers of tissue as possible with one cut. The flow of blood was therefore always stemmed at the end,
...more
