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Garnett Passe and the tonsillectomy gag

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2016

J C Rice*
Affiliation:
Emeritus Surgeon, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide, Australia (formerly The Adelaide Children’s Hospital)
*
Address for correspondence: John C Rice, OAM FRCS FRACS, 46 Tyrone Street, McCracken, Victor Harbor, SA 5211, Australia E-mail: johnriceoam@gmail.com

Abstract

Kevin Kane has written about the painting by Barbara Hepworth of Garnett Passe performing a tonsillectomy, and wondered about the way in which the gag appears to be suspended. This article traces historically the various methods of holding the gag for tonsillectomy, and postulates that what is illustrated in the Hepworth painting is a jack owned by the late Dr Sydney Cocks, who not only was a friend of Passe but who also commenced the discussions with Passe's widow, Barbara, concerning the formation by her of a trust to support young Australian ENT surgeons, which eventually became The Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation.

Type
Review Articles
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2016 

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References

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