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 offered peg legs as cheaper alternatives to the intricate, lifelike artificial legs available at that time.3 Even as these vendors touted the advantages of more complicated prostheses over simple peg legs,3 according to a contemporary surgeon, many patients found peg legs more comfortable for walking.4 According to medical reports, some amputees adapted so well to using a peg leg that they could walk 10 or even 30 miles in one day.5
Nowadays, wooden peg legs have been replaced by more modern materials, although some sports prostheses still maintain the same form.6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 Amsterdam7
- 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 prolific busker 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
- Bill Veeck (1914–1986), American baseball executive
- Joe "Pegleg" Morgan (1929–1993), the first non-Hispanic member of the Mexican Mafia, an American criminal organization
References
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
- 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
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" The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 4: pp. 224–247