This Disability History Month, we are taking a look at the history of amputation and limb difference. The RCGP holds multiple amputation kits within our Heritage Collections. These kits are mainly from the 19th century, and though they look different to the tools medical practitioners use today, they highlight the long history of amputation and limb difference. Modern medical practitioners will cringe at the fabric lined cases and wooden handles on the tools in these kits, as they are safe havens for infection causing microbes. Though many people died because of amputations in the 19th century, plenty didn’t, and lived on to have illustrious careers, particularly in the Royal Navy. In fact, those who, like Admiral Nelson, lost a limb in service of the Royal Navy, were not viewed as being disabled. The Navy saw limb loss as a qualifying, rather than disqualifying, attribute, and people like Nelson actively worked to bring that perception to the general public. His statue in Trafalgar...