Gorean Medicine




Gorean medicine is renowned for having very advanced medical knowledge. The following are some medical quotes available from the books:

"the first day the Physician, a quiet man in the green garments of his caste, examined me, thoroughly. The instruments he used, the tests he performed, the samples he required were not unlike those of Earth. ...I could see neither cords nor battery cases. Yet the room was filled with a soft, gentle white light, which the physician could regulate by rotating the base of the bulb. Further, certain pieces of his instrumentation were clearly far from primitive. For example, there was a small machine with gauges and dials. In this he would place slides, containing drops of blood and urine, flecks of tissue, a strand of hair. With a stylus he would note readings on the machine, and, on the small screen at the top of the machine, I saw, vastly enlarged, what reminded me of an image witnessed under a microscope. -Captive of Gor, p 92-93

A physician entered the booth with his kit slung over the shoulder of his green robes. When the physician had finished the cleansing, chemical sterilization and dressing of the wounds [dagger stab wounds] he left. The scribe paid the physician a tarsk bit." -Beasts of Gor p104

Be that as it may, the Priest Kings have limited man severely on this planet in many respects, notably in weaponry, communication, and transportation. On the other hand, the brilliance which men might have turned to destructive channels was then diverted, almost of necessity, to other fields, most notably medicine. -Assassin of Gor pg 30

I looked about the room, turning my head painfully, and saw that the room was some sort of operating chamber, filled with instrumentation, with racks of delicate tongs and knives. In one corner there was a large drumlike machine with a pressurized door which might have been a sterilizer. -Priest Kings of Gor pg. 253

"Who has done this?" I asked.
"I," said Parp. "The operation is not as difficult as you might expect and I have performed it many times."
"He is a member of the Caste of Physicians," said Kusk, "and his manual dexterity is superior even to that of Priest Kings." -Priest Kings of Gor pg. 254

"I have never been in the arms of a man before," she said., "for the men of Tharna may not touch women." I must have looked puzzled "The Caste of Physicialns," she said, "under the direction of the High Council of Tharna, arranges these matters." -Outlaw of Gor, p106

"In the concentrated state as in slave wine developed by the Caste of Physicians the effect [of sip root] is almost indefinite, usually requiring a releaser for its remission, usually administered to a slave in what is called breeding wine or second wine" -Blood Brother of Gor, p319

"Have you had your slave wine?," asked Ina."Yes," I said. This is not really wine, or an alcoholic beverage. It is called slave wine I think for the amusement of the Masters. It is extremely bitter. One draught of the substance is reputed to last until the administration of an appropriate releaser. In spite of this belief however or perhaps in deference to tradition, lingering from earlier times, in which, it seems less reliable slave wines were available, dose of this foul stuff are usually administered to female slaves at regular intervals usually once or twice a year. Some girls rather cynical ones, I suspect speculate that the Masters give it to them more often than necessary just because they enjoy watching them down the terrible stuff" -Dancer of Gor, p174

"I sprang to my feet and ran to the door. Flaminius! I cried. Flaminius! A slave running past stopped on my command. Fetch Flaminius! I cried. He must bring blood! Sura must live! The slave hurtled down the hall. Flaminius came in but a few moments. With him he carried the apparatus of his craft, and a cannister of fluid." - Assassin of Gor pg. 380

"The man with the thief's scar again emerged from the ship, this time with a syringe. He injected a tiny bit of serum into each girl, entering the needle in the girls back, on the left side between the hip and backbone, passing the needle each time into a small vial he held in his left hand."..."They will not awaken now, said the man with the Thief's scar, for better than an Ahn."..."We began to go up to the third level. They seem very quiet, I observed. We permit them, said Flaminius, deigning to offer a bit of an explination, five Ahn of varried responses, depending on when they recover from the frobicain injection." - Assassin of Gor pg. 126

""He touched the bloodied cut on my belly, where the branch had struck me. Then, with his hand, he lifted my head, turning it, looking at the cut on my cheek. We are not pleased, he said. I said nothing. Bring salve, he said. An ointment was brought, and he smeared it across the two cuts. It was odorless. To my surprise it seemed to be absorbed almost immediately. You must be careful, he said. Again I said nothing. You might have marked yourself, he said, or might have been blinded. He returned the ointment to another man. They are superficial, he told me, and will heal without trace." - Captive of Gor pg. 29 - 30

It is known that injections and the taking of blood specimens were both used from "Fighting slaves of Gor" and "Captives of Gor"

In AR...we will not use kanda leaves for sedation for healing purposes, The only use kanda had was to provide a narcotic effect and render the user almost senseless.
"Kutaituchik lifted his head and regarded us, his eyes seemed sleepy, he was bald save for a black knot of hair that emerged from the back of his shaven skull, he was a broad backed man, with small legs, his eyes bore the epicanthic fold, his skin was tinged a yellowish brown, though he was stripped to the waist, there was about his shoulders a rich, ornamented robe of red bosk, bordered with jewels about his neck, on a chain decorated with sleen teeth, there hung a golden medallion, bearing the sigh of the four bosk horns, he wore furred boots, wide leather trousers and a red sash, in which was thrust a quiva. Beside him, colied, perhaps as a symbol of power, lay a bosk whip. Kutaituchik absently reached into a small golden box near his right knee and drew out a string of rolled kanda leaf. The roots of the kanda plant, which grows largely in the desert regions of Gor, are extremely toxic, but, surprisingly, the rolled leaves of this plant, which are relatively innocuous, are formed into strings and, chewed or sucked, are much favoured by many Goreans, particularly in the southern hemisphere, where the leaf is more abundant" -Nomads of Gor p 43

If sedation needs to be used, We will use:
- Capture scent (chloroform) but a second person must be available to check the Patient's airway,
"She opened her eyes, and shook her head. What is this? she said. Capture scent, I said."..."Shall I hold again the vial beneath her nose? I asked. Soaked in a rag and scarf and held over the nose and mouth of a female it can render her unconscious in five Ihn. She squirmed wildly for an Ihn or two, and then sluggishly, and then falls limp. It is sometimes uesd by tarnsmen; it is often used by slavers. Anesthetic dart, too are sometimes used in the taking of female; these maybe flung, or entered into the body by hand; they take effect in about fourty Ihn; she awakens often, in a slave kennel." -Marauders of Gor pg. 115--116

Sleeping powder - an amber powder which when mixed with water turns dark blue
"Kamchak said nothing, but then he got up and from a chest in the wagon he took forth a goblet and filled it with an amber fluid, which he shook a dark, bluish powder. He then took Elizabeth Cardwel in his left arm and with his right hand gave her the drink. Her eyes were freightened, but she drank. In a few moments she was asleep." -Nomads of Gor pg. 61-62 Tassa powder which is a reddish powder, usually mixed with red wine to disguise the colour, this makes the patient unconscious
"I had been forced, sitting in the courtyard, my head back and nose held, to swallow a draft of water, into which a reddish powder had been mixed. I had shortly thereafter lost consciousness." .... "In the courtyard below, I said, I was drugged. It was done by tassa powder, she said. It was tasteless, and effective, I said. Slavers sometimes use it, she said. It is well for a girl not to drink with a strange man, she laughed. It shows up, of course, I said, in water. It is ment to be mixed with red wine, she said." -Fighting Slave of Gor pg. 222--224

Suturing Techniques

 Suture kits will be made up and kept ready in the Physicians Cylinder at all times. There will also be suture kits available in every med kit located around the City.These will comprise of a small tray containing :
_a selection of curved and straight needles threaded with silk and vulo gut of varying thicknesses,
-a scalpel
- toothed forceps to pull tissue edges together
- a pair of clamp style forceps with smooth edges to clamp bleeding vessels
-a small pair of scissors
-a needle holder similar to the clamp forceps but with ridged ends to the blades

Before attempting to suture any wound the person healing should douse their hands in paga to cleanse them, the only exception to this is if a wound is life threatning where speed is of the essence.

Slash/stab type wounds
For wounds that penetrate muscle, the tissue must be repaired in layers, starting with the muscle. Carefully align the muscle edges, making sure no debris remains in the wound and making a knot with the first suture use a continuous gut suture by weaving the needle thru the muscle in a S-shape to pull the edges together firmly and place a knot at the end. This provides strength to the wound.
If the patient is obese, and it is a wound to the belly, then a thick gut suture using an over and under technique should be used to stop the wound bursting. This is classified as a deep tension suture and this type can also be used on the skin if need be
The skin can then be repaired using silk interrupted stitches where each stitch is placed individually and knotted before moving on to the next stitch

Arrow and Crossbow wounds.
"The hunting arrow, incidentally, has a long, tapering point, and this point is firmly fastened to the shaft. This makes it easier to withdraw the arrow from its target. The war arrow, on the other hand, uses an arrowhead whose base is either angled backwards, forming barbs, or cut straight across, the result in both cases being to make the arrow difficult to extract from a wound. The head of the war arrow, too, is fastened less securely to the shaft than is that of the hunting arrow. The point thus by intent, if the shaft is pulled out, is likely to linger in the wound. Sometimes it is possible to thrust the arrow through the body, break off the point and then withdraw the shaft backwards. At other times, if the point becomes dislodged in the body, it is common to seek it with a bone or greenwood probe, and then, when one has found it, attempt to work it free with a knife. There are cases where men have survived this. Much depends, of course, on the location of the point." -Savages of Gor pg. 40

In the Cities, we do not use bone or wood instruments but the principal remains the same, The barb must be removed.
The probes take the shape of 2 spoon like instruments that will fit round the head of the arrow to allow it to be pulled free without causing any further tissue damage, however, if the arrow is in a limb and not pressing on bone, nerves or blood vessels it is acceptable to push it thru the wound, remove the head and pull the shaft free. In many instances, if the woound is deep the it should not be sutured the first day but merely packed with ribbon gauze to allow healing to take place from the inside of the wound out. This allows for quicker healing and less chance of infection.

Numbing salves should be used on all wounds if at all possible and allowed to work before suturing. NO kanda is to be used. We will not use kanda salve which has never existed. If a wound is so severe that the Patient requires surgery then He will be sedated after ensuring He is not in shock from blood loss.
If the patient appears to be going into shock, becoming pale, clammy and cold then an immediate blood transfusion needs to be given or at least infused with premade bags of IV saline(salt water) which is kept in the Physicians cylinder after placing a wide bore needle into a large vein