Surgeon Kirk, Mr. Pringle and the "P & K" arm.

Surgeon Kirk belonged to an age when innovation and strong views were not considered eccentric.' He would appear to have had a strong personality, yet is always remembered with affection. His worst defect would appear to have been a chilling stare if one disagreed with his views (Fig. 1).2 It is said that he failed his Primary F.R.C.S. and declined to repeat an attempt at such an ill-conducted examination. It is claimed that he resigned from the British Medical Association after having an article rejected by the British Medical Journal. He wisely married Miss Constance Rome, who was Matron of the Children's Hospital from 1901 to 1908, where she was earning the princely sum of £60 per annum. He died in 1940, having lived at 21 University Square for 35 years.3 The 1914-1918 war was savage, leaving 41 ,000 British ex-servicemen with artificial limbs, of whom 11,500 lost upper limbs. To the credit of the Government, it was appreciated by them that the FIG. 1 Surgeon Kirk artificial limbs of the day were very basic, and that the artificial limb industry was not organised to cope with the sudden increase in the volume of work. As a consequence, the Ministry of Pensions set about looking for suitable artificial limbs, and organising the artificial limb makers and firms to produce these limbs.