Gamgee Tissue
Encyclopedia
Gamgee Tissue is a surgical dressing
invented by Dr. Joseph Sampson Gamgee in Birmingham
, England
, in 1880.
Gamgee Tissue has a thick layer of absorbent cotton wool between two layers of absorbent gauze. It represents the first use of cotton wool in a medical context, and was a major advancement in the prevention of infection of surgical wounds. It is still the basis for many modern surgical dressings. The name is a trademark
, and has been since 1911.
's The Lord of the Rings
.
The connection is not certain: in Appendix F to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien mentions, but at the same time denies, the reading of Gamgee as a pun relating to the name of Sam's wife, Rosie Cotton. He further elaborates the 'real' Westron
names of which 'Gamgee' and 'Cotton' are translations.
However, in the same section Tolkien also addresses hobbit (which was certainly created first and translated afterward, as described in Tolkien's own comment on the initial writing of The Hobbit
) and Brandywine (an obvious English pun on the Elvish Baranduin, 'justified' as translation of a similarly alcoholic pun in Westron). In this context we may suspect that the Professor is speaking tongue-in-cheek; the Gamgee entry is phrased such that it can be read as a poker-faced, academic way of pointing out that the joke is there, whether or not he intended it.
Dressing (medical)
A dressing is an adjunct used by a person for application to a wound to promote healing and/or prevent further harm. A dressing is designed to be in direct contact with the wound, which makes it different from a bandage, which is primarily used to hold a dressing in place...
invented by Dr. Joseph Sampson Gamgee in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1880.
Gamgee Tissue has a thick layer of absorbent cotton wool between two layers of absorbent gauze. It represents the first use of cotton wool in a medical context, and was a major advancement in the prevention of infection of surgical wounds. It is still the basis for many modern surgical dressings. The name is a trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
, and has been since 1911.
Tolkien
In Birmingham, "Gamgee" became the colloquial name for cotton wool, which possibly led to the character name (Sam Gamgee) in J. R. R. TolkienJ. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
.
The connection is not certain: in Appendix F to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien mentions, but at the same time denies, the reading of Gamgee as a pun relating to the name of Sam's wife, Rosie Cotton. He further elaborates the 'real' Westron
Westron
Westron, or the Common Speech, is a fictional language in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien.Westron is the closest thing to a lingua franca in Middle-earth, at least at the time during which The Lord of the Rings is set. "Westron" is an invented English word, derived from West...
names of which 'Gamgee' and 'Cotton' are translations.
However, in the same section Tolkien also addresses hobbit (which was certainly created first and translated afterward, as described in Tolkien's own comment on the initial writing of The Hobbit
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
) and Brandywine (an obvious English pun on the Elvish Baranduin, 'justified' as translation of a similarly alcoholic pun in Westron). In this context we may suspect that the Professor is speaking tongue-in-cheek; the Gamgee entry is phrased such that it can be read as a poker-faced, academic way of pointing out that the joke is there, whether or not he intended it.