SURGEON

It is a marvel of words and language that such disparate entities as b acteria, culture, and surgeons often find themselves in the same dish. Yet when one lifts the magic lid and pursues the ties of etymologic a ffiliations, one is enchanted by the fascinating thread that runs thro ugh words from their philologic beginnings to the manifold meanings ac quired on the way. How many of us think, for example, of the connotati ons of culture and sensitivity when we order a ''C & S'' for a specime n of pus, when the word culture alone could take one back to mother ea rth or evoke the vision of parthenons of civilization; could lead to s afaris of microbe hunters or to defenders of national heritage. With t his essay the World Journal of Surgery begins a new feature on the roo ts and genealogy of surgical terms under the editorship of Professor W illiam Gunn, author of Dictionnaire des Secours d'Urgence and the Mult ilingual Dictionary of Disaster Medicine and International Relief. It is appropriate for this journal that the series should begin with the word Surgeon.-The Editor.