Gamgee Tissue is a surgical dressing invented by Dr. Joseph Sampson Gamgee in Birmingham, England, in 1880.[1] [2] [3]
Gamgee Tissue has a thick layer of absorbent cotton wool between two layers of absorbent gauze.[1] 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 has been a trademark of Robinson Healthcare (formerlyl Robinson and Sons Ltd of Chesterfield),[4] based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, since 1911.
In Birmingham, "Gamgee" became the colloquial name for cotton wool, which led to the surname of Gaffer Gamgee and his son Sam in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. In a 1954 letter to the author Naomi Mitchison, who was checking the text of the novel for Tolkien, he addresses a question she had about the name: