Butter, Remarks on irritative fever (1825)

An indirect reference to Devon Wrestling in reference to shin injuries and conditions of disease (not caused by Wrestling, but by other ailments):

Now in Devonshire especially, a habit prevails of kicking shins in wrestling. In this gymnastic exercise, two men collar each other, and kick each other’s legs; whosoever throws his opponent first on his back, gains the trial of strength. Now sometimes a man’s shins may be kicked all over, and yet no bad consequences, so far as I am informed, have ever ensued from this sport.

From: ‘Remarks on irritative fever, commonly called the Plymouth dock-yard disease; with Mr. Dryden’s detailed account of the fatal cases, including that of the lamented surgeon, Dr. [James] Bell / [John Butter].‘, pp. 37-38. Available online via Wellcome Collection.