Still looking for a reference to "pushing the arrow on through".
Birdwatcher
You may have to look at surgical texts to find one.
FWIW, the most commonly used modern ER method for removing fishhooks from people is to "push it on through", cut off the barb, and then pull the body of the hook back out. Alternatively with some hooks that have barbs on the shaft of the hook you cut off the eye and push the hook through. These techniques are described in multiple surgical texts. Nobody seems to know how the technique was invented, or where, or when, but it seems to be an ancient method.
(Myself, I pull most fishhooks straight out with forceps and a quick, sharp tug. Works great, causes less tissue damage, doesn't require anesthetic, and has less risk of infection. It's a surprisingly recently developed technique, actually. Most people still use the "push-through" method.)
I am aware of similar techniques being used for other penetrating foreign bodies, although these days most larger FB's are taken to the OR for removal.
In the days prior to anesthetic and antibiotics, particularly if a bone was fractured, amputation of the limb was the treatment of choice.
