454 



si IU;EIIY. 



and Po&llirittt, took rare o! the wounded 

 Greeks. The Greek and Arabian ph \ M ri.m>. at ti later 

 period, cultivated surgery and medicine together, 

 as is proved by the works of Hippocrates, Galen, 

 Celsus, Paulus of JEgina, Albucasis, &c. How- 

 ever, in the time of Hippocrates, some surgical 

 operations were kept separate from medicine. In 

 the oath of Hippocrates, lithotomy was forbidden 

 to physicians. The Arabians also felt an aversion 

 for operations, and it was considered beneath the 

 dignity of physicians to operate themselves. The 

 Komuiis left them generally to their slaves. In 

 the middle ages, the practice of the healing art was 

 almost exclusively confined to the monks and 

 priests. But, in 1163, the council of Tours pro- 

 hibited the clergy, who then shared with the Jews 

 the practice of medicine in Christian Europe, from 

 performing any bloody operation. Surgery was 

 banished from the universities, under the pretext 

 that the church detested all bloodshed. Medicine 

 and surgery were now completely separated. This 

 separation was the more easily effected, since the 

 bathkeepers and barbers had undertaken the practice 

 of surgery. At the time of the crusades (from 1 100), 

 many diseases were introduced into Europe from 

 the East, particularly into Italy, France and Ger- 

 many, which caused the frequent use of baths, and 

 the establishment of bathing-houses. In France, 

 the company of barbers was formed, in 1096, when 

 the archbishop William, of Rouen, forbade the wear- 

 ing of the beard. These bath-keepers and barbers 

 remained for several centuries in possession of the 

 practice of surgery. Meanwhile the mists of the 

 middle ages disappeared. Enlightened by anatomy, 

 surgery assumed a new form ; and the works of 

 Berengario de" Carpi, of Fallopius, of Eustachius, 

 &c., were the true source of the knowledge with 

 which Ambrose Pare enriched this science, which 

 had been degraded by its union with the barber's 

 trade. By the discoveries of Caesar Magatus, Fa- 

 biicius ab Aquapendente, Wiseman, William Har- 

 vey, and Fabricius Hildanus, surgery made new 

 progress. In 1731, the surgical academy was estab- 

 lished in France, which soon became celebrated 

 throughout Europe. Marechal la Peyronie, La- 

 martiucre, &c., were distinguished surgeons. The 

 collection of memoirs and prize writings of the sur- 

 gical academy contains the history of this flourish- 

 ing period. There are preserved the labours of 

 J. L. Petit, Garengeot, Lafaye, Lecat, Sabatier, 

 and of several other practitioners. The emulation of 

 all Europe was excited by such an example. At 

 this period flourished in England, Cheselden, Dou- 

 glas, the two Monros, Sharp, Alanson, Pott, Smel- 

 lie, the two Hunters; in Italy, Molinelli, Ber- 

 trandi, Moscati ; in Holland, Albinus, Deventer, 

 Camper ; in Germany and the north of Europe, 

 Heiste r , Zach, Platner, Stein, Roderer, Bilguer, 

 Acrell, Callisen, Theden, and Richter. Down to 

 the end of the last century, the French surgical 

 academy contained many distinguished members. 

 Desault (q. v.) became the chief of the new school. 

 Besides the surgical school of Paris, that of Stras- 

 burg. and particularly that of Montpellier (where 

 Delpech distinguished himself), which has not 

 always agreed with that of Paris, are celebrated. 



Within the last half century, the kindred sciences 

 of surgery and surgical anatomy, have made rapid 

 progress, particularly in Great Britain, France, 

 Germany and Italy. The works of John Hunter 

 formed a new era in the history of surgical liter- 

 ature, and yet continue the admiration and boast of 



British surgeons. All his writings bear the stamp 

 of a great and inventive genius ; and the late pub- 

 lication of a uniform edition of them, illustrated 

 with notes and comments, should be gratefully re- 

 ceived by the profession in general. It is to be re- 

 gretted, nay, rather to be deeply deplored, that the 

 unpublished MSS. of this truly great man, should 

 have been recklessly committed to the flames, and 

 that too by a professional incendiary, who had risen 

 to the first grade in the profession by the early and 

 fostering care he experienced from their talented 

 author. Among the many zealous and gifted pu- 

 pils and successors of Hunter, there is no'., perhaps, 

 one who has contributed more to extend the know- 

 ledge of his mode of healing wounds, by the first 

 intention or adhesive inflammation, than the late 

 John Bell, whose eloquent discourses on the cure 

 of wounds ought to be in the hands of every sur- 

 geon. Indeed Mr Bell's large work, on the Princi- 

 ples of Surgery, especially the last, octavo edition, 

 with notes, &c., by his accomplished brother, Sir 

 Charles, should form a standard book in every sur- 

 gical library. His observations on every practical 

 point should be received with great respect, espe- 

 cially on aneurism; for he has proved more than 

 his predecessors, (nay, even than the illustrious 

 Haller, who made this his particular study,) that 

 the great arteries of the human body may be freely 

 secured without any fear of the collateral circula- 

 tion not being carried on. 



In addition to that of John Bell, there are other 

 great names who now belong to the history of the 

 science : among the most eminent of these may be 

 mentioned Benjamin Bell, Latta, Hennen, Allan 

 and Turner, of Edinburgh; Abernethy, Cline, the 

 Blizards, Wilson, Taunton, Chevalier Shaw, the 

 Earles, and others of London ; Hey of Leeds ; and 

 last, although not least, Allan Burns of Glasgow, 

 whose writings, especially the Surgical Anatomy of 

 the Head and Neck, will remain an unfading memorial 

 of the zeal and talent with which he cultivated that 

 department of the science, and at the same time fur- 

 nish deep cause of regret, that one who bade so fair 

 to occupy that place in the history of Scottish Sur- 

 gery that his namesake Robert Burns does in the 

 history of Scottish Poetry, should so very early in 

 life have fallen a victim to the over assiduous cul- 

 tivation and improvement of his favourite science. 

 It would occupy too much of our space, to enumer- 

 ate the many illustrious names on the continent of 

 Europe, who have contributed to elevate the 

 science of surgery to its present commanding posi- 

 tion. It would, however, be an unpardonable 

 neglect to omit those of Scarpa, Richerand, Lar- 

 rey, Duputyren, and Laennec. 



It is not consistent with the nature of this work, 

 to enter at length on the discussion of the various 

 departments of surgery, but to confine ourselves to 

 a plain and intelligible account of these operations in 

 domestic surgery, which are frequently performed 

 by intelligent individuals in the absence of profes- 

 sional assistance. 



The operation most commonly practised in 

 domestic surgery is that of Phlebotomy or Blood- 

 letting. The veins most usually opened are those 

 of the arm, the neck, and the apkle, the last prin- 

 cipally in women. In whatever part of the body, 

 however, venesection is performed, the same general 

 method must be practised, viz. to compress the vein 

 by a ligature betwixt the place where the puncture 

 is to be made and the heart. Thus, the reflux of the 

 blood through the vein is stopped, the vessel swells, 



