August 17, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



259 



It breeds within the fundament with great hard- 

 ness, but with little pain. After a time it is uloerat, 

 oftentimes all the circumference, and the excrement 

 goeth out continuallie. 



He gives a true and telling description of 

 how the condition is to be diagnosed, and of 

 the progress and termination of the disease. 



It is noteworthy how many of the older 

 surgeons who attained eminence spent part 

 of their career in the army or navy. Wil- 

 liam Clowes (1540-1604), who was Surgeon 

 to St. Bartholomew's, had been surgeon in 

 the navy, and wrote A Proved Practice for 

 all Young CJdriirgeons concerning, Burnings 

 with Gunpowder and Wounds made ivith Gun- 

 shot, and he refers to Ambroise Pare in 

 terms of admiration. 



The greatest English surgeon of the 

 seventeenth century was Richard Wiseman 

 (1622-1676). He served in the Dutch 

 navy till 1644, and then entered the army 

 of Charles I. Afterwards he spent three or 

 four years in the Spanish navy, and on the 

 Restoration joined the forces of Charles II., 

 by whom he was appointed one of his sur- 

 geons. He published many treatises, which 

 exercised a considerable influence on Eng- 

 lish surgery, but were little known abroad. 



William Cheselden (1688-1752) was a 

 surgeon of great renown in England in the 

 early part of the eighteenth century. He 

 was Surgeon and Lecturer at St. Thomas's 

 Hospital. In 1723 he published a treatise 

 on the high operation for stone, but he 

 soon abandoned this for the lateral method, 

 which he so much perfected and improved 

 that the operation remains at the present 

 time much as he left it. 



Percivall Pott (1714-1788) was the 

 famous English surgeon of the middle por- 

 tion of the last century. He was Surgeon 

 to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and made 

 many and most important contributions to 

 surgery, especially on hernia and on injuries 

 to the head. His name remains attached 

 -to many surgical disorders. 



Of John Hunter (1728-1793) no detailed 

 mention is required here. His memory and 

 his methods continue a living influence 

 amongst us. He made our surgery a science, 

 and has given to us in our Museum an im- 

 perishable memorial of his industry. In it 

 are illustrated those marvellous power-s of 

 observation which had never before been 

 equalled, and will never in all probability 

 be surpassed. So long as surgery continues. 

 Hunter's influence must be felt. It is wit- 

 nessed in the creation of so many disting- 

 uished disciples imbued with his principles 

 and able to expound his doctrines. He 

 embodies and represents the glory of our 

 science, our College, and our country. 



The historical summary I have attempted 

 would not be complete without some ac- 

 count of the connection existing between 

 the Surgeons and the City of London, which 

 appears to have continued quite without 

 interruption since the middle of the four- 

 teenth century until the foundation of the 

 Surgeons' Company in 1745. There are 

 many entries in the City records of the ad- 

 mission by the Lord Mayor of surgeons and 

 master surgeons to practice in the City of 

 London, and the license thus granted ex- 

 acted a promise " that they should well and 

 truly serve the people in their cures, and 

 report to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen 

 any surgeon neglecting his patients." 



In 1416 the Craft of Barbers practising 

 surgery petitioned the Lord Mayor and Al- 

 dermen " to provide a sure remedy against 

 unskilful persons who indiscreetly pretend- 

 ed to be wiser than the Masters of Surgery, 

 and who expose the sick to the greatest 

 danger of death or maim by their presump- 

 tion." The City took immediate and, as 

 we learn, successful action on this petition. 



The City recognized the distinction be- 

 tween barbers and surgeons, for they ap- 

 pointed masters of surgery to control 

 those practising surgery only, and other 

 masters were annually selected to super- 



