From 1707 to 1782 there lived in England one Sir John Pringle, chief of the Army Medical Department, known to this day as an author upon military hygiene. John Huxliam (1794-1868) advanced our knowledge of putrid dissolution of the blood. John Howard (1766-1790) rendered eminent service in prison reform. Heberden (1710-1801) was the first to describe varicella, and also angina pectoris—which was long known as Heberden's asthma. John Fothergil (1712-1780), a Quaker, acquired fame by his observations on chronic angina, neuralgia, and hydrocephalus; was likewise a benefactor of the poor, regarding them as "bridges to the pockets of the rich"; indeed, a large part of what he gained from the latter class he bestowed in charity, and at his death left £200,000 for the same purpose. Radcliffe (1750-1814) was an eminent, witty, successful practitioner of London, who was wont to declare that, as a young practitioner, he possessed twenty remedies for every disease, but at the close of his career had found twenty diseases for which he had not one remedy. Richard Mead (1673-1754) was a prolific writer, and the author of the first quarantine regulations adopted in England. Contemporary with Mead was Lettsom,—the busiest, most philanthropic, and most successful physician of his day,—whose practice, although a large part of it was gratuitous, brought him sixty thousand dollars a year, and who gave away immense sums for charitable purposes; also, Thomas Dover, who invented the sedative known by his name and who died in 1741. Akenside, physician and poet (1721-1770), wrote on dysentery. Baillie, of Edinburgh, was the first to accurately describe the morbid anatomy of gastric ulcer.
Among the French surgeons must be mentioned la Peyronie, of Montpellier, born in 1668, who ultimately became director of the Academy of Surgery and surgeon to the king. His wealth was employed for the elevation of the craft, and he founded no less than ten different surgical professorships at his own expense. In 1743 he effected the separation of the surgeons from the barbers. He died in 1747, dedicating his estate to the purpose for which he had lived. The most famous of the earlier surgeons of this century was J. L. Petit (16741750), inventor of the screw tourniquet, and who was called to treat Augustus the Strong, of Poland; indeed, several other crowned heads became his patients. Garen-geot (1688-1759), a professor in the College of St. Come, published a work on operative surgery. Morand (1697-1773) and le Dran were distinguished surgeons of Paris, the former especially noted for the number of times he performed paracentesis. Famous lithotomists were le Cat and Frère Come,—whose real name was Baseilhac, and who operated by means of the lithotome caché, Astruc (1685-1766) was a syphilographer of extensive attainments; Quesnay (1694-1774), an eminent and undaunted surgeon of Louis XV, who wrote on the history and progress of surgery in France; Brasdor (1721-1776) was best known for his method of distal ligation in aneurism; Sabatier (1732-1811) wrote a famous treatise on operations, in which he recommended resection of the head of the humerus.
One of the most celebrated surgeons was P, J. Desault (1744-1795), the son of a poor farmer, originally designed for the priesthood, but who, after obtaining a thorough mathematical education, began the study of surgery with an ignorant master of his native town. Subsequently he went to Paris, and here supported himself by teaching, gradually rising, step by step, until, without collegiate education, he became professor and chief-surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu, where he established the first surgical clinic. He opposed violently the prevalent abuse of the trephine, and was also a champion of healing by first intention. A trusted friend of Desault was Ghopart, well known because of the amputation of the foot that bears his name. Another well-known surgeon, likewise a friend of Desault, was Doublet; and it is somewhat remarkable that Desault, Ghopart, and Doublet suffered persecution and perhaps martyrdom in connection with the supposed death of the Dauphin of France,—properly Louis XVII,—in 1795. There is evidence that the child who died in the temple was not the dauphin, but a substitute, and these three surgeons, who examined the corpse, had the hardihood to express their doubts. The same day that Desault reported upon the evidence he was invited to dinner by some members of the Convention, was taken ill at the table, and died almost immediately after his return home, A few days later Chopart and Doublet died, also under mysterious circumstances.
Daviel (1796-1862) is remembered among French surgeons chiefly for extraction of the lens as an independent method of treating cataract; Tenon (172-4-1816), for his writings on the anatomy and diseases of the eye; and Anel for originating the operation for aneurism, mistakenly attributed to Hunter. There were also many others, of lesser note, who distinguished themselves through special services to surgery or some of its branches.
Among the Italians of this century may be mentioned Scarpa (1772-1832), of Motta, professor successively in Modena and Pavia, and who advanced our knowledge of hernia, diseases of the eyes, aneurism, and general anatomy.
The most famous Spanish surgeon was Gimbernat, of Madrid (1742-1790), for a time professor in Barcelona, who also became distinguished through anatomical researches.
German surgeons did not rank high during the earlier half of the last century, owing to the contempt engendered by the church for this branch of the medical art. The fashion of imitating the French, however, led to some surgical development. The first German surgeon of scientific education was Heister (1683-1758), of Frankfort-on-the-Main, who, unable to obtain honorable employment in the military service of his own country, entered that of Holland, where he remained until the experience of his own nation had brought about a healthy reaction. In 1720 he came to Helmstâdt, where he developed great activity in anatomy, surgery, and botany; also distinguished himself as a dentist and oculist, and discussed the whole range of surgical topics from the least to the greatest.
Bilguer (1720-1796), of Chur, became surgeon-general in Berlin, and performed the first resection of the wrist in 1762; he was an opponent of amputation, which at that time was altogether too frequently practiced.
Von Siebold (1736-1807) was the founder of an institution for surgical instruction, where, for the first time in Germany, surgery was taught clinically. He became one of the most famous teachers, and was first in his native land to perform the operation of symphysiotomy, so recently revived.
The greatest German surgeon of the eighteenth century, however,—one eminent both as writer and operator,—was August Gottlieb Richter (1742-1812), of Zorbig, a descendant of a ministerial family, who wrote a famous work on hernia, and greatly improved all branches of surgery; he it was that enunciated the principle of dressing wounds "quickly, easily, and rarely."