Boyle’s continous-flow anesthetic machine.

Splanchnic anesthesia. See also Dtsch. med. Wschr., 1920, 46, 535.

Introduction of epidural anesthesia.

Intratracheal insufflation method of anesthetization. See also Magill, I. W., Lancet, 1921, 1, 918; 1923, 2, 229.

There was a second edition in 1917. Gaston Labat was the third co-author of the third edition (1921). Labat published his own book in English in 1922, the first work in English on the subject.

Introduction of ethylene.

Sodium amytal described.

Henderson’s important investigations on the physiology of respiration included his demonstration of the relation of acapnia to anesthesia and the recommendation that carbon dioxide inhalation be used to overcome collapse due to anesthesia.

McKesson introduced the intermittent flow method.

Experimental use of “avertin’’ (tribromethanol).

First clinical use of “avertin”.

Denis Browne ether inhaler.

Intravenous use of “avertin”.

Sodium amytal (Amobarbitol).  With J. T. C. McCallum, H. A. Shonle, E. E. Swanson, J. B. Scott, and G. H. A. Clowes.

Intravenous use of pentobarbitone sodium. 

Demonstration of the anesthetic properties of divinyl ether.

Introduction of evipan (hexobarbitone).

Clinical application of divinyl ether.

Experimental use of trichlorethylene as anesthetic.

First clinical use of cyclopropane. With W. B. Neff, and E. A. Rovenstine.

Closed circuit method.

Isolation from curare of d-tubocurarine chloride.

Introduction of thiopentone sodium.

Human anesthetization with trichlorethylene. With S. Goldblatt, I. S. Warm, and D. E. Jackson.

Flagg had an important influence on American anesthesia. The Flagg can is described on p. 148 of his book.

Continous spinal analgesia introduced.

With R. R. Macintosh and K. Mendelssohn. The Oxford vaporiser No. 2 is described in the same journal, pp. 64-66 by S. L. Cowan, R. D. Scott, and S. F. Suffolk.

Introduction of curare in anesthesia.

Introduction of gallamine triethiodide (“flaxedil”). With S. Courvoisier, R. Ducrot, And R. Horclois. See also the same journal, 1947, 225, 74.

Methonium compounds. See also the same journal, 1948, 162, 810.

Introduction of hexamethonium bromide.

Introduction of succinylcholine chloride. With S. Guarino, V. G. Longo, and M. Marotta.

Clinical use of succinylcholine chloride. With K. H. Ginzel, H. Klupp, F. Pfaffenschlager, and G. Werner.

Fluroxene, first fluorine-containing anesthetic. With C. J. Carr, Go Lu and F. K. Bell.

Clinical introduction of halothane (“fluothane”).

Halothane (“fluothane”) a non-inflammable and non-irritant anesthetic, was synthesized by C. W. Suckling at the I.C.I. Laboratories in Manchester.

Bigelow’s speedy publication of Morton’s discovery (No. 5651), and his subsequent advocacy of ether as an anesthetic assured its adoption throughout the civilized world. The above work deals with the priority claims of Morton and Charles Thomas Jackson, with Bigelow taking Morton's side in the dispute. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Reprinted with corrections and additions, 1963. Reprint, 1978.

Publications of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, New series, No. 2. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

First-hand accounts of discoveries and advances in anesthesia.

An anthology of 150 papers on anesthesia and related topics, from the 16th century to 1961.

The most comprehensive work on the subject. Articles reprinted primarily from Brit. J. Anaesth., with new introduction and index.

Proceedings of the 1987 Second International Symposium on the History of Anaesthesia at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Over 100 contributors. International Congress and Symposium Series 134.

De Medicina is the oldest Western medical document after the Hippocratic writings. Written about 30 CE, it remains the greatest medical treatise from ancient Rome, and the first Western history of medicine. Celsus’s superb literary style won him the title of Cicero medicorum. De medicina deals with diseases treated by diet and regimen and with those amenable to drugs and surgery. The surgical chapters contain the first accounts of the use of ligature, excellent descriptions of lateral lithotomy and herniotomy, and the earliest discussion of the surgical remedies for mutilations -- what we now call plastic surgery, including plastic operations for restoration of the nose, lips, eyelids, ears, etc. Celsus also included numerous important contributions to dentistry, including some of the earliest Western accounts of the treatment of toothache, oral surgery, tooth extraction, and fractures of the jaw.

The text of De Medicina seems to have been neglected at some point during the Middle Ages, and when it was no longer copied, it was eventually lost. A copy was discovered in Milan in 1443. ISTC no. ic00364000. Digital facsimile from the Bayerische StaatsBibliothek at this link.

Although not printed until 1868, this treatise was written about 1460, and is the first work of the early German surgeons. Pfolspeundt was a Bavarian army surgeon; his book includes the first allusion to the extraction of bullets, and gives an account of rhinoplasty. Some authorities have used the name “Pfolsprundt”; for an explanation of this mistake, see Muffat, in S. B. k. bayer. Akad. Wiss. München, 1869, 1, 564. It includes the earliest western account of rhinoplasty after Celsus, probably learned from one of the Brancas, itinerant Sicilian surgeons of the early 15th century. Pfolspeundt also described harelip and its treatment. Digital facsimile from Heinrich Heine Universität Dusseldorf at this link.

This work on cosmetics contains Tagliacozzi’s first publication on rhinoplasty – De reficiendo naso – a letter written to Mercuriale in response to inaccurate statements about Tagliacozzi's methods made by Mercuriale in De decoratione (1585).

Tagliacozzi of Bologna became famous for his work on rhinoplasty, but Paré and Fallopius both abused him and his work, and the Church (which regarded such operations as meddling with the work of God) exhumed his body and reburied it in unconsecrated ground. English translation of Book II in Read, Chirurgorum comes: or the whole practice of chirurgery, London, 1687. The definitive biography of Tagliacozzi by Martha T. Gnudi, and J. P. Webster, New York, 1950 reprints this translation and reproduces the woodcuts from Tagliacozzi’s book. It also contains a history of plastic surgery after Tagliacozzi. A pirated edition with different versions of the woodcuts was published by R. Meietti, Venice, 1597. This was reprinted, Mexico, 1974. A third edition was published in 8vo format in Frankfurt, 1598. However, after this initial flury of interest sparked by the three 16th century editions, Tagliacozzi’s work fell into relative obscurity, remaining mostly forgotten until the revival of plastic surgery by Carpue, von Graefe, Dieffenbach, and others in the early 19th century.

Van Meekeren was first to record a bone graft. He states (Chap. 1) that he read a report of it in a letter received by the Rev. Engebert Sloot of Slooterdijk from John Kraanwinkel, a missionary in Russia, where the operation had been performed. It consisted of the transplantation of a piece of bone from a dog’s skull into a cranial defect in a soldier. Although healing was perfect, the Church ordered the removal of the graft. German translation of the book, 1675; Latin translation, 1682. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

The first report published in Europe on the so-called Indian or Hindu method of rhinoplasty using a forehead flap, accompanied by an engraving of the patient, Cowasjee, with a restored nose and showing the stages of the operation. The article was signed by only "B. L." 

News of the procedure was first reported in the Hircarrah of The Madras Gazette of August 4, 1794. Prior to that a copperplate engraving by R. Mabon after James Wales's portrait of Cowasjee was published in Bombay on March 20, 1794. The article in the Gentleman's Magazine signed B.L. has been attributed to Barak Longmate. Following that publication a broadside reproducing the same portrait of Cowasjee with the same text was issued in London on January 1, 1795. Both broadside versions are exceptionally rare.

Mukherjee, N.S. et al, "A Nose Lost and Honour Regained: The Indian Method of Rhinoplasty Revisited," Proceedings of the Indian Congress, 72 (2011) 968-977.  

Baronio was among the first to attempt transplantation and experimental surgery in animals. He successfully carried out full-thickness skin grafts after detachment from the body, and the first purely scientific research in the history of plastic surgery. Baronio devoted an entire chapter (pp. 27-32) to the transplantation of teeth from one person to another, an operation that he credited to John Hunter. "The transplanting of teeth from one person to another is performed according to the English surgeon without great difficulty, provided that the tooth to be transplanted is fresh and has a root suitable for the alveolus of the recipient. . . . One can reduce the length or diameter of the root by filing it down, and there is certain proof that a fresh tooth, however much its root has been filed down, will take as well as one which hasn't been filed. Such a wonderful operation, despite its simplicity, is practically unknown in Italy . . . whilst in England, on the contrary, there was a time when it was so common that ladies were ashamed to appear in society if they were lacking a tooth. . . . But it often happened that those people willing to sell their good teeth were infected with poison, either venereal or scrofulous, and through them these diseases were transmitted to those who had the misfortune to come upon diseased donors. Thus it was that the transplanting of teeth fell into disrepute. . . " (Baronio, On Grafting in Animals [1985], translated by Joan Bond Sax, pp. 48-49).

Digital facsimile of the 1804 edition from the Medical Heritage Library at the Internet Archive at this link.

Carpue revived the Hindu method of rhinoplasty (see No. 5735.1), and reported two successful cases. Facsimile edition, with biography of Carpue by Frank C. McDowell and bibliography of his writings, Birmingham, Classics of Medicine Library, 1981. German translation by C.F. von Graefe, Berlin, Realschulbuchhandlung, 1817.

Von Graefe revived rhinoplasty in Germany with this survey of what he called the three methods: the Italian, the Indian, and the “German” method, his own variation on the Italian method. On p. 13 he described the first truly successful case of blepharoplasty, performed in 1809. Latin translation by J. Hecker, 1818. Digital facsimile of the 1818 German edition from the Medical Heritage Library, Internet Archive, at this link.

Graefe devised an operation for the treatment of congenital cleft palate. He reported his first closure of a cleft in the soft palate to the Med.-Chir. Gesellschaft, Berlin, on 27 December 1816 (see J. pract Heilk., 1817, 44, 1St., p. 116). Abridged English translation in No. 5768.2.

Report of Roux’s operation on Stephenson (No. 5740). English translation in No. 5768.2. Roux recorded it more fully in his Quarante années de pratique chirurgicale, vol. 1. Paris, Masson, 1854. See No. 5741.2.

Stephenson, a medical student from Montreal, was the first to be operated upon by Roux (No. 5739.1) for the repair of cleft of the soft palate. He described the operation in his graduation thesis. Stephenson later founded the Montreal Medical Institution, from which the Medical Faculty at McGill University developed. For translations see J. Hist. Med., 1963, 18, 209-19, and Brit J. plast. Surg., 1966, 19, 1-14.

First well-documented full-thickness skin graft, used for a rhinoplasty on a patient whose nose and forehead had been destroyed by uncontrolled lupus. English translation in No. 5768.2.

Dieffenbach’s thesis for the M.D., Würzburg.

Delpech's work includes the first account of rhinoplasty in France. On 4 June 1823, Delpech performed the first of six cases of rhinoplasty by the Indian forehead flap method, and one (unsuccessful) with a flap from the arm following von Graefe (No. 5738). Delpech also was the first to restore the lower lip by means of a skin graft from the throat.

Delpech devoted pp. 147-231 of vol. 1 to Considerations sur la difformité appelé pied-bots. In this he described on pp. 184-192 the beneficial effect of section of the tendo Achillis for club-foot; he performed the operation on May 9, 1816, and although not first to do so, he was the first to demonstrate the value of tenotomy in the correction of contracture deformities of the extremities.

Roux’s first detailed paper on his operation for cleft of the soft palate in which he first proposed the name, “staphylorrhaphy”. The greatly expanded edition in book form, Paris, Chaudé, 1825, was translated into German by Dieffenbach, Berlin, Enslin, 1826.

Operation in May 1824 – the first staphylorraphy in America – performed without direct knowledge of Roux’s operations. Nathan Smith (1762-1829) published an earlier paper on staphylorrhaphy in America: Am. med. Rev., 1826, 3, 396.

First extensive treatise on the use of pedicle grafts from the temple and cheek for supplying necessary skin for the reconstruction of deformed eyelids.

Dieffenbach was Professor of Surgery in Berlin. He was a pioneer in the field of plastic and orthopedic surgery, performing tenotomy and skin-grafting successfully. English translation of the section on rhinoplasty, with additional cases and notes by the translator, J.S. Bushnan, as Surgical observations on the restoration of the nose. London, 1833.

The first treatise on plastic surgery in general, criticised by Zeis (No. 5743.4) for its bias against the achievements of German surgeons. This is the first commerical edition. The work was published slightly earlier as a thesis with title, De l’autoplastie. Thèse présentée et soutenue…pour une chaire de clinique chirurgicale, Paris, Urtubie, 1836.

Mutter was probably the first in America to perform plastic operations to correct deformities.

The first rhinoplasty reported in the United States. For this Warren used the Hindu method, grafting the flap from the forehead of the patient.

Warren reported the first use of the Italian or Tagliacotian method (grafting the flap from the arm) in the U.S. in Bost. med. surg. J., 1840, 22, 261-69. The title of the 1840 paper was "Rhinoplastic operations. With some remarks on the autoplastic methods usually adopted for the restoration of parts lost by accident or disease". Jonathan Mason Warren was the son of John Collins Warren.

In this work Zeis introduced the term “plastic surgery”. The first half of the work covers the general principles of plastic surgery, and the first history of the subject. The second half describes the special operative techniques required for the individual parts of the body. Annotated English translation by T.J.S. Patterson, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1988. See No. 5767.

Warren devised the first operation for closure of complete clefts of the palate.

Malgaigne’s two-flap method for repair of cleft lip. English translation by R. Ivy in No. 5768.2.

Mirault modified Malgaigne’s technique for cleft lip repair by discarding the medial flap and bringing the lateral flap of mucosa across. Abridged English translation by R. Ivy in No. 5768.2.

Pancoast was Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at Jefferson Medical College. He was a fine operator and devised a number of new surgical operations and instruments. This was work contains 80 fine lithographed plates, and among its important contributions was the first extensive section on plastic surgery in an American surgical textbook. A relatively small number of copies were issued with the plates colored by hand. See No. 5746.2.

Dieffenbach’s most comprehensive work, covering in addition to reconstructive procedures, virtually all other types of procedures including amputations, paracentesis, laparotomy, hysterectomy, dental extractions, etc.

Fritze and Reich studied under Dieffenbach. This is the first extensively illustrated general treatise on plastic surgery published in Europe. Some copies have the plates hand-colored.

Hamilton was among the first to treat ulcers by skin-grafting. He made the flap smaller than the space which it was intended to fill, “trusting to growth and expansion of the graft to complete the cure”. Also published in N. Y. J. Med., 1854, 13, 163-73. See his earlier theoretical paper in Buffalo med. J., 1847, 2, 501-509.

Langenbeck has several operations named after him, one of the most important being that for cleft palate. Abridged English translation in No. 5768.2.

Subtitle of II Abtheilung: ..."zugängigen Körperhöhlen: des Mundes, der Scheide und des Mastdarmes verbunden mit einem Berichte über meine plastischen Operationen von Ostern 1861 - Ostern 1866." Simon was the first to report a procedure capable of preserving the cupid’s bow in repair of the lip – a critical procedure for the development of cheiloplasty. 

Digital facsimile of Vol. 1 from Google Books at this link, and of Vol. 2 at this link.

As the title of the separate edition indicates, this work first appeared in serial publications. Thanks to my colleague Fritz-Dieter Söhn who supplied the following collation for the periodical publication of Simon's treatise on plastic surgery that first appeared in 1866-67:

Beiträge zur plastischen Chirurgie, vorzugsweise zur operativen Plastik der Defecte in den Wandungen der zugängigen Körperhöhlen: des Mundes, der Scheide und des Mastdarms (Plastik der Höhlenwanddefecte) verbunden mit einem Berichte über meine plastischen Operationen während der Zeit von Ostern 1861 bis Ostern 1866. Vierteljahrschrift für die Praktische Heilkunde. Prag, Verlag von C. Reichenecker, 92 (1866/4): pp.1-44; 93 (1867/1): pp.1-61; 94 (1867/2): pp.61-169; 95 (1867/3): pp.54-133;  96 (1867/4): pp.1-18.

A.: Allgemeiner Theil (92: pp.1-44, 3 Fig. Abb.):

Verzeichniss der Operationen.

I. Ueber den Begriff und die Eintheilung der plastischen Operationen;

II. Textur der zur Plastik benutzten Theile;

III. Methoden der plastischen Operationen (Transplantationen);

IV. Vorschriften zur Plastik durch Drehung der Ränder, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der plastischen Operationen an den Wandungen der zugängigen Körperhöhlen.

B.: Specieller Theil  (93:pp.1-61, Fig. 4-14)*:

I. Plastische Operationen an den Wandungen der Mundhöhle: Operation der Lippenspalten (Hasenscharten); Operationen der Spalten des harten und weichen Gaumens, Uranoplastik und Staphylorrhaphie; Ueber die Indication zur Operation Neugeborener, welche an Lippen und Gaumenspalten (Wolfsrachen leiden.

 B.: Specieller Theil, I. (94: pp.61-169, Fig.15-20, 4 lith. Taf.):

II. Plastische Operationen bei Defecten der Scheidewand zwischen Harn und Geschlechtswegen. Operationen der Urinfisteln des Weibes.

A. Operationen zur Wiederherstellung der defecten Blasenscheidewand.

B. Scheideverfahren durch Vereinigung der Scheidenwandungen (Kolopkleisis) unterhalb der Fistel bei Unmöglichkeit der Fistelheilung.

B.: Specieller Theil, II.: Fortsetzung (95: pp.54-133, Fig. 21-34, 1 lith. Taf.):

II. Plastische Operationen an der Scheidewand zwischen Harn- und Geschlechtswegen; Operationen bei Urinfisteln des Weibes.

Der Verschluss der Scheide durch Vereinigung der Scheidewandungen, Kolpokleisis.I

III. Plastische Operationen an der Scheidewand zwischen Mastdarm und Genitalcanal (Scheide und Schamspalte.)

A. Plastische Operationen am unteren (Damm-) Theile der Mastdarmscheidewand.

B.: Specieller Theil, III.: Schluss (96: pp.1-18, 1 lith. Taf.):

B. Plastische Operationen an der Mastdarmscheidenwand oberhalb des Dammes.

Reverdin’s work on the transplantation of free skin, as contrasted with the previous method of pedunculated flaps, attracted much attention. English translation in No. 5768.2.

Lawson, surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital, London, was the first successfully to transplant sizeable areas of skin, as compared with the small grafts of Reverdin, and of whole thickness skin as well. Reprinted in No. 5768.2.

First description of intermediate thickness skin grafts. Ollier used large grafts and carried out complete excision of scar tissue and its replacement with skin.

Thiersch’s first paper on transplantation of skin. Simultaneous publication in Arch. klin. Chir., 1874, 17, 318-24. English translation in No. 5768.2.

Wolfe insisted that in free skin grafts the subcutaneous tissue at the site of the graft must be removed, and that the graft should consist of skin only. His name is perpetuated in the “Wolfe-Krause graft rest”.

First American work exclusively on reconstructive surgery.

Otoplasty first described. Ely died very young from tuberculosis.

Hagedom’s operation is important as forming the basis of most modern methods of unilateral cleft lip repair.

Roe invented the intranasal approach for corrective rhinoplasty.

The first reduction rhinoplasty to enhance the appearance of a patient. See No. 5755.3.

Reduction rhinoplasty by the endonasal approach. “The beginnings of the logical step-by-step rhinoplasty in use today” (McDowell).

Krause popularized the use of whole thickness skin grafts. English translation in No. 5768.2.

First free bone graft to the nose. Abridged English translation in No. 5768.2.

Abbe’s lip-switch flap, transferring a full-thickness flap from one lip of the oral cavity to fill a defect in the other lip. This is also known eponymically as the Abbe–Estlander operation, crediting Jakob Estlander (1831-1881). 

Joseph rhinoplasty, developed independently of Roe (Nos. 5754.4-5) and Weir (No. 5754.6). Translation in Plast. reconstr. Surg., 1970, 46, 178-81.

Monks developed the modern surgical treatment of rhinophyma.

Morestin’s method of mammaplasty. He was also responsible for several of the techniques employed in maxillo-facial surgery. Reprinted, Pittsburgh, 1959

The first book on cosmetic surgery. Miller “was both a quack and surgical visionary, years ahead of his more academic colleagues” (Rogers).

Closed ramisection of the mandible for micrognathia or prognathism.

The Davis graft was devised by Halsted but Davis popularized its use.

Luckett developed the modern operation for the correction of protruding ears.

First comprehensive work on cosmetic surgery.

This book describes Guthrie’s pioneer work in tissue and organ transplantation.

First comprehensive work on maxillofacial surgery. After World War I Blair established the first separate Plastic Surgery Service in the United States at Barnes Hospital and Washington University in St. Louis.

Briefly describes (p. 688) the first facelift operation. Holländer later stated that the operation was performed in 1901. A pupil of James Israel (No. 5755.1), Holländer is better known today for his series of books on medicine in art. See Rogers, The development of aesthetic plastic surgery, a history, Aesth. Plast. Surg., 1976, 1, 3-24.

Albee was the first to employ living bone grafts as internal splints. He used cutting machines and saws to make inlaid, perfectly-fitting grafts. See especially his “Transplantation of a portion of the tibia into the spine for Pott’s disease. A preliminary report”, J. Amer. med. Ass., 1911, 57, 885-86. See No. 4384.1.

Filatov used a tubed pedicle flap in September 1916. English translation in Surg. Clin. N. Amer., 1959, 39, 277-87.

Independantly of Filatov, Ganzer devised a tubed flap for repairs about the mouth and jaw.

Roberts introduced the push-back procedure - backward displacement of the velum to ensure adequate speech.

Davis was the first surgeon to limit his work exclusively to plastic surgery. This was the first comprehensive textbook on the subject.

Gillies introduced a tubed pedical flap in 1917.

Gillies’s operation for cleft palate.

Plastic operation for enlarged breasts.

Wardill’s operation for cleft palate.

Split-skin grafts for covering large areas of granulating surfaces introduced.

Modern refinement of Mirault’s precedure for repair of cleft lip.

Includes Veau’s operation for cleft palate.

A masterpiece of 20th century plastic surgery, and Joseph’s most comprehensive work. English translation by Stanley Milstein, following original text and illustrations page for page: Rhinoplasty and facial plastic surgery with a supplement on mammoplasty and other operations In the field of plastic surgery of the body: An atlas and textbook. Phoenix: Columnella Press, 1987.

Padgett dermatome.

These studies form the basis of the modern use of bone preserved by refrigeration.

First use of fibrin glue for skin grafting. See also Surg. Gynec. Obstet., 1943, 77, 510-13.

LeMesurier’s cheiloplasty procedure was based on Hagedorn’s method. He was first to attempt construction of the cupid’s bow of the vermilion.

The first description of the use of a musculocutaneous flap in reconstructive surgery. The resulting penis was fully-functional.

Successful direct flap transfer by vascular anastomosis. See also Austr. N. Z. J. Surg., 1973, 43, 1-3.

First clinically successful free bone graft with microvascular anastomosis in which a fibular segment was transferred to the contralateral leg to reconstruct a large tibial defect. With G.D.H. Miller and F. J.Ham.

An encyclopedic monograph on cleft palate surgery, exceptionally well written, illustrated, and produced, incorporating an historical approach.

Order of authorship in the original publication: Hartrampf, Scheflan, Black. The transverse rectus abdominus myocutaneous flap for breast reconstruction. Breast reconstruction without the use of an artificial implant.

A history of plastic surgery and an annotated bibliography of its literature prior to 1860. Nachträge, 1864. Reprint, including Nachträge, Bologna, 1963. The main bibliography has 2008 references, the supplement 275 more. Both parts were collated and translated, with additions and revisions by T.J.S. Patterson, as The Zeis index and history of plastic surgery, and published as volume 1 of No. 5768.2. See also No. 5743.4.

Most of this work is a very carefully documented history of the subject. Bibliography of 451 references.

Vol. I: 900 b.c. to a.d. 1863 (Zeis [see No. 5767] translated, with additions and revisions); Vol. II: 1864-1920; Vol. III: 1921-1946; [Vol. IV]: 25-year index of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 1946-71; Vol. V: 1971-76. Titles of nearly all foreign citations have been translated into English. Only Vol. I. is annotated.

Reprints, translated into English where necessary, of classic papers on plastic surgery, with commentary.

Comprehensive work, with hundreds of bibliographical references. No index.

Well-documented history of current plastic operations using both recent surgical photographs and illustrations from classics in the historical literature. Includes brief biographies of the most important pioneers.

Reprints useful papers from Aesthetic plast. Surg., 1976-85. No index.

A collection of articles by various authors, including partial reprint of No. 5768.1 and 6005.

Includes one of the earliest descriptions of hyperplastic cystic disease of the breast, which Cooper referred to as “hydatid disease”.

Anatomical sequel to No. 5769, with outstanding illustrations.

“Brodie’s tumor”. Reprinted in Med. Classics, 1938, 2, 941-54.

Velpeau was the leading French surgeon of the first half of the 19th century. His treatise on tumors of the breast, his best work, was the most important of its time on the subject. It includes a good account of hyperplastic disease of the breast. English translation, 1856.

First description of “Paget’s disease of the nipple” –eczema of the nipple with cancer. The paper is reprinted in Med. Classics, 1936, 1, 75-78. Paget was Sergeant Surgeon to Queen Victoria, and a great surgical pathologist. He was associated with St. Bartholomew’s Hospital during most of his life.

A monograph on cancer and other diseases of the breast, including a discussion of cancer in the male breast in the final chapter. This work is also significant in the history of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

“Reclus’s disease”. Reclus was professor of surgery in Paris; he left a classic description of chronic cystic mastitis.

“Schimmelbusch’s disease”.

Halsted showed that optimum wound healing was most easily obtained by avoiding hematoma formation. Contains description of Halsted’s method of radical mastectomy – one of the greatest contributions ever made to the treatment of mammary cancer. This paper also contains the first mention of the use of rubber gloves (a Halsted invention) in an operating room. This paper and No. 5777 contain the first illustrations published by Max Brödel after he moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Halsted’s operation invariably excised the pectoralis major muscle in radical mastectomy. His operation, modified by the retention of the pectoral muscles, remains the cornerstone of surgical treatment of carcinoma of the breast. Plate 12 shows the first use of rubber gloves during an operation. See No. 5640. Reprinted in Med. Classics, 1938, 3, 441-509.

Depicts the use of rubber gloves during an operation by Halsted. In a later paper (J. Amer. med. Ass., 1913, 60, 1123-24) he gives some account of this, from which it appears that he was responsible for this innovation. In Johns Hopk. Hosp. Rep., 1891, 2, 308-10, he advised the assistant to use rubber gloves while treating wounds. Halsted originally developed rubber gloves to protect the hands of his operating room nurse, who was allergic to the antisepsis chemicals. That nurse later became Mrs. Halsted. Also published in Ann. Surg., 1894, 20, 497-555. See also No. 5777.

Öophorectomy in the treatment of breast cancer.

Bloodgood’s theory of the causation of chronic mastitis.

Sampson Handley advanced the theory that in mammary cancer metastasis is due to extension along lymphatic vessels – “lymphatic permeation” – and not to dissemination byway of the blood stream. The book was first published in 1906.

First modern case-control study.

The modern operation of total bilateral mammectomy, with transplantation of the nipple and areola, was especially developed by Dartigues.

Cutler was the first to employ ovarian hormone systematically in the treatment of chronic mastitis.

Keynes’s successes with radium in breast cancer established this method of conservative treatment. His first paper on the subject, with the same title, was published in St. Barth. Hosp. Rep., 1927, 60, 91-95.

Demonstration of the carcinogenic effect of ovarian hormone.

First description of plasma-cell mastitis.

A biobibliographical survey to 1755, including dentistry.

Reprinted, Hildesheim, G. Olms, 1971.

Billings considered Malgaigne “the greatest surgical historian and critic the world has ever seen”; Leonardo (No. 5812) says that his greatest contribution to surgery was his unique manner of evaluating surgical techniques and innovations by which the then new methods of statistical computation were conjoined with actual surgical experiments. This work was also published in vol. 1 of No. 59. English translation by W. Hamby, Norman, Oklahoma, 1965. Digital facsimile of the 1840 edition from the Internet Archive at this link.

Trendelenburg’s graduation thesis on the ancient Hindu systems of medicine. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Reprinted Berlin, Springer, 1978.

The first serious history of American surgery to 1876. Also published in No. 6586.

South, trained in Germany, became surgeon to St. Thomas’s Hospital. Through his efforts John Hunter’s body was reburied in Westminster Abbey and South himself wrote the inscription on the tablet there. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

 Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.