Observations on the surgery of the ancients, vindicating their claims to many of the reputed discoveries and improvements of modern times. Delivered as an introductory discourse to a course of lectures on surgery and midwifery / [David Hosack].

  • Hosack, David, 1769-1835
Date:
1813
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the surgery of the ancients, vindicating their claims to many of the reputed discoveries and improvements of modern times. Delivered as an introductory discourse to a course of lectures on surgery and midwifery / [David Hosack]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    to the more authentic history of the surgery of the Greeks, as related by Homer and Hippocrates. The first Greek surgeons, on record, are jHsculapius and his sons Machaon and Podalirius. ^Esculapius flourished about fifty years before the Trojan war; in that war his two sons distinguished themselves, not only by their valour, but by their skill in curing wounds. In the Iliad, Machaon is spoken of as one of the most dis¬ tinguished surgeons at the siege of Troy. He is called the preserver of the Greeks ; and when wounded by Paris, he is lamented, as deprived of the benefit of that skill which he had so often exercised for the benefit of others. “ The great Machaon, wounded in his tent, “ Now wants that succour which so oft he lent.”* On another occasion, Homer shows the high estimation in which the profession was held :— “ A wise physician, skilled our wounds to heal, “ Is more than armies to the public weal.”f Of Podalirius too, it is said, that on his return from the de¬ struction of Troy, he was driven upon the coast of Caria, and that he cured the daughter of Damsstlius of a severe and dangerous illness, by bleeding |ier in both arms. This is the first authentic record of the operation of blood-letting. It is also stated, as an evidence of the value attached to the ^ ———■ --- Toy /M-ey ev< xA<c'/}j(r;y oicftcn Ku) xurov u^v^ovfx; Ke7 o'&ui' f ttoXXcTiv