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;{ 216} 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."
Among English surgeons of the century must be mentioned, first of all, Cheselden (1688-1752). wrhose name is inseparably connected with anatomy and pathology as well as surgery At first a warm advocate of the high operation for stone, his dexterity in lithotomy excited the wonder of his contemporaries. He published a treatise on anatomy, and one on the suprapubic section.
Alexander Monro, Sr. (1697-1767), of Edinburgh, was also eminent in both anatomy and surgery, and contributed more than any other one man to the success and reputation of the Scottish medical school. His sons, Alexander and Donald, and his grandson, Alexander (3d), w'ere equally celebrated in anatomy.