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Les Œuvres de M. Ambroise Paré, conseiller et premier chirurgien du Roy, 1st edition, 1575
France , 1575
Paré, Ambroise
Augen-Dienst: Oder Kurtz und deutlich verfasster Bericht von allen... (Ophthalmology by Bartisch)
Germany , 1686
Bartisch, Georg
Opera, Bücher und Schrifften, so viel deren zur Handt gebracht...
Germany , 1603
Paracelsus, Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim
St Thomas's Hospital — Postcard sent on July 23, 1914: the day of the ultimatum to Serbia
England , 1914
Nightingale, Florence
Cours d'opérations de chirurgie démontrées au Jardin Royal par M Dionis... in 2 Vol.
France , 1773
La Faye, Georg de
Chirurgie, in welcher alles, was zur Wundarzney (Surgery, in which everything that belongs to...)
Germany , 1763
Heister, Lorenz
GALLERY
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PEOPLE
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Paracelsus, Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim
Scientist
Switzerland , 1493 - 1541
FIRMS
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On 8 July, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Dominique-Jean Larrey, the legendary chief surgeon of Napoleon’s Grande Armée. His contemporaries remembered him as a brilliant surgeon, a talented physician, and a fearless man with a kind heart, for whom the fates of his patients were more important than his own life! He was inventor of the “flying medical carriages” (ambulances volantes) and wound triage system—treating the wounded victims based on the severity of their injuries and probability of medical outcome, rather than on military rank or nationality. Napoleon himself called Larrey “the most virtuous man I have ever known”. Today, he is honored as the father of emergency medical care and modern military medicine—a man whose legacy continues to save lives on battlefields and in ambulances.
Christie’s will auction 100 treasures from the Royal Society of Medicine library on December 10, with proceeds funding RSM’s future. Highlights include William Harvey’s 1628 landmark on blood circulation, James Parkinson’s 1817 first edition on the “shaking palsy,” and Edward Jenner’s vaccine letters, alongside rare manuscripts, Books of Hours, and ornithological masterpieces.
The 12th Meeting of the International Society for the History of Medicine will be held from October 15–17, 2025, at Nebrija University in Madrid. Organized in collaboration with the Francisco Vallés Institute of Clinical Ethics, the event focuses on "Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue" in medical history. Key topics include Christian, Arab/Islamic, and Jewish medical traditions, bioethics, nursing, and the evolution of medical specialties. Abstract submissions are open until July 31, 2025, with presentations limited to 12 minutes. The conference will be conducted in English, French, and Spanish, with simultaneous subtitled translation available.
NEW ITEMS
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MEDICAL ARTICLES
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Priority disputes, failures, and simulation—Happy Broadcast Day!
October 16, 2026, marks the 180th anniversary of the famous public demonstration of aether anaesthesia in Boston. This date is celebrated today as "Ether Day" or "Anaesthesiology Day". There are many interesting facts associated with this invention. In the 19th century, people attended so-called “aether parties”—gatherings where participants inhaled ether for entertainment and watched each other’s antics. Dr. Crawford Long noticed that people sometimes injured themselves without feeling pain, and (according to him) became the first person in the world to use ether during the removal of a neck tumor on March 30, 1842—four years before Morton’s demonstration. However, he did not publish his findings until 1849. Hmm… what a shame! On the day of the first demonstration, William Morton was late—his glassblower had not finished making the vaporizer in time. The operation itself was not a success—by the time he was discharged, the growth had not disappeared. Moreover, the anesthesia was incomplete: during the later stages of the operation, the patient moved and screamed, although he later reported that he felt no pain. Morton tried to profit from his invention and even gave ether the trade name “Letheon”; however, despite disputes over intellectual property, it brought him neither wealth nor recognition. Those involved in the events later realized their significance and even reenacted the events of that day to capture them in photographs. So remember—a historical photograph is merely a reenactment of a historical medical event.
Despite extensive research into the history of blood transfusion, the earliest steps in the field of haemotransfusion are sometimes interpreted differently and historical priorities are assessed differently. This article summarizes the main milestones and the most influenced inventors (William Harvey, Richard Lower, Jean-Baptiste Denis, Guglielmo Riva, Matthaeus Purmann, James Blundell, Karl Landsteiner) of the so-called Chirurgia Infusoria and provides references to primary sources.
The tourniquet is considered by many to be one of the most significant inventions in the history of surgery, having saved millions of soldiers and trauma victims. The earliest documented methods of blood control emerged in ancient India, as evidenced by Sushruta's ligatures, and referenced by Roman medici for vessel tying and cauterisation, in addition to external limb binding. Medieval and Renaissance barber-surgeons utilised tight bands, and in the 18th century, Jean-Louis Petit developed the screw tourniquet. The evolution of emergency care has been characterised by significant developments, with innovations ranging from Esmarch's elastic bandage to modern C-A-T devices.
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