Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1182.5

ANTOINE PIERRE DEMOURS (1762-1836) Traité des maladies des yeux : avec des planches coloriées représentant ces maladies d’après nature, suivi de la description de l’œil humain / traduite du latin de S.T. Soemmerring Crochard 1818 First edition. 4 v. : ill., port. 21 cm (v.4, 27 cm).

This four volume work, one of the most important and elaborate books on the diseases of the eye published to that time, includes the first full description of glaucoma in which heightened intraocular pressure is recognized. The work is a compilation of hundreds of carefully annotated case histories obtained in the course of the author’s twenty years of experience and from his father’s nearly fifty years of practice. Credit for the observations on glaucoma belongs principally to the father, Pierre Demours, who was the superior clinical investigator, though it is quite properly shared with the son who excelled as a surgeon. The final volume contains a French translation of the Latin edition of S.T. Soemmerring’s Abbildungen des menschlichen Auges. The sixty-five plates include remarkable specimens of early color illustrations. Antoine Pierre Demours was the son of Pierre Demours. He early turned to ophthalmology and soon obtained a reputation more for his bold and skillful operations than for his scientific contributions. He became oculist to the kings Louis XVIII and Charles X of France. Demours’ operation to form a new pupil in the unfortunate Sauvage created great sensation, not only in France, but all over Europe.

See Related Record(s): 1130 1134

Cited references: Garrison & Morton 5842.1; Waller 2353; Wellcome II p.448

John Martin M.D. Endowment