Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1224

SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER (1768-1841) Observations on the effects which take place from the destruction of the membrana tympani of the ear. (In Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Vol. 90 (1800), pp. 151-160 and Vol. 91 (1801), pp. 435-450.) Fold. plate. 26.5 cm.

A pupil of John Hunter (see No. 968 ff.), Cooper made great strides in surgical technique, most notably in the area of vessel ligation. As a teacher, he stressed practical demonstrations over didacticism and gained the respect and admiration of his students, many of whom eventually became famous in their own right. He was awarded the Copley Medal of the Royal Society, the highest honor the Society could bestow, for noteworthy contributions to medical knowledge. Cooper was not a prolific writer, but his publications were of the highest quality and were the result of personal knowledge and observation gained from long hours of practice, dissecting, and experimentation. Among his several publications were the present two papers, the first of which he read before the Royal Society on February 6, 1800. In it Cooper showed that two patients with perforations of both eardrums could hear perfectly well although it had always been thought that this condition resulted in deafness. The second paper was entitled "Farther observations on the effects which take place from the destruction of the membrana tympani of the ear. . . ." Cooper read it before the Royal Society on June 25, 1801 and in it demonstrated that deafness caused by obstruction of the Eustachian tube could be relieved by myringotomy, which equalized the air pressure on each side of the tympanic membrane and restored the patient's hearing.

See Related Record(s): 968

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 3361; Wellcome II, p. 387

Gift of John Martin, M.D.