Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1435

JOHN LIZARS (1787?-1860) A system of practical surgery. W. H. Lizars; S. Highley, London; W. Curry Jun., Dublin 1838-1839 Vol. I: xviii [2] 220 pp., 18 plates; Vol. II: xxx [2] 333 [1] pp., 24 plates. 21.5 cm.

Lizars developed a great reputation as a teacher and was also a bold and forthright surgeon. He made a number of original contributions, was a pioneer in performing ovariotomies in Europe, and he clearly demonstrated the value of abdominal exploration as a diagnostic procedure. However, he was somewhat ahead of his time and received criticism for exploring new surgical techniques, although later many of his new techniques became widely accepted. Lizars possessed great talent but his potential was never fully realized perhaps because of a continuing feud with another prominent surgeon of his day--James Syme (see No. 1608). Lizars was an active writer and prepared many papers on such subjects as hernia, lithotomy, and hemorrhoids. The present treatise is one of his earliest books and was prepared chiefly for the medical student and practitioner. The forty-two expertly engraved plates were done by his brother, William.

See Related Record(s): 1608

Cited references: Wellcome III, p. 532 (2nd ed., 1847)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.