Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1484

JEAN CIVIALE (1792-1867) De la lithotritie, ou Broiement de la pierre dans la vessie. Chez Béchet Jeune 1827 lx, 254 [14] pp., 2 plates, fold. table. 19.9 cm.

Civiale studied medicine at Paris where he was a pupil of Dupuytren. He devoted his entire clinical career to urology and was particularly interested in the removal of bladder stones without having to resort to lithotomy. He worked for a number of years to devise instruments that could be introduced into the bladder transurethrally to crush the stone. Civiale was ultimately successful and in 1824 performed his first human lithotrity. He withstood a bitter controversy over his priority in the operation and went on to found his own department at the Necker Hospital. Civiale was a poor public speaker but was a skilled writer whose reputation was built largely through his many books and papers. The present work is one of his earliest and most important contributions. In it he presents his theories, describes the techniques he employed, and answers the arguments of his critics. At end of the volume, a report to l'Académie royale des Sciences by Pierre François Percy (1754-1825) and François Chaussier (1746-1828) summarizes their investigations into Civiale's claims to priority in lithotrity. The University of Iowa Libraries' copy lacks plates II, IV, and V.

Gift of John Martin, M.D.