Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1940

ETIENNE TARNIER (1828-1897) De l'asepsie et de l'antisepsie en obstétrique. G. Steinheil 1894 xiv, 839 pp., 3 col. plates, illus., tables. 24.3 cm.

Tarnier, born at Aisery, studied medicine in Paris and interned in the Maternité Hospital at a time when puerperal fever was a major problem in its wards. He had originally intended to enter general practice, but the many obstetrical problems he encountered challenged his interest and he decided to specialize in obstetrics. He made major contributions to solving the problem of puerperal fever at the Maternité and, during his twenty-two years of leadership at the hospital, reduced the maternal death rate dramatically. Among his many contributions were the development of a peritoneal exclusion technique for cesarean section, design of an isolation pavilion, use of heated bassinets, the introduction of lavage feedings in his clinic, and the development of an intrauterine balloon for the induction of labor. More importantly, Tarnier is responsible for revolutionizing the obstetric forceps by adding an ingenious device of traction rods to solve the problem of how to direct traction properly in high forceps delivery. His basiotribe, still in use today, replaced Baudelocque's cephalotribe and Simpson's cranioclast combining the advantages of both in one instrument. Tarnier was one of the earliest to introduce Lister's principles of antisepsis into obstetrics and was the first to use carbolic acid in this field. Here, in one of his major works, he outlines in detail the principles and practice of asepsis and antisepsis in the practice of obstetrics.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 5639; Waller 9490

Gift of John Martin, M.D.