Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 2062

NICHOLAS SENN (1844-1908) Experimental surgery. Chicago Medical Book Co. 1889 xii, 522 [4] pp., illus. 23.2 cm.

Senn, a native of Switzerland, came to the United States with his family in 1852. He graduated from the Chicago Medical College in 1868 and was resident physician at Cook County Hospital until 1870 when he moved to Wisconsin, eventually practicing in Milwaukee. In 1877 he went to the University of Munich where he received a doctor's degree the following year. Upon his return from Europe in 1880, he served as professor of surgery and later professor of the principles and practice of surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago for more than ten years. In 1888 he was appointed professor of surgery and surgical pathology at Rush Medical College and in 1891 he assumed the chair of the practice of surgery and clinical surgery, perhaps the most important surgical appointment in the Midwest. Among Senn's many scientific achievements were his experimental work in abdominal surgery, research into intestinal perforation which included development of the hydrogen gas test to detect intestinal perforation, and studies of surgical tuberculosis. Senn was one of the first scientists in the Midwest to base his research on extensive animal experimentation, especially in his early work on gastrointestinal anastomosis. He was a prolific contributor to the medical literature, writing more than twenty books and publishing many papers in the periodical literature. The present work on experimental surgery brings together Senn's new work as well as contributions that had been published in the Transactions of the American Surgical Association and other journals not easily accessed by his colleagues. Based almost exclusively on animal experimentation, the book covers fractures of the neck of the femur, research into cicatrization after applying ligatures to blood vessels, air emboli, surgery of the pancreas, intestinal surgery, and his work on using hydrogen to diagnose injuries of the gastrointestinal tract.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 5620 (Printed by W. T. Keener); Waller 8843

Gift of Mrs. Diana A. Stokes