Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 303

ALFONSO FERRI (1515-1595) De sclopetorum sive archibusorum vulneribus; eiusdem, De caruncula sive callo quae ceruici vesicae innascuntur. Apud Valerium & Aloysium Doricos fratres 1552 [4] 132 [4] pp., illus. 20.2 cm.

Ferri practiced for a time at Naples and later in his career became physician and surgeon to Pope Paul III at Rome. He had been a military surgeon and had seen service in the Neapolitan wars as well as in campaigns in Germany and France. Although he practiced at the same time as Paré (see No. 271 ff.), he opposed the latter's revolutionary approach to managing gunshot wounds and criticized it soundly in the Collarium at the end of this treatise. The present work is one of the earliest works on the treatment of gunshot wounds following that by Paré. The first part of the book deals with the treatment of gunshot wounds and covers such complications as infection, compound fractures, imbedded foreign bodies, and so forth. Directions for compounding a wide variety of medications are given and Ferri's instrument for extracting bullets, the alphonsinum, is described. The second treatise discusses the nature, treatment, and therapy for tumorous growths that occur at the bladder's cervix. This work and his De caruncula sive callo, quae cervici vesicae innascitur are present in Gesner's Chirurgia (see No. 309).

See Related Record(s): 271 309

Cited references: Cushing F105; Durling 1514; Waller 3009; Wellcome 2246.

Gift of John Martin, M.D.