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OTHER BRANCHES OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. 3
which students of medicine held themselves aloof frc
studying the art of treating wounds, while on the oth
hand the practitioners who had received but. empiric
training were fully occupied in learning to understand a
to assimilate to themselves the teachings of the gre
revolution in their art of which the preceding century h
witnessed the commencement, in respect of the metho
used in surgical operations. Certainly there were n
wanting certain improvements in the technical procedur
connected with operations : but no reforming genius lil
AMBROISE PARE, embracing all branches of surgery ai
guiding it into new paths, lived at this time. It was not un
the second half of the 18th century that a new impetus w
given to surgery though this did not show itself so much
the development of the art of operating as in the foundatic
of surgical pathology.
Ligature was but seldom employed for the arrest
haemorrhage, for this demanded more anatomical knoA
ledge than the majority of surgeons possessed. Tl
numerous unsuccessful results which followed the attemp
made in this direction may be partly attributed to tl
rough and incomplete methods employed. Compressic
of the vessels was practised by preference and w;
considerably facilitated by the invention by MOREL
the fillet-and-stick tourniquet in the year 1674. PET
replaced this by the screw-tourniquet in 1718. Digit
compression also came once more into use at the instance
SAVIARD and LOUIS. The Prussian surgeons THEDEN ai
SCHMUCKER recommended the use of the tampon. Besid
these means use was made of the hot iron, of cold, and
various styptic applications. Ligature came to be mo
generally recognized by surgeons only when it was unde
stood what a mistake had been made in including in t
ligature the nerves, veins, and surrounding cellular tisst
and when the practice of ligaturing the isolated artery w
commenced. Even ligature of great arterial trunks, su
as the femoral and axillary was then ventured upon ; W A