You will find a very discerning sketch of the relation of these two men
to the history of surgery in the address given at the St. Louis Congress
in 1904 by Sir Clifford Allbutt.(20) They were strong men with practical
minds and good hands, whose experience taught them wisdom. In both there
was the blunt honesty that so often characterizes a good surgeon, and I
commend to modern surgeons de Mondeville's saying: "If you have operated
conscientiously on the rich for a proper fee, and on the poor for
charity, you need not play the monk, nor make pilgrimages for your
soul."
(20) Allbutt: Historical Relations of Medicine and Surgery,
London, Macmillan Co., 1905.
One other great mediaeval physician may be mentioned, Peter of Abano (a
small town near Padua, famous for its baths). He is the first in a long
line of distinguished physicians connected with the great school of
Padua. Known as "the Conciliator," from his attempt to reconcile the
diverse views on philosophy and medicine, he had an extraordinary
reputation as a practitioner and author, the persistence of which
is well illustrated by the fact that eight of the one hundred and
eighty-two medical books printed before 1481 were from his pen.
Pages:
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166