In Egypt, according to Herodotus, lib. ii. c. 129, surgeons were divided, as in the present day, into oculists, capitists, dentists, &c. ; and in Persia, A. M. 3483, according to the same historian, the sur geons of Egypt were held in high reputation. De mocedes is mentioned as having become the prin cipal favourite of Darius, of being loaded with hon ours and riches, merely for having succeeded in re ducing one of his ankle-joints which was dislocated. Xenophon states, that Cyrus had an excellently ap pointed medical staff to his armies. In Egypt and Babylon, according to Herodotus and Strabo, the sick were exposed on the roads, in order that those passengers who had been similarly affected might give them their advice. The Egyptians considered the god Hermes the inventor of physic. About 500 years before the Christian era, the celebrated med ical school of Alexandria flourished, at which He rophilus and Erasistratus had the boldness to intro duce the study of human anatomy, the source of all its renown ; but in consequence of the destruction of the Alexandrian library, we possess few of the writings of these great men ; they were founders of particular sects; and Galen and Ccelius Aurelianus have collected all the scattered remains of their works, together with those of the other successors of Hippocrates, down to Celsus, a period of four centuries. It is presumptive that surgery was far advanced in perfection during the zenith of the Alexandrian school, when we consider the advan tages then derived from a knowledge of dissection, and the many opportunities of practice'which must have occurred in the celebrated campaigns of Alex ander and his successors.
In Greece, during the time of Herophilus, there were dietetic, pharmaceutic, and surgical prac titioners ; the surgeon was restricted to the use of the knife, and was not permitted even to treat wounds, ulcers, or tumours. In this age also reigned the famous sects of empirics, dogmatists, methodists, Sm.
Arcagathus, a Greek, was the first who practised surgery at Rome, U. C. 535, but he operated so frequently and rashly, and it may be presumed un scientifically, as he received the opprobrious appel lation of hangman. Celsus, who lived during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, about the begin ning of the Christian era, greatly advanced both medicine and surgery, and condensed all that was then known in one small volume; he has the merit of being the inventor of the ligature on wounded arteries, of union by the first intention or adhesive inflammation, of amputation in gangrene from ex ternal causes, of a scientific mode of performing amputation, of the operation of couching for cata ract, and of performing lithotomy on the gripe, now termed the Celsian mode or operation, opera tions of the utmost importance in surgery, and im provements in operative surgery of the most vital consequence. It appears doubtful, however, whether Celsus really is entitled to the merit of being the inventor or discoverer of these important facts and operations, for he describes them not as his own invention, but as the practice of the day. Thus, under lithotomy he observes, " multi hic quoque scalpello usi sunt." We entertain the same opinion with Richerand concerning these an cient authors; thus, with regard to IIippocrates, he says, " Hippocrate n'est point Ie pere de la me dicine, elle est la fille du temps et de l'experience.
Ses ouvrages doivent etre regardas comme une sorte d'encyclopedie medicale." Celsus talks of Philoxen.us, Gorgias, Sostratus, the two Herons, the two Apollonii, and Ammonius Alexandrinus of Egypt, having made discoveries in surgery; and of Tryphonius, Euelpistus, and Meges having made considerable additions to this art. It has been questioned whether Celsus practised as a physician and surgeon, but of this there can be no doubt, after an attentive perusal of his writings; no one who had not practised surgery could describe the operation and treatment of lithotomy as he has done; besides, he occasionally employs the first per son singular. His qualifications for an operator are, " that he must be young or middle aged, have a strong and steady hand, never subject to tremble; to be ambidexter, to have a quick and clear sight, to be bold; and so far void of pity, that he may have only in view the cure of him whom he has taken in hand, and not in compassion to cries, either make more haste than the case requires, or make his cut less than is necessary, but to do all as if he was not moved by the shrieks of his patient." There is much truth in this sentence, but Celsus does not appear to be aware, that the greater part of these can be acquired, as was the case with Ches selden, who had a natural repugnance to opera tions; and hence also we presume does Richerand consider the firmness of mind requisite for a sur geon to be a gift of nature. Haller also confesses he could never summon up resolution or fortitude to operate. Bichat considered two things essential to form a great surgeon, genius and experience; and in his eulogium upon Desault, he thus observes, " La necessite de l'anatomie en avoit fait naitre le goat. Son etude precede celle de noire art, ses verites ajoutent a ]'intelligence des siennes: et telle est depuis un siecle ('opinion publique, qu'elle ne sourit aux efforts du chirurgien, qu' apres avoir couronne ceux de I'anatomiste. Fabrice honora le theatre de Padua, avant de s'immortaliser par ses ceuvres chirurgicales. La science longuement me ditee de nos organes, traca au lithotome de Raw et de Chesselden, la route methodique qu'ils serrirent de tant de succes. Petit, Hunter, furent applaudis dans leurs amphithatres, avant de briller sur la scene espineuse de la pratique; et dans ces pre mieres pages consacrdcs aux premiers travaux de Desault, je n' aural a retracer que ceux qui firent sa reputation en anatomic." Our own opinion is, that daily dissection of the dead, combined with oc casional operations on the living, is alone required for a scientific and dexterous operator; for, as John Bell observes, what are our great operations, but careful dissections on the living body. It is the habit of dissecting, with address, that fits a man for operating. An operator should he in the meridian of life, and ought to have begun his career early, both as a dissector and an operator, and must continue daily to prosecute dissection, that he may be familiarized with every part of the human body on every emergency.