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Introduction
| Birth of anatomy | Development of surgery
| Supplying surgeons
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 William
Hunter |
Once doctors had understood that the body was a machine, they could set about trying to fix it when it broke down. Early surgery, however, was not something to be entered into lightly. Only 10% of surgery patients survived, the vast majority succumbing to shock or blood loss on the operating table. In its infancy, surgery was not a respectable profession – most surgeons were in fact part-time barbers who used their skill with the blade for other purposes. According to Roy Porter, a medical historian, surgeons had 'a reputation as brutal, bloody men'.
William Cheselden (1688-1752)
William Cheselden was one of the first surgeons to challenge the stereotype.
A performer of bladder stone operations, Cheselden was renowned as a good
surgeon because he was so quick. He could remove a stone within 60 seconds.
Over 90% of his patients survived. What set Cheselden apart was that he
was an excellent anatomist: he knew his way around the body.
Cheselden broke with the barber-surgeons in 1745. He took the first step towards establishing surgery as a respectable profession by setting up a private anatomy school for aspiring surgeons. His move was quickly followed, as seven other schools were set up in London over the next five years.
Roy Porter notes that, while surgeons were achieving something, they were still deeply distrusted: 'Surgery was becoming more progressive, and yet at the same time there was a dark underbelly of surgery and anatomy, which was the seizing of bodies without consent. The surgeon anatomist was seen as a potential saviour and as somebody who was deeply sinister.'
William Hunter (1718-1783) and John Hunter (1728-1793)
Two Scottish surgeons tried to improve the image of the profession
in the public mind. William, the more publicity-seeking of the two brothers,
set up a museum of anatomy next to the school that the brothers had started
in Soho. For the first time, the public was invited to see what these
dark doctors had been doing with their dead. But William sought more than
celebrity: he also made important advances in the study of anatomy, discovering
and mapping the lymphatic system.
John Hunter's contribution, particularly in the field of comparitive anatomy, was also vital: it was he who revealed the importance of understanding what he termed 'monstrosities' – anatomical abnormalities. His reasoning – that to understand the normal you have to understand the abnormal – remains central in medical practice today.
Sir Astley Cooper (1768-1841)
Another surgeon who raised surgery to a science, Astley Cooper is
said to have practised his cutting skills before breakfast. He was taught
by John Hunter, and his greatest contribution is his innovative
work in the field of vascular surgery. He was made sergeant-surgeon to
King George IV after removing a tumour from the king's head in 1820.
Image: Science Museum