Medical Terminology Daily (MTD) is a blog sponsored by Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. as a service to the medical community. We post anatomical, medical or surgical terms, their meaning and usage, as well as biographical notes on anatomists, surgeons, and researchers through the ages. Be warned that some of the images used depict human anatomical specimens.

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A Moment in History

Jean-Louis Petit

Jean Louis Petit
(1674 – 1750)

French surgeon and anatomist, Jean Louis Petit was born in Paris in on March 13, 1674.  His family rented an apartment at his house to Alexis Littre (1658 – 1726), a French anatomist. Petit became an apprentice of Littre at seven years of age, helping him in the dissections for his lectures and at an early age became the assistant in charge of the anatomic amphitheater.

Because of Petit’s dedication to anatomy and medicine, in 1690 at the age of sixteen, became a disciple of a famous Paris surgeon, Castel.

In 1692, Petit entered the French army and performed surgery in two military campaigns. By 1693 he started delivering lectures and was accepted as a great surgeon, being invited to the most difficult operations.  In 1700 he was appointed Chief Surgeon of the Military School in Paris and in the same year he received the degree of Master of Surgery from the Faculty of Paris.

In 1715 he was made a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of the Royal Society of London. He was appointed by the King as the first Director General of the Royal Academy of Surgery when it was founded in 1731.

Petit’s written works are of historical importance.  “Traite des Maladies des Os” ( A Treatise on Bone Diseases);  “Traite des Maladies Chirurgicales et des Operation” (A Treatise on Surgical Diseases and their Operations” This last book was published posthumously in 1774. He also published a monograph on hemorrhage, another on lachrymal fistula, and others.

He was one of the first to perform choIecystotomy and mastoidotomy. His original tourniquet design for amputations saved many in the battlefield and the design of the same surgical instrument today has not changed much since its invention by him.

His name is remembered in the lumbar triangle, also called the "triangle of Petit", and the abdominal hernia that can ensue through that area of weakness, the lumbar hernia or "Petit's hernia".

Sources:
1. “Jean Louis Petit – A Sketch of his Life, Character, and Writings” Hayne, AP San Fran Western Lancet 1875 4: 446-454
2. “Oeuvres compl?tes de Jean-Louis Petit” 1837 Imprimerie de F. Chapoulaud
3. Extraits de l'eloge de Jean-Louis Petit Ius dans Ia seance publique de I' Academie royale de chirurgie du 26 mai 1750” Louis A. Chirurgie 2001: 126 : 475- 81


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Peter Paul Broca


This article is part of the series "A Moment in History" where we honor those who have contributed to the growth of medical knowledge in the areas of anatomy, medicine, surgery, and medical research.To search all the articles in this series, click here.
Peter Paul Broca (1824- 1880). Surgeon and anthropologist, Peter Paul Broca was born in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande in France. His earlier studies were in mathematics, but graduated in medicine, becoming a professor of clinical surgery. He became interested in anthropology and applied his mathematical expertise to the measurement and interpretation of his findings in comparative anatomy.

Broca was the founder of the first Anthropological Society of Paris, and used this venue to deliver most of his work. A prolific writer, Broca published over 500 scientific papers and several books. At one of the meetings of the society the discussion was directed to brain areas and speech. Broca had a patient with a condition that he referred to as aphemia (later known as aphasia); this patient died a few days later and upon autopsy, Broca was able to see a distinct cavity in the left lateral frontal lobe. Upon finding the same situation in another patient, he was able to describe the area of the brain responsible for speech, known today as "Broca's area" in the third left frontal brain convolution. Broca is responsible for naming many of the craniometric points in the human skull such as bregma, dacryon, inion, lambda, metopion, etc.

Broca was part of the discovery and study of the Neanderthal man. He remained the secretary of the Anthropological Society of Paris until his death in 1880. 

Peter Paul BrocaOriginal imagecourtesy of
National Institutes of Health.
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