A History of Bladder Stone

Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, first edition, 1969. Quarter-cloth and patterned boards, 8vo, 23 cm,. x, 77 pp, plates. The story of bladder stone is among he longest in medical history, since this condition was the first to be treated by an elective surgical procedure. Not only is the story long, but it is also a fascinating document which records, on the one hand, the stoicism of the patients who, over many hundreds of years, submitted themselves to the agony of surgery in order to escape the tortures of the stone and, on the other hand, the quite amazing ingenuity, resourcefulness and courage of the surgeons who developed and perfected the techniques of cutting for the stone or removing its crushed fragments per viam naturae. Surprisingly enough. No-one has set down this story in book form. This short work, which represents the collected notes of an amateur medical historian, is offered as a tribute to the surgeons of the past and as a memorial to their patients." - from the blurb. Very Good in Good dustwrapper.