The endoscope as an aid in the diagnosis and treatment of disease / by Francis Richard Cruise.

  • Cruise, Francis Richard, 1834-1912.
Date:
[1865]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The endoscope as an aid in the diagnosis and treatment of disease / by Francis Richard Cruise. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Upon a recent occasion (March 15th) I had the honour of exhibiting to the Medical Society of the King and Queen's College of Physicians a modification of the endoscope which I have used for some time past, and of reading a short paper, explaining its construction and use in the study and treatment of disease. Being the first in Ireland, so far as I can discover, to use or exhibit such an instrument, I felt much diffidence as to the views which others might primarily entertain respecting it, although I had fully satisfied myself of its real utility and probable general adoption when understood. However, the very flattering reception which the instrument as well as the communication met with, the notice it received in the London medical journals,' and the interest which it appeared to excite, have induced me to embody in the present brief sketch my experiences of it. Agreeably to the old adage that Naught is new under the sun, as each addition to our means of diagnosis has been brought under the notice of the profession, claimants have sprung up to dispute the honour and credit of invention. Doubtless it would ho very unprofitable at the present time to discuss at length the precise merits of the competitors in each case; therefore I shall pass by that question, merely observing, in order to justify the quotation of the above-mentioned names, that I have endeavoured to associate with each method and instrument the name of that individual who has done most to demonstrate and extend its practical utility. With respect to the endoscope in particular, I may observe that M. Dcsormeaux, in the introductory chapter of his recent valuable memoir, candidly acknowledges that the idea of an instrument capable of throwing light into deep cavities, such as the bladder and urinary passages, was not original with him. He accords to M. Segalas the merit of originating the thought, and alludes to his unsuccessful attempt, as well as to the fruitless labours in the same direction of the late Mr. Avery of London, and Dr. Hacken of Ria:a. Considering the ability and industry Avith which M. Desormeaux has prosecuted the subject, it is a matter of surprise to me that important labours of others have escaped his cognizance. At any rate it is quite certain that M. Segalas was not the originator ot endoscopy. Barrini of Frankfort invented his light conductor about the year 1806; and in 1824 (two years before Segalas' • See Lancet, Medical Times and Gazette, and British Medical Journal for March, 25th, '65.