An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

POTT, Percivall

7 entries
  • 3576

A treatise on ruptures.

London: C. Hitch & L. Hawes, 1756.

Pott was surgeon to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Through a fall in the street he was confined to bed for many days, and during that period wrote his classic book on hernia. He refuted many of the old theories concerning its causation and methods of treatment based on these theories. The book includes the first description of congenital hernia.



Subjects: SURGERY: General › Hernia
  • 4850.5

Observations on the nature and consequences of wounds and contusions of the head, fractures of the skull, concussions of the brain, etc.

London: C. Hitch & L. Hawes, 1760.

This book, which showed Pott’s extensive knowledge of surgical literature, systematized the treatment of head injuries. It shows what a variety of injuries of the head could be sustained even before the advent of the motor-car. Includes the first description of “Pott’s puffy tumor”. Pott was bom in Threadneedle Street, where the Bank of England now stands; he succeeded Cheselden as the greatest surgeon of his day. The book was altered and re-published under a different title in 1768.



Subjects: NEUROSURGERY, NEUROSURGERY › Head Injuries, ONCOLOGY & CANCER
  • 4164

Practical remarks on the hydrocele or watry rupture.

London: C. Hitch & L. Hawes, 1762.

Classic description of hydrocele.



Subjects: UROLOGY
  • 3424.2

Remarks on the disease commonly called a fistula in ano.

London: Hawes, 1765.

Probably the greatest English classic of colon-rectal surgery. Pott recommended the practice of simple division rather than the newer, more complicated methods proposed by Cheselden and Le Dran, and audaciously pointed out that there were lessons regular practitioners might learn from quacks apropos of this subject.



Subjects: Colon & Rectal Diseases & Surgery
  • 4408

Some few general remarks on fractures and dislocations.

London: L. Hawes, W. Clarke, R. Collins, 1768.

The methods outlined by Pott in his classic work on fractures and dislocations were eventually adopted all over the world. He described (pp. 57-64) “Pott’s fracture” in this book, and he stressed the necessity for the immediate setting of a fracture and the need for relaxation of the muscles in order that the setting should be carried out successfully. Reprinted in Med. Classics, 1936, 1, 332-37.



Subjects: ORTHOPEDICS › Orthopedic Surgery & Treatments › Fractures & Dislocations
  • 2122
  • 2609
  • 4165

Chirurgical observations relative to the cataract, the polypus of the nose, the cancer of the scrotum, etc.

London: L. Hawes, 1775.

Includes the first description of occupational cancer. By describing chimney sweeps” cancer of the scrotum, Pott was the first to trace the origin of a type of cancer to a specific external cause. The above work also includes his description of senile gangrene, sometimes referred to as “Pott’s gangrene”.



Subjects: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & MEDICINE , ONCOLOGY & CANCER, OPHTHALMOLOGY › Ocular Surgery & Procedures › Cataract, UROLOGY
  • 4304

Remarks on that kind of palsy of the lower limbs, which is frequently found to accompany a curvature of the spine.

London: J. Johnson, 1779.

“Pott’s disease”. Percival Pott, surgeon to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital for more than 40 years, left a classic description of spinal curvature due to tuberculous caries and causing paralysis of the lower limbs. He did not, however, recognize its tuberculous nature. Pott published a further book on the subject in 1782. Reprinted in Med. Classics, 1936, 1, 281-328.



Subjects: INFECTIOUS DISEASE › Tuberculosis › Tuberculous Spondylitis (Pott's Disease), ORTHOPEDICS › Diseases of or Injuries to Bones, Joints & Skeleton