ANNALS Vol. 183
OF SURGERY
May
1976
No. 5
Presidential Address: Societies, Surgeons and Surgery WILLIAM H. MULLER, JR., M.D.
ONE HAS ONLY TO OBSERVE a list of medical society meetings projected for the next year to become enormously impressed with the great number of state, regional, national and international organizations which bring members of the medical profession together at regularly scheduled intervals. I have long been interested in the reasons and purposes for the origin and development of societies and I wish to examine and elaborate upon some of the influences they have had on surgeons and surgery in this country. Since the emergence of surgery from barbarism and throughout its development to present-day standards of achievement, surgeons as well as those in other fields of medicine have sought organization for various purposes. The charter granted in 1505 by King James IV of Scotland (Fig. 1) incorporating the barber surgeons of Edinburgh might be considered the basis of the first surgical society in the English-speaking world. Indeed,, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Fig. 2) derives its status as the oldest surgical corporation in the British Commonwealth by virtue of its unbroken descent from this charter. It is well-known that James IV expressed great interest in scientific affairs, and Sir John Bruce states that he was "well learned at the art of medicine and also a cunning Chirurgener that none in his realm that used that craft but would take his counsel in all their proceedings."' James would also pay his subjects for the opportunity of trying his own hand at their surgical care. A similar charter was granted by Henry VIII to the barber surgeons of London and England, and Queen Victoria subsequently granted a charter to the
From the Department of Surgery, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901
Royal College of Surgeons in 1843. These charters and the organizations they fostered were of immense importance because they recognized surgery as a scientific section of medicine, and served to exclude barbers, cultists and others from practicing surgery legally. Throughout the centuries numerous organizations have risen, declined and fallen, many of the reasons for which are clearly recorded in an excellent report by C. Rollins Hanlon.2 Each was established for purposes often fulfilled, but sometimes not, and often made a contribution which was desired or needed at the time. While many of these purposes and goals have remained steadfast since scientific societies originated, new ones have been added and existing ones expanded as roles and obligations of the day demanded. Renaissance Italy is generally credited with originating scientific societies, and it has been traditional to trace their lineage to Plato's famous academy. They spread across Europe in the 17th century, spanning the Atlantic Ocean to this country in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were born as a result of man's basic desire to increase his knowledge of nature, and have served as some of the most effective instruments for increasing and diffusing the world's store of knowledge. Certainly they have served to stimulate scientific advancement tremendously in America. Scientific societies preceded true medical and surgical societies in this country by more than Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Surgical Associa- a century, and it is interesting to examine some of them tion, December 8-10, 1975, The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia. briefly. The first was the learned Boston Philosophical 449
MULLER
450
g.
OF SURGERY
May
1976
No. 5
Presidential Address: Societies, Surgeons and Surgery WILLIAM H. MULLER, JR., M.D.
ONE HAS ONLY TO OBSERVE a list of medical society meetings projected for the next year to become enormously impressed with the great number of state, regional, national and international organizations which bring members of the medical profession together at regularly scheduled intervals. I have long been interested in the reasons and purposes for the origin and development of societies and I wish to examine and elaborate upon some of the influences they have had on surgeons and surgery in this country. Since the emergence of surgery from barbarism and throughout its development to present-day standards of achievement, surgeons as well as those in other fields of medicine have sought organization for various purposes. The charter granted in 1505 by King James IV of Scotland (Fig. 1) incorporating the barber surgeons of Edinburgh might be considered the basis of the first surgical society in the English-speaking world. Indeed,, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Fig. 2) derives its status as the oldest surgical corporation in the British Commonwealth by virtue of its unbroken descent from this charter. It is well-known that James IV expressed great interest in scientific affairs, and Sir John Bruce states that he was "well learned at the art of medicine and also a cunning Chirurgener that none in his realm that used that craft but would take his counsel in all their proceedings."' James would also pay his subjects for the opportunity of trying his own hand at their surgical care. A similar charter was granted by Henry VIII to the barber surgeons of London and England, and Queen Victoria subsequently granted a charter to the
From the Department of Surgery, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901
Royal College of Surgeons in 1843. These charters and the organizations they fostered were of immense importance because they recognized surgery as a scientific section of medicine, and served to exclude barbers, cultists and others from practicing surgery legally. Throughout the centuries numerous organizations have risen, declined and fallen, many of the reasons for which are clearly recorded in an excellent report by C. Rollins Hanlon.2 Each was established for purposes often fulfilled, but sometimes not, and often made a contribution which was desired or needed at the time. While many of these purposes and goals have remained steadfast since scientific societies originated, new ones have been added and existing ones expanded as roles and obligations of the day demanded. Renaissance Italy is generally credited with originating scientific societies, and it has been traditional to trace their lineage to Plato's famous academy. They spread across Europe in the 17th century, spanning the Atlantic Ocean to this country in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were born as a result of man's basic desire to increase his knowledge of nature, and have served as some of the most effective instruments for increasing and diffusing the world's store of knowledge. Certainly they have served to stimulate scientific advancement tremendously in America. Scientific societies preceded true medical and surgical societies in this country by more than Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Surgical Associa- a century, and it is interesting to examine some of them tion, December 8-10, 1975, The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia. briefly. The first was the learned Boston Philosophical 449
MULLER
450
g.
