Page images
PDF
EPUB

que, m'abandonnant à une douce illusion, je crus que j'allais voir paraître à nos yeux ce grand homme, lorsque, tout-à-coup, la presence des proprietaires de la maison, venus à notre rencontre pour nous montrer la chambre qu'il avait occupée, detruisit le prestige qui abusait mon imagination."

But let us hear Parey's own account of himself: he says, addressing himself to one of his adversaries, (for, like our own celebrated Hunter, he had to encounter the opposition of men now only known as the enemies of his genius ;)

"Moreover, you say that you will teach me my lesson in the operations of surgery, which I think you cannot do; because I have not only learned them in my study, and by the hearing of many years the lessons of doctors of physic: but, as I said before, in my epistle to the reader, I was resident the space of three years in the hospital of Paris, where I had the means to use and learn divers works of surgery upon divers diseases, together with the anatomy upon a great number of dead bodies; as oftentimes I have sufficiently made trial publicly in the physicians' school at Paris, and my good luck hath made me see much more. For being called to the service of the king of France (four of which I have served), I have been in company at battles, skirmishes, assaults, and besieging of cities and fortresses; as also, I have been shut up in cities with those that have been besieged, having charge to dress those that were hurt. Also I have dwelt many years in this great and famous city of Paris, where, (thanks be to God), I have lived in very good reputation amongst all men, and have not been esteemed the least in rank of men of my profession, seeing there was not any cure, were it ever so difficult and great, where my hand and my counsel have not been required, as I make it appear in this my work. Now, dare you, (these things being understood), say you will teach me to perform the works of surgery, since you never went further than your own study?

"The operations of chirurgery are learnt by the eye and by the touch. I will say that you much resemble a young lad of Low Brittany, bien fessu et materiel, who demanded leave of his father to come to Paris, to take France. Being arrived, the organist of our lady's church met with him at the palace-gate, who took him to blow the bellows for the organ, where he was remaining three years; he saw he could somewhat speak French, he returns to his father; and told him that he spake good French, and moreover he knew well to play on the organs: his father received him very joyfully, for that he was so wise and learned in a short time. He went to the organist of their great church and prayed him to permit his son to play on the organ, to the end he might know whether his son was become so skilful a master as he said he was; which the organist agreed to very willingly. Being entered to the organ, he cast himself with a full leap to the bellows; the master organist bid him play, and that he would blow. Then this good organist answers, let him play himself on the organ, if he would; for him, he could do nothing but play on the

bellows. I think also, my little master, that you know nothing else, but to prattle in a chair; but I will play upon the keys, and make the organ sound, (that is to say), I will do the operations of chirurgery, that which you cannot in any wise do, because you have not gone from your study or the schools, as I have said before.

"You see now (my little master), my answers to your calumniations, and I pray you, if you bear a good mind, to review and correct your book, as soon as you can, and not to hold young chirurgeons in this error by reading of the same, where you teach them to use hot irons, after the amputation of limbs, to stay a flux of blood; seeing there is another means and not so cruel, and more sure and easy. Moreover, if to-day, after an assault of a city, where divers soldiers have had arms and legs broken and shot off by cannon-bullets, cutlas and other instruments of war, to stay the flux of blood, if you should use hot irons, it would be needful to have a forge and much coals to heat them; and also the soldiers would hold you in such horror for this cruelty that they would kill you like a calf: even as in time past they did one of the chiefest chirurgeons of Rome, which may be found written in the third chapter of the first book."

Although Parey did not invent the method of tying divided arteries, to which he alludes in the above paragraph, yet he greatly promoted the practice. His plan was to draw the arteries out naked and to pass a ligature over them.

We shall now proceed to give some extracts from the Travels of this celebrated man.

The Voyage of Thurin, 1535. "Moreover, I will here shew to the readers the places where I have had means to learn the art of surgery; and first, in the year 1536, the king of France sent a great army to Thurin, to recover the city and castles which the Marquis of Guast, lieutenant-general of the emperor, had taken; where the High Constable of France was lieutenant-general of the army, and Monsieur de Montain colonel-general of the foot, of which I was then surgeon. A great part of the army arrived in the country of Suze: we found the enemy, which stopt the passage, and had made certain forts and trenches, insomuch that to hunt them out and make them leave the place, we were forced to fight, where there were divers hurt and slain, as well of the one side as the other; but the enemies were constrained to retire and get into the castle, which was caused partly by one captain Ratt, who climbed with divers soldiers of his company upon a little mountain there, where he shot directly upon the enemy: he received a shot upon the ancle of his right foot, wherewith presently he fell to the ground, and said then-now is the Ratt taken. I dressed him and God healed him; we entered the throng into the city, and passed over the dead bodies, and some which were not yet dead; we heard them cry under our horses' feet, which made my heart relent to hear them. And truly I repented to have forsaken Paris to see such a pitiful spectacle.

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

Being in the city, I entered into a stable, thinking to lodge my own and my man's horse, where I found four dead soldiers, and three which were leaning against the wall, their faces wholly disfigured; and neither saw, nor heard, nor spake; and their clothes did yet flame with gunpowder, which had burnt them. Beholding them with pity, there happened to come an old soldier, who asked me, if there were any possible means to cure them? I told him, no: he presently approached to them, and cut their throats, without choler; [or, as Parey says, Il s'approcha d'eux et leur coupa la gorge doucement et sans colère.'] Seeing this great cruelty, I told him he was a wicked man he answered me, that he prayed to God, that whensoever he should be in such a case, that he might find some one who would do as much for him, to the end, that he might not miserably languish.* To return to our former discourse, the enemy was summoned to surrender, which they soon did, and went out their lives only saved, with a white staff in their hands; the greatest part whereof went, and got to the castle of Villane, where there were about two hundred Spaniards. Monsieur, the Constable, would not leave them behind, to the end that the way might be made free. This castle is seated upon a little mountain, which gave great assurance to them within, that one could not plant the ordnance to beat upon it, and they were summoned to render, or that they should be cut in pieces; which they flatly refused, making answer, That they were as faithful servants to the emperor, as Monsieur, the Constable, could be to the king, his master. This answer heard, they made, by force of arms, two great cannons to be mounted in the night with cords and ropes, by the Swissers and Lasquenets; when, as ill-luck would have it, the two cannons being seated, a gunner, by great negligence, set on fire a great bag of gunpowder, wherewith he was burned, together with ten or twelve soldiers; and, moreover, the flame of the powder was a cause of discovering the artillery, which made them in the castle do nothing but shoot all night long at that place, where they discovered the two

* In one of the most interesting little books that has been published for some time, written by a private soldier, and entitled 'Recollections of an Eventful Life,' the second volume of which has just appeared, there is a similar case.

"In particular places of the village, where a stand had been made, or the shot brought to bear, the slaughter had been immense, which was the case near the river, and at the small chapel on our side of the town. Among the rest, lay one poor fellow of the 88th light company, who had been severely wounded, and seemed to suffer excruciating agony, for he begged of those who passed him to put him out of torture. Although, from the nature of his wound, there was no possibility of his surviving, yet none felt inclined to comply with his request, until a German of the 60th rifle battalion, after hesitating a few moments, raised his rifle, and putting the muzzle of it to his head, fired the contents of it through it. Whether this deed deserved praise or blame, I leave others to determine." Vol. ii. p. 20.

pieces of ordnance; wherewith they killed and hurt a great number of people.

"The next day, early in the morning, a battery was made, which, in a few hours, made a breach; which being made, they demanded to parley with us; but it was too late for them, for, in the mean time, our French foot, seeing them amazed, mounted to the breach, and cut them all in pieces, except a fair young lusty maid of Piedmont, which a great lord would have kept, and preserved for himself, to keep him company in the night, for fear of the greedy wolf. The captain and ensign were taken alive, but soon after were hanged upon the gate of the city, to the end, that they might give example and fear to the imperial soldiers, not to be so rash and foolish, to be willing to hold such places, against so great an army. Now, all the soldiers of the castle, seeing our people coming with a most violent fury, did all their endeavours to defend themselves; they killed and hurt a great company of our soldiers, with pikes, muskets, and stones, when the surgeons had good store of work cut out. Now, at that time, I was a fresh-water soldier; I had not yet seen wounds made by gun-shot, at the first dressing. It is true, I had read, in John de Vigo, that wounds made by weapons of fire did participate of venenosity, by reason of the powder; and for their cure, he commands to cauterize them with oil of elder, scalding hot, in which should be mingled a little treacle. Before I applied the said oil, knowing that such a thing would bring to the patient great pain, I was willing to know first, before I applied it, how the other surgeons did for the first dressing, which was to apply the said oil, the hottest that was possible, into the wounds, with tents and setons; insomuch, that I took courage to do as they did. At last I wanted oil, and was constrained, instead thereof, to apply a digestive of yolks of eggs, oil of roses, and tur pentine. In the night, I could not sleep in quiet, fearing some default in not cauterizing, and that I should find those to whom I had not used the burning oil, died impoisoned; which made me rise very early to visit them, where, beyond my expectation, I found those to whom I had applied my digestive medicine, to feel little pain, and their wounds without inflammation or tumour, having rested reasonably well that night. The others, to whom was used the burning oil, I found feverish, with great pain and tumour about the edges of their wounds. And then I resolved with myself, never so cruelly to burn poor men wounded with gun-shot. Being at Thurin, I found a surgeon, who had the fame, above all others, for the curing of the wounds of gunshot; into whose favour I found means to insinuate myself, to have the receipt of his balm, as he called it, wherewith he dressed wounds of that kind, and he held me off the space of two years, before I could draw the receipt from him. In the end, by gifts and presents, he gave it me, which was this: to boil young whelps, new pupped, in oil of lilies, prepared earth-worms, with turpentine of Venice. Then was I joyful, and my heart made glad, that I had understood his remedy, which was like that which I had obtained by great chance. See, then, how I have learned to dress wounds made with gun-shot, not by books."

Parey proceeds to give an account of the high estimation in which he was held, and of the great number of wounded soldiers confided to his care.

The Voyage of Marolle and of Low Britany. (Basse Bretagne)

1543.

"I went to the camp of Marolle, with the deceased Monsieur De Rohan, where King Francis was in prison; and I was surgeon of the company of the said Monsieur De Rohan. Now the king was advertised by Monsieur D'Estampes, governor of Britany, that the English had hoist sail to land in Low Britany, and prayed him that he would send Monsieur De Rohan and Monsieur De Lowal for succour, because they were lords of that country; and, for their sakes, those of that country would beat back the enemy and keep them from landing. Having received this advertisement, his majesty despatched the said lords for the relief of their country; and to each was given as much power as to the governor, insomuch as they were all there the king's lieutenants they took, willingly, this charge upon them, and speedily they went away in post, and led me with them to Landreneau: there where we found every one in arms, the alarm-bells sounding on every side; yea, five or six leagues about the harbours, that is to say, Brest, Conquet, Crozon, Le Fou Doulac, Laudanac, each of them well furnished with artillery, cannons, demi-cannons, culverins, sakers, serpentines, falcons, harquebusses, in brief, there was nothing in artillery or soldiers, as well Britans as French, to hinder that the English made no landing, as they had resolved at their parting from England. The enemy's army came unto the very mouth of the cannon; and when we perceived that they would land, they were saluted with cannonshot, and we discovered our men of war, together with our artillery; they flew to sea again: where I was glad to see their vessels hoist sail again, which was in great number, and in good order, and seemed like a forest which marched upon the sea. I saw a thing also at which I marvelled much, which was, that the bullets of great pieces made great rebounds, and grazed upon the water as upon the ground.

66

Now, to make the matter short, the English did no harm, and returned whole and sound into England, and left us in peace. We staid in that country, in garrison, till we were assured that their army was dispersed. In the meantime, our horsemen exercised their feats of activity, as to run at the ring, fight in duel, and other things; so that there was still something to employ me withal. Monsieur D'Estampes, to make sport and pleasure to the said De Rohan and Lowal, and other gentlemen, caused divers country wenches to come to the feasts, to sing songs in Low Britain tongue, where their harmony was like the croaking of frogs, while they are in love. Otherwhiles, they caused the wrestlers of the cities and towns to come, where there was a prize for the best wrestler; and the sport was seldom ended, but that one or other had a leg or arm broken, or the shoulder or thigh displaced. There was a little man of Low Britany, of a square body and well set, who held a long time the credit of the field, and, by his skill and strength, threw five or six

« PreviousContinue »