Benjamin Bell of Hunthill FRSE FRCSEd (6 September 1749 – 5 April 1806)[1] is considered to be the first Scottish scientific surgeon. He is commonly described as the father of the Edinburgh school of surgery,[2][3] or the first of the Edinburgh scientific surgeons.[4][5][6] He published medical works of significance, notably his surgical textbook A System of Surgery which became a best seller throughout Europe and in America. His treatise on venereal disease was one of the early works that suggested syphilis and gonorrhea were different diseases, a hypothesis which was not accepted by mainstream medicine until many decades later. Bell's main contribution to surgical practice was his adage 'save skin', which led to improved rates of wound healing in operations like mastectomy and limb amputation. He was also an early advocate of routine pain relief in surgery.[7]
- ^ Johann Karl Proksch (1895). Die Geschichte der venerischen Krankheiten: Neuzeit. P. Hanstein. p. 561. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ^ Richardson BWS, Martin MSM. Disciples of Æsculapius ... With a life of the author by his daughter Mrs. George Martin ... With portraits, etc: 2 vol. Hutchinson & Co.: London; 1900.
- ^ Miles A. The Edinburgh school of surgery before Lister. London: A. & C. Black, ltd.; 1918.
- ^ Comrie JD, Wellcome Historical Medical Museum. History of Scottish medicine to 1860. London: Bailliáere, Tindall & Cox for the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum; 1927
- ^ Guthrie D. A history of medicine. New and rev. ed. London; New York: Nelson; 1958.
- ^ Dingwall H. M. A history of Scottish medicine: themes and influences. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002 ISBN 0-7486-0865-6.
- ^ Macintyre, Iain (2011). "Scientific surgeon of the Enlightenment or 'plagiarist in everything': a reappraisal of Benjamin Bell (1749–1806)" (PDF). The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. 41 (2): 174–181. doi:10.4997/JRCPE.2011.211. PMID 21677925.