Ambroise Par̩, Abnormal Fetal Presentation, 1585
As a military surgeon, Par̩ would not have been expected to perform many obstetrical procedures. Normal births would have been attended by midwives, not barber-surgeons, yet he devotes a long treatise to the subject. This image shows an abnormal presentation of the fetus, with some rather fanciful theories on why such things happen. He also tells of a fetus found kneeling in a position of prayer, alive in the womb of his dead mother. The 1585 edition of Par̩'s Oeuvres (Collected Works) represents the final summary of his life's work. It has over twelve hundred folio pages, with nearly 400 illustrations drawing upon a lifetime of practice. Four editions of the Oeuvres were published during his lifetime, and this is the last and the most complete. Often his descriptions of difficult cases end with the same simple sentence, "I treated him, but God cured him." Ambroise Par̩ (1510 - December 20, 1590) was a French surgeon, anatomist, inventor and one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology.
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Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
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