The Frenche chirurgerye, or all the manualle operations of chirurgerye , vvith divers, & sundrye figures, and amongst the rest, certayne nuefovvnde instrumentes, verye necessarye to all the operationes of chirurgerye. Through Iaques Guillemeau, of Orleans ordinarye chirurgiane to the Kinge, and sworen in the citye of Paris. And novv truelye translated out of Dutch into Englishe by A.M.

The Epistle to the benevolent Reader.

THere is a common saying, & is novv taken for a common proverbe: that all thin∣ges have theire time, theire place, and theire sayson: by vvhich occasion divers, & sundry interprises, vvhich indeede of themselves are goode, doe leese their grace, and decorum, onlye because in theire condecent time they vveare not practised, & put in vre. But it is not soe vvith the vtilitye, vvhich the common vvealth ex∣pecteth, throughe our industrye, principallye, & especiallye, through the studyes of good artes: such fruictes are never importune, nether at anye time out of season, nether ab∣ortive: but are at all times very vvellcome, & profitable, on vvhat time soever, on vvhat manner, or of vvhome they might be brought: In vvhich facte, the maxime, or proverbe may very truely be spoken of Maximo Fabio, vvhoe sayede, that all intentions, vvhich to the publiqve profite of the commonevvealthe vveare assayede, & intēded is allvvayes vvell hopede of, to have a good e∣vente, & is esteemede to be a happye intente, or praemeditatione: And contrarily those are estee∣mede infeliciouse, & vnfortunate, & are of a funestalle, and sorrovvfull event, vvhich are inten∣dede, and attendede, vnto the dammage of the commone vvealthe.

VVherfore I neede not doubte, of that vvhich I praetende to mayntayne, and publishe into light, shall of any one vvhatsoever, be taken in badde parte, because I have conceavede, and pub∣lishede the same in time of iarres, and vvarres: For vvhat time might I have elected more conve∣nient, & propre, & more profitable to meditate one this Chyrurgerye, vvhich compraehendeth her operatione, & propre Instrumentes, then at this time, Fraunce beinge in all qvarters, & in al partes, armed, & in vveapons? & animated agaynst her ovvne entralles, & vve having our ovvne mindes exvlcerated as it vveare, and hardened the one agaynst the other, by vvhich occasione vve to our greate greefe, and sorrovve, must behoulde, at all houres, so manye poore vvounded, & mutilatede persons, their corps beinge vvoūded throughe the rage, and malevolence of their foes, on the vvhich vve are constrayned to imploy our handes, & instrumentes to reduce agayne the same to theire former, and accustomed health agayn? Or vvhat might they othervvyse hope, and expecte of me, then that vvhich is accordinge, and agreinge vnto my vocatione, & callinge▪ For as the Poëte sayeth▪

The Neptunist of windes, of stormes, and of tempest Discoursinnge on the shoare, to his mates can talke best; The Cerialist, of Oxen, Horse, and Plowes The cruell Martialist, of wounds, and of his blowes.

Therfore havinge seene, and also vvith my ovvne handes practized the space of tvventye yeares the operation of Chyrurgerye, in most of the famouse, & renoumned Cityes, of Fraunce, & the Lovve Countryes, as vvell one greate, as smalle persons, and that vvith such diligence, and methode, that I couplinge, and comparinge, the vse of the aunciente Chyrurgians, vvith the pra∣ctice of the moderne, and latter Chyrurgians, I then endevoured my selfe, as much as the disease, & the Patient also vvould permit me, to temperate, the rigoure, and severitye of the first Opera∣tours, or Chyrurgians, throughe the supple, and gentle or svveete dexteritye of those vvhich fol∣lovved, to assimilate thē the one vvith the other, supplyinge in the counterchang, of that vvhich vvas vvantinge in the one, through the dexteritye, and industriouse curiositye of the other, re∣ducinge the same vnto the best forme of beinge, & alsoe the vvritinges, or scriptions, of the most expertest Chyrurgiās, of this presēt time, vvith the vvritinges & iudgemēt of the vvhole, through the controulinge of the vvritinges of the one & of the other: So that I have intended to make a collection: in forme of a Manuall for my selfe, to opitulate, & addresse my memorye, in time of neede, and promptly to effectuate, any manualle, and not vulgare operatione: but the liberalitye throughe the vvhich I am so voluntarye, to communicate the same vnto certayne of my goode frendes, vvhoe are studiouse, & desiruose of Chyrurgerye, hath precipitated me into this present prodigalitye, of the vvhich I suddaynlye retired & drevve my selfe backvvarde, blushing & as it vveare ashamed, cōsidering the meānes therof, as being vnvvorthy to come into light (although notvvithstandinge everye one hath a vayne imaginatione, & affectione, vnto the same vvhich is proceded from him) so that I omit the hardines vvhich I might have had, to publishe the same vnto the printe, I coulde verye difficultly contayne my desirouse, & covetuouse handes, of that vvhich I vvith greate laboure, dilligence, and throughe longe experience had collected toge∣ther, to have in one momēt abolished the same, if I had not purposed to reserve the same for my ovvne particulare, and peculiare cōmodity. But my foresayed frēdes debellating agaynst my ti∣morous & fearfull defensions, through certayn experiēce of time passed: to vvitt, that my booke of the diseases of the eyes, after certayne dayes he vvas cōmited to the presse, vvas vnto all Ch••∣rurgians

verye necessarye, & profitable: and that my first, & seconde Tables of Anatomye, had ad∣ministred vnto all men such greate service, and promptitude of the Anatomy, and cognisance of the partes of mans bodye: They have in the end resolved me of my doubtfull feare of prodigality, addinge also therbye that this feare of prodigalitye, coulde be dammageable vnto noe man then vnto me, and that it coulde make noe breach into my credite at all.

Throughe these foresayed remonstrations being convicted, & persvaded, vnder the pretexte of greate furtherance, vvhich yonger Chyrurgians might heerby reape, and not beinge possible for me anye longer to resiste, the importunitye of certayne sproutes, & beginners of Chyrurge∣rye, vvho vveare of opinione, that this present peece of vvorcke, vvith all the deformityes therof, might be profitable for them, and beinge certifiede, that if by anye means they coulde attayne them into theire handes, they vvoulde commit the same to the printe even such as it vveare. So that I am constrayned to imploy my selfe certayne hovvres of the day, in correcting of the same and a little more imbellishe, and adorne, the same, vvith 4 portrayctures of mans bodye because the same entringe into the vvorlde, might be effected vvith more favoure, & credite, vvherof the tvvo first, doe demonstrate all externall partes, as vvell anteriorlye, as posteriorlye, & in the other tvvo, all the superficiall Vaynes, are evidently layed opē vnto vs, vvhich as little rivers doe runne throughe the face & throughe all other externall partes of the bodye extende themselves as vvell behinde as before, because the same beinge of the yong Chyrurgians noted, they vvith lesse daū∣ger might open anye of them.

Farther I have enriched this vvorcke, vvith divers defigurations of Instruments, not of all Instrumentes, but of those onlye, vvhich I esteemed to be most necessarye: For even as the sage, prudent, and vvyse Nature, hath instituted such an ordre, to mans body, that shee vvith fevv par∣tes, can accomplishe, manye great and excellent actions, In like sorte must the Chyrurgiane, an imitatoure, and administre of Nature, endevoure, and constraygne himselfe, vvith fevv Instru∣mentes to execute, and effecte, manye, & greate Operations. And to speake the playne truth all this greate companye and treasure house of Engines, Molitiones, and of other Chyrurgicall In∣strumentes, are more for curiousity, & oftentatione, then for anye necessitye, and vse. I am also verye certayne of that vvhich our Hippocrates sayeth, to vvit, that vve ought not to constraygne, or restraygne, the libertye of our corps, and the Operations, vnto the penurye, and deficience of In∣strumentes: but much more amplifie, and enrich the same, vnto the commoditye of the bodye, and ease of the Operations: but I vvoulde rather exoptate, and desire, that this vanitye, & super∣stitiouse bravadinge of Instrumentes, vveare ruled vvith more religiouse mediocritye.

Also I have made, a greate & ample Table, or Index, in the end of the Boock, vvherin through Alphabeticall ordre I have illustrated, the most notablest, & difficultest thinges, vvhich in the in∣qvisitione might be an impediment, vnto the vnexperte in the arte of Chyrurgerye, in seekinge of their farther commoditye. And if so be any man obiecte vnto me, that this my discourse, is onlye compilede together of certayne rapsodyes of the antiqve Chyrurgians: I vvillingely heere confes, & acknovvledge, that in this Treatise, ther is verye little, or nothing at all of myne ovvne Inventione: For I am not the man vvhich liveth by an other mans mutuated supellectilles and I rather publiqvely confes, that I have collected all this out of auncient Chyrurgians, being greate shame for me to be repraehended, and surprised, of a secrete thefte. For vvhat noveltyes are vnder the Sunne? as the vvyse man sayeth: And as the Comicus sayeth, vvhat shoulde vve novv adayes say, vvhich hath not before bin spoken? But I may at all times vvith veritye say, that I am not entred into this matter to sovve, and feminate the same in an infertille grovvnde: For I have added ther¦vnto greate amendmente, and have eradicated, & vveeded out all spinosities, & thistles, vvherof they vveare replenished vvith greate difficultyes, seqvestringe on the one syde malevolēt herbes, vvhich choacked the good fruictes of the truth, composinge all thinges in good ordre, to adde thervnto cleernes, and facilitye: throughe the vvhich excellent, moderne, & aunciente Aucthors may be vnderstoode of those, vvhich can attayn to the klovvledge of noe strange langvages. Ne∣ther have such Personages, out of vvhich I have taken anye of their operationes, observed in all their treatises one ordre, perfectlye, and one manner of operatione, but one divers places, and in divers Bookes they have discribed them: vvherfore they are not to be reprehended, vvho vvith a conseqvence, have redacted them together, because they might the easyer be compraehended, and vnderstoode. And althoughe those vvhich heeretofore have vvritten of Instrumētes have cō∣tentede themselves only vvithe the representation, of the simple Figures: In have heer endevou∣red to present dimensions, and proportiones, theire longitude, and crassitude, and so naturallye, that nether the Chyrurgiane, nor the Smithe vvhich vve cause to compose the same might have anye occasione of hesitatione, or doubte, nether fall into anye erroure, of theire commensurati∣one appropriatinge vnto everye one of them his name in Greecke, Latin, & Frenche, & reporte also his ovvne opportunitye, and vsage therof.

name in Greecke, Latin, and Frenche, and reporte also his ovvne opportunitye, & vsage therof▪

I knovve right vvell, that in this vvorcke ther vvilbe some operations of Chyrurgerye vvan∣tinge, and that it is not vvholye perfect: But I assure my selfe, that everye man of a good spirite, & iudgement, vvill acknovvledge, that I of purpose have omitted the same, and that especiallye be∣cause certayne operations, therof are not novv a dayes in vse, & practise: as is the manner of insci∣sione of the skinne of the Heade, vvhich the Greeckes call Pericuphismos: Also the extirpatione of vvoemens brestes vvhich hange toe long: of the Cauterizinge of the Liver, and of the Mil••e: of the extractiō of a stone out of the blather, because I my selfe am not therin instructed: Al vvhich operations, I permit to practise the right vvorshipfull Mon^sr. Collo Chyrurgiane at Paris, a perso∣nage so rare therin that all Fraunce hath not his like, vvith all dexterity to effectuate such an ope∣ratione: In like sorte also M^r. Pineau, also Chyrurgiane at Paris, vvhich is the resplendente starre of Light vnto all the Anatomistes of these times. Nether doe I doubte, that he vvhich dilligently searcheth this vvorcke, that he shall finde anye diffaulte therin: for I doubte vvhether that anye curiouse poeple shoulde accomplishe, the same, seinge the Aucthor himselfe coulde not suffici∣entlye accomplishe the same: But I hope, to receave of the benevolent Reader, some excuse, he notinge, and consideringe, that such operatiōs vvhich are verye titillouse can not at one time be begunne, and also at the same time finished, and that it is sufficiente, vvith greate difficulty right∣lye to imprinte the same. VVherfore if this enterprise seeme alienate, and strange vnto any bo∣dye, and they mocked thervvith, I certifye vnto them, that I envye noe man, vvhich can meliori∣ze the same: And as touchinge those vvhich seeme not to be in the vvorlde for anye other vse, then to censure, & repraehende others vvithout vvillinge yea and being able to effectuate ought thēselves, let them iovise, & ioy themselves, of their privileadge, as long as pleaseth them, vvher∣vvith I doe not much molest my selfe. Othervvyse, I have vvritten only for the iunior, & yonger Chyrurgians, and not for those, vvhich are vvholye and completlye edoctrinized, and search for nothinge els then for a perfection of all thinges: I have not exalted my harte so hight, as those se∣vere censurers vvoulde require, and I suffise my selfe vvith my accustomed manner, & vvith the behouldinge of the commoditye of the Frenche iunioritye, of that vvhich my small vvitte, could set forthe: I onlye desire this one thinge of them, that they vvoulde vouchsafe to meliorize the same, as I certaynlye knovve they vvell can, and doe not retayne their ovvne commodity therof. And it vvilbe a greate ioy, and peasure vnto me that therin they surpasse me: & I shall very vvell knovve to applye the same to my profite, and commoditye, vvhich they throughe theire great la∣bour, and industrye, have brought forth, nether vvill I conceale that vvhich of them I shall have learned.

And although it be the opinion of the Sages that vve ought not to lightly, thereveale secretes, of Physicke, vnto the common, & vulgare poeple treating of such matters, in theire maternall, & motherlye langvage, because it might be esteemed of little vvorth, & be of all men little accoun∣ted of: And although I coulde easily, have vttered, and expressed my intente, in latine, yet I rather published the same in our French language: And that first of all, because all annciente Learned men, vvhether they be Greeckes, Arabers, or Latinistes, have vvritten al theire doctrine, and experience in the maternall language. The primates, and princes of Physicke, Hippo∣pocrates, and his faythfull, and fidele interpreter, & commitatoure Galen, Paulus Aegineta & Oribasius doe vvitnes of the same. Avicenna, and Averroes, have also done the same, vvritinge in the Ara∣biane Langvage. Celsus and Plinius, the firste and they vvhich have only vvritten in Latine, have alsoe done theire endevoure, and have also disired to imbellishe, and eternize, theire Latine lan∣gvage, & contrye, through the termes, and theoremes of Physicke. Farthermore also, by hovv much the more a thinge is more commone soe much the more is it better, and by so much the more may this science of all men be knovvne, lauded, and extolde. The Physicke of Hippocrates, and of Galen, the Phylosophye, of Plato, and of Aristotle, are they therfore obscured or lesse estee∣med of, because they vveare vvrittene of the Auncientes in Latine, and Arabicke langvage? And those vvhich of our time, have vvritten, in French Dutch & Italiane, as manye renoumnede mē have done, vvhoe in all sortes have indevoured, to doe some service to the common vvealthe, hade they heere in committede anye thinge vvorthye of repraehension? they vvhich vvrite in vn∣knovvne langvages, besydes that they are profitable vnto straungers, and to theire onre native soyle discommodiouse, are assimilated and resembled vnto farmers, vvhich vvould rather till, an other mans feelde, then theire ovvne propre grovvnd, to the greate dishonoure, shame, & detri∣mente, of theire countrye, and inhabitantes.

VVherfor I most humblely intreate, and obsecrate all men, to receave gratefully, & thanck fullye this my laboure, and divine desire, vvhich I have to see the iunior Chyrurgians, vvith all their mindes industriously labourīg to follovv & imitate me: & if so be it pleased & that any mo∣re learned mā thē I am vouchsafede to perlegate vvith pleasure, & imploye a small of their time

in the readinge, of my scriptsons, and vvritinges, I most courtiouslye desire thē, that they vvould more vvith good vvill, then vvith a spirite, vvhich to narrovvlye espyeth, to repraehende the faul∣tes, vue & circumsplectlye note the defaultes vvhich might be therin: Least that through to grea∣te curiositye, and to seriouse subtilty, that same happen to me, as in times passed, happened to the Philosopher Theodosio, vvho turning over the preceptes of Philosophye vvith his right hande frō his Anditors, they vvho vvith theire lefte hande coulde also reach him, throughe malice, and im∣puritye of spirite, turned, & misconstrued the same in badde sorte. VVhich if so by anye meanes I can attayne vnto, and knovve that this my vvorcke, (published throughe the importunitye of the iunioure Chyrurgians) shalbe aggreeable, and acceptable, vnto manye, it vvill then admini∣stre courage, vnto me, to pursue, and addresse the remanent of my studyes, vvherin I am entred: that is, to medidate, and to publishe for the yonger Chyrurgians, all those thinges, vvherby Gods honoure might be increased, and be profitable, for the common vvealth.

Candidus imperti meliora, vel vtere nostris: Carpere vel noli nostra, vel ede tua.

Some men do reade, to reape some good therof, Others to mocke, and hovvlde therof a soffe, It is more ease heerin to reprehende, Then anye thinge therin, for to amende.