Medical Terminology Daily (MTD) is a blog sponsored by Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. as a service to the medical community. We post anatomical, medical or surgical terms, their meaning and usage, as well as biographical notes on anatomists, surgeons, and researchers through the ages. Be warned that some of the images used depict human anatomical specimens.

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A Moment in History

Jean-Louis Petit

Jean Louis Petit
(1674 – 1750)

French surgeon and anatomist, Jean Louis Petit was born in Paris in on March 13, 1674.  His family rented an apartment at his house to Alexis Littre (1658 – 1726), a French anatomist. Petit became an apprentice of Littre at seven years of age, helping him in the dissections for his lectures and at an early age became the assistant in charge of the anatomic amphitheater.

Because of Petit’s dedication to anatomy and medicine, in 1690 at the age of sixteen, became a disciple of a famous Paris surgeon, Castel.

In 1692, Petit entered the French army and performed surgery in two military campaigns. By 1693 he started delivering lectures and was accepted as a great surgeon, being invited to the most difficult operations.  In 1700 he was appointed Chief Surgeon of the Military School in Paris and in the same year he received the degree of Master of Surgery from the Faculty of Paris.

In 1715 he was made a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of the Royal Society of London. He was appointed by the King as the first Director General of the Royal Academy of Surgery when it was founded in 1731.

Petit’s written works are of historical importance.  “Traite des Maladies des Os” ( A Treatise on Bone Diseases);  “Traite des Maladies Chirurgicales et des Operation” (A Treatise on Surgical Diseases and their Operations” This last book was published posthumously in 1774. He also published a monograph on hemorrhage, another on lachrymal fistula, and others.

He was one of the first to perform choIecystotomy and mastoidotomy. His original tourniquet design for amputations saved many in the battlefield and the design of the same surgical instrument today has not changed much since its invention by him.

His name is remembered in the lumbar triangle, also called the "triangle of Petit", and the abdominal hernia that can ensue through that area of weakness, the lumbar hernia or "Petit's hernia".

Sources:
1. “Jean Louis Petit – A Sketch of his Life, Character, and Writings” Hayne, AP San Fran Western Lancet 1875 4: 446-454
2. “Oeuvres compl?tes de Jean-Louis Petit” 1837 Imprimerie de F. Chapoulaud
3. Extraits de l'eloge de Jean-Louis Petit Ius dans Ia seance publique de I' Academie royale de chirurgie du 26 mai 1750” Louis A. Chirurgie 2001: 126 : 475- 81


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Leonardo Botallus


This article is part of the series "A Moment in History" where we honor those who have contributed to the growth of medical knowledge in the areas of anatomy, medicine, surgery, and medical research.To search all the articles in this series, click here.

Leonardo Botallus (c.1530- ??) Italian anatomist and physician,Leonardo Botallus (also known as Botalli, Botallo, or Botal) was born circa 1530 in the region of Piedmont. Botallus studied medicine at the italian university of Pavia, where he was a student under Gabrielle Fallopius.  Botallus graduated circa 1553.  He was an avid advocate of bloodletting, causing him to direct his anatomical studies towards the subject of the vascular system. Although he did not discover the foramen ovale and the ductus arteriosus, he mentions these structures by those names in both his posthumous  publications " De via sanguinis a dextro in sinistro cordis ventriculum" (1640) and "Opera Omnia Medica et Chirurgica" (1660)

In France Botallus became physician to King Charles IX. Not much more is known about Botallus, and  history fails to record his date and place of death, as well as his image. The image depicted here is from his 1660 publication. Click on the image for a larger depiction.

Botallus' name is eponymically remembered in the following structures:

Image from Botallus '<em>Opera Omnia Anatomica et Chirurgica'</em>

Foramen of Botallus: The foramen ovale, an opening found in the fetus in the region of the fossa ovalis that closes upon birth
Duct of Botallus: A communicating vessel between the left pulmonary artery and the proximal region of the descending aorta, part of fetal circulation, also known as the ductus arteriosus
Ligament of Botallus: The closed ductus arteriosus in the adult

Sources:
1. "History of medicine; a correlative text, arranged according to subjects" Mettler, C Ch. 1947 The Blakiston Co 
2. "Stedmans Medical Eponyms" Forbis, P; Bartolucci, SL. Williams & Wilkins 1998
3. "The origin of Medical Terms" Skinner, AH, 1970
4. "The First Closure of the Persistent Ductus Arteriosus" Alexi-Meskishvili,V; B?ttcher, W. Ann Thorac Surg 2010;90:349 –56
NOTE: There is no known image of Botallus. Skinner's "Origin of Medical Terms" shows one, but we could not confirm the origin of the image. If you know or have one, let us know

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