DESAULT, Pierre Joseph, a distinguished French surgeon, was born at Magny-Vernais, a village of Franche-Comté, in the year 1744. He was descended of parents of a humble rank in life, received the early part of his education in a school of the Jesuits, and was destined for the church; but his own inclination tended to the study of medicine; and in this he was at length indulged, and settled as an apprentice in the military hospital of Béfort. Here he acquired some knowledge of anatomy and surgery; and having previously made considerable progress in mathematical studies, he applied this knowledge, after the example of Borelli and others, to the investigation of physiological subjects. He translated the work of Borelli, De Motu Animalium, and added notes and illustrations, in which, although he proceeded upon wrong principles, he discovered at a very early period strong proofs of his zeal and industry.

About his twentieth year he went to Paris, where he enjoyed the best opportunities of storing his mind with the knowledge of surgery and anatomy, which he prosecuted with the utmost ardour and success. He spent almost the whole of his time at the anatomical theatres and hospitals; but by this close attendance his health suffered greatly. He was seized with a cachectical disease, which confined him to bed for twelve months; and he was indebted for his recovery to the vigour of his constitution, and the kind offices of a young friend, who constantly watched the progress of his disorder. His health being re-established, neither his circumstances nor the activity of his mind permitted him to indulge in repose. He commenced teacher of anatomy in the winter of 1766, and was soon attended by about three hundred pupils, a great proportion of whom were older than himself. But this success excited the jealousy of the established teachers and professors, who exerted all the influence of authority to silence him; and although he was patronised and protected by some surgeons of great eminence, the opposition which he met with would have obliged him to renounce public teaching, had he not managed to go on by the expedient of adopting the name of another as a sanction. His reputation was now greatly extended; but still he [7:7:739]declined private practice, till he should be established in some distinguished public station. In the year 1776 he was admitted a member of the corporation of surgeons, and it would appear that his finances were at this time extremely limited, from the circumstance of his being indulged by that body in paying his fees when it should be convenient for himself. He successively filled the honourable stations in the corporation and academy of surgery; and in the year 1782 he was appointed surgeonmajor to the hospital De la Charite.

Desault was now regarded as one of the first surgeons of Paris. He succeeded to the next vacancy at the Hôtel Dieu; and after the death of Moreau, almost the whole surgical department of that hospital was intrusted to him. Here he instituted a clinical school of surgery on a liberal and extensive plan, which attracted a great concourse of students, not only from every part of France, but also from foreign countries. An audience composed of about six hundred students frequently met to hear his instructions; and most of the surgeons of the French army derived their knowledge from his lectures.

The surgical practice of Desault was always distinguished for its efficacy and simplicity. Amongst the improvements which he introduced into surgery may be mentioned bandages for the retention of fractured limbs, the use of compressions in promoting the cure of ulcers, the use of ligature in umbilical hernia of children, the extraction of loose cartilages in joints, the use of bougies in schirro-sities of the rectum, and that of elastic probes in contractions of the urethra. He also introduced essential improvements in the construction of various surgical instruments.

In the year 1791 he published a work entitled Journal de Chirurgerie, the object of which was to record the most interesting cases which had occurred in his clinical school, with the remarks which he had made upon them in the course of his lectures. The editing of this work was intrusted to his pupils. But in the midst of his valuable labours he became obnoxious to some of the prevailing parties of that turbulent period; and in 1792 he was, on some frivolous charge, denounced to the popular sections. After being twice examined, he was seized whilst he was delivering a lecture, carried away from his theatre, and committed to the prison of the Luxembourg. But in three days thereafter he was liberated, and permitted to resume all functions. When the school of health was established, he was appointed clinical professor for external maladies; and it was through his means that the Evêché was converted into an hospital for surgical operations.

The horrid scenes which were exhibited in May 1795 made so deep an impression on his mind, from the apprehension of a renewal of the horrors which he had formerly experienced, that he was seized with an ataxic fever, accompanied with delirium, which put an end to his life on the 1st of June the same year, at the age of fifty-one. He had attended the dauphin in the Temple; and from the circumstance of his death having happened but a short time before that of the prince, an opinion was prevalent among the populace that he was poisoned, because he had refused to do any thing against the dauphin’s life. This story seems to be without foundation; but it affords a proof of the opinion entertained by the public of Desault’s integrity. A pension was settled on his widow by the republic. Fame, and not emolument, had always been the object of his ambition; and he neglected many opportunities of acquiring wealth. Indifferent to all other pleasures and pursuits, Desault was solely and passionately attached to his profession. His temper was ardent, and sometimes rather violent; but his sentiments were always elevated and noble, and hence his pupils called him Le Bourru Bienfaisant. The only work of which he is to be considered as the sole author is entitled Traite des Maladies Chirurgicales, et des Operations qui leur conviennent, in 2 vols. 8vo.