WARREN (J. Collins). The Healing of Arteries after Ligature in Man and Animals.1886

New York: William Wood & Company, First edition, [8] 184pp., 14 plates (2 coloured), presentation label from Sir Gilbert Barling to Birmingham Medical Institute, orig. cloth. This monograph is of basic importance to one of the primary concerns of surgery--the successful healing of ligated vessels and the avoidance of delayed postoperative bleeding. Warren opens the book with a comprehensive historical review of the use of ligatures, noting that their first use was mentioned by Susrutas in 1500 B.C. He conducts an excellent review of studies on the effect of ligation and the results of many observations in both man and animals are recorded. The author points out that "The history of this research is, in fact, a history of the rise and gradual development of the science of cellular pathology" (p. 47). The fifteen plates depict patterns of cellular proliferation within ligated vessels, and how the result may be either secure or faulty healing. Warren was the son of Jonathan Mason Warren and the grandson of John Collins Warren who performed the first operation under ether anesthesia. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Warren served on the faculty as professor of surgery and practiced in the Boston area. (Heirs of Hippocrates No. 2051). Formerly in the library of the Birmingham Medical Institute.