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Cheselden, Wm

Name: William Cheselden

Achievements: Advances in anatomy

Born: October 19, 1688; Borrough, Leicestershire, England

Died: April 10, 1752; Bath, Somersetshire, England (Aged 63)

Field & Discipline: Medicine; Anatomy; Surgeon

Language: English

Father: George Cheselden

Mother: Deborah Hubbert

Siblings: George; Joanna; Phoebe; Edward; Deborah; Hannah; Peter

Spouse: Deborah Knight

Children: Deborah; Wilhemina

Education: Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Burrough.

Major Work:

"Osteographia, or the Anatomy of the Bones"

Life & Times:

An extremely talented young surgeon, Cheselden rose rapidly in his profession.  In 1711, a year after qualifying as a surgeon, he was asked to conduct a course in anatomy, first from his house, later from St. Thomas's Hospital, London. His students included several famous future surgeons, including [taught] Monro*.

In 1712, Cheselden presented a paper to the [member of] Royal Society describing some extremely large human bones found in a Roman urn found at St. Albans.  That same year, he was elected a fellow of the Society.

In 1713, he published his first important work, "The Anatomy of the Human Body", which ran to 13 editions and became a universally-used textbook.  In 1718 he was appointed assistant surgeon at St Thomas's, and a year later, a principal surgeon. 

In his early years as surgeon, he concentrated on improving the operation to remove bladder "stones."

In 1723, published a "Treatise on the High Operation for the Stone", comparing old methods with his own innovative one, which, in the light of today's techniques was still extremely primitive.  Without the benefit of anesthesia or aseptic procedures, the patient was trussed like a chicken on his back, his wrists were tied to his ankles, and two assistants held him down while a skilled surgeon like Cheselden removed the stone(s) by probing the urethra with a catheter, using a broader probe to locate the stone, making an incision through the perineum, and reaching into the bladder to extract the stone.  The pain was nearly unendurable and many patients died, either from shock or infection.  (Bladder stones were a common and agonizing complaint and, despite the expected pain, many underwent the operation willingly.)

In 1727, Cheselden developed a better method to remove bladder stones, based on one invented by a Paris friar, Frere Jacques de Beaulieu (1651-1714) (the Frere Jacques of nursery-rhyme).  Cheselden's method was to cut from the bulb towards the bladder, while lifting the urethra and pressing back the rectum, thereby greatly decreasing the risk of injuring the soft parts of the pelvic area.  He became so adept that during the 1730s and 1740s his patients' survival rate soared to over 90%.  (Cheselden always vomited before an operation, aware of the torture he was about to inflict and the pressure he was under.  An assistant held a timepiece to make sure he took no longer than three minutes.  He finished one famous operation in 54 seconds.)

As well as doing operations and teaching at St. Thomas's, Cheselden had a large private practice, through which, along with his attendance at the Royal Society, he met many famous people.  He formed a close friendship with physician/naturalist [a pal of] Sloane* and with poet [a pal of] Pope*.  In 1727, he attended the deathbed of  [at deathbed of] Newton*, and the same year was appointed surgeon to Queen Caroline, wife of George II.

In 1728, Cheselden made an important contribution to ophthalmic surgery by developing an operation for curing some forms of blindness, in which an opening in the eye functioned as an "artificial pupil".

In 1733, Cheselden published his greatest work, an atlas of the bones entitled "Osteographia, or the Anatomy of the Bones", hailed for the beauty and accuracy of its illustrations.  He created the illustrations with a [used] "camera obscura*" (a name coined by astronomer [influenced by] Kepler*, who experimented with a similar apparatus), a  box in which a pin-hole lens in one side produced an inverted image on the other side (made of a translucent material), which could then  be traced.

When St. George's Hospital was founded in 1733-34, Cheselden was made a principal surgeon.  When he resigned in 1737 to become surgeon at the Chelsea Hospital, he was appointed consulting surgeon.  At Chelsea, he taught the young [taught] John Hunter*.  In 1745, he was a leading figure in negotiations that led to the establishment of a separate Company of Surgeons .

Cheselden was a keen patron of sports, especially boxing.  He was considered an eccentric and refused to wear the wig of the professional man, instead covering his head with a loose silk cap, which, though more appropriate for the operating theater, was deemed gauche.

Extra Connections: His work influenced that of [influenced] Paley*

Assessment: A great British surgeon, known internationally in the early 18th century for his swift and skilful operations

Oneliner: William Cheselden,  famous 18th century anatomist

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