Note 90 — Chapter XXXIX · THE DEVELOPMENT OF SURGERY IN FRANCE DURING THE RENAISSANCE.—PIERRE FRANCO

In the absence of a more fitting place in which to speak of the employment of urethral bougies, it seems permissible to state here that the first mention (in medical literature) of these instruments occurs in Chapter XV. of the treatise of Guainerio, Professor of Medicine at the University of Pavia. This work, which was first published in 1439, bears the title: “Practica Antonii Guainerii,” and a later edition was issued at Venice in 1508. Speaking of a case of stone in the bladder, Guainerius says: “And if the urine does not flow from the bladder ... introduce a slender flexible rod of tin or silver into the urethra.”