Bell (1784)

In his A System of Surgery (1783-1788), often regarded as the first scientific textbook of surgery, the Scottish surgeon Benjamin Bell (1749-1806) writes: “When the substance resting in the oesphagus is of a soft texture, such as bread, cheese or even flesh, the easiest and most prudent method of getting free of it is, to push it into stomach by an instrument named a Probang… This is much safer and easier than to attempt to bring it up, as is frequently recommended, by a strong vomit; for if this should not succeed, the exertion of vomiting in this obstructed state of the oesophagus would be sure to do mischief. But when a pin, or a piece of sharp bone, or any other firm substance is fixed in the passage, we ought by no means attempt to push it down; for, by doing so, any point of roughness with which it is furnished, may be pushed directly into the substance of the oesophagus.” If such objects block the passage of food or breathing and the surgeon cannot wait until they descend or dissolve, they need to be removed surgically by an esophagostomy, however dangerous this operation may be.

Benjamin Bell, A System of Surgery, Vol. II (Edinburgh: Charles Elliot and G. Robinson, 1784), 423, tab. 24, fig. 1. German translation as Lehrbegriff der Wundarzneykunst (Leipzig: Weidmanns Erben und Reich, 1786), Bd. II, 413-414, 422, Tab. VI, obr. 40. NML, Ignaz Franz Fritz Surgical Library, F 92.

Probang. NML Medical Museum Surgical Collection, N 76. Photography by Veronika Löblová