M. le Clerc

Name: The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction
Author: M. le Clerc

The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

Summary

M. le Clerc’s The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction is a detailed anatomical treatise examining the structure and function of the human body, published as part of a larger surgical compendium. Concentrating on bones, muscles, nerves, and connective tissues, it analyzes the body’s "distinct Parts," from the Os Pubis to the Annular Ligament, using precise terminology and systematic descriptions.

The text clarifies complex systems—such as the brain’s division into cerebrum and cerebellum, or the diaphragm’s dual muscular composition—while highlighting practical surgical applications. Through thorough analysis of anatomical functions, le Clerc provides a foundational guide for surgeons, integrating the body’s structure as both a mechanical framework and a cohesive functional entity.

Quotes from The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (M. le Clerc)

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ We may well reckon up Fifteen distinct Parts, which are the Bone, the Cartilage, the Ligament, the Tendon, the Membrane, the Fibre, the Nerve, the Vein, the Artery, the Flesh, the Fat, the Skin, the Scarf-Skin, the Hair, and the Nails.
What is a Bone?
It is the hardest and driest Part of the whole Body, and that which constitutes its principal Support. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ Is the Brain which is preserv'd in the Skull all of one Piece, or one equal Mass?
No, it is distinguish'd by the means of the Meninges into the Brain it self, and the Cerebellum or little Brain; the Brain, properly so called, takes up almost the whole Cavity of the Skull, and the Cerebellum is lodg'd altogether in the hinder-part, where it constitutes only one entire Body; whereas the former is divided into the Right and Left Parts by the Meninges, which cut it even to the bottom; whence these Foldings are call'd Falx ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ Modern Anatomists have discover'd that the Diaphragm is compos'd of two Muscles, viz. one Upper, and the other Lower; so that the Upper cleaves to the Extremities of the Spurious Ribs, and is terminated in a flat Tendon in the middle, which hath been always taken for its Nervous part. The Lower begins with two Productions, the longest whereof being on the right side, ariseth from the three upper Vertebra's of the Loins, and the other on the Left from the two Vertebra's of the Back, till it is lost in the Aponeurosis of the Upper Muscle. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ The Veins that bring back the Blood from the Substance of the Brain, are emptied into the Sinus's of the Dura Mater, which are all discharg'd into those that are call'd Lateral, which last go out of the Skull immediately under the Nerves of the eighth Pair, thro' the hinder-part of the Hole made by the meeting of the Occipital Bone, and the Apophysis Petrosa. These Lateral Sinus's fall into the Internal Jugulars, which are receiv'd into a considerable Sinking hollow'd on each side in the outward, part of the Basis of the Skull, which is nam'd the Pit or Hole of the Internal Jugular. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ Lastly, with relation to their Use; some serve to support and carry the whole Body, as the Leg-Bones, and others are appointed to grind the Meat, as the Teeth; or else to form some Cavity, as the Skull-Bone, and those of the Ribs.
What are the Parts to be distinguished in the Bones?
They are the Body, the Ends, the Heads, the Neck, the Apophyses, the Epiphyses, the Condyli or Productions, the Cavities, the Supercilia or Lips, and the Ridges.
The Body is the greatest Part, and the middle of the Bone; the Ends are the two Extremities; the Heads are the great Protuberances at the Extremities ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ After the dissection of the five Teguments, and the removal of the Muscles, as in the lower Belly, the Anatomist proceeds to lift up the Sternum or Breast-Bone, by separating it from the Ribs; then it is laid upon the Face, or else entirely taken away, to the end that the internal Parts of the Breast may be more clearly discover'd; whereupon immediately appear, the Heart, the Lungs, the Diaphragm, and the Mediastinum, which sticks to the Sternum throughout its whole length.
What is the Heart? ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ The Arteries are long and round Canals, consisting of four sorts of Tunicks or Membranes, which have their Rise from the left Ventricle of the Heart, from whence they receive the Blood, and convey it to all the Parts of the Body for their Nourishment. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ It is the Receptacle of the Aliments or Food convey'd thither thro' the Oesophagus or Gullet, which is a Canal, or kind of streight Gut that reacheth from the Throat to the Mouth of the Stomach. The Stomach it self is situated immediately under the Diaphragm or Midriff, between the Liver and the Spleen, having two Orifices, whereof the Left is properly call'd Stomachus, or the Upper, and the Right (at its other Extremity) Pylorus, or the lower Orifice. Its Figure resembleth that of a Bag-Pipe, and the greater part of its Body lies toward the Left side. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ The Congenerate are those that contribute to one and the same Action; as when there are two Flexors or two Extensors, and then one supplies the defect of the other; whereas when one of the Antagonist Muscles is cut, the other becomes useless, and void of Action. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ The Elevator takes its rise in the bottom of the Orbit of the Eye, and is fastned by a large Aponeurosis to the edge of the upper Eye-Lid. The Shutter or Depressor, call'd also the Orbicular, hath its Origine in the great Canthus, or Corner of the Eye, passeth over the Eye-Lid upward, and is join'd to the lesser Corner of the same Eye, being extended along its whole Compass.
The Eyes have each six Muscles, viz. four Recti and two Obliqui; the Recti or streight Muscles are the Elevator, the Depressor, the Adductor, and the Abductor. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ The Pyramidal, so named by reason of its Figure, is situated in the lower Tendon of the Rectus, its Origine being in the upper and external part of the Os Pubis; but it is terminated in the White Line, three Fingers breadth above the Pubes, and sometimes even in the Navel itself. These Muscles are not found in all Bodies for there are sometimes two, sometimes only one, and sometimes none. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ In each Parietal Bone on the side of the Sagittal Suture, at a little distance from the Lambdoidal, appears a Hole, thro' which passeth a Vein, that brings back the Blood of the Teguments of the Head, and dischargeth it self into the upper Longitudinal Sinus. These Holes are sometimes on both; and then the Blood contain'd in the Branches of this Vein runs into the External Jugulars. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ It is a small fine Skin, transparent and insensible, having also innumerable Pores for the discharging of Sweat, and other Humours by imperceptible Transpiration: It is extended over the whole inner Skin, to dull its too exquisite Sense, by covering the Extremities of the Nerves which are there terminated. It also renders the same Skin even and smooth, and so contributes very much to Beauty. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ There are two for the Forehead, call'd Frontal, whose Origine is in the upper part of the Head, from whence they descend by streight Fibres, until they are fasten'd in the Skin of the Forehead near the Eye-Brows, where they are re-united: Their Action or Office is to draw the Skin of the Forehead upward, whereto they stick very close. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ The Fingers are bent, extended, and turn'd from one side to the other by the means of twenty-three Muscles, whereof ten are proper, and thirteen common: The former are those that serve all the Fingers in general, and the other those that are particularly serviceable to some of them: The Common are the Sublimis, the Profundus, the common Extensor, the four Lumbricales, and the six Interossei. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ The Reins or Kidneys are Parts of a Fleshy Consistence, harder and more firm than that of the Liver and Spleen: They are both situated in the sides of the Umbilical Region, upon the Muscle Psoas, between the two Tunicks of the Peritonæum ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ Many Persons consider it as a Contexture of Bones, Flesh, Vessels and Entrails, which they explain in four several Treatises, whereof the first is call'd Osteology, for the Bones; the second Myology, for the Muscles; the third Angiology, for the Veins, Arteries and Nerves, which are the Vessels; and the fourth Splanchnology, for the Entrails.
But lastly, the most clear and perspicuous of all the Divisions of the Body of Man, is that which compares it to a Tree, whereof the Trunk is the Body, and the Branches are the Arms and Legs. The Body is divided into three Venters, or great Cavities, viz. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ The Plantaris, which lies hid between the Gemelli and the Soleus, hath its Origine from the Exterior Condylus of the Thigh-Bone; then uniting its Tendon with the preceeding, it adheres to them; and this common Tendon is call'd Chorda Achillis. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

M. le Clerc, The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (1696)

“ It is a Canal compos'd of Four Coats, that carreyth with a kind of Beating or Pulse even to the very Extremity of the Parts, the Blood full of Spirits, which proceeds from the Heart, to distribute to them at the same time both Life and Nourishment. ”

M. le Clerc

Summary

Quotes from The Compleat Surgeon — Introduction (M. le Clerc)

Common terms

Similar works

Get perspective with Kwize: daily news enlightened by great literature