Pott

POTT Percival (Percival Pott; 1714-1788), famous English surgeon. Intended by his parents for a spiritual career, he broke with his family in order to devote himself to medicine, which he studied with inexhaustible energy. Thanks to his talent, perseverance and erudition, from a humble assistant to one of the barbers at St. Bartholomew's Hospital (in London), P. became the most brilliant representative of 18th-century surgery. From 1745 until his retirement (1787), he held leading positions in the aforementioned hospital, publishing a series of classic works in various fields of surgery, of which his works on diseases of bones and joints made an epoch. The results of his practical activities in this field (especially in the treatment of tuberculous spondylitis—Pott's disease, Pott's hump) quickly earned him world fame. In his numerous works, P. also proved himself an outstanding pathologist-anatomist. Main works: "A treatise on ruptures" (L., 1756); "Observations on the nature and consequences of wounds and contusions of the head fractures of the scull" (L., 1760); "Remarks on that kind of palsy of the lower limbs, which is frequently found to accompany a curvature of the spine" (L., 1779). Many of Pott's books were translated into various European languages. A collection of Pott's works was published in English, German, French and Italian. Lpt.: Schroder H., P. Pott, D. m. W., 1913, p. 2411.