John Birkett

John Birkett, F.R.C.S. F.L.S. (1815–1904) was an English surgeon and member of the Linnean Society of London who was an early specialist on breast disease, including breast cancer, and an early advocate of histology. He published a book on breast disease in the mid-nineteenth century. Birkett was born near London in 1815. He was an apprentice to Bransby Cooper, a nephew of Astley Cooper, and like him a surgeon at Guy's Hospital. He became assistant surgeon in 1849 and took Bransby Cooper's position after the latter retired, in 1853. An early advocate of histology, he introduced the teaching thereof in 1845, and subsequently promoted the use of histopathology in cancer diagnosis. Eponyms Medical instruments and disorders that are named after Birkett are the Birkett forceps, the Birkett haemostatic forceps, and Birkett hernia. The Birkett hernia is also known as an ascending hernia or intermusculuar hernia, and is the type of inguinal hernia where the sac extends into the anterior or inferior wall. The Diseases of the Breast and Their Treatment Birkett's most memorable contribution to his field was his treatise on diseases on the mammary gland, the very first comprehensive treatment of the subject, for which he was awarded the Jacksonian Prize by The Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1848. The dissertation was published as a book entitled The Diseases of the Breast and Their Treatment in 1850. It was 258 pages long, with 12 plates.