Philippe Ricord (10 December 1800 – 22 October 1889) was a French physician.

Biography

Philippe Ricord was born on 10 December 1800 in Baltimore. His father had escaped the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

in 1790 from

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. He met French naturalist

Charles Alexandre Lesueur Charles Alexandre Lesueur (1 January 1778 in Le Havre – 12 December 1846 in Le Havre) was a French Natural history, naturalist, artist, and explorer. He was a prolific natural-history collector, gathering many type specimens in Australia, ...

, who took him back to Paris in 1820. He worked for Lesueur as curator of his specimens, and at hospitals such as

Val-de-Grâce The (' or ') was a military hospital located at in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was closed as a hospital in 2016. History The church of the was built by order of Queen Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII. After the birth of h ...

and

Hôtel-Dieu de Paris In French-speaking countries, a hôtel-Dieu ( en, hostel of God) was originally a hospital for the poor and needy, run by the Catholic Church. Nowadays these buildings or institutions have either kept their function as a hospital, the one in Paris b ...

. He studied under

Guillaume Dupuytren Baron Guillaume Dupuytren (; 5 October 1777 – 8 February 1835) was a French anatomist and military surgeon. Although he gained much esteem for treating Napoleon Bonaparte's hemorrhoids, he is best known today for his description of Dupuytren's ...

, but fell out with him when Ricord published an article pointing out a procedure Dupuytren claimed to have invented was already in use in America. He transferred to

Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital (french: Hôpital universitaire la Pitié-Salpêtrière, ) is a teaching hospital in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Part of the and a teaching hospital of Sorbonne University. History The Salpêtriè ...

to study under Jacques Lisfranc de St. Martin. He graduated in medicine in 1826. After practicing in the provinces he returned in 1828 to the capital, and worked there as a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

, specializing in

venereal disease Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral se ...

s. Doctor Ricord was surgeon in chief to the hospital for venereal diseases and to the Hôpital du Midi. He won a worldwide reputation in his special field. For his suggestions on the cure of

varicocele varicocele is an abnormal enlargement of the pampiniform venous plexus in the scrotum. This plexus of veins drains blood from the testicles back to the heart. The vessels originate in the abdomen and course down through the inguinal canal as part ...

and on the operation of

urethroplasty Urethroplasty is the surgical repair of an injury or defect within the walls of the urethra. Trauma, iatrogenic injury and infections are the most common causes of urethral injury/defect requiring repair. Urethroplasty is regarded as the gold sta ...

he received in 1842 one of the

Montyon prize The Montyon Prize (french: Prix Montyon) is a series of prizes awarded annually by the French Academy of Sciences and the Académie française. They are endowed by the French benefactor Baron de Montyon. History Prior to the start of the French ...

s. In 1838, he disproved John Hunter's self-experiment, thus showing that

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

and

gonorrhea Gonorrhea, colloquially known as the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium '' Neisseria gonorrhoeae''. Infection may involve the genitals, mouth, or rectum. Infected men may experience pain or burning with ...

are not the same disease. '' Ricord's chancre'' is the parchment-like initial lesion of syphilis. In 1862 Ricord was appointed physician in ordinary to Prince Napoleon. On 26 October 1869, he was named consulting surgeon to

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

. For his services in the ambulance corps during the siege of Paris he was made Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1871. He was the brother of

Jean Baptiste Ricord Jean Baptiste Ricord (born in Paris, France, in 1777; died on the island of Guadeloupe, West Indies, in 1837) was a French-American physician. Biography He was educated in France and in Italy, whither his father had fled during the French Revoluti ...

(1777–1837) who was a physician and naturalist in America. Jean Baptiste's son (Phillipe's nephew) took the name

John Ricord John Ricord (September 5, 1813 – March 26, 1861) was a lawyer and world traveler. He was involved in cases in Texas, Oregon, Hawaii, and California. Life John Ricord was born on September 5, 1813, in Belleville, New Jersey. His mother, Elizab ...

, became a lawyer who practiced law in several notable cases while he traveled through the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Ori ...

, the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...

, and the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

. John Ricord returned to live with Phillipe where he died in 1861. There seems to be a controversy as to whether

Jean Alfred Fournier Jean Alfred Fournier () (21 May 1832 – 25 December 1914) was a French dermatologist who specialized in the study of venereal disease. Biography As a young man he served as an interne at the Hôpital du Midi as an understudy to Philippe Rico ...

, student of Ricord, was actually his son-in-law

Ricord's formula

Ricord developed an innovative formula for the treatment of

urethritis Urethritis is the inflammation of the urethra. The most common symptoms include painful or difficult urination and urethral discharge. It is a commonly treatable condition usually caused by infection with bacteria. This bacterial infection is oft ...

, largely used at least up to the late 1910s. It consists of a solution containing 1g

zinc sulfate Zinc sulfate is an inorganic compound. It is used as a dietary supplement to treat zinc deficiency and to prevent the condition in those at high risk. Side effects of excess supplementation may include abdominal pain, vomiting, headache, and ti ...

, 2g

lead acetate Lead acetate can refer to: * Lead subacetate (Basic lead acetate), Pb3(OH)4(CH3COO)2 * Lead(IV) acetate (plumbic acetate), Pb(CH3COO)4 * Lead(II) acetate Lead(II) acetate (Pb(CH3COO)2), also known as lead acetate, lead diacetate, plumbous acetat ...

, 4g

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...

laudanum Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum Linnaeus'') in alcohol (ethanol). Red ...

and

catechu ( or ) is an extract of acacia trees used variously as a food additive, astringent, tannin, and dye. It is extracted from several species of ''Acacia'', but especially ''Senegalia catechu'' (''Acacia catechu''), by boiling the wood in wate ...

tincture in 200ml of distilled water. This formula was widely known and employed for the washing of tissue affected by simple urethritis thanks to its astringent and antiseptic properties..

Works

* ''De l'emploi du speculum'' (Paris, 1833) * ''De la blennorrhagie de la femme'' (1834) * ''Emploi de l'onguent mercuriel dans le traitement de l'eresipele'' (1836) * ''Monographie du chancre'' (1837) * ''Théorie sur la nature et le traitement de l'épididymite'' (1838) * ''Traite des maladies vénériennes'' (8 volumes, 1838; fourth edition, 1866; English translation, ''A Practical Lecture on Venereal Diseases'', 1842; thirteenth edition, 1854) * ''De l'ophthalmie blennorrhagique'' (1842) * ''Clinique iconographique de l'Hôpital des Vénériens'' (1842–1851) * ''De la syphilisation'' (1853) * ''Lettres sur la syphilis'' (1851; third edition, 1863; English translation, 1853) * ''Leçons sur le chancre'' (1858; second edition, 1860; English translation, 1859)

Notes

References

* * *Weinstock, Herbert (1963), ''Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris and Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century'', New York: Random House.

External links