Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Johann Nepomuk von Nussbaum

German surgeon, b. at Munich 2 Sept., 1829; d. there 31 Oct., 1890. He made his studies in the University of Munich where he was a pupil of Thiersch and later the clinical assistant of Von Rothmund. He received his doctor's degree in 1853, the subject of his dissertation being "Ueber Cornea Artificialis". The following four years he spent in foreign travel, studying surgery under Nélaton, Chassaignac, and Maisonneuve in Paris, Langenbeck in Berlin, and Textor in Würzburg. In 1857 he became a Privat-docent (with a thesis on the treatment of various conditions of the cornea). In 1860 he was appointed professor of surgery at the University of Munich which office he held for nearly thirty years. His lectures were noted for their practical character. He studied under Spencer Wells in England which enabled him to greatly aid the development of pelvic surgery. Later he learned antisepsis from Lister and was instrumental in introducing it into the surgical clinics of Germany. His best-known work, "Leitfaden zur antiseptischen Wundbehandlung" (Hints for the antiseptic treatment of wounds), went through five editions and was translated into a number of foreign languages. Altogether his publications number almost 100, the best known of which deal with ovariotomy, the transplantation of bone, radical operation for hernia, and phases of the treatment of cancer. During the war of 1871 Nussbaum was consultant surgeon-general to the Bavarian troops. Throughout his life he was a Catholic and died pronouncing the words "Praised be Jesus Christ".

PAGEL, Biograph. Dict. der hervorrag. Aerzte des 19. Jahrh. (Berlin, 1901); IDEM, Biograph. Lex. der hervorrag. Aerzte (Berlin); KNELLER, Das Christentum und die Vertreter der neueren Naturwissenschaft (Freiburg, 1904).

JAMES J. WALSH