Page:A cyclopedia of American medical biography vol. 1.djvu/425

 fitch ;

January 25, 1837, aged seventy-four. A son, R. Treat Paine Fiske, A. B. (Har- vard, 1818), was a physician in Hingham, where he died in 1866.

L. F. W.

Fitch, Simon (1820-1905).

Simon Fitch came of a family named Ffytche of Widdington, Essex, England, and was born at Horton, Nova Scotia, January 2, 1820, and died at Halifax, Nova Scotia September 13, 1905.

His general education was received at the academy of his native town; his professional one in London, Paris and Edinburgh, graduating as M. D. from that university August 2, 1841.

Dr. Fitch was actively engaged in pro- fessional practice for upwards of sixty years at various places, including St. John, New Brunswick; Portland, Maine; New York City; and finally at Halifax for a period of twenty-eight years.

He was a fellow of the Royal Obstet- rical Society, London; a member of the British Medical Association; the Parisian Medical Society; the American Medical Association; the New York Medico-Legal Society, and the Maine Medical Asso- ciation.

For a time he was resident surgeon of the Edinburgh Maternity Hospital, sur- geon to the St. John, New Brunswick, Hospital, consulting surgeon to the Vic- toria General Hospital, Halifax, and examiner in lunacy for the state of New York and holding for many years after- wards a surgeoncy in the United States War Department.

In 1871 Dr. Fitch introduced an im- provement in the double tubular trocar, by removing the protecting cannula from the outside to the inside of the punctur- ing tube. In 1875 he invented the "dome trocar," with application to ovariotomy, aspiration and transfusion; and the same year a coupling for instantaneous attach- ment and detachment of the aspirator needle. He also invented the clamp for- ceps in 1876, the handy aspirator in 1877, the trocar catheter in 1882, and several other valuable surgical instruments.

17 FLAGG

Although a general practitioner he gave special attention to gynecology, being a dextrous operator, and soon acquiring a large fortune. He was a tall, handsome man, dignified, punctilious, exacting, and not easy of approach. He took prac- tically no interest in public affairs, his lei- sure being devoted to travel and the study of English literature, especially the Bible and Shakspeare.

Among Dr. Fitch's writings are: "Lith- otomy" ("Maine Medical and Surgical Reporter," August, 1858); "Excision of a Large Uterine Fibroid Tumor" ("Boston Medical and Surgical Journal," November 20, 1862) ; " Peculiarities of the Operations of Three Great Ovariotomists — Wells, Atlee, Keith" ("American Journal of Ob- stetrics," May, 1872); "Observations upon Medical and Surgical Practice in Great Britain" ("Transactions of the Maine Medical Society," 1872); "Par- acentesis, Aspiration and Transfusion" ("Transactions of the International Med- ical Congress," Philadelphia, 1876) ; "The Dome Trocar and Associated Instru- ments" (" British Medical Journal," Feb- ruary 5, 1887); "Sanity, Insanity and Responsibility" (" Medico- Legal Jour- nal," June, 1898).

He was twice married; his first wife was Miss Paddock of St. John, New Bruns- wick; his second, Miss Ackerman of Port- land, Maine. He had two sons and six daughters, his eldest son, Dr. T. S. P. Fitch, becoming a medical practitioner in Orange, New Jersey.

D. A. C.

Flagg, Josiah Foster (1789-1853).

Josiah Foster Flagg, a pioneer dentist and inventor, was born in Boston Janu- ary 11, 1789. His father, Dr. Josiah Flagg, was long known as the " Boston Dentist," being almost the only person who confined his whole attention to denl istry.

Josiah Flagg was a student of medicine

under Dr. J. C. Warren, and in 1813 made

"/ravings of the large arteriesfor

Dr. Warren's work on "The Arteries."

A few years afterwards he made the draw-