Happy RL Birthday John Palfijn!

and thank you for inventing forceps!

(Source : Somewhere on teh intarnet)

Jan Palfijn (also Jean, John, Palfyn, Kortrijk 1650 - Ghent 1730)

He publishes his "Nauwkeurige verhandeling van de voornaemste handwerken der heelkonst, zoo in de harde, als sagte deelen van 's menschen lichaem" [Exact treatise about the most important surgical techniques, as well in the hard as in the weak parts of human body] (Leiden 1710) and his famous "Anatomy of the human body" (171 especially intended for the surgeons. This book was still used in Japan at the end of the 19th century. Around 1720 he constructed a forceps ("Hand of Palfyn", which he submitted to the Paris Academy about 1723. After various improvements the forceps passed into general practice.