Louis McLane Tiffany

Background

Louis was born on October 10, 1844 in Baltimore, Md. He was the son of Henry and Sally Jones (McLane) Tiffany, and a descendant of Humphrey Tiffany who was in Massachusetts in 1660. His maternal grandfather was Louis McLane.

Education

Tiffany obtained his academic education at Cambridge University, England, receiving the B. A. degree from Emmanuel College in 1867. He was graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1868, with the degree of M. D. It was customary at the time for medical students to enter the offices of professors as office students, and Tiffany became an office student of Nathan R. Smith. The influence of this association was lifelong.

Career

The year after his graduation he began to teach as demonstrator of anatomy and became professor of operative surgery in 1874, succeeding Christopher Johnston as professor of surgery in 1880. He retained this position until the year before his retirement in 1903.

Tiffany entered upon the practice of surgery in the pre-antiseptic days; he promptly accepted Lister's principle but often questioned the method employed. In the disinfection of the skin he laid great stress on the mechanical effects of soap and water, but did not deny the value of chemical disinfectants. He was always a believer in clean hands, clean field, and clean surroundings. He practised and taught the advantage of sharp rather than blunt dissection, believing that the vitality of the tissues was thus better preserved and the dangers of tension in a wound reduced. Drainage was an important part of his technique and in his early days must have contributed largely to his good results. He was ambidextrous, using the knife first in one hand then in the other--a maneuver that gave a decided flourish to his operations.

In many fields he was a pioneer; he is credited with performing the first nephrolithotomy in America, and excised the Gasserian ganglion for trifacial neurology a few months after Frank Hartley and F. Krause had performed the same operation almost simultaneously in New York and in Germany. He also performed the first successful gastro-enterostomy in Baltimore in October 1892. A considerable number of papers in the surgical literature came from Tiffany's pen. As a member of several professional societies, he took an active part in the proceedings and discussions.

He died on October 23, 1916.

Achievements

• For many years Louis McLane Tiffany dominated surgical thought as well as surgical practice in Maryland. He is credited with performing the first nephrolithotomy in America, and excised the Gasserian ganglion for trifacial neurology.

Works

• book

  • COMPARISON BETWEEN THE SURGICAL DISEASES OF THE WHITE AND COLORED RACES

    (NY 1887. Author Professor of Surgery University of Maryla...)

Membership

He was a member of several professional societies. He was at different times president of the Baltimore Medical Association, the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, the Southern Surgical and Gynecological Association, and the American Surgical Association, and was an honorary fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Personality

A man of distinguished appearance, tall, of splendid proportion, with a commanding manner and address, he was an impressive figure in any company. Socially he was a delightful companion but in dispute he was an opponent to be dreaded.

Connections

In August 1871 he was married to Madeline, the daughter of M. Woolsey Borland, of Boston. They had two children, one of whom survived him. After the death of his wife he was married, in January 1879, to Evelyn May Bayly, the daughter of Thomas H. Bayly, 1810-1856.

Father:

Henry Tiffany

Mother:

Sarah Jones Tiffany

Daughter:

Katharine McLane Abbott

Son:

Louis McLane Tiffany, Jr.

Spouse (2):

Evelyn May Bayly

Spouse (1):

Madeline Tiffany

References

• Who's Who in America, 1916 - 1917, Vol. IX 9: A Biographical Dictionary Of Notable Living Men And Women In The United States
• A history of the Massachusetts Medical Society: With brief biographies of the founders and chief officers, 1781-1922