The Wales Endoscope: The First American Cystoscope.

Introduction: Philipp Bozzini, a German army surgeon, in 1807 invented the Lichtleiter, the predecessor of the modern cystoscope. By the mid-1800s, several new instruments were created including one, a variation on Bozzini's instrument by Antoine Desormeaux in Paris. The William P.

Patent medicines for the treatment of genitourinary diseases.

The present article addresses the nineteenth-century advertising of patent medicines in America, sold to "cure" diseases of the kidney and bladder, the "loss of manhood", and "debilitating conditions of the generative system." Most of the proprietary remedies made extravagant claims of effectiveness concerning a wide variety of ailments, and some claimed to cure every disease. Examples of promotional excesses demonstrate how the public was persuaded to buy a kaleidoscope of largely useless and occasionally harmful patent nostrums.

The history of urology on postage stamps and cancellations.

Purpose: Many important phases and personalities in the history of urology have been depicted on postage stamps, stationery and cancellations.

Materials And Methods: The article gives a short recounting of several notable events that contributed to the development of urology as chronicled by philatelic material.

Results: Beginning with the Egyptian papyri and ending with a recently acknowledged urologist, the historical survey covers uroscopy, lithotomy, lithotrity, anatomy, pathology, instruments, surgical techniques in urology, imaging techniques of the urinary tract, dialysis and renal transplantation.