Johannes Scultetus (1595-1645)

Abstract

In my daily rounds at the hospital, I invariably encounter Johannes Scultetus—in his binder which is used each day on several of my patients. In asking the medical students or members of the house staff to apply a Scultetus binder, the name Scultetus is hardly known, nor is the term many-tailed binder. Who was this surgeon who designed the Scultetus, or many-tailed, binder? Johannes Scultetus (1595-1645) was one of the outstanding surgeons of the 17th century. He was born at Ulm, Germany, and later in his life became the City Physician. It was the custom for scientists of that era, in their writings, to use the Latin form of their name. The reason was that the writings were in Latin. Johannes Scultetus is the Latin translation for his German name, Johann Schulte. He attended the University of Padua, Italy, where he received his MD degree from that institution at the