The Church of Saint Séverin.

Abstract

To the Editor.— The interesting description (238:2692, 1977) on the Church of Saint Severin on the cover of the June 20, 1977, issue ofThe Journalomitted part of the medical history associated with this remarkable edifice. 1 The galleries referred to in the cover article are the present day remains of a charnel house that surrounded a burial ground. A charnel house is a structure attached to a church, whereas an ossuary is not necessarily located on church grounds. The galleries of Saint Severin Church look much as they did during the 15th century. As the burial ground became congested, the charnel house walls, essentially hollow spaces, were filled with the bones of the dead taken from their graves. According to the known history of Saint Severin Church, it was on this burial ground that the first recorded operation for gallstones was performed in France. In 1474 a surgeon