Pott, Percivall (1713-1788)

British surgeon. At the age of 16 he was apprenticed to a surgeon at St Bartholomew's Hospital, to which he was appointed assistant surgeon in 1745 and surgeon in 1749. Pott became the leading surgeon of his day, and was very popular with his students. His important surgical writings include books on ruptures (1756), head injuries (1760), fractures and dislocations (1768), in which he described the fracture of the fibula since known as Pott's fracture, hydrocele (1762), chimney sweep's cancer of the scrotum (1775), the first time an occupational cancer had been described, and Pott's disease of the spine (1779). His Chirurgical Works (1790) include a short biography. Pott was born in London, England.