ABSTRACT
As Bryant has suggested, in some points, the history of ovariotomy (incision into the ovary) and/or oophorectomy (removal of the ovary) to treat diseases of the ovary would suggest that its rst successes happened to those who undertook it ignorantly, and stumbled on an unexpected triumph [3]. However, this was all taking place centuries ago, before the era of modern medicine and many of the older writers either timidly advocated the operation in theory or else were overwhelmed with the apparent inherent dangers of the undertaking. Still, the fact that F. Platen of the University of Basle published his observations in 1680 in an attempt to justify the operation suggests there must have been a case undertaken here or there previously [3].
