THE UROLOGIC TRADITION OF PRECI

The Preci School was not as well known as those of Salerno and Montpel lier, and its members were often confused with quack doctors from near by Cerretani who begged for alms for medical and religious foundations as a profession. The Preci School surgeons performed lithotomy, phleb otomy and castration, designing and making their own instruments, whic h were well ahead of their time and used by other surgeons only centur ies later. Lithotrity was commonly employed using such tools, before i t was known elsewhere. They practised cauterization and disinfection b y fire. The Preci School was also familiar with differential diagnosis and uroscopy, which were essential before treating stone disease. The school came to an end after 1751, when a Papal edict declared that on ly surgeons with a degree could remove stones.