Hazard Arnold Potter, an American surgeon, born in Potter township, Ontario (now Yates) co., N. Y., Dec. 21, 1810, died at Geneva, N. Y., Dec. 2,1869. He graduated M. D. at Bow-doin college in 1835, and began practice in Rhode Island, but after a residence there of a few months returned to his native place. From 1853 till his death he resided in Geneva. In 1844 he trephined the spine for depressed fracture of the arches of the fifth and sixth vertebrae, and subsequently he performed the same operation four times, twice successfully. He performed ligature of the carotid artery five times, four times successfully, removed the upper jaw six and the lower five times, and successfully removed the fifth rib on the left side from the sternum to within 3 in. of the spine, for caries of the bone accompanied by abscess in the left hypochondrium. Dr. Potter was early convinced of the safety of operations within the abdominal cavity, and in 1843 performed gastrotomy for the relief of intussusception of the bowels, with perfect success. He removed fibrous tumors of the uterus from within the abdominal cavity five times, and successfully in three cases. He extirpated by ovariotomy 22 ovarian tumors, 14 of them successfully, and in one of the sucess-ful cases both ovaries were removed at the same time.

In another case, also successful, the operation was repeated upon the same patient twice with an interval of 17 months. In a case of amputation at the hip joint reported in June, 1854, proceeding as if for amputation at the upper third of the femur by flaps, he extended the external incision up to the trochanter major, and dissected out the head of the bone, by this method obtaining a large muscular stump for an artificial limb. He served as regimental surgeon of the 50th New York engineers in 1862.