The cradle of pediatric surgery.

The nearly two hundred years history of the Hôpital des Enfants-Malades in Paris is described, with special emphasis on the development of pediatric surgery in this hospital. Described is also the work of the various surgeons-in-chief, who since 1899 were also appointed professors of pediatric surgery. Progress was slow during the first half of the nineteenth century, but after Guersant took over in 1844 the hospital became a center for this specialty.