A handwritten letter, sent durig the 1830s,  by the French urologist Jean Civiale to  Laurent-Theodore Biett, an eminent dermatologist of the same era. Civiale invented the lithotrite and performed the first transurethral lithotripsy. This was the first successful minimally-invasive lithotripsy, in  that it avoided the opening of the abdomen. What he did, of course, was insert his instrument through the urethra to reduce and crush the stone. He also “founded the first urological service in the world at the Necker Hospital in Paris.” He clearly was among the most important urologists of the 19th century.  Biett “is chiefly remembered  for introducing into France an anatomical methodology for analyzing skin diseases.” In the letter ( see text below)  Civiale asks his friend Dr. Biette for his help in securing entry to the baths in St. Louis for a patient, the patient being a servant of the illustrious Marquis de Laplace. The Marquis, of course, was an important figure in  the French scientific world during the 19th century—see Wiki link that follows.