Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach, a German surgeon, born in Konigsberg, Feb. 1, 1792, died in Berlin, Nov. 11, 1847. He was the son of a professor of theology, and at first devoted himself to that study, but joined in the war against Napoleon, serving as a volunteer in a company of Mecklenburg troops from 1813 to 1815. He afterward resumed his theological studies, which he exchanged for the pursuit of medicine. Having taken his medical degree at Wurzburg in 1822, he established himself at Berlin, where in 1830 he was appointed head surgeon of one of the hospitals, two years after professor in the university, and in 1840 director of clinical surgery. He was distinguished for his dexterity in the use of the scalpel, for the success of his operations in the formation of artificial noses, cheeks, lips, etc, and for the cures which he effected in cases of squinting and stammering. He also made great improvements in surgical instruments. Among his works are: "Operative Surgery," which has been translated into several different languages; "Surgical Experiences, especially with regard to the Restoration of Portions of the Human Body which have been destroyed;" "The Cure of Stammering by a new Surgical Operation;" and "On the Cutting of the Sinews and Muscles."