Excerpt:
Diseases of the uro-genital tract are as old as the human species itself. Archaeological findings, as well as the very first writings, indicate that our ancestors were plagued by the same kind of discomforts routinely encountered in modern urological practice. For example, in a 5,000-year-old mummy of a child, a huge bladder stone was found. Circumcision and removal of the penile foreskin was probably the first operation ever performed on a routine basis. The importance of urinary stone disease and the dangers of treating bladder stones were already fully recognised by Hippocrates, `The Father of Medicine`. Hippocrates recognised the importance of the analysis and judgment of human excreta. This started a tradition of many ages of urine-analysis by inspection (uroscopy) and tasting.