Book Review
(Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Tags: Book Review Source Type: research
Francois Broussais (1772-1838)
(Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: de Parades, V. Tags: Medical statues Source Type: research
Lest we forget: Arthur Martin-Leake, VC and Bar, FRCS
(Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Connor, H. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Physicians of the Bear-Flag Republic
In the mid-nineteenth century, three events coincided to make California the 31st state of the USA: The Mexican-American war of 1846–1848, The Bear Flag Revolt of 1846 and the discovery of gold in 1848. Within a few years a population explosion had occurred and with it came the need for organization of the practice of medicine. This paper outlines the biographies of some physicians who were instrumental in the early years of the Golden State. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Bengtsson, B.-O. S. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
The afterlife of Laurence Sterne (1713-1768): Body snatching, dissection and the role of Cambridge anatomist Charles Collignon
This paper aims to highlight the practice of body snatching from graves in the 1700s for the purpose of providing corpses for anatomical dissection, and for stocking anatomy museums. To do this, we examine the exhumation and dissection of the famous eighteenth-century novelist Laurence Sterne and explore the involvement of Charles Collignon, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Cambridge. We also show that osteological and cut-mark analysis of a skull purported to be that of Sterne, currently housed in the Duckworth Collection at Cambridge, provides the key to solving the mystery surrounding why Sterne was resurrected...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Dittmar, J. M., Mitchell, P. D. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Bayard Holmes (1852-1924) and Henry Cotton (1869-1933): Surgeon-psychiatrists and their tragic quest to cure schizophrenia
Early 20th-century medicine was dominated by the infectious theory of disease. Some leading physicians believed that infection or the accumulation of toxic substances from bacterial stasis caused a wide range of diseases, including schizophrenia. In the case of schizophrenia, one theory held that intestinal stasis lead to the bacterial production of toxins that affected brain function, resulting in psychotic illness. This theory predicted that clearing the stasis by drainage or by removal of the offending organ would be curative. Bayard Holmes and Henry Cotton, surgeon–psychiatrists, achieved notoriety for their effo...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Davidson, J. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Mistress Joyce Jeffreys and her physician, Dr Bridstock Harford (1607-1695)
The notebooks of Joyce Jeffreys, a wealthy Hereford businesswoman in the mid-17th century, provide information about the medicines she purchased and the fees she paid to her medical advisors. Her physician, Dr Bridstock Harford, was a successful doctor but a troublesome neighbour, who was often the subject of litigation. As an ardent parliamentarian, he held public offices during the Commonwealth. Later his opinions mellowed and he ended his days as a loyal subject of the king and a benefactor to his city. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Connor, H. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Nerve-stretching in the 19th century
Operative nerve-stretching was first described in 1872 to relieve incurable pain from sciatica and tabes dorsalis. It became popular for 20 years and numerous articles were published on the subject. It had many complications but relief was only transient and, consequently, it fell into disuse. This paper analyses the literature, contemporary views on the benefits of nerve stretching and its influence on more recent neurological practice. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Silver, J. R., Weiner, M.-F. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Ludwig Edelstein (1902-1965): a German historian of medicine in North American exile and the emergence of the modern Hippocratic Oath
Already emerging as an original thinker in the field of classical philology and history of medicine, German scholar Ludwig Edelstein became one of many scholars who lost his academic position when the National Socialists came to power in early 1933. This paper details his life before and after his difficult transition from Europe to North America, while reviewing the lasting significance of his translation and commentary on the Hippocratic Oath. (Source: Journal of Medical Biography)
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Pow, S., Stahnisch, F. W. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Ludovico Maria Barbieri (1662-1728), the unknown 17th century physician
During the 17th century, Ludovico Maria Barbieri from Imola, Italy, discussed the requirement of a gas, seemingly oxygen, for living beings to function. On 6 December 1680, he published his only known work ‘Spiritus nitro-aerei operations in microcosmo’ in which he reviewed the function of oxygen and the apparatus he used based on the use of experiments rather than just theory. The scarcity of information about his life and work has resulted usually in him being a neglected figure in Italy. In this manuscript we uncover the extant information about his life and reveal that he had been a restless spirit and a gr...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Kousoulis, A. A., Armenis, I., Papandreou, C., Marinelis, A., Marineli, F., Tsoucalas, G., Androutsos, G. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Illustrating microorganisms: Sir William Watson Cheyne (1852-1932) and bacteriology
Sir William Watson Cheyne is largely known to medical history as Lord Lister’s ‘trusted assistant’.1 He spent a lifetime defending Joseph Lister’s (1827–1912) antiseptic principle in the wake of scepticism and misunderstanding. However, his main contribution to Lister’s work was in the embryonic field of bacteriology in the 1870s–1890s, which brought him into contact with continental researchers, particularly Robert Koch (1843–1910). In this field, Cheyne built an independent reputation as an assessor, chronicler and promoter of continental laboratory methodology. He pioneere...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Coutts, J. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Dame Maud McCarthy (1859-1949): Matron-in-Chief, British Expeditionary Forces France and Flanders, First World War
Emma Maud McCarthy was one of the most decorated nurses of the First World War. Born in Sydney in 1859, she trained as a nurse at The London Hospital in England. She was one of the first nurses to go to the South African War and in 1914 was one of the first members of Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service. Maud McCarthy went to France as Matron-in-Chief of British, Colonial and US nursing services until the end of hostilities in 1918. After the First World War she became Matron-in-Chief of the Territorial Army Nursing Service and retired five years later. She was appointed Dame Grand Cross in 1918 and earned awa...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Shields, R., Shields, L. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Sir William Turner (1832-1916) - Lancastrian, anatomist and champion of the Victorian era
Sir William Turner, a Lancastrian, was renowned as a scientist, anatomist and a great reformer of medical education. His students became anatomists at various international institutions, which consequently shaped the future of anatomy as a subject matter both in the United Kingdom and in South Africa. Although Turner’s accomplishments have been documented, little is known about the details that determined his career path and the individuals that shaped his future. Here the authors aim to highlight some aspects of Turner’s academic achievements and his personal life as well as how he crossed paths with other gre...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Wessels, Q., Correia, J. C., Taylor, A. M. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Dr Eugenia Rose Aylmer Cooper (1898-1991): Manchester's renowned female anatomist and neurohistologist
Having excelled in histology, Dr Eugenia Cooper, following graduation in medicine in Manchester, embarked on a career spanning 44 years in anatomy and histology at Manchester University. Her inimitable character was readily remembered by those she had taught. She was the first female graduate to gain an MD with gold medal for her thesis on the histology of the endocrine organs. However, her main study was the development of the human brainstem from the early weeks of gestation, which remains the basis for anatomical understanding today. More controversial was her theory on circulation and absorption of the cerebrospinal fl...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Shreeve, D. R. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
An Asclepiad family - The Chamberlens and DeLaunes, 1569-1792: Five generations of surgeons, physicians, accoucheurs and apothecaries
When in 1747 Dr Peter Chamberlen wrote in his apologia, ‘A Voice in Rhama', that he was nursed up (as from the Cradle) to all Parts of Physick, and that in Asclepiad-Families, he was not referring simply to his father and uncle, the Peters (Younger and Elder) Chamberlen of obstetric forceps’ fame. They were surgeons and accoucheurs; his mother’s family counted clergymen as well as physicians and apothecaries among their number and the young Peter must indeed have grown up in a family steeped in both medical practice and religious study. Both families were refugees from the religious terrors of sixteenth c...
Source: Journal of Medical Biography - October 26, 2016 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Russell, L. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
