Here is the second of the two medical subject cabinet cards offered on eBay, item number 320200818927. Thanks Dave, they are spectacular!
Here is an exceptional cabinet card of a medical subject, cancer of the eye, possibly a uveal lymphoma that has developed from breast cancer, but more likely a melanoma that has drained to the submandibular salivary gland where another tumor has started. There is evidence, also, of metastases in the left eye. The photograph is currently offered on eBay. If the links do not work, use the item number, 320200816664 within the eBay search fields. The owner writes that he has a second cabinet card for sale on ebay, a middle eastern man with a neck tumor.
Only one copy of this imperial portfolio seems to exist. A library catalog describes 25 plates of what are probably photomicrographs of tissue samples from the medulla oblongata.
Added Draper's article on making Daguerreotype portraits.
Added an article on the use of photography for studying the motions of the heart.
December 21
SYPHILIS AND VIRGINIA CIGARETTES. — Certain Southern tobacco firms have undertaken to advertise their wares by distributing photographs of the young women in their employ. The scheme is ingenious, and we doubt not commercially advantageous to photographers, cigarette-makers, and the cigarette girls. The majority of the pictures in question are of young women posed in positions calculated largely for the display of their lower limbs and neatly striped hosiery. With the morality of the policy which aims to sell cigarettes by exhibiting the legs of the female employees we have nothing to do. But it should merely, from a business point of view, eventually turn out to be a bad one. For only one thing can be thought of the women who consent to have themselves thus photographed. The Virginia firms are in effect informing the people, their customers, that some loose women are concerned in making their cigarettes. Now such women are constantly liable to have syphilis, and while syphilitic to roll cigarettes. It would be quite possible for infection to be sent with the articles upon which they work. It is well known that syphilitic cigar-makers have infected their cigars, and the same thing may happen with cigarettes. At any rate the intelligent customer will hardly care to purchase cigarettes made by those whom he may reasonably think are prostitutes. — The Medical Record (New York: Wood & Co.; March 13, 1886).
THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF CIGARETTE MAKERS. — We have been informed that the photographs to which reference was made in our last issue do not represent, as we supposed, the operatives in the cigarette factories of Richmond, but merely models who pose for various industries. The pictures which are considered objectionable have been withdrawn from circulation by the manufacturers. — The Medical Record (New York: Wood & Co.; March 20, 1886).
Added an extract from John Perdue Gray's 1874 annual report of the Utica State Insane Asylum in which he discusses the photographic work taking place at the asylum.
A great experiment by Charcot using a blank sheet of paper on which is a phantom photographic image impressed by a hyphotized subject.
Added a rough list of references used in searching out the early photo illustrated medical works. Added an essay by J. Howe Adams on photographing the insane at Norristown State Hospital for the Insane, a Canadian institution. The essay appeared in the Canada Lancet in 1890.
Finished up the bibliographical guide to the Mütter Museum Historic Medical Photographs with a proposal for the "Gretchen Worden differential scale" at the end. Cleaning off my desk. Here is another photograph from the Willard work cited in the guide. In my opinion it is an 8.5 on the Gretchen scale.
There is a simple dedication inscribed on the copyright page that speaks volumes, "For Gretchen" — a tribute to the abiding legacy of Gretchen Worden, director of the Mütter for thirty years up to the time of her passing in 2004. Gretchen had a bright intelligence that became absolutely incendiary when she lit off with her wicked sense of humor. You can hear this playful intelligence in the opening lines of her first monograph on the Mütter published in 2002:
"In most museums you go to look at objects. In the Mütter Museum, sometimes the objects seem to be looking at you. And, sometimes, the objects seem to be you."
That is Gretchen for you, spoofing with Mr. Memento Mori, letting you know that she's there among the trepanned skulls and spirit jars, and that you will be joining her soon — sooner if you lose your own sense of humor! And it is just like Gretchen to surprise us, posthumously, with yet another book, a wonderful companion atlas edited and published by her friend and collaborator Laura Lindgren, comprised of historic medical photographs from the archives of the Mutter. For the next few days, this scholar is going to rummage through the pages of the book and record some impressions, mostly bibliographical, mostly for you, Gretchen!
Work in progress on a bibliography for the Mütter Museum Historic Medical Photographs.
Rereading Nora L. Jones' excellent dissertation, The Mütter Museum: The Body as Spectacle, Specimen, and Art, in anticipation of an event which is coming up at the Mütter Museum next month.
Began work on the paper written by Rosapelly which is illustrated by a drawing — without a doubt from his own hand.
Rewrote the Benjamin Ball description.
A number of threads had to be unraveled before an accurate description of this paper could be written.
First photograph published of Graves' disease?
Word of the day...... epiphora.
Rewrote yesterday's posting.
Rare case of a primitive neuroectodermal tumor possibly arising from the spleen.
Note to self:
THE other day, happening to saunter down Old Bond-street, we joined a small knot of dilettanti who were gazing into the window of a print shop. What particularly excited their admiration was a set of photographs of Mother and Child in various attitudes, which looked very much like photographs of classical pictures. In fact, one looker-on, pointing to one group, said, " This here is a Madonna by Raffle." On scrutinising and looking into it rather closely, however, we could not help seeing that the naked arm of the Child exhibited four very well-marked vaccination scars; hence it was evident that the photographs were not copies from "Raffle," but had been taken from some cleverly-posed sitters in the 19th century. A vaccinated arm in the 16th century was a thing not in esse. This little incident set us thinking what better "certificate of successful vaccination" could any one desire than this? — The Medical Times and Gazette. London: Churchill & Sons, Vol. 1, 1866; Page 419.
Yet another paper and photograph by Montméja.
Completed cataloging the Reliquet paper and also this paper by Bassereau.
Began cataloging a paper by the urologist Reliquet.
Put up a description of Mesnet's paper.
Not finished with the Charcot paper, diverted onto a parallel path.
Note to self:
"Je présente à une femme en état d'hypnotisme," dit M. Charcot, "une feuille de papier blanc et je lui dis: 'Voici mon portrait ; le trouvez-vous ressemblant? '
Après un instant d'hésitation, elle répond : 'Ah ! oui, c'est votre photographie; voulez-vous me la donner ? '
"Afin de mieux imprimer dans l'esprit du sujet l'idée de ce portrait imaginaire, je lui indique du doigt un des bords du papier en affirmant que mon profil est tourné dans cette direction ; je décris mes habits, j'indique tel ou tel accessoire supposé. Puis, reprenant le papier, je le place parmi beaucoup d'autres feuilles blanches toutes pareilles, non sans y avoir fait une légère marque, presque imperceptible, pour le reconnaître. Enfin, je livre le tout au sujet, en lui disant d'examiner ce paquet et de voir si elle n'y trouve pas quelque chose qu'elle connaît.
Elle se meta feuilleter les papiers, et aussitôt qu'elle arrive au portrait supposé on l'entend s'écrier : ' Tiens ! votre photographie ! ' " Revue de l'hypnotisme et de la psychologie physiologique. edited by Edgar Bérillon, 1889 (page 228).
September 20.
Read and reread Dr. Oliver Sacks' article, The Abyss, in this issue of the New Yorker, pp. 100-111, an illuminating story on the amnesic patient Clive Wearing who suffered utter destruction of explicit memory function after contracting herpes encephalitis. Wearing's memory retention lasts no longer than a few seconds and he experiences each day as a series of episodic awakenings from unconsciousness. A page from his diary consists of a series of epiphanies entered every twenty minutes: "I do live!" or "For the first time I am awake." The case is interesting for what it reveals about the heirarchy of memory structures and the dynamics of conciousness. Wearing retained implicit or rote memory function and is able to stay conscious by practicing, for example, word association or by playing music — he was a trained classical musician and can still play the piano — and Dr. Sacks points out the importance of the limbic system (emotions) for invigorating memory. The case could also help researchers understand the mechanisms of lateral brain sequencing in producing memory and conciousness. One activity that helps Wearing stay conscious is imagining words for the letters on license plates so "NKR" becomes "New King of Russia," an exercise that requires the sequence of right brain ceding to left brain function.
Finished reading a fascinating paper on paralysis in two women, a report of a lecture given by Charcot. The paralysis exhibited by the subjects is that associated with somatic disorder and quite possibly the result of rape trauma. The problem which Charcot addresses is that the differential diagnosis of post-traumatic contracture in these two women is almost indistinguishable from that of multiple sclerosis.
Began the description.... will complete tomorrow.
A contribution to the literature on Aran-Duchenne disease.
Photograph of a wax model made by the artist Jules Baretta for Bazin at the Saint-Louis. Today's entry corresponds with a notice received from the Morbid Anatomy website which is now showing images of Joanna Ebenstein's show and lecture at the University of Alabama, titled Anatomical Theatre: Depictions of The Body, Disease, and Death in Medical Museums of the Western World. A lot of work went into the production of this rich and informative show — hopefully it will be sponsered by a venue here in New York.
A curious case of lateralism in limb defect affecting, primarily, the left arm and the right leg.
Cranial fibroma cured by spicules of zinc chloride and poltices of Vienna paste.
Note to self:
Le but que nous poursuivons en faisant photographier les idiots et les imbéciles, à leur arrivée dans le service, et en reprenant chaque année leur photographie, c'est de mettre en relief, et d'une manière indiscutable, les progrès réalisés par le traitement, par l'éducation. Nous avons fait faire, à la Salpêtrière, par M. Loreau,en 1880, la photographie de 5 adultes et de 90 enfants. L'an prochain, nous espérons pouvoir donner quelques renseignements sur cette application de la photographie à la pathologie du système nerveux. — Bourneville (1881) Recherches cliniques et thérapeutiques sur l'épilepsie, l'hystérie et l'idiotie. Page xxiii.
Finished the Bourneville description.
Began reading another Bourneville paper. Here is a remarkably sad passage reporting the premonitory hallucinations of a 16 year-old girl who died from sepsis after giving birth:
Elle a des cauchemars, des hallucinations : « Vous ne savez pas, dit-elle, j'ai vu le diable ; il est sorti de la glace et s'est avancé vers mon lit. Il m'a mise dans un drap en me donnant des coups, puis m'a emportée dans l'enfer. Il y a un grand feu, des flammes, des fleurs...Mais je ne sais plus comment il m'a rapportée... Il va encore revenir ce soir... J'ai peur...Le diable est grand et laid.
She has nightmares, hallucinations: "You do not know," she said, "I saw the devil. He came through the window pane and advanced towards my bed. He beat me, wrapped me in a cloth, and carried me off to hell. There was a great fire of flames, flowers....But I dont know how I got back.....He will return tonight....I am afraid.....The devil is huge and ugly.
Put up a jpeg of the photograph illustrating the Voillemier paper. Also found several articles on Jennifer Sutton, the heart transplant patient who donated her "old" heart to the Wellcome museum in London. Just do a boolean search of her name to bring up the information on her donation and pictures of her heart on display at the Wellcome. Below is a photograph of a whale heart which is also on display. The whale heart beats about 10 times a minute, the hummingbird up to 1200 times, but all animal hearts appear to have a limit of 1 billion beats over a lifespan. The human heart is the exception, attaining a billion beats by the age of 31 years. — information provided by the Wellcome.
Cancer of the male breast. The first photograph published of this rare affliction.
Morbid Anatomy is featuring several images from the upcoming Christies auction, Anatomy as Art: The Dean Edell Medical Collection which is scheduled for October 5. Jeremy Norman wrote the catalog so it promises to be an instant classic.
Third and final paper on hemimelia published in the Revue during 1871.
The first photographs taken for a case of hereditary multiple exostoses (HME).
Second of three articles on hemimelia.
Birth defect of the lower arm. The baby and its mother were moved from the maternity wards of Salpêtrière when it was bombed by the Prussians in January 1871.
Here is a study on a flare up of syphilis brought on by pregnancy.
Here is a paper by a veterinarian who ascended to the pantheon of 19th century neurologists and succeeded Charcot at Salpetriere.
Began cataloging a paper by Bourneville on operative treatment of cicatrices from burns. A sad case invloving a 7 year-old girl.
A paper on trichiniasis by J. B. Edwards who contributed to the literature on the Talbot v. Laroche patent infringement trial.
Added a jpeg of the first published photograph of Prader-Willi.
Reading James S. Jaffe's June 23 blog about his trip to the Salon International du Livre Ancien brings to mind the selection of French works here in the Cabinet. Best of all the books that are catalogued here, the Meyer Traité des operations qui se pratiquent sur l'oeil, is a model of perfection in the book arts. The paper is rich and heavy, the letterpress generous to the eyes and the wood engravings are jewels set into the text. No expense was spared for Montméja's photographs which are so spooky that the book stops working as a medical science manual on surgery of the eye and becomes an atlas from a stygian realm.
Joanna Ebenstein, a gifted photographer and friend of the Cabinet, sent along this notice of a traveling exhibition of her photographs titled "Anatomical Theatre: Depictions of The Body, Disease, and Death in Medical Museums of the Western World." It is a body of work culminating from her pilgrimage to the great museum anatomical repositories of Europe and America, funded in part by a Reynolds Associates research fellowship. Hopefully the exhibition will find a gallery here in New York.
Still reading the Bourneville. Added a jpeg of one of the plates.
Back to work cataloguing the Revue.
Finally began cataloging Donné.
August 11.
Note to self — scanning for clues of lateral brain function that appear in Richard Preston's article, An error in the code. The article profiles Lesch-Nyhan patients and appears in this issue of the New Yorker, August 13.
"In the Lesch-Nyhan brains, a lemon-size area containing structures called the basal ganglia, near the center of the brain, had eighty per cent less dopamine–an important neurotransmitter– than a normal brain." — p. 34.
"To Elrod's horror, his left hand picked up a fork and used it to stab his nose and gouge it out, permanently mutilating his face. 'My left side is my devil side,' he told me................If he thought that his left hand was threatening him or someone else, he would grab it or swat it with his right hand." — p. 33.
"Fuck you. Nice to meet you." — p. 34.
" 'If you ask them [Lesch-Nyhan patients] to look at a red ball, for instance, their eyes go to everything except the red ball, and thay can't explain why. Then, if you introduce a yellow ball into their field of view, but you don't say anything about it, they watch the yellow ball. The moment you draw their attention to it, however, they look away.' " — p. 35.
Added a photograph of one of the plates in the Houel catalog.
Paper on a case of tuberculous elephantiasis in the lower leg of a 19 year old female.
This paper is illustrated with the first published photograph of kidney stones.
August 8.
More Ruysch — the patron saint of the Cabinet.
Double hare-lip by Duplay.
This poor girl not only lost her mother, but suffered from a virulent disease that ground down her fingers and probably disfigured her face. Diagnosis is scrofuloderma, an old term for cutaneous tuberculosis, but given the severity of her symptoms it probably traversed a spectrum, possibly complicating a congenital condition, perhaps not even tubercular in origin — nontuberculous mycobacterium fortuitum, for example, is known to imitate the symptoms of tubercular lupus. The answers are buried in time.
Post mortem preparation of a congenital deformity.
Added the composite photograph made by Duchenne and published in the Revue.
Probably the first photograph taken of a gangrene infection resulting in spontaneous amputation.
Curious case of osseous metaplasia in a fatty tumor. Photograph is unverified.
Possibly the first published photograph of a drawing of the inner eye. Other tracts would follow, that were also illustrated by photographic reproductions of fundus oculi drawings, but it would be decades before actual photographs could be made and used.
Another dramatic photograph by Montméja of virulent syphlitic lesions on the arm of a young 23 year-old couturiére. The lesions are aptly described by their French name, coquillages, seashells.
Another paper by Tillaux. Diagnosis unclear. Possibly a Guyon's canal lipoma.
Added the photograph of Ozanam's pulsograph.
First published photograph of chronic rheumatism, a disease which afflicts the chronicler of the Cabinet.
Added one of the photos that illustrate the Robin paper.
Another paper on teratology with two photographs.
Made corrections to the description of Robin which has three photographic plates, not two. Was also able to identify the subject as Blanche Dumas. Her story can be read here: Blanche Dumas
Completed the description for Vernois.
Found this wonderful essay by Veronique Campion-Vincent titled "The Tell-Tale Eye" on the subject of the folklore myths evoked by photography and the eyes of murder victims, once believed to retain last and final impressions of their assassins much like cameras. She discusses Vernois.
Began studying this remarkable document in the history of photography. It is a paper by Vernois in which he debunks a daguerreotype taken of the retina sectioned from the body of a murder victim. Dr. Bourion who took the photo, circulated it among the members of Société de médecine légale, claiming that it held the image of the assassin and represented the last visual perception of the murdered woman, forever burned into her retina from the moment of her death.
July 2.
A scholar sent along this glimpse into the professional life of O. G. Mason, administrative photographer at Bellevue.....Thanks!!
"O. G. Mason, of the Bellevue Hospital, receives a lengthy notice in the New York Sun, of December 7th. Considerable interesting information is brought out in this, which extends to two and a half columns. In it we learn that Mr. Mason has been practically giving his services to the hospital, receiving as payment only five dollars for each of the bodies he photographs, and this amounts to less than six hundred dollars a year. Mr. Mason is willing to thus practically give his services because he is interested in the work and wants to continue it. He knows very well that if he should recieve a salary at all commensurate with the services which he renders, the office would soon become a political one, and he would be unable to hold it for any length of time." — The Photographic Times 20: 482 (12 Dec. 1890), p. 618.
Dr. Ozanam's device which charted the pulse photographically.
Note to self: Camera or Chimæra.
The Camera, a journal devoted to photography, recently recorded two observations which, if verified, might greatly aid in the early diagnosis of eruptive diseases. The negative of a child having aparently clear skin, showed the face to be covered with an eruption. Three days later an eruption of urticaria appeared.
In the second case, the child's photograph showed spots upon his face a fortnight before an attack of small-pox. In many affections there is an indistinct mottling of the skin before the characteristic eruption actually appears. If this condition can be intensified in a photograph of the patient, it may aid in forming an early diagnosis. Photographers, however, are frequently troubled by these plates with "measles," when no eruption is present or afterward appears upon the skin. — extract page 120, Journal of Cutaneous and Genito-urinary Diseases, 1887.
Tumors of the jaw.
A paper by Tillaux.
A paper on anencephaly misattributed to Bourneville in the Surgeon General catalog.
Quinquaud's paper and photograph of a case of polymastia in the axillar positions of both milk lines.
A friend of the Cabinet sent along this image of "Syphilis Pigmentaire" which was first published in the Hardy atlas, Clinique Photographique but republished here to illustrate a paper by Guibout. Thankyou!
A paper on a case of rabies by an intern at the Pitié. Was unable to find any other works by this author.
Ignipuncture in a case of osteitis of the shoulder joint caused by syphilis.
Skull.
Second part of Gosselin's paper on elephantiasis.
Cazeaux on abnormalities in the pelvic basin.
A scholar sent this link to a NYTimes article on the new Wellcome Medical Museum in London which opened its doors to the public this week. Access to the article requires a logon process, unfortunately. Here, however, is a link to the Yahoo article. A Google search will probably bring together much more information on the museum.
Added an image map with links to 9 more plates in the Manassei atlas. The jpegs were donated by a scholar in France who owns a copy of the book. Thankyou!
Two of Montméja's photomicrographs published here to stir up sales of his atlas.
This paper by Bourneville may be the first pathological description of Hemiconvulsions-hemiplegia-epilepsy syndrome, although I can find no citation in the current literature on acquired hemiplegias.
Excellent article by Mike Jay on the Shadow of the air loom exhibition which took place recently at the Prinzhorn.
Husson's paper on field hospitals.
Profeta's paper on leprosy in Italy.
Finished cataloging Profeta's prospectus.
Began work on Profeta's prospectus for the Decennio.
Finished the description for Profeta's atlas.
Here is a link to an excellent essay by Jonathan Lethem on copyright and the concept of ownership within the "gift economy" of art and language. Readers of the Cabinet will profit, especially, by reading the section titled "Undiscovered Public Knowledge" which suggests the potential rewards that derive from a convening of art and medicine.
Began researching Profeta's photographic works.
Finished working on the description for Manassei's atlas of skin diseases. Will add more images at a later date.
Began working on the description for Manassei's atlas of skin diseases.
An unusual bilateral port-wine nevus which appears to involve only the V-2 and V-3 regions of the trigeminal nerve. Photograph is included with the description.
A pretty good paper on "white leprosy" written by an intern at the Saint-Louis.
Robin's extraordinary case of comparative anatomy.
Robin's extraordinary case of comparative anatomy.
Bourneville's paper on aneurism, written one year before he obtained his doctorate.
Unusual case of Fraser's syndrome without the cryptophthalmos.
Paper on elephantiasis, probably non-filarial.
Dramatic photograph of hypospadia involving the penis and scrotum.
Montméja's father was a physician who lived in the Sarlat district of France.
This disease is probably Pinta.
Another work by Hardy and Montméja.
One of France's most brilliant surgeons. Word of the day: "nuchal".
Revised the description to Després.
Finished revising the Duchenne description.
Revising the Duchenne description......again.
A paper by Armand Després who is also remembered for publishing an edition of La Fontaine's fables.
Revised the Duchenne description.
A paper by Duchenne with portraits of hereditary facial paralysis.
Great pleasure attends this announcement of the publication of John Wood's book of poems, Endurance and Suffering: Narratives of Disease in the 19th Century. Readers of the Cabinet will finally have a chance to hold in their hands a treasurable nonpareil of the book arts and a masterpiece of the poetic arts that until now was only accessible here as a poor web document. Congratulations to the publisher, Galerie Vevais, for correcting this wrong and recognizing the importance of John Wood's work which reclaims the genius of the American voice.
Swann has three marvelous landmarks of photography in its May 22nd sale. The first two are works by Dr. Peter Henry Emerson (1856–1936), an important contributor to aesthetic photography: Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads (lot 62) and Marsh Leaves (lot 63). The third lot is a first edition of Duchenne's Mécanisme de la physionomie humaine. (lot 59).
Important reading for visitors to the Cabinet. This March 4 Daily News article covers the art of Jeremiah Kyle Drake which is responsive to the terror of a "Buck 50" — street gang parlance for gashing open a victim's cheek, usually that of a female victim.
Here is a classification of hypertrophic eczema made by Alfred Hardy.
Two observations in the repair of perineal fistula.
First published photograph of Prader-Willi syndrome.
Important classification of epithelioma presented by Cornil.
Chronic case of something resembling papilloma virus in the labia of a 19 year old woman, discussed by Fournier. So far, it is the only photo-illustrated work of his that I have found, except for his magnificent 1890 atlas on the Saint-Louis museum which has a few insignificant phototypes.
Anévrysme poplité.
Elephantiasis.
Case notes by Tarnier in the Revue Photographique.
Finished with Wolkowitsch. Added a report to O. G. Mason. Will commence work on Revue Photographique.
Added O. G. Mason's obituary.
April 10.
<-----------Decided to add this section on the menu for O. G. Mason which will make referencing inside the Wikipedia article easier.
Wrote a Wikipedia page on O. G. Mason (after purchasing his obituary from the NY Times). Recommended reading.
Completed cataloguing Gowers, added a jpeg of one of the plates. Still reading Wolkowitsch.
Here are jpegs of two of the plates in the Wolkowitsch. Wikipedia has scant information on Rhinoscleroma so I provided it with a couple of lines of historical reference.
Began cataloguing Wolkowitsch. This is a scarce Russian dissertation on rhinoscleroma published in 1888 with 9 extraordinary photogravures of patients including one of a 14 month child.
Began cataloging Gowers's opus major on ophthalmoscopy. The book is ordered and when it arrives I will scan a few of the plates to add to the description. The plates are all autotype reproductions of his own drawings. A digital copy is accessible through Google Books.
Finished cataloguing Horsley and Beevor's validation of Ferrier.
Began cataloguing Horsley and Beevor's validation of Ferrier, illustrated with autotypes.
Completed the cataloguing of Horsley and Gowers.
Began cataloguing a landmark in neurosurgery by Horsley and Gowers.
Finished reading and cataloging Lund.
Began cataloging Lund.
Finished cataloging Shipman, added a jpeg of the frontispiece albumen.
Began cataloging Shipman's homœopathy guide.
Larrieu's biography of Gui Patin.
Finished cataloging Aude's biography of Jules Roux, added a jpeg of the frontispiece.
Begun cataloging Aude's biography of Jules Roux.
Finished cataloging Schoemaker, added the jpeg.
Started cataloging an article by Schoemaker written for the Nederlandsch Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, a journal that is still in publication. Encountered some difficulty in the translation, but hopefully it is accurate.
Wight's amputation for osteosarcoma.
Delafield's Studies in Pathological Anatomy. He is the author and artist of the plates.
Skingrafting. The treatments actually took hold and the patient was recovering, but she finally succumbed to a secondary infection.
Trichophytosis barbæ. Also got documentation — from a kind librarian at the University of Cinncinnati, Lloyd Library — of the photographs in the Herlant monograph which was added a few days ago.
Hare lip.
Harlequin ichthyosis, an extremely rare congenital disease. Only around 100 cases are cited in the medical canon.
First successful rhinoplasty implant.
Facial paralysis associated with ear disease by a New York ear surgeon.
A portfolio of photographs on military medicine.
Another French dissertation.
There are only a few nineteenth century botanical books with photographic plates. This one still needs to be verified.
Paul Broca's comparative anatomy of the gorilla brain.
A health spa in Switzerland that was owned by an entrepreneurial physician.
Leube's tube.
A study on ground water sources of the typhus epidemic in Hamburg, 1885-1888.
February 1.
Further evidence of the chirality of conciousness came to light yesterday in a fascinating paper released by researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital and published in the journal Neuron. Doctors Sealfon and his colleagues studied why "... drugs like lisuride, which are similar in chemical structure to hallucinogens and switch on the exact same serotonin 2A receptor, do not have a similar impact on mood and behavior." What was revealed by their study is that the 2A receptor has what can be roughly described as two on-switches and that lysergic acid will follow a path that deviates from the path taken by lisuride, a similar compound. More...
A report on leprosy by a physician of questionable moral repute. By his own admission, he tried to innoculate two twelve year-old girls with the disease, but failed, fortunately.
Hueter's instrument.
An early Russian contribution to the leprosy literature.
Before the cavities of the human body could be photographed through an endoscope, a cold source of electric light had to be perfected.
Added a jpeg of Hitchcock.
The second dean of Harvard School of Dentistry who died at age 35 and two years after his inauguration at the school.
A treatise on forensics.
January 25.
A correspondent of the Cabinet sent over a fascinating anatomical disquisition regarding a dissection portrayed by Rembrandt in 1632. An English translation of the essay first appeared last year in the Journal of Hand Surgery, and is titled:
"The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt (1632): A Comparison of the Painting With a Dissected Left Forearm of a Dutch Male Cadaver."
Surgeons at the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands conducted the dissection with the intention of duplicating the image that Rembrandt painted. In a few days and pending permission of the authors I will provide further details and an image or two from the article.
Updated Bennett with additional information including the photographer's name.
This 1850 salt print by Dr. John Murray sold at auction yesterday. More information is provided by the link above. He was not the first photographer in India — preceded (by a few months) by Dr. William Brooke O'Shaughnessy (1808-1889).
Parasitologist T. R. Lewis who gave Koch a little obstruction.
This is a cutting of a journal article written by Osler in 1879, with an attached photograph. Probably only a few copies were circulated with the photo.
Link to another work by Mayer, this on the anatomy of the Eustachian tube.
A final quote from the Mosso which was added to the bibliography a few days ago:
Leonardo da Vinci, der gewiss einer der grössten Kenner des menschlichen Antlisses war, hatte die desselben mit solcher Liebe studirt, dass die Zeichnungen seiner Präparate durch die Genauigkeit ihrer kleinsten Einzelheiten noch heute die Bewunderung der Gelehrten erregen.
"Studiere erst die Wissenschaft und dann folge ihrer Tochter, der Kunst," sagte Leonardo seinen Schülern, und diese Worte sind seiner würdig, seiner, der nicht nur ein grosser Künstler und Mathematiker und ein bedeutender Philosoph war, sondern der das weit schwerer zu erringende Verdienst hatte, ein Neuerer der Wissenschaft und einer der Gründer der experimentellen Methode zu sein.
A favorite pursuit of the Cabinet is for the French doctoral dissertation from the nineteenth century which has a mounted photograph. Here is one on hyperostosis.
Finished reading sections of the Mosso and put up a description.
Mosso's influential study on the psychogenic effects of traumatic injury.
Finished work on the Charcot paper. Will proceed with an interesting book by Mosso.
Notes to self: William James advised his student, Gertrude Stein, to "reject nothing!" This is the first principal of modernism and Robert Richardson picked up on this theme with his new biography on James titled "William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism." Here in the Cabinet, cooks the idea that the invention of photography brought about this principal. The camera rejects nothing and thereby dispossesses art of a body of values.
William James collected photographs pertaining to physiognomy.
