“Ok, I’ll just leave the front here and hang the tentacles over here, get this squid drawn up before we bring in the next haul, and make it more accurate than last time! I want the squid exactly as it is; they don’t all look the same!”

Several hours later…

“DAMNIT CHARLES, I DIDN’T MEAN DRAW THE SQUID EXACTLY AS IT WAS!”

Cephalopoda of the Hawaiian Islands. S. Stillman Berry, 1914.

Double Penis

For those of you wondering if/telling me this post was fake.

Some additional anatomical information can be gleaned from the 1918 text that was not present with the illustrated figure: this man was reported to have two “functionally perfect” organs, though the urethra traveled through one penis, and he ejaculated out the other. Both were capable of maintaining an erection, but it was not as “virile” as an “average male” (presumably meaning neither organ was as stiff as a typical erection).

There were only two testicles, and the “limb” (it was not specified as to whether it was a leg or arm) emerged from the perineum - the region between the genitalia and the anus.

Genito-Urinary Surgery and Venereal Diseases. Edward Martin, Benjamin A. Thomas, and Stirling W. Moorhead, 1918.

Brown-throated sloth - Bradypus variegatus

The brown-throated sloth is one of the three-toed sloths, and lives in the neotropical regions of South America. Though the species as a whole eats a wide variety of leaves, each individual sloth tends to specialize in one to three species, and preferentially eats from those particular trees. 

As sloth babies begin to eat leaf particles from their mother’s fur as early as the fourth day of life, they tend to develop the same leaf preferences as her.

That said, sloths aren’t so picky that they won’t eat any other leaves. You may like pizza a whole lot, but would you really JUST eat pizza your whole life? Sloths tend to slow their eating habits significantly when they’re allowed to eat only the species they appeared to be most preferential of initially.

Brehm’s Tierleben: Allgemeine Kunde des Tierreichs. Prof. Otto zur Strassen, 1912.

Osteosarcoma of the upper jaw in 10-year-old boy

Sarcomas are relatively rare tumors in humans, formed from mesenchymal cells, rather than epithelial (surface) cells. Epithelial cell tumors are called “carcinomas”. Since sarcomas are relatively uncommon, but hard tumors or cysts on the bones are not, patients are often misdiagnosed at first.

In children, osteosarcomas (sarcomas of the bone) comprise approximately 2.4% of cancer cases. Most of these tumors occur in the leg bones, but around 8% originate in the jaw. The standard treatment of osteosarcoma is resection of the affected bone - that is, removal of the tumorous section, and joining together the two sections of bone on either side of the removed area. If the tumor has spread or the bone is too overtaken by it, amputation of the limb is called for. Obviously, you can’t amputate the face, but detection of facial tumors is often much less delayed than in the leg, and the removal and resection of the jaw bone is usually possible.

Five-year survival rates of pediatric osteosarcoma are still one of the lowest of all the childhood cancers, at an average of 68% across all the different manifestations. However, given that the survival rate was hovering around 5-10% at the beginning of the 20th century (and that’s being generous), we’ve come a long way. Early detection and eliminating misdiagnoses of leg tumors is critical to survival in all age groups.

Tumors of the Jaws. Charles Locke Scudder, 1912.

Given that ladybirds/ladybugs are considered to be “Any member of the family Coccinellidae,” there’s a huge degree of variation in what they look like. Worldwide, there are over 5,000 species, and there are over 450 species in North America, alone.

One of the most well-known Coccinellids is known as the Harlequin ladybug, Japanese Lady Beetle, pumpkin ladybird, or Asian Lady Beetle, depending upon your locality. Harmonia axyridis is orange-yellow with between 0 and 22 spots, and is considered an agricultural pest in many areas. I remember them absolutely covering the entire south side of my childhood home, and not being able to get inside without going through the stink-mess.

scientificillustration:

Ladybirds

Coccinella 14-pustulata; Coccinella 7-punctata, Coccinella 7-punctata var. externepunctata; Coccinella 5-punctata; Coccinella 11-punctata; Coccinella 11-punctata var. 9-punctata; Coccinella hieroglyphica; Aphidecta obliterata; Coccinella 10-punctata; Coccinella 10-punctata var. lutea; Coccinella 10-punctata var. subpunctata; Coccinella 10-punctata var. 4-punctata; Coccinella 10-punctata var. 6-punctata; Coccinella bipunctata; Coccinella bipunctata var. bisculata; Coccinella unifasciata; Coccinella annulata; Coccinella pantherina; Coccinella inaequalis; Coccinella 6-pustulata; Coccinella 4-maculata; Semiadealia 11-notata; Hippodamia variegata; Hippodamia immaculata; Hippodamia 5-maculata; Hippodamia obversepunctata; Hippodamia 6-punctata; Hippodamia constellata; Hippodamia arienaria; Hippodamia biconstallata; Hippodamia neglecta; Hippodamia 13-punctata; Hippodamia spissa; Hippodamia 7-maculata; Hippodamia oblonga; Hippodamia paykulli; Anisosticta 19-punctata; Anisosticta strigata

From: FAUNA GERMANICA (1911) Die Käfer des Deutschen Reiches. Band III. by Edmund Reitter

biomedicalephemera:

Forms of iritis.

Iritis is an inflammation of the iris - it can be caused by dozens of conditions and diseases, and can lead to serious vision loss or blindness. In chronic iritis (much less responsive to treatment than acute iritis, no matter what the primary cause), one of the treatments that sometimes has to be used is subconjunctival steroid injections. Ohhh yes. Eyeball injections.

External Diseases of the Eye. Dr. Richard Greeff, 1914.

Ganglion cyst, aka “Bible bump”, aka “Let’s hit you with a large book!”

Given the name “Bible cyst” or “Bible bump” from the original “treatment” of hitting the deformity with a Bible or other large book, ganglion cysts are actually considered tumors. Over 60% of the non-cancerous tumors of the hand are ganglionic, but their etiology is still not completely understood.

The first description of these tumors was given by Hippocrates as “knots of tissue containing mucoid flesh”, but the first theories of their origins weren’t put forth until 1746, when one Dr. Eller wrote a descriptive paper on them. He believed that they came from synovial herniation,  or rupture through the tendon sheath, and that they were true cysts.

Later theories recognized that the tumors were growths arising from ganglionic sheaths and not encysted fluids or mucoid tissues, but the old theory of “just smack it with a heavy object to burst it and make the body reabsorb it” still stuck around for a long time. Though bursting the tumor can cause temporary disappearance, this often causes more serious recurrence and additional growth. As these tissues are not cancerous, it’s generally recommended to leave them alone when they’re not interfering with normal function. Sometimes they can press against other tendons or nerves and necessitate aspiration or surgical removal, but the incidence of recurrence is over 40%. In about 75% of cases, the “cyst” will disappear or significantly decrease on its own.

So, yeah, don’t let anyone convince you to let them smack you with a heavy object, just because you have one of these growths! It’s a bad idea to let people smack you with heavy objects, just as a general rule…

[Source: Medscape Reference: Ganglions]

[Image: Iconograms. Prof. Bockenheimer, 1913.]

biomedicalephemera:

Conjunctivitis gonorrhoica adultorum

Gonorrhea can cause pose a risk to the newborn infant quite easily, especially when it’s contracted during childbirth and not caught until the eye is significantly pustular and weeping, but when gonorrheal infection manages to take hold in the adult eye, it’s often far more damaging, much more quickly than in the infant. The eye can begin producing an excess of clear tears in the morning, by noon have the lachrymation become turbid and milky, and by evening have a steady stream of pus coming from the eye.

As you can see in this illustration, sometimes the entire cornea is broken down into pus by the gonococci, leaving the iris exposed, and precluding possibility of maintaining sight in the infected eye. The unaffected eye is covered by a watch-glass here, and surrounded by an adhesive bandage, to keep any gonococci from spreading over from the infected eye. Though they can easily establish themselves and do massive damage when entrenched in the body (such as in the eyes, or the mucous membranes of the genitalia), gonorrheal bacteria are very delicate and cannot infect across the skin, unless there’a  break or tear present. 

Atlas of External Diseases of the Eye. Richard Greeff, 1914.