Posts tagged 1920s

When the cure is worse than the disease… No. 97: Metallic stomatitis sores, concurrent with re-emergence of syphilitic mucous papules. Caused by mercuric injections.No. 98: Bullous Erythema multiforme brought on by arseno-benzene injections. Patient had nine injections of mercury and eleven of arseno-benzene, and presented his rash two-and-a-half months later. His urine had much protein in it and showed signs of acute yellow atrophy of the liver. He was given three more injections of arseno-benzene and apparently recovered?No. 99: “Typical” presentation of nails after acute arsenical dermatitis, after the rash has disappeared. There were many recorded deaths from the “cure” for syphilis, often from infection of open wounds caused by reactions to the deadly poisons that people were ingesting to try and avail themselves of an illness that, if anything, would probably have killed them much more slowly… Venereal Diseases: Their Clinical Aspect and Treatment. J. E. R. McDonagh, 1921.

When the cure is worse than the disease…

No. 97: Metallic stomatitis sores, concurrent with re-emergence of syphilitic mucous papules. Caused by mercuric injections.

No. 98: Bullous Erythema multiforme brought on by arseno-benzene injections. Patient had nine injections of mercury and eleven of arseno-benzene, and presented his rash two-and-a-half months later. His urine had much protein in it and showed signs of acute yellow atrophy of the liver. He was given three more injections of arseno-benzene and apparently recovered?

No. 99: “Typical” presentation of nails after acute arsenical dermatitis, after the rash has disappeared.

There were many recorded deaths from the “cure” for syphilis, often from infection of open wounds caused by reactions to the deadly poisons that people were ingesting to try and avail themselves of an illness that, if anything, would probably have killed them much more slowly…

Venereal Diseases: Their Clinical Aspect and Treatment. J. E. R. McDonagh, 1921.

Venereal diseases (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) commonly seen in enlisted men - often mistakenly diagnosed as syphilis

While the treatments for all venereal diseases were pretty horrible back in the day (except for herpes - they at least realized that they couldn’t do anything for it, in most practices), the “treatment” for syphilis was usually far worse than the others.

Mercury was taken orally in various compounds, and was rubbed into the open sores. Arseno-benzene (an active compound to deliver arsenic) was often injected directly into the penis, and taken orally (for both men and women).

Complicating things, many venereal and other contagious diseases can mimic the symptoms of primary syphilis. Two of these three men did not have syphilis, but had been initially diagnosed and treated for it. The third actually had syphilis, but was initially treated for scabies.

Top left: Syphlitic leucoderma (“white skin”) of the penis - Initially diagnosed as scabies.
Top right: Long-standing scabies infection, where the sores mimicked syphilitic chancres (patient also has gonorrhea)
Bottom: Herpes genitalia of the penis. Diagnosed by untrained physician as syphilis. Not commonly confused with other conditions.

Venereal Disease: Their Clinical Aspect and Treatment. J. E. R. McDonagh, 1921.

Lateral radiograph illustrating articulation of the knee joint The human knee is a massively complicated system of muscles, bone articulations, tendons, ligaments, and bursae. Given that over 300% of the body weight is exerted upon the knee when you’re doing nothing more than walking (and nearly 600% while running), is it any surprise that it’s the most common joint needing operation?Atlas for Electro-diagnosis and Therapeutics. F. Miramond de LaRoquette, translated from German by Mary Gregson Cheetham, 1920.

Lateral radiograph illustrating articulation of the knee joint

The human knee is a massively complicated system of muscles, bone articulations, tendons, ligaments, and bursae. Given that over 300% of the body weight is exerted upon the knee when you’re doing nothing more than walking (and nearly 600% while running), is it any surprise that it’s the most common joint needing operation?

Atlas for Electro-diagnosis and Therapeutics. F. Miramond de LaRoquette, translated from German by Mary Gregson Cheetham, 1920.

Tuberculous spondylitis - Historically known as “Pott’s Disease”

Pott (or Pott’s) disease was named after Percivall Pott, who wrote several lectures on the nature and treatment of this condition.

The name “tuberculous spondylitis” comes from the disease tuberculosis, and the Greek “spondylos”, meaning spine, and “-itis”, meaning swelling. This is actually a form of chronic osteomyelitis, generally found in the lower thoracic or upper lumbar spine of adults. It’s also one of the oldest chronic conditions for which we have archaeological evidence.

Before tuberculosis had effective treatment modalities, this was one of the most common bone afflictions in adults. There were often internal abscesses that the infection drained into, which, while generally not the primary concern, could rupture and cause peritonitis or generalized infection of the thoracic cavity.

As the condition advanced, the degeneration of the bone often caused spinal cord compression and so-called “Pott’s paralysis” - a form of paraplegia that was actually reversible if the pressure was taken off the spinal cord soon after it started. This was usually done by stiff metal or (later) plastic braces or medical corsets. Once the infection advanced to the point that paralysis was caused, it often caused a complete collapse of the affected vertebrae, and could result in thoracic kyphosis, or “hunchback”.

The images above show a mummified priest of Ammon, from the XXIst dynasty (1000 BCE) of Egypt, with the characteristic lateral protrusion of the spine (left image) that hasn’t yet advanced to a collapse of the spinal discs. There is also a large sac in the abdomen (right image) that was soft when mummification occurred, and which would have been the abscess where the infection drained. There was evidence that the priest lived for over a decade with this condition, and it was probably not what killed him in the end.

Studies in the Paleopathology of Egypt. Sir Marc Armand Ruffer, 1921.

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Achondroplasia (left) versus normal growth in the six-year-old child Achondroplasia can be evident at birth, but it is not always obvious to the layperson. As the child grows, however, the distinct shortness and mild hydrocephaly is clearly visible, especially when next to their full-sized peers. The genetic anomaly that causes this disorder prevents the fibroblasts that create cartilage from forming correctly, and without the continuous growth and ossification of cartilage at the ends of the long bones, the limbs grow very little. The fact that the mutation only causes anomalous cartilage is also why the torsos of people with achondroplasia are typically normal-length - the spinal column doesn’t lengthen by way of distal extension, and since other ossification factors are normal in the body, it isn’t affected. While most cases of achondroplasia are sporadic mutations (around 75%), it can also be inherited as an autosomal dominant disorder from an achondroplasic parent. With an achondroplasic parent and a parent of normal height (or who doesn’t have a mutated FGFR3 gene), the chances of a child being born with the condition are 1 in 4. With two achondroplasic parents, or an achondroplasic and a hypochondroplasic parent (caused by different mutations, but on the same gene), the chances of a child being born with some form of dwarfism rises to 3 in 4 - though one of those three will inherit two copies of the disordered gene, and with no functional allele, will inevitably be stillborn or die early in life due to almost completely absent skeletal integrity. Diseases of Children. Herman B. Sheffield, 1921.

Achondroplasia (left) versus normal growth in the six-year-old child

Achondroplasia can be evident at birth, but it is not always obvious to the layperson. As the child grows, however, the distinct shortness and mild hydrocephaly is clearly visible, especially when next to their full-sized peers.

The genetic anomaly that causes this disorder prevents the fibroblasts that create cartilage from forming correctly, and without the continuous growth and ossification of cartilage at the ends of the long bones, the limbs grow very little. The fact that the mutation only causes anomalous cartilage is also why the torsos of people with achondroplasia are typically normal-length - the spinal column doesn’t lengthen by way of distal extension, and since other ossification factors are normal in the body, it isn’t affected.

While most cases of achondroplasia are sporadic mutations (around 75%), it can also be inherited as an autosomal dominant disorder from an achondroplasic parent. With an achondroplasic parent and a parent of normal height (or who doesn’t have a mutated FGFR3 gene), the chances of a child being born with the condition are 1 in 4. With two achondroplasic parents, or an achondroplasic and a hypochondroplasic parent (caused by different mutations, but on the same gene), the chances of a child being born with some form of dwarfism rises to 3 in 4 - though one of those three will inherit two copies of the disordered gene, and with no functional allele, will inevitably be stillborn or die early in life due to almost completely absent skeletal integrity.

Diseases of Children. Herman B. Sheffield, 1921.

rhamphotheca:

Paradise Parrot (Psephotus pulcherrimus)

- EXTINCT

… was a colourful medium-sized parrot native to the grassy woodlands of the Queensland - New South Wales border area of northeastern Australia. Once moderately common within its fairly restricted range, the last live bird was seen in 1927. Extensive and sustained searches in the years since then have failed to produce any reliable evidence of it.

Paradise Parrots lived in pairs or small family groups, making their nests in hollowed-out termite mounds and similar places, often at or near ground level, and feeding, so far as is known, almost exclusively on grass seeds.

The reasons for the sudden decline of the Paradise Parrot remain speculative. Possibilities include overgrazing, land clearing, changed fire regimes, hunting by bird collectors, and predation by introduced mammals like cats. It became rare towards the end of the 19th century and was thought extinct by 1915. A series of searches turned up a few more in…

(read more: Wikipedia)

(images: TL - by WT Greene, 1880s; TR/B - by C.H.H. Jerrard, 1922)

rhamphotheca

The Lion (Panthera leo) Uses of the lion, according to Albertus Magnus (13th century encyclopedia author): Eat the flesh to cure paralysis. Rub its fat on your body to outrun any animal. Wrap your clothing in lion pelts to protect from moths. Give a child a lion’s-tooth necklace before they lose their first teeth, to prevent toothache when the second set emerges. Cure cancer with its blood. Consume its gall to cure jaundice. [This may have actually worked.] Eat its brain to cure madness. Click through to read more, from Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 87, edited by J. McKeen Cattell and published in 1915. Image: Brehms Tierleben. Frederich Wilhelm Kuhners, 1927.

The Lion (Panthera leo)

Uses of the lion, according to Albertus Magnus (13th century encyclopedia author):

  • Eat the flesh to cure paralysis.
  • Rub its fat on your body to outrun any animal.
  • Wrap your clothing in lion pelts to protect from moths.
  • Give a child a lion’s-tooth necklace before they lose their first teeth, to prevent toothache when the second set emerges.
  • Cure cancer with its blood.
  • Consume its gall to cure jaundice. [This may have actually worked.]
  • Eat its brain to cure madness.

Click through to read more, from Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 87, edited by J. McKeen Cattell and published in 1915.

Image: Brehms Tierleben. Frederich Wilhelm Kuhners, 1927.

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Malachite and Azurite You know how copper turns green when it’s left to oxidize? That process is what makes malachite green. It’s known as a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, and is the source of most green paint pigments used until about 1800. The rich blue mineral azurite (also one source of ancient paint pigments) is commonly found with malachite, and both are commonly found around large limestone deposits. Limestone is a form of aggregated calcium carbonate, and one of the primary sources of carbonate for both malachite and azurite formations. Arizona is the primary site where one can find malachite in North America. Malachite is more common than azurite, because it is far more stable to open air and sunlight. Minerals from Earth and Sky, Part II: Gems and Gem Minerals. William F. Foshag, 1929.

Malachite and Azurite

You know how copper turns green when it’s left to oxidize? That process is what makes malachite green. It’s known as a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, and is the source of most green paint pigments used until about 1800.

The rich blue mineral azurite (also one source of ancient paint pigments) is commonly found with malachite, and both are commonly found around large limestone deposits. Limestone is a form of aggregated calcium carbonate, and one of the primary sources of carbonate for both malachite and azurite formations. Arizona is the primary site where one can find malachite in North America. Malachite is more common than azurite, because it is far more stable to open air and sunlight.

Minerals from Earth and Sky, Part II: Gems and Gem Minerals. William F. Foshag, 1929.

Red Locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata) The red locust is a sub-Saharan grasshopper in its gregarious phase. Unlike desert locusts, red locusts have not caused any devastating crop destruction since the 1940s. However, the last mass gregarious infestation lasted from 1930-1944 in Chad, the Sahel, and almost all of southern Africa, and was as devastating as the Rocky Mountain locust was in the United States in the 19th century. Fabre’s Book of Insects. Illsutrated by E. J. Detmold, 1921.

Red Locust (Nomadacris septemfasciata)

The red locust is a sub-Saharan grasshopper in its gregarious phase. Unlike desert locusts, red locusts have not caused any devastating crop destruction since the 1940s. However, the last mass gregarious infestation lasted from 1930-1944 in Chad, the Sahel, and almost all of southern Africa, and was as devastating as the Rocky Mountain locust was in the United States in the 19th century.

Fabre’s Book of Insects. Illsutrated by E. J. Detmold, 1921.

Heloderma suspectum - Gila Monster Gila monsters are the close relative of the Mexican beaded lizard, identified in the early 19th century as the first truly venomous lizard. Gila monsters weren’t described as a unique species until the mid-1800s. Today, the unique peptides in their venom are being researched for use in a multitude of applications, such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and ADHD. There is already a drug on the market derived from an enzyme created by the Mexican beaded lizard that is used in management of Type 2 Diabetes, and trials for drugs derived from the Gila monster are particularly promising in progressive dementia. Animaux Venimeux et Venins. Marie Phisalix, 1922.

Heloderma suspectum - Gila Monster

Gila monsters are the close relative of the Mexican beaded lizard, identified in the early 19th century as the first truly venomous lizard. Gila monsters weren’t described as a unique species until the mid-1800s.

Today, the unique peptides in their venom are being researched for use in a multitude of applications, such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and ADHD. There is already a drug on the market derived from an enzyme created by the Mexican beaded lizard that is used in management of Type 2 Diabetes, and trials for drugs derived from the Gila monster are particularly promising in progressive dementia.

Animaux Venimeux et Venins. Marie Phisalix, 1922.

Lupus Erythematosus The autoimmune disease known as lupus is most commonly found in women of childbearing age (15-35), but has the potential to affect anyone. It’s also known as “the great imitator”, as the symptoms that people experience can mimic many other diseases and conditions. The most common form of lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is often more easy to diagnose than other forms of the disease - it produces a very distinct “butterfly” rash over the cheeks and nose in over 90% of cases. Though many  people with lupus live regular and long lives these days, it wasn’t always that way. The effects of the autoimmune attacks on the heart, liver, and kidneys tended to kill patients within 10 years after diagnosis, and within a much shorter time span in those who had severe manifestations of the condition. A Treatise on the Diseases of the Skin. Henry W. Stelwagon and Henry Kennedy Gaskill, 1923.

Lupus Erythematosus

The autoimmune disease known as lupus is most commonly found in women of childbearing age (15-35), but has the potential to affect anyone. It’s also known as “the great imitator”, as the symptoms that people experience can mimic many other diseases and conditions.

The most common form of lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is often more easy to diagnose than other forms of the disease - it produces a very distinct “butterfly” rash over the cheeks and nose in over 90% of cases. Though many  people with lupus live regular and long lives these days, it wasn’t always that way. The effects of the autoimmune attacks on the heart, liver, and kidneys tended to kill patients within 10 years after diagnosis, and within a much shorter time span in those who had severe manifestations of the condition.

A Treatise on the Diseases of the Skin. Henry W. Stelwagon and Henry Kennedy Gaskill, 1923.

Ways to Die: Pellagra

Pellagra (formerly “Asturian leprosy”) is one of the five pandemic deficiency diseases that have occurred in humans, and is caused by a lack of available niacin (vitamin B3) in the diet. Since niacin is a precursor to the NAD+/NADH molecules, which provide cellular energy throughout the body, many systems become disordered. Primary symptoms include weakness, insomnia,  diarrhea, constant headache, sensitivity to sunlight (causing photo-dermatitis when exposed, as shown here on the face and hands), aggression, and eventually dementia. Death often follows within 4-5 years, if untreated. 

One of the historical causes of pellagra was the widespread cultivation of corn, and the eventual usage of corn as a staple food, especially among the poor. While the corn plant does have niacin, it’s chemically bound and indigestible. The traditional Mesoamerican preparation of corn (now known as nixtamalization) by soaking it in limewater exposes the compound to a high pH (11+), which unbinds the niacin, and the human body is then able to absorb it. This practice is known to go back thousands of years, and is the reason that despite a maize-based diet, Native American peoples did not regularly suffer from pellagra.

Unfortunately, Europeans never really understood why the limewater was needed - indeed, we didn’t even understand what pellagra actually was until the 1930s. Up to that point, pellagra was known to be endemic to areas that were highly dependent upon corn, but it was believed to be either a germ or a maize-based toxin. It wasn’t until 1937 that Conrad Elvehjem identified the molecule in fresh meat and yeast called niacin, and its direct link to the condition was established.

Today, pellagra is very rare in the majority of the developed world, surfacing primarily in patients with chronic alcoholism or eating disorders. We now know that nuts, leafy greens, and whole-grain products also provide sufficient amounts of niacin, and the human body does not necessarily require meat or yeast as a source. However, in displaced populations requiring food aid, availability of niacin-providing nutriment is extremely limited, as many countries that provide aid still provide only oil and a basic cornmeal substance for food. Because of several outbreaks of pellagra and other deficiency diseases in refugee camps in the 1970s and 1980s, the United States and Western European food aid programmes now prepare their cornmeal with vitamin and mineral sprays to provide the necessary nutrients.

Want to know more? Read on:

The Mastery of Pellagra (1916 account of the ongoing pellagra epidemic)

How Vitamin B3 Works

Conrad Elvehjem: Further Studies on the Concentration of the Antipellagra Factor

Politics and Pellagra: The epidemic of pellagra in the U.S. in the early 20th century.

[Image Source: Tropical Diseases. Sir Patrick Manson, 1914]

Xenestis colombiana [Xenesthis immanis] - The Colombian Lesser Black This is one of the mid-sized (6-9 cm long) tarantulas, with a habitat that ranges from Colombia down through most of Peru and nearby countries. Like all tarantulas, the venom this spider possesses is of far less danger to humans than the threat of infection in the sometimes-large puncture wounds it inflicts. In fact, since 1900,  there have been only three recorded deaths by tarantulas in people without a known severe allergy to one or more of the venom’s components, and all three of those people almost certainly had *some* predisposing factor for death, but no post-mortem testing was done/could be done. Personally, I’m a lot more afraid of pissing off tarantulas because of their abdominal hairs. They use their back legs to flick off these extremely urticating (itch-inducing substance) hairs, and those things do NOT come out of your nose or eyes easily if they get in there. Don’t annoy tarantulas, ya? You won’t die, but you’ll almost certainly regret it.   Animaux Venimeux et Venins. Marie Phisalix, 1922.

Xenestis colombiana [Xenesthis immanis] - The Colombian Lesser Black

This is one of the mid-sized (6-9 cm long) tarantulas, with a habitat that ranges from Colombia down through most of Peru and nearby countries. Like all tarantulas, the venom this spider possesses is of far less danger to humans than the threat of infection in the sometimes-large puncture wounds it inflicts. In fact, since 1900,  there have been only three recorded deaths by tarantulas in people without a known severe allergy to one or more of the venom’s components, and all three of those people almost certainly had *some* predisposing factor for death, but no post-mortem testing was done/could be done.

Personally, I’m a lot more afraid of pissing off tarantulas because of their abdominal hairs. They use their back legs to flick off these extremely urticating (itch-inducing substance) hairs, and those things do NOT come out of your nose or eyes easily if they get in there. Don’t annoy tarantulas, ya? You won’t die, but you’ll almost certainly regret it.  

Animaux Venimeux et Venins. Marie Phisalix, 1922.

Physalia pelagica [Physalia physalis] - The Portuguese Man-o-War All the fascinating biological facts about the Portuguese Man-O-War aside, did you know that its name was actually coined as a derisive snipe at the Portuguese navy? Powerful and feared for centuries, they were in a period of steep decline during the 19th century. The appearance of the Man-O-War, especially when washed ashore, struck mid-century English explorers as a capsizing ship, or a sail with no boat to propel.  In the end, I wouldn’t call the name completely derogatory. This siphonophore is the epitome of pain for most people who encounter them…they may look goofy, but unless you’re a loggerhead turtle, blue sea slug, or blanket octopus, it’s still not much to laugh at. The first two creatures eat these guys as a main part of their diet, and the blanket octopus is apparently *crazy* and will rip tentacles off of the Man-O-War, waving them around as a defensive measure. Animaux Venimeux et Venins. Marie Phisalix, 1922.

Physalia pelagica [Physalia physalis] - The Portuguese Man-o-War

All the fascinating biological facts about the Portuguese Man-O-War aside, did you know that its name was actually coined as a derisive snipe at the Portuguese navy? Powerful and feared for centuries, they were in a period of steep decline during the 19th century. The appearance of the Man-O-War, especially when washed ashore, struck mid-century English explorers as a capsizing ship, or a sail with no boat to propel. 

In the end, I wouldn’t call the name completely derogatory. This siphonophore is the epitome of pain for most people who encounter them…they may look goofy, but unless you’re a loggerhead turtle, blue sea slug, or blanket octopus, it’s still not much to laugh at. The first two creatures eat these guys as a main part of their diet, and the blanket octopus is apparently *crazy* and will rip tentacles off of the Man-O-War, waving them around as a defensive measure.

Animaux Venimeux et Venins. Marie Phisalix, 1922.

X-Ray Dermatitis Not to say that people didn’t realize that radiation could be dangerous, it just wasn’t widely thought to be all that dangerous, and it wasn’t really publicized how easily it could cause injury. This patient is showing moist desquamation, which is fairly common in incidents of acute mid-level radiation exposure. Cell damage is pretty deep in injuries like this, and there’s usually some degree of radiation fibrosis when the site heals. A Treatise on Diseases of the Skin for Advanced Students and Practitioners. Henry W. Stelwagon, 1923.

X-Ray Dermatitis

Not to say that people didn’t realize that radiation could be dangerous, it just wasn’t widely thought to be all that dangerous, and it wasn’t really publicized how easily it could cause injury.

This patient is showing moist desquamation, which is fairly common in incidents of acute mid-level radiation exposure. Cell damage is pretty deep in injuries like this, and there’s usually some degree of radiation fibrosis when the site heals.

A Treatise on Diseases of the Skin for Advanced Students and Practitioners. Henry W. Stelwagon, 1923.