Posts tagged doctor

Top: Screening adult men for tuberculosis with radiographyBottom: The chest of the man being screened above, clear of tuberculosis or other abscesses. Radiography and the ‘X’ Rays in Practice and in Theory. S. R. Bottone, 1898.

Top: Screening adult men for tuberculosis with radiography
Bottom: The chest of the man being screened above, clear of tuberculosis or other abscesses.

Radiography and the ‘X’ Rays in Practice and in Theory. S. R. Bottone, 1898.

Reginald Southey with human and monkey skeleton Albumen photograph by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (nom de plume Lewis Caroll, author of Alice in Wonderland), 1857. Reginald Southey was an English physician who invented a specialized cannula (tube) for draining the excess fluid from limbs suffering from edema (dropsy). He also apparently served on England’s “Lunacy Commission” so…there’s that. Southey was lifelong friends with Charles Lutwidge Dodgson and was the one who encouraged him to take up photography. The pensive expression on Southey’s face betrays the fact that he’s standing with his arm around a skeleton rather than a live human. The composition of the photograph and the portrayal of the abnormal as mundane strikes me as incredibly reminiscent of the worlds Dodgson created in his writings.

Reginald Southey with human and monkey skeleton

Albumen photograph by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (nom de plume Lewis Caroll, author of Alice in Wonderland), 1857.

Reginald Southey was an English physician who invented a specialized cannula (tube) for draining the excess fluid from limbs suffering from edema (dropsy). He also apparently served on England’s “Lunacy Commission” so…there’s that. Southey was lifelong friends with Charles Lutwidge Dodgson and was the one who encouraged him to take up photography.

The pensive expression on Southey’s face betrays the fact that he’s standing with his arm around a skeleton rather than a live human. The composition of the photograph and the portrayal of the abnormal as mundane strikes me as incredibly reminiscent of the worlds Dodgson created in his writings.

commons.wikimedia.org

Portrayals of Dentistry in the 17th Century

I had the privilege to get a chipped filling extracted from my gingiva and to have the filling re-done earlier today, in a process that was about as fun as, well, getting an enamel chip dug out of your gums and then getting a large filling right over the seriously-inflamed gumline.

Of course, as much as I piss and moan about how much it hurt, my pain is nothing compared to people in the 17th century. Well, at least according to the artists of the era. There seems to have been a particular interest in the pain inflicted by the dentists and barber-surgeons of the time, and the fascination of the people around the “patient” in the apparent misery they’re going through.

Dentists were largely seen as below barber-surgeons until the very late 1600s-early 1700s, when one Pierre Fauchard took massive steps towards legitimization of the profession.

Top: “The Dentist” Gerard van Honthorst, 1622.
Center Left: “The Quackdoctor” Jan Steen, 1651.
Center Right: “The Extraction of Tooth” Gerard Dou, ca. 1630-1635.
Bottom: “The Toothpuller” Caravaggio (probable), ca. 1608-1610.

wga.hu

*Ringring, bababyphone!* Direct Auscultation Auscultation /aus·cul·ta·tion/ (aws″kul-ta´shun) listening for sounds within the body, chiefly to ascertain the condition of the thoracic or abdominal viscera and to detect pregnancy; it may be performed with the unaided ear (direct or immediate) or with a stethoscope (mediate). It may not be performed with a banana. Textbook of Pediatrics. Edited by Emil Feer, 1922.


*Ringring, bababyphone!*

Direct Auscultation

Auscultation /aus·cul·ta·tion/ (aws″kul-ta´shun) listening for sounds within the body, chiefly to ascertain the condition of the thoracic or abdominal viscera and to detect pregnancy; it may be performed with the unaided ear (direct or immediate) or with a stethoscope (mediate). It may not be performed with a banana.

Textbook of Pediatrics. Edited by Emil Feer, 1922.

biomedicalephemera:

Let’s go to the dentist! *jab* *jab jab poke* 

Atlas and Textbook of Dentistry including Diseases of the Mouth. Dr. Gustav Preiswerk, 1906. Translated and edited by George W. Warren.

What a fantastic illustration. Medicine by candlelight! There were many ingenious devices to increase the luminosity of candlelight while magnifying the site being examined. It’s so weird thinking about examining someone’s eyes by candlelight these days… The Science and Art of Surgery. Being a Treatise on Surgical Injuries, Diseases, and Operations. John Eric Erichsen, 1872.

What a fantastic illustration. Medicine by candlelight! There were many ingenious devices to increase the luminosity of candlelight while magnifying the site being examined. It’s so weird thinking about examining someone’s eyes by candlelight these days…

The Science and Art of Surgery. Being a Treatise on Surgical Injuries, Diseases, and Operations. John Eric Erichsen, 1872.

“I’ve seen people say “if you want to believe in god, witness the miracle of childbirth.” I’ve done that! When I was on obstetrics rotation downtown, I once delivered 10 babies in 2 hours. Anyone who says childbirth is any sort of miracle hasn’t had to deal with the afterbirth! You never forget the stench of afterbirth…” - Chuck Morrison A Text-Book on Practical Obstetrics Comprising Pregnancy, Labor, and the Puerperal State, and Obstetric Surgery. Egbert H. Grandin & George W. Jarman, 1897.

“I’ve seen people say “if you want to believe in god, witness the miracle of childbirth.” I’ve done that! When I was on obstetrics rotation downtown, I once delivered 10 babies in 2 hours. Anyone who says childbirth is any sort of miracle hasn’t had to deal with the afterbirth! You never forget the stench of afterbirth…” - Chuck Morrison

A Text-Book on Practical Obstetrics Comprising Pregnancy, Labor, and the Puerperal State, and Obstetric Surgery. Egbert H. Grandin & George W. Jarman, 1897.

Have I posted Dr. Harvey Cushing’s collection of over 500 brains yet? If I have, here it is again…cause, you know, it’s a collection of brains. Which is awesome. Dr. Cushing was the father of modern neurosurgery, was a pioneer in the use of sphygmomanometers (modern blood pressure cuffs) outside of cardiology, and is the “Cushing” who Cushing’s disease was named after.

Have I posted Dr. Harvey Cushing’s collection of over 500 brains yet? If I have, here it is again…cause, you know, it’s a collection of brains. Which is awesome.

Dr. Cushing was the father of modern neurosurgery, was a pioneer in the use of sphygmomanometers (modern blood pressure cuffs) outside of cardiology, and is the “Cushing” who Cushing’s disease was named after.

cabbagingcove: 1890 photograph of Dr. Hillard Holm. He was one of the first doctors to lead a successful separation of conjoined twins, and the first doctor in Minnesota to do so.  Plus, he’s pretty cute.

cabbagingcove:

1890 photograph of Dr. Hillard Holm.

He was one of the first doctors to lead a successful separation of conjoined twins, and the first doctor in Minnesota to do so. 

Plus, he’s pretty cute.

Danse Macabre XXVI: The Physician - Hans Holbein the Younger - early 1500s

Danse Macabre XXVI: The Physician - Hans Holbein the Younger - early 1500s

Let’s go to the dentist! *jab* *jab jab poke* 

Atlas and Textbook of Dentistry including Diseases of the Mouth. Dr. Gustav Preiswerk, 1906. Translated and edited by George W. Warren.

1913. Dr. Philips’ gross anatomy class, Army Medical School. 

1913. Dr. Philips’ gross anatomy class, Army Medical School. 

Re-setting bones and joints. Fig I. Compound fracture of humerus Fig II. Luxation [complete dislocation] of elbow  Fig III. Luxation of humerus Fig IV. “Restoration of femoris” - I haven’t the slightest what’s happening there. Restoring the femur or something femoral, presumably.  Armamentarium chirurgicum. Ioannis Sculteti [Johannes Schultes], 1655.

Re-setting bones and joints.

Fig I. Compound fracture of humerus

Fig II. Luxation [complete dislocation] of elbow 

Fig III. Luxation of humerus

Fig IV. “Restoration of femoris” - I haven’t the slightest what’s happening there. Restoring the femur or something femoral, presumably. 

Armamentarium chirurgicum. Ioannis Sculteti [Johannes Schultes], 1655.

Dr. Olga A. Lentz working in her practice, St. Paul, MN. 1910. Though originally from New York, the New York School of Dentistry did not admit women to their programs. Olga went down to Philadelphia to get her degree in dental medicine, and then went back to the west side of NYC to practice for several years. She eventually set up practice in St. Paul, MN. Though highly successful, Dr. Lentz did not escape the sexism and discrimination of the day. For the most part, she would only treat people referred to her by others, and very rarely took strangers, especially men. When a newspaper report was done on her back in New York, it seemed to take female doctors and dentists as almost a novelty- it noted how they were just as competent as men, but at the same time, the headline was “Girl Dentist ‘Pretty and Popular’”. The tone of the entire article was in the same vein as this quote: A dentist is no longer a king of terrors. She is a queen of beauty, says the New York Morning Journal. How pleasant to see a sweet, delicate, girlish face bent over yours as you lean back in the fatal chair of torture! How delightful to gaze up into tender blue or black eyes, and feel that soft tendrils of hair are sweeping your brow like a summer zephyr! It is any wonder that young lady dentists are successful, and that their number is constantly on the increase? New York supports several, and it was to one of the number that I went not long ago for advice on the subject of a tooth. So, it wasn’t exactly like they were completely respected or seen as the same as male doctors. But they were there, and they were successful, and Dr. Lentz in particular was a boon for the women’s suffrage movement in Minnesota, proving that women can be just as competent and make decisions just as well as any man.

Dr. Olga A. Lentz working in her practice, St. Paul, MN. 1910. Though originally from New York, the New York School of Dentistry did not admit women to their programs. Olga went down to Philadelphia to get her degree in dental medicine, and then went back to the west side of NYC to practice for several years. She eventually set up practice in St. Paul, MN.

Though highly successful, Dr. Lentz did not escape the sexism and discrimination of the day. For the most part, she would only treat people referred to her by others, and very rarely took strangers, especially men. When a newspaper report was done on her back in New York, it seemed to take female doctors and dentists as almost a novelty- it noted how they were just as competent as men, but at the same time, the headline was “Girl Dentist ‘Pretty and Popular’”. The tone of the entire article was in the same vein as this quote:

A dentist is no longer a king of terrors. She is a queen of beauty, says the New York Morning Journal. How pleasant to see a sweet, delicate, girlish face bent over yours as you lean back in the fatal chair of torture! How delightful to gaze up into tender blue or black eyes, and feel that soft tendrils of hair are sweeping your brow like a summer zephyr!

It is any wonder that young lady dentists are successful, and that their number is constantly on the increase? New York supports several, and it was to one of the number that I went not long ago for advice on the subject of a tooth.

So, it wasn’t exactly like they were completely respected or seen as the same as male doctors. But they were there, and they were successful, and Dr. Lentz in particular was a boon for the women’s suffrage movement in Minnesota, proving that women can be just as competent and make decisions just as well as any man.

Drs. Charles Horace Mayo and William James Mayo in operating room in the first operating room at St. Mary’s Hospital, Rochester, MN. 1904.  The brothers Mayo founded the Mayo Clinic in Rochester in 1919, from the private practice they once shared with their father. They brought on six other doctors that they knew well, and this group of eight practitioners was the first in the world to emphasize specialization (especially ophthalmology and surgery of the thyroid and nervous system) and an integrated group practice, where you could still go to one place to be treated, but different doctors had different specializations. In 1964, a 5-cent postage stamp was released with the brothers’ likenesses on it.

Drs. Charles Horace Mayo and William James Mayo in operating room in the first operating room at St. Mary’s Hospital, Rochester, MN. 1904. 

The brothers Mayo founded the Mayo Clinic in Rochester in 1919, from the private practice they once shared with their father. They brought on six other doctors that they knew well, and this group of eight practitioners was the first in the world to emphasize specialization (especially ophthalmology and surgery of the thyroid and nervous system) and an integrated group practice, where you could still go to one place to be treated, but different doctors had different specializations.

In 1964, a 5-cent postage stamp was released with the brothers’ likenesses on it.