René Théophile Hyacinthe Laënnec and the Stethoscope

By Philip R. Liebson, MD, Rush University, Chicago, Illinois, United States What constitutes a high-tech instrument? Obviously, in the field of medicine, one that has been developed to improve evaluation of a given condition and lead to a more specific diagnosis. In the early 19th century, there was little that could be considered high-tech in medicine in regard to instrumentation. The physician’s primary means of examining the chest were observation, palpation, and percussion. Actually, percussion of the chest was a novelty of the late 18th century, first developed by Leopold Auenbrugger, an Austrian physician; however, by the end of the...

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The Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary

By Samantha L. Williamson, MD, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois The direct ophthalmoscope debuted in Germany in 1851, ushering in the modern era of ophthalmology. Seven years later, the introduction of the laryngoscope allowed direct visualization of the airway. In 1858, on the heel of these discoveries, Edward Holmes, a Massachusetts native who had trained in Vienna and Berlin, opened the doors of the Chicago Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dedicated to serving the burgeoning, underserved population in the city, the institution represented one of the first in America focused on the disciplines of ophthalmology and otolaryngology....

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Nursing During the U.S. Civil War

By Karen J. Egenes, RN, EdD In April 1861, there was no organized medical corps or field hospital services. In addition, there was no provision for military nurses. At the time, there were no nursing schools, no "trained" nurses, and no nursing credentials. The title "nurse" was also rather vague, and could refer to a woman appointed by the superintendent of women nurses for the Union Army, an officer's wife who accompanied her husband to the battlefield, a woman who came to care for a wounded son or husband and remained to care for others, a member of a Catholic religious community in a hospital that cared for military personnel, or a "camp...

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The Death of Abraham Lincoln

From: civilwarnavy150.blogspot.com, 4-15-15 Yesterday (14 April) and today mark the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. Here is an interesting illustration, showing Columbia (??) mourning over the President's casket, and in the upper corners, a soldier grieving, representing the sorrow of the Army (on the upper left), and a sailor sobbing into his hands next to his gun, representing the sorrow of the Navy (upper right) for their commander-in-chie...

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Navy Nurses in the Civil War

From: civilwarnavy150.blogspot.com, 3-1-12 The Civil War was a time of many "firsts" for the Navy.  Now that it is the first day of Women's history month, it would seem poignant to talk about the historic first contributions of females in the Navy.  Like African Americans, these minority members of sea service exemplified the three tenets of the U.S. Navy: Honor, Courage, and Commitment. Although nurses were not recruited in high numbers during this time period (especially for the Navy), effective clinicians would eventually become integral to the health and stability of any military.  It is no surprise then that disease,...

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The Civil War: Medicine, Wounds and Diseases

From: gwood.us/history The Civil War. Many nations and countries had one. But there was a lot more riding on the American Civil War than just political disagreement. Brave men fought each other for what they believed was right; there were many reasons to choose sides. There were just as many reasons to die for that side. In fact, approximately one out of every four Civil War soldiers died during the conflict. The Civil War is ranked number one in total number of deaths in any war fought by our nation. There were more deaths in this war alone than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and the Korean War combined. These wars are in...

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Dr. Orianna Moon: Working Out Her Destiny

From: lva.virginia.gov Born on 11 August 1834 at Viewmont, in Albemarle County, Orianna Russell Moon (1834–1883) achieved considerable academic success. After attending Emma Willard’s Troy Female Seminary during the 1850–1851 school year, she attended the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (1854–1857). Incorporated in 1850 “to instruct respectable and intelligent females in various branches of medical science,” the college was the oldest permanently organized medical school for women in the United States. Moon received her medical degree on 28 February 1857, along with six other women in the school’s sixth graduating class....

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Mary Gove Nichols: Uncommonly Victorian & Veg

by Karen Iacobbo (this article first appeared in the VivaVine, from vivavegie.org, March/April, 2000) Mary Gove Nichols (1810-1884) was a leading crusader for vegetarianism during the mid 19th century. She was a disciple of Sylvester Graham - perhaps the foremost vegetarian advocate of the century - and as a "Grahamite" her major form of activism was to teach physiology and anatomy to Americans. To this end, Gove, who was a physician and proprietor of a water cure establishment (a non drug, "nature cure" facility), presented a series of lectures to female-only audiences eager to learn about the human body and how it functions. At the time,...

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Honorable Scars - Life and Limb: The Toll of the American Civil War

Excerpted from: nlm.nih.gov "It is not two years since the sight of a person who had lost one of his lower limbs was an infrequent occurrence. Now, alas! there are few of us who have not a cripple among our friends, if not in our own families." Physician Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1863 The vast numbers of men disabled by the conflict were a major cause of concern for Rebel and Union leaders. Some worried about preventing idleness and immoral behavior, while others focused on the economic hardship veterans would later face if they could not find employment after the war. Proposed solutions included wartime work as cooks, clerks, and hospital attendants,...

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The New York College of Veterinary Surgeons

From: nyu.edu East 26th Street in 1924 (Picture--the low building on the right is the former site of the Veterinary College) NYU's veterinary school was founded in 1857 as the New York College of Veterinary Surgeons. In 1899 it merged with the American Veterinary College to become the New-York American Veterinary College within the NYU School of Medicine. In 1913, it became a state institution but remained under the auspices of NYU. The school was discontinued in 1922 due to lack of funds. Learn about veterinary medicine during the Civil War era at www.CivilWarRx.c...

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The Sanitary Commission Bulletin

The Sanitary Commission Bulletin v. 1, no. 2 (November 15, 1863) (New York : The Commission, 1863-1865). From the collections of the Boston Medical Library. Issued twice monthly from November, 1863, to August, 1865, the Bulletin reported on the work of the Commission and the local sanitary fairs, accounts of battles and the experiences of prisoners of war, and provided a regular means to report on the use of funds contributed by the public.  This issue outlines some of the Commission’s activities and personne...

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Cruel Medical Experiments On Slaves Were Widespread In The American South

By Dan Vergano, BuzzFeed News Reporter, 4-28-15 Invasive surgeries and other shocking experiments were “commonplace” on slaves before the Civil War, according to a sweeping new survey of old medical journals. Electric shocks, brain surgery, amputations — these are just some of the medical experiments widely performed on American slaves in the mid-1800s, according to a new survey of medical journals published before the Civil War. Previous work by historians had uncovered a handful of rogue physicians conducting medical experiments on slaves. But the new report, published in the latest issue of the journal Endeavour, suggests that a widespread...

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Civil War Women Doctors

By Maggie MacLean, 4-22-13 It is unclear how many women were working as physicians in the United States before the Civil War. At that time, medical students commonly studied under an established physician and did not attend a formal medical school. Many women learned their medical skills from husbands and fathers, and then assisted the men in private practice. During the antebellum years, an unknown number of women attended medical school dressed in male attire and went on to practice medicine, while still pretending to be men. Most women doctors served in a nursing capacity during the Civil War because they were not allowed to function as...

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A Civil War Medic’s Knapsack

By Chuck Franson, Registrar, AMEDD Museum, Number 3, Summer 2013 At the beginning of the Civil War, each regimental surgeon was outfitted with equipment and supplies for his regiment, including medicines, stores, instruments, and dressings, in quantities regulated by the Standard Supply Table for Field Service. In the field he was accompanied by a hospital orderly, who carried a knapsack containing a limited supply of anesthetics, styptics, stimulants, anodynes, and material for primary dressings. An army board had recommended this hospital knapsack for adoption in 1859. It was made of light wood or wicker, and was covered with canvas or...

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Measles (excerpted)

By Intisar K. Hamidullah In 1762 a French Physician, Tissost pointed out that measles rarely killed and when death occurred it was due to complications. However, at the end of the century it was concluded that this disease is more common, more dangerous and more widespread than most people believed. Although, in North America epidemics were less frequent they tended to be severe when they occurred, attacking people of all ages. Measles was also called the Covered Wagon Disease because it traveled with human communities. As a result of accessible travel and a growing population, measles became an endemic disease of North America never absent...

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Sarah Elizabeth Dysart, Civil War Nurse

From news.mifflinburgtelegraph.com     Sarah Elizabeth Dysart, born in Tipton, Pa. in Blair County on Dec. 6, 1837, on a private estate situated in rolling hills. She was a cousin to Annie Bell, Sarah’s mother being Elizabeth Bell and her father, William Patterson Dysart. Sarah’s father was a descendant of William Patterson, an officer in the Revolutionary War. His father, Arthur Patterson, was a member of the Colonial Assembly and her maternal grandfather, Edward Bell, was an iron master, inventor and an owner of large tracts of land.     Sarah attended the female institute at Lewisburg. She was on a visit to Harrisburg...

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The Impact of Disease on the Civil War (Excerpt)

By Intisar K. Hamidullah Background In 1967 the Surgeon General of the United States announced that it was time to close the book on infectious diseases. Unfortunately, this statement was premature. Although our society may not experience epidemics as often as in the past, the epidemics of the present are still a menace to humankind. This unit will focus on four diseases: Measles, Small-pox, Tuberculosis, and Syphilis. These diseases caused a great deal of the deaths before, during, and after the Civil War. Additionally the lack of known treatments and lack of unawareness of prevention had detrimental effects on how these diseases spread throughout...

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