The tale of an old stethoscope: from Mr Bampton (1816-65) to the British Thoracic Society.

The stethoscope has long been a powerful symbol of the physician. This article describes a stethoscope that was presented as a prize to an outstanding student, Mr Bampton, by his eminent teacher Dr James Hope (1801-41) in 1837. The extraordinary journey of this prize stethoscope that eventually found its way to North Wales and into the hands of the Liverpool physician, Robert Coope (1892-1972), is outlined. Its subsequent importance and symbolism to the Thoracic Society and the British Thoracic Society is emphasized.