ABSTRACT
In the fiscal year of 1960-1961, board members of Sydney's St George Hospital elected to adopt a new motto for the organisation: 'Tu souffres, cela suffit' - French for 'You are suffering, that is enough'. Today these words are all too familiar to staff members and visitors to St George Hospital, but few are aware of their actual historical significance. Accessible histories of the hospital attribute the motto to the distinguished French microbiologist Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), but the original context of Pasteur's remark is not commonly stated. We set out to record the exact source and history of the hospital's motto alongside its logo, referencing in passing, Louis Pasteur's outstanding legacy to Australian medicine in this bicentenary year of his birth.
Subject(s)
Hospitals , Medicine , Humans , AustraliaABSTRACT
In most parts of the developed world today, the neurological diagnosis of poliomyelitis is discussed only as a historical curiosity. For decades an epidemic cause for lameness and paralysis in infected children, reported cases of polio plummeted following the introduction of effective vaccines against the causative virus in the 1950s and 1960s. Much has been written of the trials and successes of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, but little is generally known about how the disease was originally named. In an authoritative reference work on the History of Poliomyelitis (1971), John R. Paul attributed in passing the coining of the term "poliomyelitis" to the celebrated German clinician Adolf Kussmaul (1822-1902). Kussmaul is widely known to physicians today for several unrelated contributions, but none of his authorized biographers have mentioned his naming the disease. In this historical review article, we set out to verify the claim that Kussmaul coined the term "poliomyelitis," surveying in the process his broader contributions to neurology and medicine.
Subject(s)
Medicine , Movement Disorders , Neurology , Physicians , Poliomyelitis , Child , Humans , Poliomyelitis/epidemiology , Poliomyelitis/prevention & controlSubject(s)
Hand Hygiene/history , Obstetrics/history , Austria , History, 19th Century , Maternal Mortality/trendsABSTRACT
Except if it be in the shadow of his worshipful student William Osler (1849-1919), the life of Reverend William Arthur Johnson (1816-1880), a 19th century English-Canadian clerical naturalist, teacher, and early mentor to 'the Father of Modern Medicine', has escaped special scrutiny over the years. Written in commemoration of his 200th birthday, this recollection will aim to more purposefully categorise what is currently known of Johnson's life and work, not only in his important relations to the revered Osler, but also in the context of his own personal achievements, life story, and legacy.
Subject(s)
Natural History/history , Physicians/history , Protestantism/history , England , History, 19th Century , India , OntarioABSTRACT
The year 2014 marks the bicentenary of the birth of Sir James Paget (1814-1899), the celebrated English surgeon and pathologist. Although best known for his work on bone and breast disease, Paget also played an important role in the institution of Australia's first medical school. In this article, that involvement and Paget's other antipodean influences are summarised. The naming of Paget's disease of the bone is also discussed.
Subject(s)
Osteitis Deformans/history , Schools, Medical/history , Australia , History, 19th Century , Osteitis Deformans/classification , Terminology as TopicABSTRACT
Sir Victor Alexander Haden Horsley (1857-1916), the pioneering British neurological surgeon, passed away 100 years ago. He died young in his sixtieth year from the effects of heat stroke while serving as consulting military surgeon to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in Amarah, modern-day Iraq, and was buried in the now largely abandoned "Amara War Cemetery." By the time of his death in 1916, Victor Horsley had established himself as one of the most eminent innovators of modern neurological surgery. His pioneering researches in cerebral physiology earned him an early reputation in the field, and his experiences with vivisection allowed him to confidently operate on the brain and spinal cord at a time when surgical intervention of the nervous system was fraught with uncertainty. Outside the operating theatre, Horsley was a proud advocate for a number of sometimes controversial sociopolitical issues; national temperance, women's suffrage, and medical unionism particularly interested him. He brought the same courageousness to the British army during the First World War, and labored tirelessly under considerable hardships to improve the conditions for soldiers. Otherwise robust and healthy, it was only through great self-denial and overwork that Horsley suddenly succumbed to the burning heat of Mesopotamia. He died as he lived-a fearless and painstaking fighter for the common man. His was a most beautiful life of unselfish devotion to others.
Subject(s)
Burial/history , Military Personnel/history , Neurosurgery/history , England , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Iraq , Neurosurgical Procedures , World War IABSTRACT
Andreas Vesalius is often regarded as the founding father of modern anatomical study. The quincentennial anniversary of his birth - 31 December 2014 - has been very widely commemorated, and it is the purpose of this article to contrast these celebrations with what happened during the Vesalius quatercentenary year of 1914. More specifically, we look at how Vesalius was perceived a century ago by examining his influence on two of western medicine's most iconic gentlemen - Harvey Williams Cushing (1869-1939) and his larger than life mentor, Sir William Osler (1849-1919).
Subject(s)
Anniversaries and Special Events , History of Medicine , Famous Persons , History, 16th Century , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , HumansABSTRACT
The eponymous legacy of Sir William Richard Gowers (1845-1915) was the subject of a comprehensive appraisal first written for this journal late last year. Since the completion of that work, a revealing February 1903 letter has come to light recording, amongst other things, Gowers' firsthand and somewhat private opinions concerning some of his own eponymous contributions to medicine. This addendum to the primary author's original article will review and contextualize this very interesting find as it relates to Gowers' eponymous legacy. Gowers' "ataxic paraplegia" (referred to as "Gowers' disease" in the letter) and "syringal hemorrhage" are specially considered, and his broader neological contributions are also briefly addressed. For completion, a number of other previously unnoticed eponyms are added to the already impressive list of medical entities named in Gowers' honor, and a more complete collection of eponyms found in Gowers' Manual are tabulated for consideration.
Subject(s)
Eponyms , Neurology/history , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , WritingABSTRACT
A century since his passing, the legacy of the great Victorian clinical neurologist, Sir William Richard Gowers (1845-1915), remains traceable to students and practitioners of medicine worldwide through eponymous medical terms named in his honor. Popular designations like "Gowers' sign" continue to lead curious minds to learn more about the pioneering neurologist's lifework and influence, and yet Gowers himself was not fond of medical eponyms. Memorably remarking that eponyms were an educational "inconvenience" in medicine, Gowers was apt to disfavor the system in the very same lecture in which he reportedly first referred to the spinal cord fasciculus that later took his name. This article will examine Gowers' own use of eponyms alongside the eponymous medical terms named for him, and, in the process, will show how Gowers' "inconvenience" may be of great service to the historically inclined modern clinician today.
Subject(s)
Eponyms , Neurologists/history , Neurology/history , Authorship , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Nervous SystemABSTRACT
December 19(th) 2015 marks the centennial anniversary of the death of the great Bavarian psychiatrist and neuropathologist, Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915), a man immortalised by the still incurable dementing process described by him in 1906 and firmly established in his name. Notwithstanding the great wealth of research into the history of Alzheimer's disease and legacy, the life of this exemplary clinician remains less than widely appreciated today, and it is the purpose of this brief reminiscence to retell the story of the pioneering neuropsychiatrist in this centenary year of his passing.
