Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Month: January 2020

  • Did Macbeth have syphilis?

    Eleanor J. Molloy Dublin, Ireland Introduction Syphilis was endemic in Elizabethan England and it was estimated that nearly 20% of the population of London were infected.1 The signs and symptoms were commonly known to the average person and would be potentially recognizable to the audience in Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare mentions syphilis more times than any…

  • Mahler’s endocarditis and broken heart

    Michael YafiHouston, Texas, United States Gustave Mahler (1860–1911) suffered from personal setbacks throughout his life. Despite receiving more acclaim in early 1900, the death of his daughter Maria from scarlet fever and diphtheria affected him deeply.1 During the same year, Mahler received a vague diagnosis of a “defective heart,” which was later confirmed by the Viennese cardiologist…

  • Of luxuriant manes and in praise of baldness

    Frank Gonzalez-CrussiChicago, Illinois, United States The feverish imagination of poets has ever eulogized the beauty of feminine hair. The beloved’s hair has been represented as golden threads, sunrays, fragrant flowers, or astrakhan fleece (wool famous for its tight, shiny loops). Richard Lovelace spoke of it as “sunlight wound up in ribbands.”1 To Charles Baudelaire, his…

  • The X Club

    JMS PearceHull, England, United Kingdom Charles Babbage, who conceived the first automatic digital computer, published in 1830 Reflections on the Decline of Science in England. This stimulated the formation of several new groups that aimed to further scientific progress and exchange of ideas. These were distinct from Britain’s nineteenth century gentlemen’s social clubs and were…

  • What she sees

    Michelle KittlesonLos Angeles, California, United States I know she does not believe me,Why won’t you save my son?Why won’t you see what I see? Her firstborn; calm and chubby;Why can’t he walk? He’s one.Why won’t you see what I see? Genetic tests and biopsies,Why can’t you fix a Lamin mutation?I know she does not believe…

  • Vampires and blood trafficking: The International Red Cross campaign against third-world plasma collection in the 1970s

    William SchneiderIndianapolis, Indiana, United States One of the cornerstones of the WHO Blood Safety program is the voluntary donation of blood. According to the WHO Fact Sheet No. 279 (June 2015), all Member States are urged “to develop national blood systems based on voluntary unpaid donation.” The reason is, An adequate and reliable supply of…

  • Bloodletting with leeches: More dangerous than meeting Dracula

    S. Sabrina Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan Since time immemorial physicians have treated patients by removing various amounts of blood from the circulatory system. For this purpose they used objects that could cut the skin, such as sharpened pieces of wood, stones, teeth of wild animals, or even the feathers of birds. These tools changed over time, and…

  • Steam powered machine to pull a tooth

    This nightmarish sketch of a steam powered dental device is the product of the fantasy of an unknown artist. It mercifully never became a reality, but in a way illustrates the common perception of medicine and dentistry during the late 1800s. Highlighted Vignette Volume 13, Issue 2– Spring 2021 Winter 2020 | |

  • Tuttle’s Family Elixir

    This advertisement in The Southern Planter is for Tuttle’s Family Elixir, a cure-all from the early 1900s. It was promoted by Tuttle’s Elixir Co. as designed “for ills of men, women and children,” advertised in conjunction with Tuttle’s main product, a leg and body wash for racehorses. Highlighted Vignette Volume 13, Issue 2– Spring 2021…

  • The Anatomist

    This 1811 caricature shows a red-faced anatomist, knife in hand. Behind him, a young man had fallen asleep, and the anatomist had mistaken him for dead, covering him with a sheet. The young woman in the center of the image attempts to change the anatomist’s mind, but he appears ready to begin his dissection anyway.…