Tag: Hektoen Internaitonal
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Frankincense and myrrh: Medicinal resin worth more than gold
Mariel TishmaChicago, Illinois, United States Boswellia and Commiphora trees are scraggly, sharp, and unfriendly. Growing close to the ground in the arid desert, they have short trunks and fanning branches, sometimes looking more like shrubs than trees. But despite their unlikely appearance, they once served as the cornerstone of an ancient trade.1 When cut or…
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Mount Everest and a medical atlas
Tony RyanCork, Ireland This is a story of a medical atlas, the author, the illustrator, and her great-uncle. The book, the Atlas of the Diseases of the Membrana Tympani, was written by Dr. Henry MacNaughton Jones in 1878. This atlas of diseases of the “eardrum” was illustrated by nurse and artist, Margaret Boole. This story…
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Ether dome
The first operation using ether as anesthesia took place in 1846. This daguerreotype is not of that operation, but rather is a recreation of the event. The patient is unknown, but the surgeons include John Mason Warren, John Collins Warren, George Hayward, and Solomon D. Townsend. Following the first use of ether, the operating theater…