Tag: JMS Pearce
-
Bicentenary of the birth of Pierre Paul Broca (1824–1880)
JMS PearceHull, England This year marks the bicentenary of the birth of Pierre Paul Broca, who established the cerebral localization of motor, expressive speech, and language function.1 He was the son of Jean “Benjamin” Broca, a surgeon in Napoleon’s army, and Annette Thomas. Broca was born on 28 June 1824 in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande in the Dordogne.…
-
Early observations of the pulse
JMS PearceHull, England Over the centuries, various devices bearing names now unfamiliar (Clepsydra, water clock, pulsilogium, Sphygmologia, Pulse Watch) were used to measure the pulse.The examination of the pulse to assist in diagnosis and prognosis dates back to ancient Egyptian, Indian, and Chinese physicians. Because they had little understanding of cardiovascular physiology, we might wonder…
-
De l’acromegalie: Maladie de Pierre Marie
JMS PearceHull, England Pierre Marie (1853–1940) described two patients in Charcot’s clinic who showed enlargement of the extremities and face, for which he proposed the term acro-megalie.1 He established and named acromegaly as distinct from other causes of somatic overgrowth. He also acknowledged Saucerotte’s unmistakable earlier account of 1801.2 Pierre Marie described the now classical…
-
The locked-in syndrome in fiction
JMS PearceHull, England The soul is trapped in a body that no longer obeys its commands.—A. Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo, 1844 The pediatric neurologist Richard E. Nordgren and colleagues in 1971 described seven cases of what they called “The Locked In Syndrome.”1 Plum and Posner’s classic monograph comprehensively reviewed the condition and distinguished…
-
Heroic surgeon: Noel Godfrey Chavasse (1884–1917)
JMS PearceHull, England Britain can boast a variety of displays of memorial celebrations—regal, national, military, and personal—in an unrivalled blend of splendor and disciplined discretion. Of several decorations, symbolised by medals, the Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest of all military gallantry awards.* Only three people have ever twice been awarded the VC. And only…
-
The neurology of Emperor Claudius
JMS PearceHull, England Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (10 BC – AD 54) (Fig 1) was a Roman emperor from AD 41 to 54.1 His eventful life was revivified in Robert Graves’s much-admired fictionalized autobiography.2,3 Although one of the most successful Julio-Claudian emperors after Augustus, he is perhaps more widely known for his physical disabilities.…
-
Girolamo Fracastoro and syphilis
JMS Pearce Hull, England In 1924, London’s National Gallery received a bequest from the Mond family, an oil painting titled Portrait of Girolamo Fracastoro, attributed to Titian about 1528. What special attributes of a Veronese physician made him a suitable subject for the renowned artist Titian? Girolamo Fracastoro or Hieronymus Fracastorius (1483–1553) became famous because…
-
Albert Alexander: Unsung hero of penicillin
JMS PearceHull, England Hartnup disease, Christmas disease, and Lou Gehrig’s disease are instances of the rare naming of diseases after the patients so afflicted. There are other medical discoveries, disorders, or treatments in which the crucial part played by the patient is unattributed. One example relates to the early days of penicillin. The story of…
-
Dr. William Gilbert Grace (W.G.)
JMS PearceHull, England By the time he qualified in medicine in 1879, William Gilbert Grace (1848–1915), known as “WG”, had established himself as the world’s greatest cricketer. Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack and the annals of cricket amply chronicle his career1 but are replete with boring statistics, which fail to do justice to his extraordinary, dazzling achievements…
-
John Caius, MD (1510–1573)
JMS PearceHull, England Eminent physicians are remembered in different ways. A few have a street, statue, university department, or hall to perpetuate their name. But to have a college named after you is an uncommon distinction. John (Johannes) Caius—usually pronounced Keys—was born in Norwich, son of Robert Caius and Alice (née Wode). He was an…