Tag: Physicians of Note
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Dr. William Shippen, surgeon and educator in colonial America
William Shippen Jr. (1736–1808) was a prominent medical person in early American history. Born in Philadelphia in 1736, he came from a well-connected family and received his training at the University of Edinburgh, at the time considered the best medical school in the English-speaking world. He returned to Philadelphia in 1762, and with John Morgan…
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John Allan Wyeth
Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel The 1952 book The Scalpel, the Sword by Ted Allen and Sydney Gordon is the story of Dr. Norman Bethune (1890–1939), a Canadian chest surgeon who made important contributions in the fight against pulmonary tuberculosis, as well as surgical contributions to China during the war with Japan. However, there is a book with a…
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Theodor Zwinger (1533–1588)
To the twentieth century tourist, the name Zwinger brings to mind the beautiful palace built in Dresden in 1709 by King Augustus the Strong of Saxony. In German, Zwinger means an open area between two surrounding walls built to defend a city. But none of these have anything to do with Theodor Zwinger. He was…
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Thomas Dover, physician and entrepreneur (1660–1742)
Oh, Dover was a pirate and he sailed the Spanish Main A hacking cough convulsed him and he had agonizing pain. So he mixed himself a powder, which he liked more and more. Ipecac and opium and K2SO4 1 Dover Powder, U.S.P., 1920. Produced by and gift of Parke, Davis and Company. National Museum…
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Down’s syndrome
JMS Pearce Hull, England Fig 1. A patient at Earlswood photographed by Langdon Down. Via Alchetron. Amongst the residents he attended at Earlswood Asylum for Idiots in Redhill, Surrey, John Langdon Down in 1865 began to use an anthropological classification. He identified a group of patients who were mentally delayed and showed a remarkably similar,…
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Kenelm Digby, polymath and inventor of the wound salve
Kenelm Digby. Via Wikimedia. Sir Kenelm Digby (1603–1665) was not a physician but came close to practicing medicine. He published in 1658 a treatise called A Late Discourse … Touching the Cure of Wounds by the Powder of Sympathy. It consisted of treating dueling wounds, as proposed by Paracelsus, with a “wound salve,” a mixture…
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Ignaz Troxler (1780–1866): Swiss polymath, physician, philosopher, pedagogue and politician
Jonathan Davidson Durham, North Carolina, United States Ignaz PV Troxler, 1830. Via Wikimedia. Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler (1780–1866) was an influential figure in Swiss medicine, philosophy, education, and politics, yet is scarcely mentioned in the English-speaking world. Even in Switzerland, this controversial and outspoken individual remains neglected. Brief Biographical Sketch and Events in…
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Theophile Bonet, physician and anatomist of Geneva
Théophile Bonet. Line engraving by François Diodati, 1679. Wellcome Collection. Theophile Bonet was a scholar and physician remembered for his extensive writings on anatomy, pathology, and clinical medicine. A successful medical practitioner for over forty years, he was familiar with both ancient and modern literature, and he published extensive notes of his studies and observations.…
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Other distinguished physicians
Caton, Richard (1842–1926) – English physician, discovered in 1875 the brain’s electricity by placing direct electrodes on the exposed cortexes of cats and monkeys Dietl, Józef (1804–1878) – Austro-Polish physician, Prof. at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, described the symptom of loin pain after drinking a fluid load in patients with pelviurete Luria, Salvador (1912–1991) –…