Tag: Physicians of Note
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Thomas Dover, physician and entrepreneur (1660–1742)
Oh, Dover was a pirate and he sailed the Spanish MainA 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 Thomas Dover was an English physician who in 1732 invented a patent medicine known as “Dover’s Powder.” It consisted…
-
Down’s syndrome
JMS PearceHull, England 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, but previously unrecognized distinctive facial appearance that he described using the language of…
-
Kenelm Digby, polymath and inventor of the wound salve
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 of powdered earthworms, iron…
-
Ignaz Troxler (1780–1866): Swiss polymath, physician, philosopher, pedagogue and politician
Jonathan DavidsonDurham, North Carolina, United States 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 Troxler’s Life1 Troxler was born in Beromünster in the…
-
Theophile Bonet, physician and anatomist of Geneva
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. Bonet was born in 1602 in Geneva, where his Protestant…
-
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) –…