Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Romans

  • Mustard: History of the yellow seed

    Carol Sherman Chicago, Illinois, United States   Figure 1. The sign from the Mustard Museum. Photo taken by Douglas R. Siefken, August 15, 2019. Provided for this article. The National Mustard Museum in Middleton, Wisconsin1 describes itself as having over 5,600 mustards. They originate from all fifty states of the United States and from more…

  • What can physicians learn from Benjamin Rush, blood, and the Red Cross?

    Ryan Hill Jamestown, Rhode Island, United States   Portrait by Charles Willson Peale, Benjamin Rush, circa 1818. Independence National Historical Park. Via Wikimedia. Public domain. Despite the adamant opposition he encountered from many of his contemporaries, Dr. Benjamin Rush was undeterred; he was certain that bloodletting was the most prudent of all medical procedures and remained…

  • A history of blood: hysteria, taboos, and evil

    Danielle Dalechek Norfolk, Virginia, United States   The witch no. 1. Joseph E Baker. c1892. Library of Congress. No known restrictions on publication. “Who has fully realized that history is not contained in thick books but lives in our very blood?” — Carl Jung   Historically, the opposite of purity was often viewed and represented…

  • Bloody beginnings of hematology

    Sherin Jose Chockattu Bengaluru, India Bloodletting in 1860 – one of only three known photographs of the procedure. From the Burns Archive collection. His pole, with pewter basins hung, Black, rotten teeth in order strung, Rang’d cups that in the window stood, Lin’d with red rags, to look like blood, Did well his threefold trade…