Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: William R. Albury

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    THE GLORY OF FRANCE Published in September 2019 H E K T O R A M A   .     ARCHITECTURE AND THE FRENCH HOSPITAL       Parisian hospitals, like those in many European capitals, are the results of years of accretion. Hôtel-Dieu, the oldest Parisian hospital, was founded by Saint Landry in…

  • Historical reflections on cause, responsibility and blame in medicine

    William AlburyNew England, Armidale, Australia Debauchery and disease In the early years of British settlement in Australia the colonial authorities regarded drunkenness as one of the major evils of the day. Their preoccupation with this social problem was mirrored by the concern of the colony’s medical men with drunkenness as a cause of illness. In…

  • From changelings to extraterrestrials: Depictions of autism in popular culture

    William AlburyNew England, Armidale, Australia While evolution of the modern concept of autism dates from the middle of the twentieth century, evidence suggests that behaviors which are now considered autistic have occurred in the human species since its prehistoric origins (Spikins). The cause of autism is unknown, and its diagnosis can be controversial, but its…

  • The model for Albrecht Dürer’s Praying Hands

    William R. AlburyGeorge M. WeiszNew South Wales, Australia The image of Praying Hands by Albrecht Dürer, painted on an altarpiece in the sixteenth century and destroyed by fire in the seventeenth century, has come down to us in the form of a preparatory drawing on blue-grey paper (Fig. 1). The popularity of this image is impressive because…

  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and medicine: A triumph over infirmity

    William R. AlburyGeorge M. WeiszNew South Wales, Australia The “Toulouse-Lautrec Syndrome” Renowned 19th century French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s most obvious association with medicine is through his bone disease. The condition from which he probably suffered was first described in 1954 by the French physician Robert Weissman-Netter. It was named pycnodysostosis in 1962 by Marateaux…