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Congress Report by Barbara and David Hawgood The 23rd Congress of the British Society for the History of Medicine was held at Stranmillis College, Belfast, from September 2nd-5th, 2009. Hosts were The Ulster Society for the History of Medicine(USHM) with the support and cooperation of the Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland(CHOMI), medical historians at the University of Ulster, which is a partnership with University College Dublin. Organisers from USHM were Dr Ethna O'Gorman and Dr Robert Montgomery. From CHOMI, Professa Greta Jones organised the submission of abstracts, and Dr Susan Kelly organised the poster session. Secretary to the Congress was Jayne Keilty. |
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The Congress was a most interesting and enjoyable occasion. The sessions on Irish medical history provided a fascinating insight into the rise of various aspects of medical care and the organisation and approaches taken before and after the partition of Ireland. Medical professionals, academics and students gave well-presented papers.
Stranmillis University College is a college of Queen's University Belfast. Stranmillis was founded in 1922 to provide state funded teacher training but now provides other courses and a conference centre. Although the college is spread out in pleasant parkland with many mature trees, the accommodation, meals, lectures and poster displays were all within a compact area. The conference was well organised, and kept to time, with minor adjustments handled smoothly.
On the first evening there was a meeting of BSHM officers and representatives of affiliated societies. Reports from officers had mainly been circulated in advance. We heard details of the 2010 Poynter Lecture, and plans for the 2011 Congess to be held in Guildford. On two evenings there were receptions, with a harpist playing for us. One preceded the excellent and convivial conference dinner. The final session of the Congress was the biennial general meeting of BSHM. Mrs Sue Weir became President for the next two years, succeeding David Wright.
Some delegates from outside Ireland took the opportunity to become tourists or to visit friends and old haunts. The authors of this report visited Waterford and Dublin, then spent a few days sightseeing around Belfast before the Congress.
Delegates to the Conference enjoyed a full and varied programme. There were were two sessions on Irish Medical History (Thursday & Saturday mornings), one on Pharmacy, Medical Education and Medical Biography (Thursday afternoon ), with a Free-standing Papers session on Friday morning. On Friday afternoon, we visited Killyleagh, birthplace of Sir Hans Sloane. We toured the castle where he received some of his education, saw the church where he was baptised, the graves of his parents, the site of the house where he was born, and his statue.
A few examples of the range of subjects presented during the Conference are as follows:
The schedule of talks is available as Belfast programme (Word document) and Belfast programme (Web page). We also have Abstracts of most talks (Word document).
The keynote lecture by Professor Thomas Baskett provided a personal and informal account of the life of Frank Pantridge. At the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast he developed the portable defibrillator and organised its rapid deployment. This has transformed emergency medicine and paramedic services world-wide. Tom Baskett trained at the Royal Victoria Hospital and had personal memories of Frank Pantridge, who had high standards and enforced them on others. The talk covered Pantridge's wartime experiences in Singapore and as a prisoner of war on the Burma railway. We were privileged to have in the audience John Geddes. As an SHO he collaborated with Pantridge in the development, and he took part in the discussion after the talk. We heard that the initial team sent out in an ambulance needed a doctor, a nurse - and a hefty medical student to lug the hefty defibrillator to the patient, sometimes up many flights of stairs. Later a truly portable defibrillator was developed. The portrait of Pantridge in the Great Hall of Queen's University Belfast includes a defibrillator. The reports of the success of the portable defibrillator were picked up first in the United States. At first there were problems in getting the equipment and doctor to the patient in time. Belfast had the advantage of being fairly compact, and having relatively light traffic compared with cities like New York. But in America this was solved by training paramedics to use the defibrillator, and also by building sensors into the portable equipment to determine whether the heart had stopped before applying the shock.
There was an exhibition of posters. We have Abstracts of posters. There was a prize for the best poster from a student. The prize was open to students of History enrolled in an Irish or UK University, or medical students who have completed a Module /Student Selected Component in the HoM at an UK University. In addition History of Medicine students who have not yet completed a PhD were eligible for the prize. The prize was awarded to Tharu Tharakan, a medical student from Imperial College London, for his poster: 'Politics, Pilots and Potatoes. The experience of R.A.F. Prisoners of War in Germany during World War 2'.
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Photographs are by David Hawgood
The Wellcome Collection Conference Centre, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE. 6.00 p.m. 24th March 2010
Promiscuous & Inattentive Proceedings - The ethics and etiquette of patient care in the Georgian era
By Dr Ruth Richardson, Visiting Professor to Hong Kong University in Humanities
and an Affiliated Scholar, in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
The modern discipline of ethics in Medicine and Surgery is regarded as postdating the Nuremberg Trials, and has become largely the preserve of philosophers. In the Georgian era, by contrast, doctors (some of them eminent) - and others - were ready to comment in public upon questionable medical behaviours. In this lecture Ruth Richardson will examine a range of British humanitarian commentary in the context of the Medicine and Surgery of the period.
Ruth Richardson is one editor of Medical Humanities - a Practical Introduction (Royal College of Physicians) and is author of The Making of Mr Gray's Anatomy (Oxford University Press)
This lecture, which will be advertised in the Wellcome's "What's on", is free and is open to the public. Public booking will be through the Wellcome Collection .
In the afternoon, prior to the lecture, there will be a mini-exhibition of related texts, or documents or pictures from the Wellcome Library collection, presented by someone from the library, to complement the lecture. This is for members of BSHM affiliated societies and their guests only. Booking will be to the Hon. Secretary of BSHM, Dr Fiona Davidson, 24 Foxes Dale, Blackheath London SE3 9BQ. Email drfdavidson@yahoo.co.uk.
The Wellcome has, once again, very kindly offered to provided drinks and simple refreshments between 5.00 p m and 6.00 p m. to members of the BSHM . There will also be an informal dinner available in a local hotel.
The lecture, held every two years, is named after Noel Poynter, who was Director of the Wellcome Institute and one of the founders of the British Society for the History of Medicine.
Office-bearers to September 2009 were:
President, Dr David J.Wright, FRCA, FRCP, Secretary Dr Fiona Davidson MD MRCP DHSMAA, Treasurer,
Dr Tina Mathews, BM, FRCPath, DHMSA, Past-President, Dr John Ward, MB, FRCGP, FRCP,
Vice-President Mrs Sue Weir, Webmaster David Hawgood MA FBCS FSG and National Delegate to the International
Society, Geoffrey Davenport.
At the General Meeting in September 2009 Mrs Sue Weir became President, Dr David Wright became Past President, Dr Adrian Thomas FRCR became Vice-President, to become President in 2011.
My last report was prepared for the ORC meeting in London in March 2008. After the ORC meeting there was a demonstration by William Schupbach on the Wellcome Library's anatomical prints and drawings and this was followed by the Poynter Lecture, at which Professor Martin Kemp gave an excellent and beautifully illustrated talk on 'Leonardo's Philosophical Anatomies'.
In September 2008, I attended the 41st International Congress of the International Society of the History of Medicine (ISHM), in Mexico City and in Puebla, Mexico. This was a memorable and friendly meeting, which demonstrated the range and depth of the history of medicine in the Americas. The ISHM's 5th International Meeting, on Light and Fire in Medicine, will be held in Cyprus in September 2009 and the 42nd International Congress will be in Cairo, Egypt in October 2010.
I have been quite involved in the last twelve months with the John Blair Trust and am currently acting as its Treasurer.
I have been in regular contact with Robert Montgomery and his colleagues, who have been planning the Belfast meeting and I look forward to it with keen interest and anticipation. I am grateful to the officers of the Society; the Secretary, Fiona Davidson; the Vice President, Sue Weir; the Treasurer, Tina Matthews; the Webmaster, David Hawgood and the National Delegate, Belinda Heathcote, who, during the year, handed over to Geoffrey Davenport. Their hard working efforts and unfailing support have been much appreciated. After the meeting in Belfast, I look forward to the next Poynter Lecture in London in the spring of 2010.
David Wright, July 2009
The Poynter Lecture in 2008 was very successful. The speaker, Professor Martin Kemp from Oxford, was very thought provoking. His animations of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings were exceptional. An excellent summary of his talk, by David Hawgood has been on the BSHM web site since the lecture. The lecture was held at the Wellcome. Frances Norton, the head of the Wellcome Library, was very happy to co-operate with us and offered us the venue both for our O/R meeting and the Poynter Lecture. In addition, for the first time we extended the event to include the pre-lecture talks, to make an afternoon event. I will discuss this more under the next Poynter Lecture heading.
It is still difficult getting replies from some representatives but I have been informed about some change-over's. Hopefully, I have now an up-to-date version of all the representatives with their current e-mail addresses and postal addresses.
I had some difficulty getting the initial Poster for the Belfast Congress posted to everyone with the last date for sending in Abstracts. However, this highlighted the very early closing date, which was then satisfactorily extended to the end of March. Posting was chosen so that the Poster could be put up somewhere conspicuous, in order that everyone, including those with no e-mail addresses, would be informed about the Congress and to tell those who never read the web-site about the event.
Dr Fiona Davidson, 23rd July 2009
Year End Accounts 2008/2009, year ending 1st April 2009
| Barclays Bank Account | ||||
| Income | £ | Expenditure | £ | |
| Subscriptions | 880.00 | Newsletter | Nil | |
| Interest | nil | Secretary | 53.00 | |
| Treasurer | Nil | |||
| Congress | nil | National Delegate | Nil | |
| International VP | Nil | |||
| Poynter Lecture | nil | Meeting Expenses | 581.00 | |
| Belfast advance | 1000.00 | |||
| Total Income | 880.00 | Total Expenditure | 1634.00 | |
| Capital 31.03.08 | 8785.06 | Capital 1.4.09 | 8031.06 | |
| Total | 9665.06 | 9665.06 | ||
| Abbey National | ||||
| Income | £ | Expenditure | £ | |
| From Barclays | Nil | To Barclays | Nil | |
| Interest | 239.39 | |||
| Plus Capital @ 1.4.08 | 8245.66 | Capital @ 31.3.09 | 8485.05 | |
| Totals | 8485.05 | 8485.05 | ||
| Summary | |
| Income of current and deposit accounts 1.4.08 - 31.03.09 | 1119.39 |
| Plus balance of current and deposit accounts @ 1.4.08 | 8785.06 |
| 8245.66 | |
| Total | 18150.11 |
| Expenditure from current and deposit accounts 1.4.08 - 31.03.09 | 1634.00 |
| Plus balance of current and deposit accounts @ 31.3.09 | 8031.06 |
| 8485.05 | |
| Total | 18150.11 |
| Balance as at 31st March 2009 | |
| Barclays Bank | £8031.06 |
| Abbey National | £8485.05 |
| Total | £16516.11 |
| Income and Expenditure | ||||
| 2007 - 2008 | 2008 - 2009 | |||
| Income | 4830.55 | Income | 1019.39 | |
| Expenditure | 58.34 | Expenditure | 1634.00 | |
| Balance | 4772.21 | Balance | (614.61) | |
| Societies paid for 2008/09 | |
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History of Anaesthesia Society |
RSM Section of the History of Medicine Historical Medical Equipment Society History of Medicine Society of Wales Lindsay Society Yorkshire Medical & Dental History Society University of Birmingham, Society for the History of Medicine Army Medical Services Museum Suffolk Medical History Society Ulster Society for the History of Medicine West Sussex History of Medicine Society |
Poynter Lecture
Fund from donation from Friends of the Wellcome £2000
| Income | £ | Expenditure | £ | |
| Received 2005/06 | 322.75 | David Allen Expenses | 200.00 | |
| Received 2006/07 | 35.50 | Dinner Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese | 376.25 | |
| Received 2008/09 | Nil | Martin Kemp Expenses | 581.00 | |
| Total | 358.25 | Total | 1057.25 |
Poynter Fund
| Donation Friends of the Wellcome | £2,000.00 |
| Net expenditure 2006 lecture | 218.00 |
| Net expenditure 2008 lecture | 581.00 |
| Balance | £1201.00 |
Dr Tina Mathews 25th July 2009
Geoffrey Davenport reported that he succeeded Mrs. Belinda Heathcote on 1st January 2009 and had been collecting this year's subscriptions to Vesalius. There was unfortunately no National Delegate at the Mexico ISHM Congress, as Belinda was unable to attend and his hope to act as substitute was not realised. The Editor of Vesalius, David Wright, was present in Mexico City and hopefully will be able to tell us something about the Meeting. Geoffrey will be present at the Nicosia Congress in September this year, where he will collect the remaining subscriptions.
Geoffrey Davenport 30th July 2009
The major activity was the production of the annual web newsletter. For the 2009 newsletter it would help to have reports from Societies by the end of September. It is most convenient to me if the report is plain text in an email (to david@hawgood.com), but I am happy to receive it as a Word document. Information sent at any time of the year can be put on the website.
I also produced a two page flyer (Word Document) which could be printed and distributed by societies, mainly announcing the Belfast Congress but also with a list of affiliated societies, a report of the 2008 Poynter lecture, and details of the International Society for the History of Medicine and its journal Vesalius.
David Hawgood 27th July 2009
Report at September 2009
This was set up a number of years ago with money from Congress profits. There have, however, been changes in the last year. The Treasurer of the Scottish Society, Dr Morrice McCrae, who had resigned as a trustee, has now returned. David Wright, who has taken on the position of Acting Treasurer, is a trustee ex officio, as President of the BSHM. The other trustees are Dr Elizabeth Lazenby and Mr Robin Price. Unfortunately Dr Lazenby was unable to attend the present O/R meeting and Robin Price has been ill. The Financial situation of the Trust, like many other charities has worsened over the last year or so. The Trust portfolio in Lloyds TSB and Brewin Dolphin has fallen to £13,000. There is also some money in CAF giving a total of £18,500. The last meeting was held at Newcastle upon Tyne at Dr Lazenby's house in November 2008. The next meeting was put off until Robin Price was better. Sue Weir, as the new President of the BSHM, will become a new Trustee, succeeding Dr Wright.
Below are links to reports in this BSHM 2009 Web News. Note that some items are taken from advance notices of societies' events, rather than reports after the meetings. We have a separate page of current contacts and web links for Affiliated Societies.
George Armstrong Prize
The next meeting of the British Society for the History of Paediatrics and Child Health will be in Warwick,
at the spring meeting of the RCPCH, on Wednesday 21st April 2010, from 1400-1730. It will include the George Armstrong
Lecture, which will be given by our founding president Peter Dunn, who will speak about 'Armstrong and his Biographers'.
William Cadogan Essay Prize and Lecture
The BSHPCH offers a £500 prize for an original essay of up to 3000 words, on any aspect of the history of paediatrics
and child health, in any period of time or place. As well as the William Cadogan prize, the winner will be expected to
give a presentation to the autumn meeting of the Society in Liverpool, which will take place at the Liverpool Medical
Institution on September 11th-12th 2010.
Join the BSHPCH
The BSHPCH is a special interest group of the RCPCH and holds two meetings each year. It has more than 100 members
and welcomes all those who have an interest in the history of paediatrics and child health, whether clinicians,
historians, students, trainees or staff.
The closing date for submission of the Cadogan essay is 1st April 2010. For further enquiries, submission of an essay, or details of membership please contact the honorary secretary, preferably by email, at lweaver@clinmed.gla.ac.uk .
Further details of the BSHPCH may be found at its webpage: http://www.gla.ac.uk/t4/childhealth/files/BSHPCH.html
A full programme of events was organised.during 2008. In February, Professor Tony Moffat,Head of the Centre for Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, University of London, presented a paper entitled 'Cannabis: from antiquity until tomorrow'. In May, Professor Michael Heinrich, Head of Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, also at the School of Pharmacy, presented a paper entitled 'Indigenous People and Drug Development: from local knowledge to new medicines'
The Society's Annual Spring Conference was held in the Reigate Manor Hotel, Reigate, Surrey Papers presented included Peter Homan, 'Aerated Waters: natural to carbonated', Axel Helmstädter , 'Plants and Vegetables in the Treatment of Diabetes', Christiane Staiger, 'Potatoes in Pharmacy', Trevor Whaley, 'A Beginners Brief Encounter with Early 19th Century Pharmacology', Trevor Hutchinson, '19th Century Medicine Sellers in Tadcaster', Deborah Bishop, 'Disappearing Pharmacies', Renzo Console, 'Christopher Glaiser: a Swiss pharmacist in Paris under Louis XIV', Hilary Morris, 'The Emergence of Botanicals in Medicine' and Marilyn Creese, 'Sake Dean Mahomed, Manager of Mahomed's Baths and Shampooing, Surgeon to George IV' The conference excursion was a visit to Chartwell.
In June there was an afternoon guided tour around the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's former headquarters in Bloomsbury Square, London.
An evening meeting in October featured a talk by Diarmuid Jeffreys author of 'Aspirin: The Extraordinary Story of a Wonder Drug', who spoke on 'The History of Aspirin'. At the final meeting of the year in November, Dr G P Clein, Honorary Consultant Physician/Medical Oncologist at Poole Hospital, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, presented a paper entitled 'Thomas Mott Caton: the life and times of an early 19th century local London apothecary'.
The British Society for the History of Pharmacy (BSHP) was founded in 1967. It seeks to act as a focus for the development of all areas of the history of pharmacy from the ancient apothecary to today's ever-changing role of the community, hospital, wholesale and industrial pharmacist. The Society publishes research work and articles of medico-pharmaceutical interest in its quarterly journal the Pharmaceutical Historian. It holds meetings, an annual weekend conference and organises visits to places of pharmaceutical interest.
Unless otherwise stated, meetings are held jointly with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society at 1 Lambeth High Street, London SE1 7JN. Details of future events are available on the Society's website www.bshp.org
Report for the British Society for the History of Medicine 2009
The British Society for the History of Radiology, formerly the Radiology History and Heritage Charitable Trust (RHHCT) continues to flourish. The BSHR is the UK society devoted to the history of radiology, radiography and radiation oncology. This society was formed in January 2006, replacing the Radiology History and Heritage Charitable Trust. We are a multidisciplinary group.
We have a web site at www.bshr.org.uk and we hope to put different historical articles and items of interest on the site each month. We will also look at items and articles you wish to send in with a view to either publishing them in our journal or posting them on the web site.
Our Journal 'The Invisible Light' is published twice a year, and is free to members of the BSHR. For anyone interested in joining the Society a membership form is available in the contacts section on the web site, which you can down load and send to us. This form also gives more details about the Society. We are affiliated to the British Society for the History of Medicine. We are always looking for new members.
We organise a radiology history session at the annual UK Radiology Congress 'UKRC' www.ukrc.org.uk which this year was held in Manchester (UK Radiological Congress 2009, Manchester Central, Manchester UK). The History Special Focus Group at UKRC 2009 was well attended and our stand at the technical exhibition was very busy.
We will be present at UKRC 2010 (to be held in Birmingham) and again we will be having a history session and a stand in the technical exhibition. The history session at UKRC in 2010 will be well worth attending with a selection of interesting papers. We have two distinguished foreign visitors who will be speaking at the session. These are Prof. Dr. Alfredo Buzzi from the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and who is the President of the Argentinean Society of Radiology. Prof. Buzzi continues to develop his links with the UK. The second foreign guest is Dr. Uwe Busch who is the Deputy Director of the Deutsches Röntgen-Museum in Remscheid (Lennep) in Germany who will be telling us about the exciting changes he is making to the museum. Dr. Arpan Banerjee from Birmingham Heartlands Hospital will be describing the life and work of the famous pioneer Birmingham radiologist James Brailsford. James Brailsford was one of the great characters of British radiology. Dr Pauline Reeves will tell us about her interesting work using professional journals to examine gender in radiography from 1935-1974. Prof. Richard Lawson, the Chief Physicist of Manchester Royal Infirmary, gives us a Nobel History of nuclear medicine. Nuclear medicine is often considered to be a relatively modern speciality, but in fact its foundations go back 100 years. His talk will describe the early scientific discoveries that led to the development of nuclear medicine and highlight the contribution of several Nobel Prize winners. Finally Dr. Adrian Thomas will give a paper on the ultrasound pioneer Ian Donald in the centenary year of his birth.
We have an annual lecture which in 2010 will be held at the British Institute of Radiology on the 22nd February in the evening. The lecture is to be given by Prof. Peter Ell on the history of Nuclear Medicine.
Further information about the BSHR and the lecture can be obtained from either myself or our Honorary Secretary Mrs Jean Barrett (103 Slaithwaite Road, Meltham, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire HD9 5PW or jean.barrett@ntlworld.com). Our website is at www.bshr.org.uk/.
Dr. Adrian MK Thomas
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington, Kent BR6 8ND
adrian.thomas@btinternet.com or adrian.thomas3@nhs.net
The Historical Medical Equipment Society was founded in 1996. It aims to promote education and research into the history and evolution of instruments, apparatus and equipment employed in medicine and related health care professions. Membership is £15 per year (£20 joint membership) and is open to anyone with an interest in medical, surgical, pharmaceutical, dental instruments and equipment. We currently have some 70 members.
The Society holds a meeting twice a year with discussion papers, visits to collections and equipment identification sessions. The meetings are generally held throughout the UK in a medical museum or an institute with a medical collection. The HMES publishes a bi-annual Bulletin with illustrated articles concerning the history and construction of historical medical instruments and equipment. Meetings were held in October 2008 at the Herriot Museum in Thirsk and April 2009 at the Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in London.
Dr John Prosser is Chairman; Mr. John Kirkup and Dr Tim Smith edit and produce the HMES Bulletin. Enquires about membership or instrument identification should be addressed to the Honorary Secretary & Treasurer, Dr Peter Mohr: email pmohr@doctors.org.uk tel: 0161-707 1818. HMES website www.hmes.org.uk
The next meeting is on Saturday, 17th October 2009 at the George Marshall Medical Museum, Worcestershire Royal Hospital. The spring meeting is planned for 17th April 2010 at the Museum of the British Dental Association in London.
Dr Peter Mohr, Honorary Secretary
The Society continues to flourish under the chairmanship of Professor Tony Wildsmith who took office during the highly successful 22nd Annual Meeting held in June, 2008 the in the delightful setting of the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of John Snow. Since then we have held two further meetings. The Autumn Meeting was held in the Royal College of Anaesthetists, Red Lion Square, London. Presentations were of high standard. Unfortunately, despite earlier clamour for a meeting to be held in the city, the audience was comparatively small as it clashed with school half-term holidays.
The 23rd Annual Meeting held in Bath in May was another success despite a rather small audience again related to it occurring in relation to school half-term holidays.
It is a myth that our Society is, by virtue of the age range of the majority, immune to commitments with family during this period! A wide range of interesting topics were presented from at home and abroad. The highlight of the meeting was perhaps the Annual Dinner held in the Roman Baths. In June 2010 the 24th Annual Meeting is to take place in Llandindrod Wells in June.
Information about all our meetings can be found on our Website http://www.histansoc.org.uk/index.htm
Under the guidance of the Editor of the Proceedings, Dr Alistair McKenzie, progress is being made to combat the growing problem of plagiarism in presentations made at Society Meetings. It is particular prevalent in presentations made by trainees. Our Editor now has a standard letter and declaration form which is sent to all who submit abstracts to the Society for each meeting. If there is still evidence of plagiarism in the submitted paper it will not be published unless the author agrees to acknowledge the source of the material. If any one wishes to have sight of these documents copies are available from either Alistair McKenzie at mckenzie_alistair@hotmail.com or myself at gasflo@btinternet.com.
Anne M Florence, Honorary Secretary
Secretary. Dr Margaret R Jones, FRCR, 7 Windsor Avenue, Radyr, Cardiff CF15 8BW.
Telephone (0)2920419121; e-mail: margaretjones80@ntlworld.com
The History of Medicine Society of Wales has had another successful year thanks to the support of its members, the quality of the lecturers and the enthusiasm of the President. The Presidential address was most informative about the Cardiff Workhouse which became St David's Hospital and Mr Neville Granville's excellent vivid account of a Welsh mining disaster was very moving. The title of the Society reflects the fact that it exists to discuss and further the interest in any aspect of Medical History and is not limited to Welsh topics. The programmes for the four meetings held in 2009 are as follows:
Spring Meeting at the Imperial Hotel Llandudno
on Saturday morning 25th April 2009
Chairman: Dr Joan Andrews, President
Programme
10.00 am Annual General Meeting (From 25th October 2008)
10.30 am Dr. Peter Lloyd Jones, Cardiff
'The Welsh Museum of Health and Medicine. The Website and Recent Acquisitions'
11.30 pm Dr. Henry Connor, Hereford 'Mediaeval Uroscopy and its representation on Misericords'
12.15 pm Dr. Buddug Owen, North Wales 'Dr William Evans of Tregaron'
12.45 pm Dr. Hilary Morgan 'Dr William Evans: personal reminiscences'
Summer Meeting at the National Library of Wales Aberystwyth on Friday afternoon 26th June 2009
Chairman: Dr Joan Andrews, President
Programme
01.30 pm Dr.Tom Davies, Cardiff 'Disease changing the course of History'
02.30 pm Dr Joan Andrews, Cardiff 'The History of St David's Hospital'
04.00 pm Professor Peter Harper, Cardiff 'Genetics,Politics and History'
Autumn Meeting at the Plas Hyfryd Hotel Narbeth on Friday afternoon 18th September 2009
Chairman: Dr Joan Andrews, President
Programme
01.30 pm Professor Neil McIntyre, London 'Britain's first Medical Marriage -the Sequel'
02.30 pm Mr Neville Granville, Bridgend 'The Parc Slip Disaster'
04.00 pm Professor Alan Aitkenhead, Nottingham 'Medicine and the Law'
Winter Meeting at De Courcey's Manor Pentyrch Cardiff
on Friday 30th October 2009
Chairman: Dr Joan Andrews, President
Programme
12.00 pm Dr David T D Hughes, London 'The Elephant Man'
02.00 pm Professor Sir Iain Chalmers, Oxford 'The James Lind Library'
03.00 pm Professor Ron Eccles, Cardiff 'Clinical effectiveness of cold and flu remedies'
03.45 pm Professor Malcolm Wheeler, Cardiff 'A Tale of Two Celts'
The meetings have been very well attended and the provisional programme for next year is as follows:
Friday afternoon 23rd April at Gregynog Hall Newtown Powys
Annual General Meeting
'Bedlam in Wales: Some aspects of Psychiatric history' Dr Tom Davies
'Horatio Nelson: Hero and patient' Mr Malcolm Puntis
To be announced: Prof. Neil McIntyre
Friday afternoon 25th June at the National Library of Wales Aberystwyth
'Herbalism in Mediaeval Wales: The Myth of Maddygon Myddfai' Dr Morfydd Owen
To be announced: Dr Geraint Lewis
'Dr Crippen: Was he innocent?' Mr Robin Odell
'Prof Hugh de Wardener and Cerebral Beri Beri' Prof. H Gethin Morgan
Friday afternoon 10th September at the Glen yr Afon Hotel Usk Gwent
'Medical Education' Dr Lesley Pugsley
'Oesophageal Cancer from Czerny to Ifor Lewis' Mr Walford Gillison
'James Parkinson and the Shaking Palsy' Dr Christopher Gardner-Thorpe
'Wales and the 17th Century Medical World' Dr Alun Withey
Friday 12.00 pm 29th October at De Courceys Manor Pentyrch Cardiff
'Medical Governance' Prof. Sir William Asscher
'Archie Cochrane and his legacy: A man of genius with feet of clay'
Professor Peter Elwood
'An Early History of Psychiatry' Dr Henry Rollin
'The Life of Edward Wilson 1872-1914' Dr Isobel Williams
'The Welsh Museum of Health and Medicine' Dr Peter Lloyd Jones
The meetings will be chaired by the President, Prof. H Gethin Morgan. Guests are welcome.
Dr Margaret R Jones, Hon. Secretary
Now in its 47th year, the Society has enjoyed one of the most interesting and stimulating programmes in 2009.
In June, the Annual Lindsay Memorial Lecture was held in Glasgow, when Professor Howard Moody of Edinburgh University delivered a wonderful presentation on the History of Forensic Dentistry to a packed auditorium. Prof Moody has long been one of a triumvirate of internationally renowned forensic odontologists (the others being Prof D.Whittaker and Prof G.Craig) based in the UK. His lecture covered fascinating evidence from Roman and Greek archaeology sites up to modern day criminal cases including the Locherbie aircraft bombing atrocity and the West murders. He revealed that dental evidence was the most frequently used science in identification in criminal courts out performing DNA by 50 to 1, contrary to the popular image of contemporary TV crime dramas. In fact, bite marks were as admissible in court as fingerprints.
The Annual Autumn Conference was held in October in Ironbridge, Shropshire when a plethora of outstanding speakers informed and entertained the large gathering of Society members. Mr Brian Avery delivered a stunning lecture 'From Barber Surgeons to Maxillo Facial Speciality', Dr Stephen Hancock gave a history of 130 years of the British Dental Journal, Professor John Davenport (formerly Professor of Prosthodontics at Birmingham University and in retirement a very successful portrait artist) gave a beautifully illustrated talk on 'Painted faces thro' the Ages' and Air Vice Marshal Ian McIntyre was most illuminating when discussing the 'Effects of Oral Condition on Military Operations' ranging from scurvy endemic in Admiral Anson fleet in the middle ages to the effects of pressure on high performance air crews.
Work is now in progress to plan the 2010 programme when the Lindsay Memorial Lecture will be in Liverpool on May 21st when the speaker Professor John McCabe will talk about success and failure of dental materials throughout history and the Autumn Conference will be 1st,2nd and 3rd October, probably in Winchester (venue to be confirmed).
The Society's journal 'Dental Historian' under the enthusiastic editorship of Prof. Stanley Gelbier, has recently published the 50th issue and has expanded to well over 100 pages each issue.
At the AGM, Dr Brian Williams was elected Secretary (e-mail:- brianwilliams14@btinternet.com) Dr Stuart Robson elected Chairman Elect when Professor Robin Basker's term as Chairman is completed in 2010, and the Treasurer and Membership Secretary is Dr Peter Frost (e-mail: pfdrymouth@aol.com)
Dr Stuart Robson, e-mail: stuartrobson367@btinternet.com
It is my pleasure to report that the Society has had a successful year significantly increasing the involvement of our Medical Student Members and attracting sizeable audiences. It was pleasing to see members of the Duncan Society and members of the Liverpool Medical Institution at several of our meetings.
We began the session with Dr John Rowlands' talk about Dr Joseph Brandreth of Ormskirk and Liverpool a member of an illustrious Liverpool Medical family. This was followed by Dr Sanjoy Bhattachary from the Welcome Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London who talked about the history and integrative challenges faced by those involved in the worldwide eradication of smallpox. In December, Dr Ivan Iniesta from the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery discussed the important relationship between epilepsy and literature.
We finished the advertised programme for the year with two prominent inhabitants of Liverpool, Professor Robert Sells who established the Liverpool Renal Transplant Unit in the late 1960s and a true Liverpudlian, Bishop Tom Williams, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Liverpool and orator of note who talked about 'Growing up in Liverpool's Scotland Road' and all the recent changes which have taken place in the area. Many past memories of the area were recalled by the audience. There was virtually standing room only at both those talks and much audience participation.
In recent years we have been eager to involve Medical Students in the Society and were very heartened to see many at meetings. There is an optional medical history course consisting of six Special Study Modules during the first four years of the undergraduate curriculum. It is therefore important that we actively involve them in the Society, its deliberations and programme planning. In 2008-09 they organised a Medical History Quiz and an excellent lecture by Mr Edwin Jesudason from Alder Hey on the history of paediatric surgery in the city with a look into the future of the specialty, in general, in view of the potential difficulties for training with the introduction of working time directives. This evening, which ended with cheese and wine, was another success. We now look forward to a new year with an extended programme including a joint meeting with the Surgical Scousers, a revisit by Mr Mike Crumplin which has been arranged by the student members of the Committee. I do hope that you will give the Society your full support and will encourage friends and new members to join to help preserve the future of the Society.
Finally, you will doubtless welcome the news that the Society has received £1,500 from the Henry Cohen Bequest covering the period from 2006-08. We hope that the problem has been resolved and that, while acknowledging that we have to make a regular written request, we shall now receive £500 annually.
Anne M Florence
The Medical Sciences Historical Society (MSHS) was established in 1981 with the express aim of the furtherance of interest in, and promotion of, the history of the diagnostic medical science. It acts as a forum for interested participants who have access to the Society's meetings and enjoy its regular publications. The Society publishes Medical Sciences History annually and a newsletter biannually. A variety of meetings are held every year - usually in London at the offices of the Institute of Biomedical Science. On a rather more social note, a regular event is that of the MSHS Summer Visit where members and their guests meet up at an interesting venue, often with an arranged guided tour.
Membership will appeal to those who are, or have been involved, or just have an interest in, diagnostic medicine. Members are encouraged to participate in lectures, meetings and to contribute to the Society publications. Membership does provide a useful opportunity for maintaining contact with past or present colleagues from the world of medicine in general - and pathology in particular.
The MSHS is affiliated to the British Society for the History of Medicine and this affiliation provides members with access to the open, national and international activities of all other affiliated societies. Access to the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine is also available - open to all.
Enquiries regarding membership, or seeking further information about the MSHS are welcomed and should be addressed to:
The Hon Secretary, MSHS, 117 Woodland Drive, Cassiobury, Watford, Herts. WD17 3DA
The Society held its Annual General meeting on Saturday 14th March and this was followed by the Spring Lecture 'The Electron Microscope - History and Application in Biomedical Science' by Mr. Ralph Nunn.
At the Summer Lecture meeting of the Society on Saturday 9th May members and guests enjoyed two presentations: 'Medicine with a Mission: Suffragettes as Army Surgeons' by Dr. Jennian Geddes, and 'The Battle of Waterloo - a Microbiologist's Perspective' by Mr. Ken Edwards.
At the October Meeting held on Saturday 31st October two presentations were given:
'Dyeing for a Century: a hundred years of BDH' by Mr. David Hall and 'Immunochemistry: past, present and
future' by Mr. Keith Miller.
All the meetings have enjoyed good attendance by members and guests, and we wish to thank all of our speakers for the excellence of their presentations.
The Summer Visit of the Society, on Saturday 4th July, was to Cambridge where we 'walked in Darwin's footsteps'. This included Christ's College; where Darwin's room, the Old Library (which exhibited many artefacts associated with Darwin) , the Charles Darwin Sculpture Garden (including the newly commissioned sculpture of Darwin created by Anthony Smith, a recent graduate in Natural Sciences at Christ's College) were visited.
The Society has, (with the assistance and generosity of Oxoid Ltd.) produced a searchable CD containing scanned copies of all the Society's publications from 1982 to 2007.
The Osler Club of London, The Thomas Cotton Room, Royal College of Physicians, 6, St Andrew's Place, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4LE. www.osler.org.uk
The Club's postal address is c/o The Library, Royal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrews Place, London NW1 4LE.
Report for the British Society for the History of Medicine 2009
The annual programme of the Osler Club of London continues to be full and varied. The Osler Club of London was founded in 1928 (which was the year of Lady Osler's death) to encourage the study of the history of medicine, and to keep fresh the memory of Sir William Osler (who was born on July 12th 1849 and who died on December 29th 1919).
The members of the Club, either medical or those engaged in some activity related to medicine, are devoted to the humanistic approach to medicine, as exemplified in the life and works of Sir William Osler.
Membership of the Osler Club is open to medical men and women, medical students, and persons associated with the history of medicine and in allied sciences.
The Thomas Cotton Room of the Osler Club of London is now transferred to the main building of the Royal College of Physicians of London.
For the 2008-2009 session there was a varied programme. In the first meeting for the session Druin Burch spoke on 'Astley Cooper 1768 -1841: Digging Up the Dead, Uncovering the Life and Times of an Extraordinary Surgeon.' In the second meeting Major General Alan Hawley gave us a talk on 'Aspects of Recent Military Medical History." For our first meeting in 2009 David Levy spoke on "Gustav Mahler's last illness." This was followed by Katriona Munthe and Christopher Gardner-Thorpe giving a joint presentation on 'Dr Axel Munthe in his Library (Writing in the Margins of Medicine and Psychology).' Prof. John Walker Smith gave a memorable Presidential Address on "Osler and Greater Britain: an antipodean perspective." We completed the year with an exceptionally fine Oration on 'Differentiating Diseases: The Centrum of Differential Diagnosis in the evolution of Oslerian Medicine' delivered by Prof. John Pearn.
The meetings for 2009/10 session are:
5 November 2009: Dr Gael Phillips on 'Edward Osler.'
3 December 2009: Dr Peter Bennett & Rebecca Abrams on 'The life and work of the Aberdeen physician and obstetrician
Alexander Gordon (1752-99)'
14 January 2010: Dr Jock Murray on 'Medicine and Healing in stained glass Windows.'
11 February 2010: Mr Ian Hutchison on 'What is a surgeon in the 21st century?'
8 April 2010: Dr Steven Lomazow on 'The illness of Franklin D. Roosevelt.'
6 May 2010: AGM and Members' Papers Evening.
15 July 2010: The Oration: Dr James Le Fanu 'Why Us? Science and the Restitution of Man.'
All meetings will be held at the Royal College of Physicians of London at 7 pm and a buffet supper will take place at 8 pm. If you wish to attend a meeting then please contact me.
Adrian M K Thomas
President, The Osler Club of London
adrian.thomas@btinternet.com or adrian.thomas3@nhs.net
Meetings (except summer outing) are at the Society's premises at 1 Wimpole Street, London W1G 0AE and are followed by an optional dinner. Non-members can attend. For booking procedure see Section events page
RSM History of Medicine Section 2008/9
The elected Section President was Dr Jean Guy, but ill-health prevented her from attending the lectures in October, November and February, when the meetings were chaired by the Immediate Past-President Mr Adrian Marston.
01/10/08 5.30 pm 'The Heroic Anatomist - Dissection and the Stoic Ideal'. Simon Chaplin
Simon Chaplin, the Director of Museums and Special Collections at the Royal College of Surgeons of England,
has instigated great changes at the college including a programme of lectures and an active team of volunteer helpers.
05/11/08 5.30 pm '"Good God Women!" Suffragettes and the Endell Street Military Hospital'
Jennian Geddes, Consultant Neuropathologist, Royal London Hospital.
Women in medicine have always had a different set of challenges from their male colleagues, but those of the present day
are nothing compared to our predecessors' experiences.
03/12/08 5.30 pm 'Greatness in Medicine' John Burnham
Professor John Burnham of Ohio State University specializes in the history of medicine and American social history; his particular interest is the history of psychiatry.
04/02/09 5.30 pm Norah Schuster Prize Essays -
selected papers submitted by students at medical schools.
04/03/09 5.30 pm 'Pathology in London Streets: Cases in James Parkinson's Essay on the Shaking Palsy (1817)' Professor Brian Hurwitz
01/04/09 1.30 pm Afternoon symposium on medicine and the humanities - Stephen Golding, Aileen Adams, Anne Hargreaves, Alan Emery, Richard Hull.
06/05/09 5.30 pm 'The New Vesalians' - Presidential Address and AGM
17&18/06/09 Summer Outing to Cambridge
(included a tour of Rare Books at the University Library,
museum and archive visits, and a morning of lectures)
Jean Guy
Membership has remained fairly steady with some new faces replacing the old.
On 10 October 2008 we had a lecture-supper at which Noel Stow gave an amusing and memorable talk entitled 'Sealing Wax and liquid legs: a wartime pharmaceutical apprenticeship in Suffolk'. Noel told us about his apprenticeship in Ipswich which started in 1944. Some of the practices which he described had probably remained unchanged for two hundred years, but the overall impression was that the young Mr Stow had learned a lot and enjoyed himself.
Then on 20 February 2009 we had another lecture-supper, the speaker once again being Dr Jean Guy, who gave an excellent short illustrated talk entitled 'Dr Florence Stoney: her short adventure in Belgium, 1914'. She described the adventures of a group of women doctors who briefly set up a hospital in Antwerp at the start of the First World War. Not only were they under threat from the Germans, but the British military authorities were quite hostile too.
Elizabeth Cockayne and Pat Murrell continued to do sterling work in the kitchen, and there is a suspicion in the group that some people come more for the food rather than the lectures.
On Thursday 18 June 2008, for the summer outing, nine members of the SMHS and two guests had lunch at the Bella Italia, Newnham Rd, Cambridge followed by a visit to the University Library. Despite rather slow service in the restaurant we arrived at the library pretty much on time. There, three members of staff showed the group a magnificent display of historical medical texts which had been laid out for a visit of the Royal Society of Medicine the day before. The display had been kept open due to the good offices of Jean Guy. When we had had our fill of this, some of us then went on to look at the exhibition celebrating 800 years of learning at Cambridge. In all it was a very successful afternoon indeed.
The Suffolk Medical History Society continues to financially support the Suffolk Medical Biographies website which can now be found at http://suffolkmedicalbiographies.co.uk
Ted Cockayne, Hon. Secretary, Suffolk Medical History Society
Office of Archives, King Edward Building, Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BL.
Tel: 028 9024 0503 Ext 3686
The major activity was organising the BSHM Conference for Sept.2009, a very large event for the Society. See Congress report at the beginning of this newsletter.
Meetings start at 1000hrs on Saturday mornings at the Chichester Medical Education Centre, of St Richards Hospital, Chichester. £5 per session including coffee. Staff and students free. Certificates of attendance for Continuing Professional Development are provided
Saturday 3rd October
'Hess;
Was he Rudolf or was he not?' Brigadier (Retd) Ronald Smart OStJ BDS FDS
DOrthRCS
'Moveability
at Will: Eighteenth-Century Portable Hospitals' Dr Eric Gruber von Arni RRC
PhD FRHistS
Saturday
17th October
'The
Establishment of the Army Medical School and Services after the Crimean War'
Captain
(Retd)PH Starling DHMSA FRHistS
'Leuwenhoek
and the Birth of Microscopy' Professor Brian Ford FIBiol CBiol FLS
Saturday
31st October
'The
History of Artificial Kidney Treatment' Dr Frank Marsh FRCP
'John
Langdon Down & Down's Syndrome' Professor Conor Ward MD FRCPI FRCP(Glas)
FRCP PhD(Med Hist)
Saturday
14th November
'Sir Joseph Fayrer and the Anglo-Indian Cholera Policy in the late 19th
Century' Dr Henry Connor MB BChir MD FRCP
'Henri Marie Raymond Toulouse Lautrec Montfa - Artistic Genius and Medical Curiosity' Dr
Winston Leigh BA MB ChB MRCGP
Saturday
28th November
'Dr
Alexander Gordon & Puerperal Fever - a medical detective story' Dr Peter
Bennett MD FRCP DHMSA
'Murder
by Curare' Dr Ann Ferguson FRCA DHMSA
For Further details contact John Richardson 01243-780786, or RichardsonDrJ@aol.com,
or at 1 Franklin Place, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1BL
Evening lectures and meetings, starting at 6.00pm unless otherwise specified, are held for members of the Faculty, their guests and any other interested parties at Apothecaries' Hall, Black Friars Lane, London EC4V 6EJ, throughout the academic year. Entry to the Eponymous Lectures is open to the public. Lecture fliers with reply slips are available from the Administrative Secretary at the Hall (or click on link in www.apothecaries.org/ to download). They are presented by invited speakers, and lectures at Apothecaries' Hall are preceded by tea at 5.30pm in the Court Room and followed by a subscription supper in the Great Hall.
Lecture Programme 2009-10
Joint Meeting with Royal Society of Medicine and the Royal College of Surgeons
Thursday, 10th September 2009 in Westerham, Kent
Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the fall of Quebec
Speakers:
Mr Eric Gruber, Trustee, Army Medical Services Museum
Mr Mick Crumplin, Honorary curator and archivist, Royal Collegeof Surgeons
Mr Nigel Tai, The Royal London, Hospital Trauma Service, London
Professor Jim Ryan, Catastrophes and Conflict Forum, RSM
Visit to the Wellcome Collection and Library
Tuesday, 22nd September 2009 at 1400
Tour of the Exquisite Bodies Exhibition and viewing of anatomical highlights from the Library's collections
Sydenham Lecture: Wednesday, 21st October 2009
"A brief history of vomiting: The first 700 million years"
Professor Paul Andrews, BSc, PhD,
Professor of Comparative Physiology, St George's University of London
John Locke Lecture: Wednesday, 20th January 2010
"Whats Wrong With Health Inequality?"
Professor Jonathan Wolff, BA, MPhil,
Professor of Philosophy, UCL
Osler Lecture: Wednesday, 24th February 2010
"Physic with a fizz: the medical history of soft drinks"
Dr Roger Rolls, MA, MB, BChir, MRCGP, DHMSA,
General Practioner, Bath
Monckton Copeman Lecture: Monday, 22nd March 2010
"London Apothecaries, the Law, and the community 1800-1880's"
Professor Steven King, BA, PhD,
Professor of medical Humanities, University of Leicester
Introductory Course in the History of Medicine for Medical Students
7th - 9th April 2010
At Apothecaries' Hall, the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, and the Royal Society of Medicine
Gideon de Laune Lecture: Wednesday, 28th April 2010
"Nicholas Culpeper: London's first general practitioner?"
Professor Michael Farthing, DSc (Med), MD, FRCP, FMedSci,
Vice Chancellor and Professor of Medicine, University of Sussex
Lecture at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 1 Lambeth Street, SE1 7JN
Wednesday, 19th May 2010 at 1815
The British Society for the History of Pharmacy Invites the Faculty to this meeting
"Pharmacy and Slavery: Apothecaries, medicines and the Slave Trade 1650 - 1833"
Dr Stuart Anderson, MA, PhD,
Associate Dean of Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
15th Macdonald Critchley Lecture: Tuesday, 15th June 2010
"The lead in Handel's wine cellar: the mysterious world of pathobiography"
Professor Sir David Weatherall, MD, FRCP, FRS,
Emeritus Regius Professor of Medicine, University of Oxford
The 2009-10 course started in September 2009 and runs on Saturday mornings to June 2010. Examinations in June are followed by a dissertation and test lecture (medical students of King's, Guy's, Thomas's have June/July examinations). For details with link to schedule of lectures see http://www.apothecaries.org/index.php?page=31. A similar course will start in autumn 2010.
Secretary's Report 2009
The society is fortunate in the support it receives from individuals and organisations including, but not limited to: Malcolm Parsons, Bill Mathie, and the staff of the Thackray Museum.
Programme
Eight evening and one daytime meeting were held, with speakers drawn from the membership and outside. It is
disappointing that despite a varied programme, with high quality speakers, the attendance at meetings dwindled to,
on occasions, single figures. This has caused the committee much concern and they are rethinking the format of the
society's programme.
Joint meeting with the Leeds Library
In April, a successful meeting was held at the Mill Hill Chapel, City Square, Leeds, organised jointly with the
Leeds Library because of the close connection of various medical men with the founding of the Library. About 70 people,
from various organisations, enjoyed lively and interesting presentations on the general theme of 19th century
Leeds doctors and an introduction to the medical collection in the Leeds Library.
Newsletter
The Newsletter, which perhaps more properly should be called a journal, goes from strength to strength under
the continuing editorship of Malcolm Parsons. The varied, but consistently interesting, content appears to be well
received by the readership. A particularly pleasing aspect of this year's three editions was the much larger
contribution from our members, reflecting their wide range of interests.
Questionnaire
As with many (?all) medical societies, the YMDHS is dependent on a hard core of enthusiastic members. It may well
be that the society is failing to cater for members' interests and wants. Consequently, a detailed questionnaire was
circulated to all members, the results of which will be presented at the AGM.
| FEBRUARY Tues 17th | Student Presentations Andrew Chamberlain: Eclampsia: Have we learnt anything in the past 300 years? Toby Johnson: Patrick Bronte's cataract surgery. James Williams: Disaster management - the wreck of the Royal Charter Mike Carrick: Contraception in ancient civilisation. |
| MARCH Tues 17th | John Kenning (Leeds) History of the Old Medical School, Leeds |
| APRIL Wed 22nd | Afternoon Meeting with The Leeds Library Some 19th Century Leeds Doctors Malcolm Parsons, Bill Mathie, Michael Green, Geoffrey Forster. |
| MAY Wed 6th | Philatelic Evening: Michael Waugh (Leeds): Postal Propaganda and Healthy Lifestyles Dinar Adhale (Barnsley): The Sweet Smell of Success: Diabetes on Stamps |
| JUNE Tues16th | John Perrins (Leeds) The Very Early History of Cardiac Pacemakers. |
| JULY Tues 21st | Alice Nicholls (Manchester): The Early Years of British Intensive Care |
| SEPT Thurs 17th | Rod Amos (Sheffield): Flower Power: The myth, magic and medicine in English wild flowers |
| OCTOBER Tues 20th | AGM Professor Liakat Parapia (Bradford) Trepanning or trephines - a history of bone marrow biopsies |
| NOVEMBER Wed 18th | Ian Rothwell (Leeds) James Lind and Scurvy, the Seafarers' Nightmare |
John Turney, Hon Secretary to YMDHS, October 2009.
www.leeds.ac.uk/ymdhs
Raymond Hurt. The Royal Society of Medicine Press (2008), London. Pp. xx + 294. ISBN 978-1-85315-765-3
George Guthrie was born in London on 1st May 1785, the only son of a successful Scots-Irish businessman. Educated privately Guthrie entered into an apprenticeship to Mr Phillips, a surgeon, at the age of 13 years; later he would also be apprenticed to William Hunter, the famous anatomist.
At the age of 15 years he was successfully examined for membership of the College of Surgeons and in March 1801 he was appointed to be Assistant Surgeon, 29th Regiment of Foot. (He had concealed his true age to achieve this). He immediately gained a good reputation as an army doctor and within five years was promoted to Surgeon. During this time Guthrie was serving in Canada but in 1808 his regiment embarked for service in the Peninsular Campaign. Guthrie found himself with his regiment in many of the great battles fought by the British army against Napoleon. During the battle of Vimeiro he was himself slightly wounded in both legs. Not content with doctoring, Guthrie also captured an enemy artillery piece single handed.
During the campaign casualties treated by the doctors of Wellington's army were on an immense scale; after Talavera there were 6,000. Guthrie was not slow to lay blame on his superiors for their inefficiency when he was left in sole charge of the treatment of the sick and wounded, whilst he himself was suffering from Malaria. During the many engagements involving Guthrie his dexterity as a surgeon and ability as an administrator were always to the fore as his reputation grew.
Placed on Half Pay, Guthrie retired to England in 1814 and attempted to establish himself in London. He attended lectures but it became apparent that his lecturers, despite being eminent men, were in fact outdated. This inspired him to write his first text-book, A Treatise on Gunshot Wounds of the Extremities, published in 1815. It was also in 1815 that he was recalled to the army as Wellington's army once again faced Napoleon and the French army.
Guthrie did not arrive in Belgium until twelve days after the battle of Waterloo but his skills were still much in demand to perform surgery on the many thousands of wounded resulting from the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo. The story of Guthrie's early years up to his final retirement from the army is dealt with in the first part of this excellent book. His life after military service is dealt with in the second part. Also in the latter half are chapters discussing his contributions to surgery, including surgery of the war, his Presidency of the Royal College of Surgeons and various obituaries which appeared after his death. For a surgeon who made such an important contribution to military surgery it has long puzzled many why his life has never been chronicled before so we should be grateful to Raymond Hurt for filling such a large void in military medical history.
This book is highly recommended to both medical historians and those with an interest in military surgery.
Harvey White. £19.95, ISBN 978-1-85315-679-3, 304pp, Paperback, Published October 2007 by RSM Press Ltd
Harvey White, a distinguished surgeon and medical historian, has produced an immensely readable, amusing account of the London Clinic's maturation from its foundation in 1932 to its current prestigious status as a provider of medical and nursing care. He has provided a very personal account of the main players: administrators, doctors, nurses and patients. For those connected to the clinic it will be a delight, and for other medical professionals, of great interest. To view the development of medical excellence is a joy for all of us in the caring professions, and the London Clinic is continuously pro-active as shown by the recent building of its comprehensive cancer unit.
Many of the great names of British medicine, such as the Lords Moynihan, Dawson and Horder, Sir James Paterson Ross, Sir Clifford Naunton-Morgan and a host of others, appear in the book, yet the list of patients is even more glittering. Royals both home-grown and foreign, politicians of all parties, such as Ernest Bevin and Anthony Eden, stars of stage, screen and the sports field, such as Charlie Chaplin, Richard Tauber, Shirley Bassey, Jacqueline du Pre and Harold Larwood are mentioned, often with witty anecdotes.
The book is supplemented by a well-researched series of appendices including lists of past chairmen, governors, trustees, specialty user groups, along with items on committee structure, charitable status, the LCMJ, explosive ordnance threat assessment, and an archaeological evaluation report. An excerpt from Lord David Owen's lecture on the effect of Anthony Eden's illness on his decision-making during the Suez crisis completes these.
This book is rightly entitled a celebration. It does not really consider the dichotomy between private and state-funded care. From its beginnings the Clinic was intended to be used by the well-to-do, the well-insured and foreign visitors, particularly from the Middle East. It serves all these groups well. Although there are occasional contrasts made between the NHS, where patients can be made to feel grateful for gaining admission, and the atmosphere in the London Clinic, the tensions which have existed from the start of the Health Service, particularly with regard to consultants working both privately and publicly, are not explored. Mention is made, however, of current co-operation between the London Clinic and the NHS.
Harvey White has succeeded in presenting a narrative history of a health care provider of which he is rightly proud. He has given us a wealth of interesting material about an institution providing excellence for its fortunate patients.
Copyright 2009 British Society for the History of Medicine, prepared by David Hawgood, 12 Dec 2009. (HTML4.0)
