Masthash

#histmed

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
1 day ago

The COCARETTE was a cigarette made with coca & tobacco leaves, c.1885. The company claimed that coca was “the finest nerve tonic and exhilarator ever discovered.”

#histodons #histmed #histodon #medhist #medhistorian #medmastodon #believeitornot #DYK

An advert for "Cocarettes" depicting a woman smoking on the front of the package, and a list of reasons to smoke them on the back.
Ele Willoughby
1 day ago

Happy birthday to Canadian medical researcher & #biochemist Maud Menten (1879-1960). Not only an author of Michaelis-Menten equation for #enzyme kinetics, she invented the azo-dye coupling for alkaline phosphatase, 1st example of enzyme #histochemistry, still used in imaging of tissues today & she also performed the first #electrophoretic separation of blood haemoglobin in 1944!⁠

#sciart #histstm #histmed #biochemistry #linocut #printmaking #womenInSTEM #womensHistoryMonth

Linocut portrait of Maud Menten in blue (wearing pearls and wide lace collar on dress with her hair up and violet eyes). Behind her is a plot of the Michaelis-Menten relation in blue and a histology image in pale red to purple.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 days ago

In the 1930s, Listerine cigarettes were created. The tobacco was infused with the same antiseptic oils used in the mouthwash for a "cooling and soothing effect." Listerine cigarettes were evidently not very popular because there is almost no record of their existence.

#histodons #histodon #histmed #histsci #DYK #medhist #medmastodon

A green tin advertising Listerine Cigarettes.
Back of the green tin which claims the cigarettes are meant to be "cooling and soothing."
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
5 days ago

Midwifery Bag, c.1866 - containing destructive & non-destructive instruments. This bag would likely have belonged to a male midwife/obstetrican as female midwives traditionally did not use instruments when delivering babies in this period.

Photo: Science Museum, London.

#HistMed #MedHist #HistSci #MedMastodon #Histodon #Histodons #History #MuseumArchive #MuseumObject #FF

A black leather bag that is open, revealing various midwifery instruments and pharmaceutical bottles.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
6 days ago

Henry Gray of #GraysAnatomy in a dissection room, c.1845. Gray contracted smallpox after caring for his nephew, who eventually recovered. On 13 June 1861, the day he was to appear for an interview as a final candidate for a prestigious hospital post, he died at the age of 34.

#HistMed #HistSci #MedMastodon #Histodon #Histodons #Anatomy #Dissection #MedHistory #MedicalHistorian #MedStudent

A black and white photo of men in a 19th-century dissection room. At the front is a figure dressed in black with wavy black hair. He is circled to indicate that he is Henry Gray.
Bennett McIntosh (he/him)
2 weeks ago

Good, contemporary material for a #History of disease / #HistMed course. How does a non-normed characteristic become a disease? Technological change, and both "overt and subtle messaging from the pharmaceutical companies"

https://www.statnews.com/2023/03/05/weight-loss-drugs-changing-obesity-narrative/

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 weeks ago

18th-century pewter syringe recovered from the shipwreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge, the famed flagship of the pirate Black Beard. The syringe contained mercury, which most likely treated pirates aboard ailing from syphilis. More info: https://www.livescience.com/49563-blackbeard-pirate-ship-yields-medical-supplies.html

#histodons #histodon #history #histmed #histsci #believeitornot #FF #FollowFriday

Gloved hands hold a pewter syringe that is dented in the middle.
Surgeons' Hall Museums
2 weeks ago

This knuckle-duster belonged to dentist Frederick Smith. Smith was a dentist in Chesterfield. He carried this knuckle-duster as protection from "highwaymen" on his weekly horse drawn cab journey to his practice in Alfreton.

#museum #edinburgh #dentist #dentistry #histmed #medhist #history #histodons

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 weeks ago

Napoleon's Toothbrush, c.1790. Napoleon brushed his teeth regularly using opium-based toothpaste. His toothbrush has a silver gilt handle and bristles made of horsehair, which would have been very rough on the gums.

Photo: the Wellcome Collection, London.

#histodons #histodon #histmed #histsci #dentist #Napoleon #history #MuseumArchive

An ornate silver toothbrush with horsehair bristles set against purple silk. At the bottom of the handle is an "N" for Napoleon.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 weeks ago

Another image for #InternationalWomensDay: medical students in dissection room of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP) - one of the nation’s first degree-granting medical schools for women, c.1906.

#histodons #histodon #histmed #histsci #IWD #IWD2023 #womenshistory #womensrights

A sepia photo of five women in long dresses gathered around a cadaver in the dissection room of a medical school. Photo: Drexel Medical Archives.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 weeks ago

For #InternationalWomensDay2023: the face of CPR doll "Resusci Annie" is based off a death mask of a woman who drowned in Paris in the 1880s. L'Inconnue de la Seine (The Unknown Woman of the Seine) teaches us how to save lives. More info on her story can be found on my IG page: instagram.com/p/CFNllKDMRQz/

#DYK #IWD #HistMed #Histsci #SciArt #ScienceMastodon #CPR #sciencecommunication #histodons #histodon #history

A compilation of images of "Resusci Annie," including her death mask (above) and the CPR doll (below).
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 weeks ago

The decellularized GHOST HEART is created by stripping living cells from a pig’s heart. Researchers at the Texas Heart Institute hope that one day it could serve as a scaffold upon which to grow a working heart from human stem cells. More info via Science Friday: https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/ghost-heart-engineering/

#believeitornot #histmed #histsci #heart #cardiologist #cardiology #MedMastodon

A white heart that appears to be glowing from the inside out, hooked to various tubes and pumps.
hps_vanessa
2 weeks ago

Northern Network for Medical Humanities (UK) now offering grants of up to £2500 for events, activities & resource development in the Critical Medical Humanities. Deadline 12th May, advice session 26 April. These will probably not be available again so get to it http://nnmh.org.uk/2023-new-networks-funding-scheme/ #histSTM #histmed #histodons

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 weeks ago

It's #NationalDentistDay! Here's an illustration of a scientist using a steam machine, with pulley, to extract a tooth from a man drawn on the front of an envelope addressed to a Dr. J. Chapman, 1894.

Photo: Wellcome Collection, London.

#histodon #histodons #histmed #histsci #sciart #artistsonmastodon #MuseumArchive #dentist

An illustration of a seated man with a device in his mouth, which is hooked to a steam-powered machine. There is a mad scientist in the background who is operating the machine, which is about to extract the seated man's tooth.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 weeks ago

On #WorldBookDay, here I am holding a BOOK BOUND IN THE SKIN OF THE MURDERER William Burke, now at Surgeons' Hall, Edinburgh. Want to know more about anthropodermic bibliopegy (binding books with human skin)? Check out my video on my YouTube channel #UnderTheKnife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHKqBaAmzfU

#histodon #histodons #histmed #histsci #booklover #surgeonshall #MedMastodon

A woman with long blonde hair wearing a black suit jacket, blue top, and white gloves holding a small, brown leather book which she is presenting to camera.
A close-up of the pocket book bound in the skin of William Burke. It has gold lettering on it that reads, "BURKE'S SKIN POCKET BOOK."
Daniel Bellingradt :mastodon:
3 weeks ago

"Ich habe die Franzosen gehabt" (in English: I have had the French).

Human diseases are a transnational thing. Meet this woodcut detail from a German seventeenth-century medical #broadsheet highlighting a curing of the "French disease" aka #syphilis.

Access the print: https://katalog.slub-dresden.de/id/0-1656750759

A short thread for #histmed, #histodons and #bookhistory

1/3

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
4 weeks ago

BLOODLETTING WITH SCARIFICATOR, late 17th century. This instrument with spring-loaded blades delivered many cuts simultaneously. Afterwards, the doctor placed a heated cup over the site. As it cooled, blood was forced out of the wounds.

Photo: University of Melbourne.

#histodons #histmed #histsci #MedMastodon #histodon #history #Twitterstorians

A brass instrument with 10 blades sticking out one side.
Eva Surawy Stepney
1 month ago

I'm currently an Associate Editor for The Polyphony https://thepolyphony.org/
Please get in touch if you want to write something related to the medical humanities, history of med, medical posthhmanism etc!

Email: eva.m.surawy-stepney@durham.ac.uk

#histmed #histsci #medhumUSAL #medhums #histodons #psyc

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
1 month ago

The hematologist Oswald H. Robertson pioneered the idea of "blood banks" in WWI by packing glass jars of citrated blood from universal donors in an ice-filled chest that he had constructed from ammunition cases. He convinced countless others to donate blood during the war.

#histodons #histodon #history #WWI #WarHistory #HistMed #HistSci #TIL #DYK #Blood #MedMastodon

A blue-grey box with a Red Cross on it, which reads: "BLOOD TRANSFUSION SET."
Abie
1 month ago

Si vous avez envie d'apprendre des choses sur les poisons, les empoisonnements et les enquêtes afférentes dans l'antiquité, j'ai ce qu'il vous faut !
(paging Team #Classics & #histmed)
https://csmbr.fondazionecomel.org/events/online-lectures/poisoning-and-suspicious-deaths-in-the-classical-world/

Abie
1 month ago

C'est fou comme les Français sont vachement plus convaincus par la théorie sociale de l'histoire des sciences quand ce sont des Britanniques qui ont fait la découverte...
#histsci #histmed
https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Les_Trois_%C3%89poques_d%27une_d%C3%A9couverte_scientifique_-_La_circulation_du_sang

« La découverte de la circulation du sang, a dit Flourens, n’appartient pas et ne pouvait guère appartenir, en effet, à un seul homme, ni même à une seule époque. » Le livre que Flourens ouvrait par cette déclaration date de trente ans, et, depuis ce temps, on sait universellement que Guillaume Harvey, Anglais, médecin du roi et professeur d’anatomie au collège des médecins de Londres, n’est pas seul à mériter la gloire qui s’attache à cette grande conquête scientifique.
Adrian Bowyer
1 month ago

I wonder how many millions of lives this simple idea has saved?
---
RT @RCPSGheritage
Renee Laennec, the inventor of the stethoscope, was born #OTD in 1781 🥳

The first stethoscope was made out of wood with 3 detachable parts for listening to the sounds of the lungs and heart 🫁🫀

#HistMed #Heritage #Stethoscope
https://twitter.com/RCPSGheritage/status/1626536944917434368

Photograph of the first stethoscope. The stethoscope is made of 3 parts, all of which are separated in this photo. The items are lying on a piece of white cloth.
Photograph of the first stethoscope, made out of wood. It essentially is a long wooden cylinder.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
1 month ago

Forgot Valentine's Day? Make it up with this hand-blown glass wine decanter shaped like blood vessels by the French artist Etienne Meneau. Not sure your lover with be thrilled with the clean-up, though!

#histodons #valentine #valentinesday #MedMastodon #medicalstudent #medstudent #medical #histmed #histsci #sciart

A decanter that looks like blood vessels being filled with red wine.
Ele Willoughby
1 month ago

She was devoted to playing the flute, gardening & her dogs; when her cancer made flute playing difficult, she learned the guitar. She died in 2003, at the age of 82, in New York City. #womenInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #histstm #printmaking #linocut #histmed #HeartDisease

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
1 month ago

Obstetric Phantom, 18th century. The wood and leather model was used to teach medical students, and possibly midwives, about childbirth. It came from the Hospital del Ceppo in Pistoia, near Florence, founded in 1277.

Photo: Science Museum, London.

#histmed #histsci #midwives #histodons #introductions #FF #MedMastodon #medical #medicalhistory

A wooden torso with a cloth baby and organs inside.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
1 month ago

Wax Vanitas (c.1700) - intended to remind us of the certainty of death. One side features a skull with insects feasting on decaying flesh. The other side resembles Queen Elizabeth I. It reads: “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

This object is from the Wellcome Collection in #London.

#HistMed #MementoMori #HistSci #Histodons #Museums #WeirdHistory #MuseumObject #SciArt #Queen

A wax vanitas. Half the face looks like a living person - with flesh, hair, etc. The other side is a skull, with insects crawling all over it.
Abie
1 month ago

Sur le même thème, il faudrait que je lise le bouquin historique "The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women", parce que quand même #histsci #histtech #histmed et #histsoc ! https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/31409135

Abie
1 month ago

@pir "Les cigarettes antiasthmatiques au datura sont cependant interdites en France depuis 1992 à cause des accidents."
No shit! 😱​
#wikifact #histmed

Kara W. Swanson
2 months ago

Two #HistMed papers in a row @ #WIPIP2023
Andrew Gilden & Sarah Wasserman on hist of drug & abortion patents, then
Barbara Lauriat on hist of Pilates.
I'm in the right room!

Dr. Ben Mitchell
2 months ago

Did you know that the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense had a number of medical research groups that focused on illnesses such as sickle cell anemia that were under-studied because they were considered to be a "black disease."

Read:

"Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination"

#BlackPanthers #TheBlackPanthers #HistMed #HSTM

https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/body-and-soul

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 months ago

Tinted, double-hinged spectacles, c.1790. Many opticians believed green or blue glass was easier on the eyes and would reduce glare; while clear glass was too soft and would distort images.

This extraordinary example is from the Wellcome Collection in London.

#histmed #histsci #histodons #mastodon #introduction #medhist #medhistory #MedMastodon #museumobject #steampunk

A pair of blue tinted spectacles with glass hinges on either side.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 months ago

"The Tooth Worm as Hell's Demon,” 18th century. Carved from ivory, the two halves open up to reveal a scene about the infernal torments of a tooth worms which people believed caused cavities in the past. Complete with mini skulls, hellfire, and naked people wielding clubs.

#histodons #mastodon #introduction #histmed #histsci #museumobject #medhist #MedMastodon

Two carvings of a tooth. Inside are scenes from Hell.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 months ago

Stumbled upon a cabinet of 19th-century anatomical treasures at the Natural History Museum in Venice. Unfortunately, there was very little information about the collection, but it did feel very much like walking into the office of an obsessive Victorian professor. I couldn't resist getting a few photos for you guys.

#histodon #mastodon #twittermigration #HistMed #HistSci #MedMastodon #Museums #MuseumArchive #anatomy

A collection of photos showcasing various animal specimens from the 19th century.
Benoît Majerus
2 months ago

In the framework of a FNR-ANR project entitled "The mental health of migrants: actors, practices and networks (1950-1980, France, Switzerland, Germany)", I'm looking for a #PhD student

#histpsych #histmed

Please #retoot

https://recruitment.uni.lu/en/details.html?id=QMUFK026203F3VBQB7V7VV4S8&nPostingID=81136&nPostingTargetID=119464&mask=karriereseiten&lg=UK

Matthew L. Reznicek
2 months ago

The Washington Examiner claims that medicine has “for hundreds of years” treated patients without regard for class status or race. Maybe if they read some actual books in #HistMed they wouldn’t sound so gobsmackingly dumb https://apple.news/A9-9pefSIRuWbMpsdQARAPQ

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
2 months ago

The severe pitting in this skull is the direct result of tertiary syphilis, a bacterial infection commonly transmitted through sexual contact. Sometimes referred to as "Cupid's Disease," syphilis was fatal before the discovery of penicillin in 1928. In the final stage, the disease attacks a person's skeletal structure, as well as the brain and nervous system. This skull is from the Medical Museion in Copenhagen, Denmark, and dates to the 19th century.

#histodons #histodon #histmed #histsci

A photo of a human skull. At the front, there is a number of small holes and pitting.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

Oldest-surviving anatomical theatre, located in Padua and built in 1594. Over the entrance is the Latin inscription: “hic est locus ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitam.” Roughly: “this is the place where death delights to help life (or the living).”

Photo: Rolando Paolo Guerzoni.

#histmed #histsci #histodons #TIL #MedMastodon #ScienceMastodon #anatomy #MedHist #science #medicine #Weird

A theatre with rows and rows of stadium seating and wooden rails. It is very steep. In the middle is a small table where humans or animals would have been dissected.
The Well-read Naturalist
3 months ago

As the calendar is turned to a new year, I thought a little reflection was in order upon what 2022 brought (or perhaps more appropriately "wrought upon") The Well-read Naturalist, and how I hope to repair the damage and even make improvements beyond mere correction to it in 2023. ithttps://www.wellreadnaturalist.com/2023/01/heres-to-the-coming-year/ #bookstodon #BookReview #NaturalHistory #HistSci #HistMed #reading @bookstodon

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

Disease of the eye "caused by witchcraft" - from a book on ocular diseases published in 1583.

Adding this to the list of potential #author photos.

#witchcraft #history #HistMed #HistSci #TIL #Histodons

A black and white illustration of a man with short curly hair and a long beard. Where his eyes are meant to be, it looks like there are two bulging tomatoes.
Ele Willoughby
3 months ago

They knew hundreds of medicinal plants, prescribed medicines and even performed surgeries! While their concepts of medicine were entwined with religion and magic, even in the Old Kingdom, they were performing some roles and duties we would recognize today, and women were part of this tradition.

#linocut #sciart #printmaking #histstm #histmed #medicine #Peseshet #AncientEgypt #hieroglyphics

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

In 1863, Alexander T. Augusta became the first African-American commissioned as a medical officer in the Union Army and was awarded the rank of major. He was eventually put in charge of his own hospital during the Civil War. He was 1 of 13 African American doctors to serve.

#Histmed #HistSci #TIL #History #DYK #Histodons #Histodon #MedMastodon #CivilWar #Victorian #19thCentury #CivilWarHistory #Frontliners

A photo of Alexander T. Augusta in uniform.
A photo of Augusta's gravestone.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

“Wound Man” is an illustration which first appeared in European surgical texts during the Middle Ages. It laid out schematically the various wounds a person might suffer in battle or in accidents, often with surrounding or accompanying text stating treatments for the these injuries. This particular “Wound Man” dates to the 15th century and is part of the Wellcome Collection in London.

Which “wound” are you today?!

#histodons #introduction #followback #weird #history #histmed #histsci

An illustration of a man with various weapons stuck in him. There is Latin text next to his wounds describing the corresponding treatment.
Brian Gettler
3 months ago

This reminds me of a book chapter by #historian Kristen Burnett, "Obscured Obstetrics: Indigenous Midwives in Western Canada" (2011) that my students always love. It describes the critical role #Indigenous #midwives played in delivering settler babies in 19th- and early 20th-century #Canada.

#History #histodons #CdnHist #histmed #medhist #MedicalHistory @histodons

https://archive.org/details/Recollecting/page/n165/mode/2up

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

ESCAPABLE BURIAL CHAMBER built by Thomas Pursell for him and his family. The ventilated vault can be opened from the inside by a handwheel attached to the door. Pursell was buried there in 1937, and (so far) has never reemerged.

If you're new to #Mastodon and looking for people to follow, look no further for #WeirdHistory and #MedicalHistory!

#TwitterMigration #twitter #Introductions #TIL #HistMed #TheMoreYouKnow #FollowBack

A photo of a brick burial vault with five hatches.
Camper English
3 months ago

Finished a book on barrels, now starting this. Don’t tell me I don’t know how to have a good time. #histmed #history

Book titled panaceia’s daughters novel women as healers in early modern Germany 
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

#DYK that COFFIN COLLARS like this were invented to thwart bodysnatchers in the early 19th century? The collar was fixed around the neck of a corpse and bolted to the bottom of a coffin, making it nearly impossible to remove the body from its grave. Bodysnatchers (or "Ressurectionists") stole bodies to sell to anatomists and medical schools during this period.

Follow me for more medical history!

#Histodons #HistMed #HistSci #TIL #WeirdHistory

A metal collar that is shaped like a horseshoe and anchored to a piece of wood.

@DrLindseyFitzharris Let's just pause to remember how many women died in #childbirth to help make this #obstetrics model possible. #HistMed

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

Obstetric Phantom, 18th century. The wood and leather model was used to teach medical students, and possibly midwives, about childbirth. It came from the Hospital del Ceppo in Pistoia, near Florence, founded in 1277. Photo: Science Museum.

#Histodons #HistMed #HistSci #MedMastodon #ScienceMastodon #Midwife
.

A wooden torso that is open to reveal a cloth uterus and baby inside.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

RABIES! SMALLPOX! PLAGUE! Who you gonna call?

My husband @TealCartoons and I are thrilled to reveal the title and cover of our new children's book, PLAGUE-BUSTERS!

Pre-order SIGNED copies from
The Mysterious Bookshop,
and enter to win original artwork from the book: https://bit.ly/3Fxgut4

You can also order from...

Amazon - https://bit.ly/3ByrDZJ
B&N - https://bit.ly/3hrYdpe
IndieBound - https://bit.ly/3huyOLB

#histodons #childrensbooks #histmed #histsci #illustration #plague

An illustrated book cover featuring a plague doctor surrounded by dancing rats. In the background are large, threatening germs in purplish pinks with grinning faces. At the top, it reads: PLAGUE-BUSTERS! Medicine's Battles with History's Deadliest Diseases. The illustrations are overlaid on top of a gradient green background.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

GRAVEYARD GUN (c.1820) - used to prevent bodysnatchers from stealing corpses to sell to anatomists. Set at the foot of a grave, the gun would have had three tripwires around it. One such gun reportedly killed a grieving father by accident. Coffin collars, fixed around the necks of a corpse and bolted to the bottom of a coffin, were also used to keep bodies in their graves.

Follow me for more #WeirdHistory!

#HistMed #HistSci #TIL #TheMoreYouKnow #Histodons #Introduction #Histodon #History

A clunky looking gun that looks like a small cannon and is anchored to a large block of wood.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

This wax model from the 19th century shows the internal structure of the brain, complete with its protective covering, the meninges. Wax models like this were used for teaching anatomy to medical students at a time when it was difficult to find bodies to dissect. They are an example of the combination of art and science that often characterized this period. Photo: Wellcome Collection.

#SciArt #ScienceMastodon #Histodons #Histodon #history #WeirdHistory #WeirdFacts #HistMed #HistSci #MedMastodon

A wax model showing the side view of a human head and neck. The head and neck have been dissected to show the internal structures.
Dr Dan O’Brien
3 months ago

A skeleton stands with a scythe and hourglass on this entrance token to the Hortus Medicus - a medicinal garden used by surgeons and pharmacists. Whilst the skeleton, scythe and hourglass are reminders of death, we can also see plants recalling life and also the garden which the token granted access to. late 17th cent (Rijksmuseum) #MementoMori #HistMed #MedMastodon #history #17thcentury #histodons

A round medal decorated with a skeleton holding a scythe and resting its hand on a hourglass
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

Did you know that for centuries, a “gossip” was a woman who attended her pregnant daughter’s, sister’s, or friend’s delivery? The word was a corruption of “god-sib” or “god-sibling,” meaning “sister in the Lord.” The gossips offered emotional and physical support to mother and midwife. It was only later that the term took on a derogatory meaning.

This remarkably detailed wax anatomical model (c.1787) is now housed at the Javier Puerta Museum.

#HistMed #Histodons #DYK #TIL #SciArt #Midwife

A wax model of a woman's torso that has been dissected to reveal twins insider the uterus.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

A crowded operating theater, c.1899. Often times, the theater would be so packed, that the floor around the patient had to be cleared before an operation could commence.

Medical voyeurism was nothing new. It arose in the dimly lit anatomical amphitheaters of the Renaissance, where, in front of transfixed spectators, the bodies of executed criminals were dissected as an additional punishment for their crimes.

You can learn more in my book #TheButcheringArt.

#histodons #HistMed #MedMastodon

Black and white photo of an operating theatre in the late 19th century. There is a patient lying on a table surrounded by several surgeons and assistants. The theatre is so crowded that there are suited men seated on the floor near the patient.
John Ross
3 months ago

Ancient Roman lead pollution in Greenland ice cores. The major source of ancient atmospheric lead was the smelting of lead-silver ores (galena). Lead pollution plummeted around AD 165, coincident with the Antonine plague (possibly smallpox), and failed to recover during the late Roman Empire, which featured the Cyprian plague in AD 249-262, political instability, foreign invasions, and a deteriorating climate, with the end of the Roman Climate Optimum. #histmed #medhist https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1721818115

Graph showing that ancient lead pollution (as measured in Greenland ice cores) fell abruptly around AD 165, coincident with the Antonine Plague. 
Lead was a by-product of silver mining, and its production probably reflected overall levels of economic activity. At the same time, silver content of the Roman denarius fell from 98% to 2%; in the later Roman empire, the denarius was a copper coin with a thin coating of silver.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
3 months ago

Marie Curie's notebooks, which are radioactive and must be stored in a lead-lined box in the Bibliothèque Nationale. Curie’s corpse is also radioactive. Her coffin is lined in an inch of lead. Both will remain radioactive for 1,500+ years.

More info: https://www.sciencealert.com/these-personal-effects-of-marie-curie-will-be-radioactive-for-another-1-500-years

#HistSci #ScienceMastodon #MedMastodon #science #scientist #HistoryOfScience #HistMed #WomenInStem #TIL #TheMoreYouKnow #WeirdHistory

An old notebook with notes and diagrams written in Marie Curie's hand.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
4 months ago

Wax Vanitas (c.1700) - intended to remind us of the certainty of death. One side features a skull with insects feasting on decaying flesh. The other side resembles Queen Elizabeth I. It reads: “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

This object is from the Wellcome Collection in #London.

#HistMed #MementoMori #HistSci #Histodons #Museums #WeirdHistory #MuseumObject #SciArt #Queen

A wax head. Half the face resembles the Tudor Queen, Elizabeth I. The other side is a skull with an insect and frog crawling up it. There are worms at the top of the skull. This object is from the Wellcome Collection in London.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
4 months ago

“One Night Cough Syrup” from the 1930s, which contained cannabis, morphine, chloroform, and alcohol. In 1934, the FDA ruled that the claims of the cough syrup's therapeutic properties were misleading, and the remaining stock was destroyed.

#HistMed #MedMastodon #ScienceMastodon #TIL #WeirdHistory #Weird #histodons #Medical #MedicalHistory #History #HstSci #FF #FollowBack #DYK #Pharma #chemiverse #chemistry #Flu

A photo of an old drug label which reads: ONE NIGHT COUGH SYRUP," with a list of ingredients that include alcohol, cannabis, chloroform, and morphine.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
4 months ago

This frieze from Fulton County, Georgia shows "Medicine's battle with Death." Note the rod with two snakes. Many mistake it for the Rod of Asclepius (the traditional symbol of healing). However, this is the Caduceus, symbol of commerce. A common error in the USA.

#histodon #medicine #MedMastodon #ScienceMastodon #HistMed #HistSci #SciArt #mastodon #introduction #Historian #TwitterMigration #FF #FollowBackFriday #FollowFriday

A frieze on the side of a building depicting a winged skeleton with a scythe and a muscular man pushing back against it with his hand. In the man's other hand is a staff with wings at the top, and two intertwining snakes around the pole.
Jacqueline Antonovich
4 months ago

This is a recipe for disaster in so many ways.

NYC Will Hospitalize More Mentally Ill People Involuntarily.

"The effort will involve hospitalizing people involuntarily, even if they do not pose an immediate risk of harm to others."
#disability #histmed
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/nyregion/nyc-mentally-ill-involuntary-custody.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR2OzFjTWa895yHz4Mii40a5lu86XiytyF9-oRkkAt9QNIlY1sze3uBBZlg

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
4 months ago

Oldest-surviving anatomical theatre, located in Padua. Built in 1594.

At the centre is a table on which human and animal dissections took place. Around this table are several tiers with railings, where students or other observers could stand. Over the entrance to the theatre is the Latin inscription: “hic est locus ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitam,” (roughly translated: "this is the place where death delights to help the living.”)

Photo: Rolando Paolo Guerzoni.

#histmed #histsci #MedMastodon

A theatre with stadium seating rising high above the table at the center of the room. There are also wooden rails. It is very steep.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
4 months ago

This is the final stage of tetanus when the nerves fire continuously and the body contorts into an agonizing posture known as opisthotonus. In addition, the mastication muscles clamp down to form the hallmark of the disease, lockjaw. An unnerving and unintentional grin that exposes the teeth, known as risus sardonicus, also appears as a result from contracted facial muscles.

This 19th-century painting by the surgeon Charles Bell now hangs in @surgeonshall in Edinburgh. #histmed #MedMastodon

A painting of a nude man with long curly hair. He is on the floor and his back is severely arched. His fists are clenched in agony. He stares up at the ceiling. The painting is on display at Surgeons' Hall in Edinburgh.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
4 months ago

The hollow hypodermic needle was invented by Alexander Wood in 1853 and allowed drugs to be injected in the body under the skin. Accompanied by different length needles, this example is made from silver with a glass barrel. Unlike modern syringes, which use a plunger, this syringe works by turning the screw at the top to inject the liquid. The name “Mathieu," a French surgical instrument maker, is punched into the syringe.

#histmed #histodons #histsci #museum #TIL #MedMastodon #ScienceMastodon

A photo of a long needle syringe. The barrel is made of glass, and there is a screw top plunger at the top. In the background is its original case, which is lined with purple velvet. This object is part of the Wellcome Collection in London.
Dr Dan O’Brien
4 months ago

In my #introduction I mentioned other types of memento mori - here is an interesting example which reminded the owner of their own mortality and ‘protected’ them at the same time. This cheerful skull-shaped silver pomander was believed to protect the bearer against miasma (foul smelling air). It opens to reveal four compartments for strong-smelling substances. Early 17th cent (Metropolitan Museum NY) #MementoMori #histmed #medicine #MedMastodon #histsci #histodons #EarlyModern #skull

A silver skull with a small chain attached so that it can be carried.
A silver miniature skull which opens in half vertically to reveal a compartment hidden behind a door.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
4 months ago

This statue depicts Saint Bartholomew, an early Christian martyr who was allegedly skinned alive. If you look closely, you’ll notice that’s not a robe that he’s holding. It's actually his dissected skin hanging around him. This stunning statue is by the Italian sculptor Marco d’Agrate, c.1562. It is currently on display at Duomo di Milano in Italy. I've never seen it in person, but I hope I can one day! I think you'll agree, it's pretty awesome.

#sciart #ScienceMastodon #MedMastodon #histmed

Marble statue of Saint Bartholomew. It shows a bald, muscular figure whose skin has been dissected off. The skin is draped around the shoulders of the statue.
Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
4 months ago

“Death blowing bubbles,” 18th century. The bubbles symbolize life's fragility. This plaster work appears on the ceiling of Holy Grave Chapel in Michaelsberg Abbey, Bamberg, Germany. After the monastery’s dissolution in 1803, the buildings were used as the city's hospital.

#histodons #sciart #art #histodon #WeirdHistory #MedMastodon #ScienceMastodon #strangerthings #history #historian #medhistory #histsci #histmed #intro #introduction

Plasterwork of a skeleton blowing bubbles set against a pale blue wall.
Umme H Faisal, MBBS :verified:
4 months ago

Etymology fun fact: The arteries in the neck are called "carotids," from the Greek word "karotides", relating to the word "katotikos" (to stupefy) and "karos" (deep sleep).
The ancient Greeks used it/knew that compression of the carotid arteries would produce unconsciousness.

#etymology #histmed

Illustration of the head and neck showing the major arteries.
Surgeons' Hall Museums
4 months ago

Hello! 👋 We are Surgeons' Hall Museums.

We are part of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh which was founded in 1505 and us one of the oldest medical institutions in the world!

The #museum is made up of 4 galleries- The History of Surgery Museum, The Wohl Pathology Museum, Body Voyager and the Dental Collection.

We are based in Edinburgh & are open 7 days a week from 10am-5pm and is fully accessible with lift access to all galleries.
#history #histmed #surgery #edinburgh #scotland