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The New York Academy
of Medicine Special Collections
Malloch Room Newsletter 4
The Academy is delighted to announce receipt of a $30,000 grant from
the Greenwall Foundation. The grant will be used over three years to provide
for conservation of three manuscript collections, thereby facilitating
scholarly access to these materials. The three collections to be treated
are the Frederick Dennis, Williard Parker, and Louis Albert Sayre
manuscripts, which represent those that document the practice of
American medicine and surgery and American social conditions during the
middle of the nineteenth century. These three medical pioneers were not
only innovative surgeons but leaders in hospital reforms when urban populations
were plagued by numerous epidemics and poor sanitation.
Frederick Shepard Dennis (1850-1934) was among the surgeons who introduced
Lister's antiseptic methods to the United States. He was also instrumental
in the organization of the Carnegie Laboratory, and was one of the first
physicians to observe the effect of penicillin mold on bacteria in culture.
Dennis served as editor of the four-volume well-illustrated System
of Surgery, published in Philadelphia, 1895-96. Willard Parker
(1800-1884), one of the first health commissioners in New York City, organized
the Alms House at Bellevue into a hospital that evolved into what is now
Bellevue Hospital. President of the Academy in 1856, he was a successful
surgeon who was among the first in America to operate successfully on
an abscessed appendix. Louis Albert Sayre (1820-1900), has been called
the "father of American orthopedic surgery." His greatest invention was
treatment of tuberculosis of the spine with a plaster jacket. In public
health, his cholera quarantine regulations set a pattern for the rest
of the country.
Work on the Greenwall Foundation grant project will begin with a survey
of the materials with proposed treatment procedures. A timetable has been
planned for completion of the project, which begins one year from notification
of receipt of the grant from the Greenwall Foundation. First, a local
database will be created to enter information about the collection. Then
a condition survey for the items in this phase will be prepared. All condition
information and recommendations for conservation will be entered into
the local database. Supplies will be ordered at this time. Plans include
treatment for 1,096 documents, which will be collated and have labels
affixed to their protective enclosures. The documents will then be tested
for water-solubility, washed, deacidified, flattened, mended, and rehoused.
More than four hundred of these documents will be dry- cleaned, and nearly
three hundred leaves will be ultrasonically encapsulated in polyester
film. Thirty-one documents will be delaminated by immersion in an appropriate
solvent to remove deteriorated plastic laminate and reduce discoloration
it caused. The conservation laboratory will also construct sixty-six drop-spine
cardboard and cloth boxes, lined by felt. Leather labels will be made
for the boxes. Finally, twenty of the pamphlets will be sewn and covered.
Once rehoused, the collections will be stored in hanging file folders
in oversized filing cabinets. The Academy Library is very grateful to
the Greenwall Foundation for its support.
Jeremiah A. Barondess, M.D. President of The New York Academy of Medicine
and the first donor to the Rare Book Adoption Program, was shown the results
of his "adoption" at an informal ceremony in the Malloch Room on December
2nd, 1992.
The book Dr. Barondess adopted, A Discourse upon the Institution
of Medical Schools in America, was written by John Morgan in 1765.
The volume was taken to the conservation laboratory, where treatment was
undertaken. The original condition was described. The text paper was discolored,
with foxing and some water stains. Despite a low pH, around 4.0, the handmade
paper retained enough strength and flexibility to make it possible to
rebind the book after chemical and physical stabilization of the paper.
There was an autograph of William Cavenaugh, dated 1779, on a very fragile
sheet of paper at the front of the book. Tucked into the book was a clipping
from The New York Herald, dated November 19, 1920. This clipping was very
discolored and brittle, with a pH of about 2.5, and it had been lined
on both sides with silk.
The existing binding was half leather with green marbled paper sides.
This was not the original binding, but a rebinding by Peter Franck, a
well-known bookbinder working in the New York area during the 1930s and
1940s. The binding contained a bookplate from Dr. Samuel S. Purple, dated
1878. The leather was deteriorated, discolored to brown at the spine,
and had split along the joints, leaving the boards nearly detached.
The book was collated and disbound. Ink on the dedication page was tested
and found stable in water. The text pages were dry-cleaned, old mends
were removed, and the pages were washed and deacidified with a magnesium
bicarbonate solution to stabilize them chemically, then sized with methylcellulose
to strengthen them.
The silk was removed from the clipping and the paper was washed and
deacidified in a solution of calcium bicarbonate. The clipping was lined
with lens tissue and ultrasonically encapsulated in polyester film.
The spine folds, dedication and title page were reinforced with Japanese
tissue and precipitated wheat starch paste; mending and filling in of
losses were done with paper pulp. The book was sewn onto linen cords using
linen thread, and new handmade paper endleaves with linen hinges were
added. The book was rebound in half leather with marbled paper sides,
leather endbands and a leather label stamped in gold on the spine.
A bookplate, printed on acid-free handmade paper, was affixed inside
the front cover, inscribed with the name of the donor of the funds for
conservation treatment.
A drop-spine box was constructed for the book. The box, covered in cloth
and lined with felt, contains a drawer in which the previous binding,
along with Dr. Purple's bookplate, is stored. The encapsulated clipping
was placed in the box along with the rebound volume. A leather label,
stamped in gold, was affixed to the spine of the box.
Dr. Barondess was very pleased with the results of the treatment. The
book can now be consulted without danger of causing further deterioration
to the paper or binding. The box will protect the book from the harmful
effects of air pollution and exposure to ultraviolet rays.
Donor support for the Rare Book Adoption Program has continued to grow.
The Academy Library extends its sincere thanks to the following "adoptors,":
Anonymous, adopted Andreas Vesalius' Anatomes totius, aere insculpta
delineatio... Paris, 1564, in honor of Dr. Saul Jarcho. Dr. Monica
H. Green adopted [Collection of surgical and gynaecological tracts.]
Manuscript. England, ca. 1250. The Hand Surgery Center of Roosevelt Hospital
adopted Bernardus Siegfried Albinus' Tabulae sceleti et musculorum
corporis humani. London, 1749. Lilianna S. Sauter, M.D., adopted
Moriz Kaposi's Handatlas der Hautkrankheiten. v.1. Vienna
and Leipzig, 1898. Thomas P. Sculco, M.D., adopted Marcus Tullius Cicero's
De officiis, de senectute...Venice, 1480. Morris F. Wiener,
M.D., adopted Bernadino Montana de Monserrate's Libro de la anothomia
del hobre...Valladoloid, 1551, in memory of Silik H. Polayes, M.D.
Donald Bloch, M.D., contributed to the conservation of Andreas Vesalius'
Anatomia viri in hoc genere... Amsterdam, 1617. A.W. Orlandella,
M.D., contributed to the conservation of Bernardus Siegfried Albinus'
Tabulae sceleti et musculorum corporis humani. London, 1749.
In October of 1992 a number of surgical artifacts from the Academy's
museum collection were loaned to the American College of Surgeons for
display in an exhibition entitled "America's Contribution to Surgery."
The exhibition was prepared for the College's annual convention in New
Orleans. The artifacts were used to supplement two pictorial "walk- throughs"
depicting the history of American surgery from the late 18th century to
the present.
Prior to the acceptance of Louis Pasteur's germ theory, surgical instruments
were made from a wide variety of materials, with handles elegantly created
from ivory, bone, ebony and other natural substances. Sterilization to
promote asepsis, a technique widely adopted by the end of the nineteenth
century, required that these delicate and fragile materials be replaced
by metals that could withstand extreme heat and powerful chemicals. Attractive
design was traded for efficiency and practicality.
The oldest item loaned for the convention was a leather surgical instrument
pouch bearing the inscription "revolutionary instruments of Dr. George
F. Vacher, Surgeon, 1780 fourth New York regiment." The instruments are
marked "Evans"; they include a razor, tongue depressor, caustic holder,
clamp or bullet extractor, scissors, probes and scalpels. The scalpel
handles are made of tortoise shell.
A major amputation set, ca. 1861-65, used by Dr. William Updike Selover
during the Civil War was also included in the exhibition. Housed in a
fine wood chest inset with brass handles, the set is combined with a trephining
set; instruments are marked "Snowden." One of the most beautiful sets
in the collection is an autopsy instrument set, ca. 1850, with elaborate
ivory handles. The mahogany case bears a brass plate engraved with the
name "Dr. Small, Toronto." The set was manufactured by Durroch of Guy's
Hospital, London.
An O'Dwyer intubation set was also exhibited. This instrument was used
as a nonsurgical alternative to tracheotomy to restore the airway in children
with diphtheria. A card found inside the metal case holding the set reads
"New York, October 4, 1897. This set of intubation instruments number
2207 was examined by me and found to be correct, J. O'Dwyer."
Nineteenth century urethrotomes, a urethrotomy knife, a stomach tube,
and needle holders; and a fiberoptic scope (ca. 1940) manufactured by
ACMI (American Cystoscope Makers Incorporated), rounded out the display
that provided insight into the practice of surgery in this country. The
Academy is grateful to the American College of Surgeons for the opportunity
to display these beautiful and important artifacts.
During the past year the Museum Artifacts Committee, led by Drs. M.
Donald Blaufox, Steven C. Martin and Norman B. Medow, has donated countless
hours to the organization and cataloging of the museum collection. Although
it will be some time before the assessment is complete, the Academy hopes
to soon display these artifacts to the public; they stand to make a significant
contribution to the understanding of American medical history.
During the past few months Special Collections has greeted many visitors.
The staff provided special tours of the treasures of the collection to
a number of diverse groups, including Mrs. Saul Jarcho's tenth grade class
from The Day School. After studying the lives and contributions of some
of the giants in medical history, such as Galen, Andreas Vesalius, William
Harvey, William Beaumont, Louis Pasteur, Marie Curie and Robert Koch,
the students visited Special Collections to examine first editions of
the works of these important figures. Students in the Queens College Health
Science Librarianship course, with their instructor Lynn Kasner Morgan;
members of the Cancer Information Service of Memorial Sloan- Kettering
Cancer Center; members of METRO (New York Metropolitan Reference and Research
Library Agency); and legislators from Manhattan and the Bronx were also
welcomed.
During the latter part of 1992, Special Collections acquired several
important items. De Auro Libri Tres (Ferrara, 1587) is Giovanni
Francesco Pico della Mirandola's (1463-1494) treatise on the properties
of gold. The author comments on its medicinal and alchemical qualities
and potability, citing classical works. A prolific writer in theology
and philosophy, this is his only alchemical work.
Self-styled physician William Salmon (1644- 1713), with little medical
background, became one of the most successful medical authors of his time.
His Ars Anatomica: or, the Anatomy of Humane Bodies (London,
1714) is a handbook of anatomy and physiology, written for a popular audience.
Another addition to the Rare Book Room's already rich collection in
balneology is Tractatus de Thermis Agri Patavini (Padua,
1761) by Domenico Vandelli (1735-1816). The first part is a bibliography
of balneology arranged by authors' nationality. Part two describes the
mineral waters of Padua, including their history, chemical content and
medicinal value. Bound with this work is Epistola de Holothurio, Vandelli's
letter to Linnaeus on the anatomy of holothuria, or, sea slugs.
Johann von Jessen (1566-1621), court physician at Dresden, produced
three separate anatomical treatises bound together (Wittenberg, 1601);
Institutiones Chirurgiae, Anatomiae Pragae,
and De Ossibus Tractatus. After delivering a funeral oration
at Prague in 1601, Emperor Rudolf II asked Jessen to remain at his court.
Anatomae Pragae is his account of the first public dissection
recorded there.
Through the generosity of the Friends, Special Collections acquired
two very important works on plague. Prattica per Espurgare le Case
et Robbe Infette e Sospette di Contagio (Bologna, 1630), is Matteo
Piazzi's (fl. 1629-1632) rare practical guide to preventing the spread
of plague to the healthy population. As "Chancellor of Purges", he set
up guidelines regarding fumigation, cleaning, and the purging of suspected
homes and clothing. Ravenna physician Tomaso Tomai's (d. 1593) work Discorso
de Vero Modo di Preservare gli Huomini dalla Peste (Bologna, 1630)
is a comprehensive manual on the prevention and treatment of plague, and
includes case histories. Only one other copy of this work is recorded.
To accompany the inaugural meeting of the Section on Emergency Medicine
on Thursday, September 24, Special Collections staff prepared an exhibition
that traces the origins of ambulance service in New York City. Focusing
primarily on Bellevue Hospital's ambulance service, the exhibition included
photographs documenting the origins of the service, begun in 1869. Illustrated
in the exhibition were the first horse-drawn ambulances, several early
steam and electrically-powered vehicles, and a scooter ambulance from
the 1940s.
Accompanying the photographs were illustrations from late nineteenth-century
journals that show the importance of ambulances in popular culture. Several
twentieth century pamphlets dealing with areas of emergency medicine were
also included.
On October 14, 1992, "The Evolution of Medical Technology: An Archival
Perspective" opened in The New York Academy of Medicine Library Reading
Room. This opening coincided with the fifth John Kingsley Lattimer Lecture
in Historical Medicine. Guest speaker for the evening was Joel D. Howell,
M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine and
Department of History at the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann
Arbor. Dr. Howell's lecture was entitled "Machines and Medicine: The Historical
Roots of America's Obsession with Medical Technology." Following the lecture,
guests attended a reception and viewed the exhibition, which highlighted
the history of anesthesiology, cardiology, dentistry, gynecology, hematology,
radiology, and space planning in hospitals in New York. The exhibition
is sponsored by the Medical Archivists Group of the Archivists Round Table
of Metropolitan New York in conjunction with New York Archives Week 1992.
Participating institutions include The New York Academy of Medicine, New
York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Medical Research Library of Brooklyn,
SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center, New York University Medical Center, Mount Sinai Medical Center,
The Brooklyn Hospital Center, and Rockefeller University.
Special Collections staff at the Academy contributed archival materials
dealing with hospital space planning from the mid-nineteenth century through
the present day. Early hospital space planning was driven by the need
to accommodate additional patients. Several hospitals, including New York
Hospital, were forced to relocate more than once to respond to increased
demand for medical care. In early planning, an effort was made to make
hospital environments as homelike as possible, and subsequently emphasis
was placed on light, ventilation, and fresh air. Major changes were brought
about in heating, cleaning, and supervision. Since the end of World War
II, changes in the hospital environment have been dramatic.
Anesthesiology has undergone many changes through the years as well.
Because patients often died from shock induced by pain, research was driven
in anesthesiology. Technology led W.T.G. Morton, a dentist who used sulfuric
ether during operations, to develop a method to administer the substance
easily to patients. Early apparatus consisted of layers of unwashed gauze
stretched over a wire frame to form a mask. In 1912, Dr. Jay A. Heidbrink
modified a machine that regulated the flow of the gases nitrous oxide
and oxygen. In the 1920s, carbon dioxide was added to induce deeper breathing
and therefore to enable faster induction anesthesia. This machine was
used for the next fifty years. The administration of anesthesia, evolved
into a medical discipline once it was realized that cardiovascular and
respiratory systems had to be monitored continuously during longer and
increasingly complex surgery.
The exhibition also explores dental technology dating back to ancient
civilizations. On display are various dental tools, and antique and modern
instruments. Technology also extended to dental chairs during the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries. Both patients' comfort and the dentists' accessibility
to patients had to be taken into consideration in the design of this furniture.
Implants are perhaps the greatest innovation in the replacement of lost
teeth. As early as the 1930s, implants that look, feel, and function like
natural teeth were used to fill in spaces, although they were not widely
implemented until the late 1970s. Several examples of implants are on
display in the exhibition, as well as examples of mid-nineteenth century
dentures.
The history of blood transfusion also shows the effects of changing
technologies. The three main difficulties in early blood transfusions
were infection, donor matching, and blood clotting. Early blood transfusions
were done by the direct method that did not allow for storage between
donation and infusion. Storage also required the use of anticoagulants,
which were not introduced until 1915. Today, technology applied to the
study of blood has enabled advances in surgery, transplantation, and immunology
to take place.
Technological advances in radiology and radiation therapy are also demonstrated
in the exhibition. Modern radiology began in 1895 when Karl Wihelm Roentgen
experimented with rays, later called x-rays. In 1903, the Curies received
the Nobel prize for physics for their research with uranium. Radium's
medical application was therapeutic from the start, while the x-ray was
initially a diagnostic tool. The exhibition examines the technological
advances of radiology and radiation therapy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center.
Cardiology is another area of medicine that benefitted tremendously
through advances in technology. In 1902, Dr. Luther Hill became the first
American to use heart suture to repair a defective heart chamber. Cardiac
surgery advanced further during World War II, since wounded were brought
to hospitals in tremendous numbers. Other progress followed the invention
of the pacemaker and the incorporation of heart-lung machines into surgery.
Some, however, would agree that the greatest advance in cardiology was
the first heart transplant performed by Christian Bernard.
Gynecology and obstetrics are explored in the exhibition as well. Obstetrics
and perinatal medicine saw many advancements in the twentieth century,
since before that time most babies were delivered at home by midwives
who used crude instruments and dangerous medicines. Once hospitals took
over, childbirth became a medical practice. The technologies used in blood
transfusion and anesthesiology were applied to obstetrics and dramatically
decreased maternal mortality rates. Technological advances have also had
a dramatic impact on the treatment of infertility, with the introduction
of fertility drugs and in vitro fertilization.
The exhibition, which illustrates many aspects of the history of medical
technology in New York City, will remain on view until January 19, 1993.
On November 24, 1992, in commemoration of the 39th anniversary of the
shooting of President Kennedy, the Section on Historical Medicine sponsored
a talk by Dr. John K. Lattimer entitled "The Medical & Ballistic findings
in the Death of President Kennedy." The audience of over 100 heard Dr.
Lattimer present the results of the hands-on ballistic and medical experiments
he and his sons conducted by replicating the events with the same type
of rifle, telescope and ammunition used by Lee Harvey Oswald. Dr. Lattimer
also shared new information regarding the Zapruder movie which captured
the events on film.
Dr. Lattimer offered a variety of evidence to support the view that
Oswald acted alone in the assassination. His own tests demonstrated that
it would have been possible for Oswald to fire the five shots that struck
President Kennedy five seconds apart. The steadiness of the Zapruder film
indicates that a high- powered rifle was not fired in the vicinity. According
to Dr. Lattimer, anatomical experiments show that the small exit wound
on the front of Kennedy's neck was due to the fact that the skin at this
point was buttressed by the collar band of his shirt. The President's
adrenal insufficiency was described and suggests that the first wound
in the neck would have been fatal. In addition Dr. Lattimer stated that
the bullet could have penetrated President Kennedy and Governor Connally
without requiring a zig-zag course. He emphasized that the bullet involved
is deformed rather than in pristine condition as some reports claim.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
January 20th - April 9th:
"The Art of Anatomy: The Icones Anatomicae of Andreas Vesalius,"
an exhibition to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the first publication
of Andreas Vesalius' De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem.
Main Reading Room, 3rd Floor Library.
Wednesday, April 14, 6 P.M.
The Academy Library and the Section on Historical Medicine: "Medical Practices
in the Age of Enlightenment." J. Worth Estes, M.D., Professor of Pharmacology,
Boston University School of Medicine, followed by a reception and viewing
of the exhibition "Thomas Jefferson: A Friend to Science," in commemoration
of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson. R.S.V.P. by
April 1st to Ann Pasquale, 876-8200, x 310 or 311.
Wednesday, April 21, 6:30 P.M.
Section on Historical Medicine: "Medicare and the Criminalization of American
Medicine 1965-1993." Madeleine Pelner Cosman, Professor of Medical Law,
City College, CUNY.
FRIENDS OF THE RARE BOOK ROOM - MEMBERSHIP UPDATE (1993)
(*NEW FRIENDS)
The Library gratefully acknowledges the support it has received
from both old and new Friends in 1993.
Life Friends
Mrs. Gertrude L. Annan; Bruce A. Barron, M.D.; Mrs. Arthur J. Barsky;
Henrik Bendixen, M.D.; Howard Berk, M.D.; Alice Bernheim, M.D.; Alfred
N. Brandon; John H. Brandt, M.D.; Martha L. Bulkley; Daniel M. Fox, Ph.D.;
Milbank Memorial Fund; Howard B. Goldstein, M.D.; William N. Hubbard,
Jr., M.D.; Kasuke Ito, M.D.; Marietta Morchand; Jane A. Petro, M.D.; Harold
Phillips, C.P.A.; William D. Sharpe, M.D.; Richard B. Stark, M.D.
Contributing Friends
Robert J. Campbell, M.D.; Paul F. Cranefield, M.D.; Eugene S. Flamm,
M.D.; Shervert H. Frazier, M.D.; William H. Helfand, Ph.D.; Paul D. Kligfield,
M.D.; Erwin Lear, M.D.; Albert S. Lyons, M.D.; Stephen Nordlicht, M.D.;
Anthony W. Orlandella, M.D.; Thomas P. Sculco, M.D.; George E. Wantz,
Jr., M.D.
Sustaining Friends
Philip Mac I. Bourland, M.D.; Emile J. Buscicchi, M.D.; Anne C. Carter,
M.D.; Noel L. Cohen., M.D.; Ralph L. Engle, Jr., M.D.; Ludwig W. Eichna;
Arthur W. Feinberg, M.D.; Alexander A. Fisher, M.D.; Jay M. Galst, M.D.;
Vincent Groupe, Ph.D.; Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Haddad, Jr.; Fidelio Jimenez,
M.D.; Martin E. Lederman, M.D.; Erich Meyerhoff; Lynn Kasner Morgan; Luigia
Norsa, M.D.; David C. Schechter, M.D.; Nancy G. Siraisi, Ph.D.; Joseph
A. Sliverman, M.D.; Stephen S. Sternberg, M.D.; Michael Weingarten, M.D.
Annual Friends
Abram J. Abeloff, M.D.; Evelyn Ackerman, Ph.D.; Richard B. Arkway, Inc.;
Alexander G. Bearn, M.D.; Elmer Bendiner; Viola W. Bernard; Albert M.
Betcher, M.D.; Lois Fischer Black*; Harry Bloch, M.D.; Stanley E. Bradley,
M.D.; Melvin Bronstein, M.D.; Howard G. Bruenn, M.D.; Duncan W. Clark,
M.D.; David L. Cowen; Joseph E. Davis, M.D.; Luke Demaitre, Ph.D.; Helen
A. DeRoais, M.D.; Mr. and Mrs. Dickson; Martin Dinep, M.D.*; Murray Dworetzky,
M.D.; William W. Field, M.D.; Esther and Leonard Geller; Morton B. Glenn,
M.D.; Sidney Goldfischer, M.D.; James Tait Goodrich, M.D.; Edward Hanin,
M.D.; Bert W. Hansen, Ph.D.; A. Daniel Hauser, M.D.; Norman Herzig, M.D.;
Jonathan A. Hill; Mrs. Elliot Hochstein; Joel D. Howell, Ph.D.; Seymour
B. Jacobson, M.D.; Saul Jarcho, M.D.; Steven Jonas, M.D.; Jules C. Ladenheim,
M.D.; Philip H. Lerman, M.D.; Zvi Lothane, M.D.; Milton Mendlowitz, M.D.;
Eugene F. Murphy, Ph.D.; Morton Nathanson, M.D.; Michael G. Mulinos, M.D.;
R. Joseph Petrucelli, II, M.D.; Bruce J. Ramer; Peter Rogatz, M.D.; Nathan
Roth, M.D.; Robert J. Ruben, M.D.; Benjamin J. Sadock, M.D.; Morris H.
Saffron, M.D.; Lewis Schachne, M.D.; Samuel T. Schlamowitz, M.D.; Oscar
Schreyer, Ph.D.; Herman Selinsky, M.D.; Natalie Shainess, M.D.; Benjamin
Shankman, M.D.; Edward Sheckman, M.D.; L. Herbert Skluth, M.D.; M. Philip
Stern; Ralph M. Sussman, M.D.; Arthur N. Tessler, M.D.; Gilbert J. Wise,
M.D.
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