Internet Archive (archive.org)

As you know, we've been uploading books that we've digitized to the Internet Archive's collection of about 350,000 books. Today Wired.com had an article about the Archive, describing the page-by-tedious-page scanning that's being done there. It's nice to know that even the Big Boys are doing it a page at a time.

Another Veterinary Corps researcher

A short while ago I wrote about Mike Lemish, who's interested in Military Working Dogs used in Vietnam, and said there was another researcher who's found some treasures in our Veterinary Corps collection. Greg Krenzelok's interest lies with the Corps during World War 1, when his grandfather, Sergeant Leonard Patrick Murphy served, and he has a web page where he relates what he's found and solicits information that others are willing to pass along. His particular interest lies with the horses used during the war, and is looking for pictures such as this one showing a horse being prepared for surgery.

Reeve 14727

19th Century French medical equipment

In response to a request from someone interested in our General Medical Products Information (GMPI) collection, we recently scanned two "catalogs" put out by M.G. Trouvé in 1869 and 1872. The person who requested them kindly provided a loose translation that suits both of them: "New apparatus for the use of doctors and surgeons, designed and constructed. Extract from the journal les Mondes, 15 July 1869.... All the apparati were presented at the Academy of Medicine by Mr. Béclard, [at the] session of 10 June 1869 [and May 1872]."

It turns out that these aren't really catalogs, but reprints from the journal mentioned above, les Mondes, that tout Trouvé's products in the guise of a scholarly article. There are some nice illustrations that I haven't yet figured out how to isolate from the PDF to post here.

Military Working Dogs again

Today I got an email from Mike Lemish about the post I made yesterday. The Military Working Dog website is not his; he just forwarded an email he received from Debbie Kandoll, whose website it IS. Mike also told me, "Also the MWDs may not be Iraq war veteran's. With over four thousand dogs worldwide it may be a bomb/drug detector dog from anywhere in the world but most likely CONUS [continental United States]." Check it out, folks.

Here's another picture from our collection. This is a shot of elevated kennels in Vietnam.

Interesting World War 1 article

Our colleagues at the the Office of the Surgeon General's Historian's office have put an article about volunteer Americans' experiences in the British Army on their website. Click here to download Yanks in King's Forces. For those who want more information, Mitch Yockelson, who co-curated The Cost of a Splendid Little War exhibit with me, has a new book on the topic coming out, Borrowed Soldiers: Americans Under British Command, 1918, and will be speaking at the Museum at some point later this year.

Medical museum excerpts from AFIP annual reports

Alright, this isn't exciting, but where else are you going to find them? These are links to scans of the Medical Museum section of the AFIP Annual reports. There's some interesting bits off and on.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1947-1991.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1992.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1993.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1994.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1995.

Medical Museum Excerpts from the AFIP Annual Reports of 1997.

World War 1 volume on Gas Warfare finally posted

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 14: Medical Aspects of Gas Warfare(1926) would discuss the effects of your poison gases like mustard gas. This completes the World War 1 books available for downloading.

Military Working Dogs

We've had a couple of researchers lately who've looked into our large Veterinary Corps collection. One of them is Mike Lemish. Mike's research has to do with Military Working Dogs from the Vietnam war. Recently he sent me an email announcing a website that promotes adoption of working dogs that have been retired from the Iraq war but are great dogs that still have a lot to give. However, too many of them are euthanized because they don't get adopted and have nowhere to go. As of 2000, civilians have been allowed to adopt these animals (H.R. 5314 on 6 Nov 2000) and Mike's website gives information about how to do so.

Another collection digitized

The museum photographer just photographed a scrapbook of photos for us because the book was too fragile to lay flat on the scanner. The scrapbook was given to Miss Frances Pleasants by students of hers, from when she taught wounded soldiers during the Civil War in Germantown, Pennsylvania. This photo caught my eye, as well as the caption that was handwritten underneath it:


The caption read "Photograph of three children found in the hands of a dead soldier on the battlefield." It took me a couple of reads to see it meant the photo was found in the dead soldier's hands, not the children. Obvious now, but I sure wondered at the time.

New book donation

We're not the Pathology Institute's library and most of what would have been the Museum library left with the National Library of Medicine when it split off from the old Army Medical Museum and Library for good in the 1960s (remind me to post about the split of the photographs and AMML records), but people give us books.

Recently we got 26 books from Dr. Inghram Miller, Newton, Kansas (NMHM Acquisition Number 2007.0038) accompanying a wicker wheelchair. There was also a couple of neat pieces of medical trade literature in the books.

Johnson, Alexander Bryan. Surgical Diagnosis, volumes I, II, and III, 1910

Kelly, Howard A. Operative Gynecology, Volumes I and II, 1898 and 1899

Deaver, John B. Surgical Anatomy, Volumes I, II, and III, 1904 and 1908

Bryant, Joseph and Albert Buck. American Practice of Surgery, Volumes VII and VIII, 1910 -11

International Clinics Vol II, 2nd and 3rd series, 1892 and 1893

Ashton, Willaim Easterly. A Testbook on the Practice of Gynecology. 1906

Flint, Austin. A Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Medicine. 1881

Bartholow, Roberts. A Practical Treatise on Materia, Medica, and Theraputics. 1889

Wood, George B and Franklin Bache. Dispensatory of the United States, 18th ed. By Wood, Remington and Stadtler. 1899

Osler, William. Principles and Practice of Medicine. 1895

Gould, George M. An Illustrated Dictionary of Medicine, Biology and Allied Sciences, 5th ed. 1903

Holt, L. Emmett. Diseases of Infancy and Childhood. 1897

Da Costa, J. M. Medical Diagnosis, 8th ed. 1895

Gray, Henry. Anatomy Descriptive and Surgical. 8th and enlarged ed. 1881 (1878)

Babcock, W. Wayne. A Textbook of Surgery. 1929

Kaltschmidt, J. H. School Dictionary of the Latin Language, Part 1: Latin-English. 1876

Tillmans, Herman. A Textbook of Surgery, Vol II: Regional Surgery. trans from German. 1899

Mathews, Joseph M. A Treatise on Diseases of the Rectum, Anus and Sigmoid Flexure. 1893

Taylor, Alfred Swain. A Manual on Medical Jurisprudence. 11th American ed by Clark Bell. 1892

World War 2 booklet

We were asked for a copy of this recently - it's by a pharmaceutical company, but they didn't put too much advertising on it.

Decorations and Medals of the United States of America (1943),John Wyeth
and Brother; reading copy or broadsheet copy.

Batchelor World War 2 venereal disease posters

C.D. Batchelor was a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist whose career lasted for almost 50 years in New York. One can see similarities in the 1937 Pulitzer winning cartoon and the anti-venereal disease cartoons reproduced below from the collections of the National Museum of Health and Medicine.


"Warning: these enemies are still lurking around. Syphilis.
Gonorrhea." Cartoon by C..D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygiene Association, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. (Reeve79101-67)


"Two girls I know want to meet you in the worst way." C.D. Batchelor, American Social Hygiene Association. (Reeve79101-62)


"The glory of manhood is strength. Keep clean for the heritage of the cleanly is strength." Cartoon by C..D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygiene Association, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. (Reeve79101-52)


"Boys your sweetheart, your wife or your parents may never know it if you contract a venereal disease - but I'll know it and I'll suffer from it." Cartoon by C.D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygiene Association, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. (Reeve79101-11)


"Enemy agent. U.S. War Effort. Venereal Disease." Cartoon by C.D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygiene Association, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. (Reeve79101-16)


"'My boy was wounded in the African landing.' 'Mine was wounded in this country by a street walker.'" Cartoon by C..D. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygiene Association, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. (Reeve79101-31)

Note the difference in quality between Batchelor's original above, and the Army's copy below:


"My boy was wounded in the African landing. Mine was wounded in this country by a street walker." World War 2. "Cartoon by C.C. Batchelor of the New York Daily News for the American Social Hygene Asociation, 1790 Broadway, New York, N.Y. Reproduced by Div. S.S.C. for distribution by Surgeon 3rd Armored Div." (Reeve74964-6.jpg)

Collections of his papers are in Witchita State University's Library in THE CARTOON COLLECTION OF C. D. BATCHELOR, MS 90-16 and C. D. Batchelor Papers - An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University.

More downloadable books on Internet Archive

The two newest ones are:

Cantor Lectures: The Microscope (1888). Lectures on the history of the microscope by British collector John Mayall, Jr. excerpted from the Journal of the Society of the Arts, 1885-1888.

A History of the United States Army Medical Museum 1862 to 1917 compiled from the Official Records (1917) by Daniel S. Lamb

For those collecting them, here's the complete list although World War 1 #14 isn't actually working at the moment.

Museum history:

http://www.archive.org/details/TheArmedForcesInstituteOfPathology-ItsFirstCentury - The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology - Its First Century(1962)

http://www.archive.org/details/HISTORYARMYMEDICALMUSEUM - A History of the United States Army Medical Museum 1862 to 1917 compiled from the Official Records (1917) by Daniel S. Lamb

Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRMedical1 - The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-1865) Part I. Volume I. Medical History. (1st Medical volume) (1870)

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRMedical2 - The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Part II, Volume I. (2nd Medical volume) (1879)

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRMedical3 - The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Part III, Volume I. (3rd Medical volume) (1888)

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRSurgical1 - The Medical and SurgicalHistory of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-1865.) Part I. Volume II.(1st Surgical volume) (1870)

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRSurgical2 - The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-1865.) Part II. Volume II.(2nd Surgical volume) (1876)

http://www.archive.org/details/MSHWRSurgical3 - The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Part III, Volume II. (3rd Surgical volume)

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV1 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 1: The Surgeon General's Office (1923)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV2 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 2: Administration American Expeditionary Forces (1927)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV3 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 3: Finance and Supply (1928)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV4 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 4: Activities Concerning Mobilization Camps and Ports of Embarkation (1928)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV5 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 5: Military Hospitals in the United States (1923)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV6 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 6: Sanitation (1926)

http://www.archive.org/details/W1ArmyMedDeptHistV7 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 7: Training (1926)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV8 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 8: Field Operations (1925)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV9 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 9: Communicable and Other Diseases (1928)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV10 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 10: Neuropsychiatry (1929)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV11-1 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 11:Surgery; Part One, General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Neurosurgery (1927)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV11-2 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 11: Surgery; Part Two (1924)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV12 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 12: Pathology of the Acute Respiratory Diseases, and of Gas Gangrene Following War Wounds (1929)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV13 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 13: Part 1, Physical Reconstruction and Vocational Education; Part 2, The Army Nurse Corps (1927)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV14 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 14: Medical Aspects of Gas Warfare(1926)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV15-1 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 15: Statistics; Part One Army Anthropology (1921)

http://www.archive.org/details/WW1ArmyMedDeptHistV15-2 - The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 15: Part 2, Medical and Casualty Statistics (1925)


http://www.archive.org/details/CantorLecuturesTheMicroscope - Cantor Lectures: The Microscope (1888). Lectures on the history of the microscope by British collector John Mayall, Jr. excerpted from the Journal of the Society of the Arts, 1885-1888.

Blumberg Collection:

http://www.archive.org/details/KennedyAutopsyReportWarrenCommissionReport - Autopsy of President Kennedy (February 01, 1965) by Pierre Finck, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology


General Medical Products Information (GMPI) Collection:

http://www.archive.org/details/CatalogueOfSurgeonsInstrumentsAirAndWaterBedsPillowsAndCushions - A Catalogue of Surgeons' Instruments, Air and Water Beds, Pillows, and Cushions, Bandages, Trusses, Elastic Stockings, Inhalers, Galvanic Apparatus, and Other Appliances Used by the Medical Profession, Maw and Son, 1866

http://www.archive.org/details/AnIllustratedDescriptionOfFirst-classAchromaticMicroscopesApparatus - An Illustrated Description of First-Class Achromatic Microscopes, Apparatus, Specimens, etc., Miller Brothers, 1879

Vorwald Collection:

http://www.archive.org/details/AMedicalSurveyOfTheBituminous-coalIndustry - A Medical Survey of the Bituminous-Coal Industry (1947), Coal Mines Administration, US Department of the Interior

New pics on Flickr

I put up five photographs today that were part of last year's scanning project.

This one's been popular:


Poliomyelitis. Transmission Experiment with Aedes aegypti. (although polio is not transmitted by mosquitos).


ANTERIOR POLIOMYELITIS. (MICROPHOTOGRAPH.)


American soldier wounded but still happy. Boureuilles, Meuse, France. 09/26/1918.


"Healthy, Happy Companionship. The community that provides - wholesome family life, - healthy recreation, - V.D. education will protect its young people." Ontario. Issued by the Ontario Provincial Department of Health, circa World War 2.


[summer night crowd watching motion picture, circa World War 1. "Fit to Fight" anti-venereal disease film showing?]

Two more World War 1 books to download

Only one left to go!

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 13: Part 1,
Physical Reconstruction and Vocational Education; Part 2, The Army Nurse Corps (1927)

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 15: Part 2, Medical and Casualty Statistics (1925)

New Bell Daguerretoype acquired and finding aid added to website.

The museum has acquired an 1852 daguerreotype taken by William Bell, chief photographer for the Army Medical Museum during and after the Civil War. Bell took many of the pictures included in the collection of Photographs of Surgical Cases and Specimens and provided his work to Matthew Brady's gallery. The daguerreotype, in a pristine leather case with a velvet lining embossed with "W. Bell, Jenny Lind Gallery, 86 N Second St, Phil[adelphia]" shows a man with ptosis (drooping eyelid). This acquisition was made with the generous assistance of Frederic A. Sharf.

We updated the finding aid for Bell's collection done a few years back by intern Rudolf D'Souza and posted it to the website as well. You can see more of Bell's scenery pictures from the 1882 expedition to photograph transit of Venus (and his obituary) on the website too.

Another WW1 book uploaded - this time with influenza

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 12: Pathology of the Acute Respiratory Diseases, and of Gas Gangrene Following War Wounds (1929)

Collect them all!

Last of Civil War volumes and another World War 1 book online

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 11: Surgery; Part Two (1924)

The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-1865.) Part II. Volume II. (2nd Surgical volume) (1876)

Collect them all!

More downloadable books on Internet Archive

Two from the Civil War and one from World War 1.

The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Part III, Volume I. (3rd Medical volume) (1888)

The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. (1861-1865.) Part I, Volume II. (1st Surgical volume) (1870)

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 11: Surgery; Part One, General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Neurosurgery (1927)

More downloadable books on Internet Archive

One Civil War and three World War 1 books today.

The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Part II, Volume I. (2nd Medical volume) (1879)

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 9: Communicable and Other Diseases (1928)

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 10: Neuropsychiatry (1929)

The Medical Department of the United States Army in the World War volume 15: Statistics; Part One Army Anthropology (1921)