"He had his heart set on pate de foie gras. Navy chow is the best!
Take all you can eat, eat all you can take! Don't be finicky!"
[Nutrition.] [Propaganda.] [World War 2.] [Illustration by: "Hotchkiss
USNR".] World War II. Cartoon.
1944; Bureau of Supplies and Accounts: Navy; U.S. Government Printing
Office; U.S. Navy BUMED Library and Archives
[Historian of medicine Bert Hansen has written on the early days of vaccination in NYC, and tells me this is probably a cowpox cultivated in calves and used to immunize people against smallpox. Reed had written to the Health Department a week earlier asking about the failure after several months of two samples of bovine vaccine he had made himself. Here’s two relevant photographs - http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=cowpox&w=99129398%40N00 One further note – by the end of the nineteenth century, it was known that something smaller than bacteria could cause disease, but the first actual virus was isolated by Martinus Willem Beijerinck in 1898; hence the terminology used in this letter is imprecise to modern readers.]
Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1903
Health Department,
Centre, Elm, White & Franklin Streets,.
(Criminal Court Building)
Office of the Pathologist, and Director of the Bacteriological Laboratory.
New York, Jan 4th, 1897
Walter Reed, M.D.,
Curator U.S. Army Museum,
7th and B. Streets S.W.,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Doctor:-
Your communication of the 28th ult. To Dr. H.M. Biggs has been received, and he has requested me to reply to the same. With reference to the statement made on the printed directions accompanying the package of vaccine virus sent you on Dec. 24th, I would say that this label was prepared at a time when the keeping quality of the vaccine virus produced by this Department had not yet been fully ascertained. As a matter of fact, we find that the virus preserves its potency unchanged for fully six months; not only does it not deteriorate in strength during this period, but its quality with regard to the number of bacteria present is improved. We have found it impossible to produce a virus absolutely free from bacteria, although we are able to assure the absence of pathogenic organisms. The bacteria originally present in the virus diminish as time goes on, and the age of the virus is, therefore, an important factor with relation to the number of bacteria contained.
Respectfully,
Alfred L. Beebe
Asst. Director, Diagnosis Bacteriological Laboratory
Flickr daily view statistics for roughly ~250 images*.
December 27, 2010: 327,779
December 28: 245,041
December 29: 83,579
December 30: 30,834
December 31: 14,260
January 1: 8,268
January 2: 10,569
7 day total: 720,330 views
*images were added on a daily basis and some previous uploads not identified as Civil War were moved into the set.
Dr. Stanley Burns is one of the most prolific collectors of history of medicine photographs, and he’s got a blog at http://www.theburnsarchive.blogspot.com/ which has some very neat images.
Dr. Burns is about to wrap up a book on Dr. Reed Bontecou, a Civil War doctor, based in Harewood Hospital in DC, who was a strong supporter of the Museum and donated many photographs here, some of which have been appearing on our Flickr site recently. Dr. Burns has albums of the pictures that were returned to Dr. Bontecou’s son in 1915 and will be drawing on them for the book.
By Edward Colimore
Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 23, 2010
I'm posting all the Civil War pictures from the Contributed Photograph collection to Flickr, in numerical order, unless we've already put them online there in the past. However we're missing large parts of the collection for various reasons, so if there's a gap between CP 543 and CP 572, it's because we no longer have the intervening 29 photographs.
Most of these photographs have never been seen by the general public. I think the level of interest shown in the largely anonymous photographs recently donated to the Library of Congress shows that there is an interest in seeing the people that fought 150 years ago.
Some of the pictures are disturbing due to either violence or exposed genitalia, and I’ve thought twice about posting them. The Flickr site is open to anyone and photographs of genitals are not something everyone wants to see. However, the first hernia picture we have was by Dr. Reed Bontecou, one of the more famous Civil War medical photographers (or it was commissioned by him). Additionally, due to the draft and volunteerism, not everyone who fought in the Civil War was young and healthy, and problems like hernias resulted, but were less easily treated surgically than they are now. Finally, as we get a little farther along in the series of Civil War pictures, there will be many gruesome physical injuries with exposed viscera, and they should be just as troublesome to modern viewers. When I get done with these pictures, I’ll work through the 400 Surgical Photographs that the museum published between 1862 and 1881.
Here’s a bookplate based on the Museum’s photograph #Reeve 85182-82 “Avoid Pickups”. You should get 4 per 8x10 page. Write your name in the white box and glue one into your book and you should get it back, or perhaps not even have the book borrowed in the first place.
Happy holidays
Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1872
Mssrs Richard Kny & Co.,
17 Park Place,
New York.
Gentlemen:
Will you have the kindness to inform me at an early date of the prices at which you will furnish the following preparatioins:
Osteological Preparations, Catalogue III
p. 3. Skull disarticulated, mounted according to Beauchene, bones untied by polished metal strips, screw movement.
p. 3 Ear with two cuts, internal and median.
p. 15. Skull of monkey, mounted after Beauchene.
Biological Preparations, Catalogue No. V, pp. 20 and 21.
I. Dissected Preparations.
Mus decumanus
Columba sp.
Lacerta agilis.
Rana fortis.
Tinca vulgaris.
Bombyx mori.
Astacus fluviatilis.
Helix pomatis.
II. Injected preparations.
Mus decumanus.
Columba sp.
Lacerta agilis.
Rana fortis.
Tinca vulgaris.
Astacus fluviatilis.
Helix pomatis.
Hiruda medicinalis.
III. Nerve Preparations.
Mus decumanus.
Columba sp.
Lacerta agilis.
Rana escuelenta.
Melolontha vugaris.
Hydrophilus piceus.
Astacus fluviatilis.
Very respectfully,
D.L. Huntington
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
In charge of Mus. and Lib. Div.
Additional
Hiruda medicinalis, nerve prep.
Helix pomatis, “ “
Rene Le Berre, 78
Entomologist saved millions of Africans from river blindness
By Emma Brown
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/14/AR2010121407707.html
Pictures of the disease from the MIS Library –
GSA relinquishes claim to Walter Reed property
By Jonathan O'Connell
Monday, December 13, 2010; 4
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/10/AR2010121006109_pf.html
This would include the AFIP Building (and its Museum space), the Rumbaugh parking garage and the hospital among others.
I’m posting about three pictures a day to Flickr from the Contributed Photographs collection. Many of these images are from the Civil War -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/medicalmuseum/sets/72157614294677868/
Smithsonian Institution, Dec. 8, 1869.
Dr. Geo: A. Otis;
Army Medical Museum
Dear Sir:
A gentleman in New York has offered us a Series of valuable Indian relics provided we can obtain for him a collection of the “Photographs of injuries to bones, and other surgical illustrations,” prepared under the direction of the Army “Medical Museum.” If you can furnish us with such a collection you will place us under an obligation which we shall be happy to reciprocate, as the series of relics offered contains many objects that we earnestly desire to posses.
Your obdt. Servant
Joseph Henry
Secty Smithn. Instn.
A.M.M. 6579 Section I
Santa Fe, N.M.
December 7th 1875
Surgeon General U.S.A.
Washington, D.C.
Sir:
I have the honor to inform you that I have this day delivered the remains of the hands of Srgt. Wm. Summers Co. “I” 15th Infy, for the Army Medical Museum, to Capt. J. H. Belcher Asst Quarter-Master Santa Fe, N.M. for transportation.
Very Respectfully
Your obedient serant,
T.A. McParlin
Surgeon U.S.A.
Vicksburg, Miss.
Dec 7 1868
Dear Col.
I have collected more than three hundred specimens, some of which are valuable, while others, I fear, may be deemed quite worthless. The pottery is fragile and the skulls are exceedingly frail, and though I have packed these articles which much care I am unwilling to forward them to you as ordinary freight without first asking your advice. While some of them may go safe enough I feel that others should be intrusted (sic) to the care of an express agent.
The field of observation in this valey (sic) is exceedingly large and I find I have only just broken ground. I feel assured of being able to make many and very valuable discoveries even with the means at my disposal. I have thus far procured details of soldiers and have expended about eighteen dollars. I think I could use five hundred to advantage. The fifty has not been received.
Very Respectfully
Yours +c
Eben Swift
Surg U.S.A.
To Geo. A. Otis
Bt. Lt. Col. + A. Surg U.S.A.
Curator Army Med + Surg. Museum
Washington D.C.
U.S. Army General Hospital,
McKim’s Mansion, Baltimore, Dec 6 1862
Surgeon Brinton U.S.A.
Sir,
I send to day per Express a box of specimens (dry). I have but 2 wet specimens, and I will send them when I get enough to make it an object. Most, if not all the specimens from the National Hospital have no name attached to them by which to designate the operator. But in Dr. Bartholon’s [?] time he performed all the operations himself. The specimens for this hospital are by myself. Those for the other places are also appropriately marked. I waited for my boxes to mount the dry specimens, but as they did not arrive I was unwilling to keep you without the preparations any longer. I shall be pleased to take particular pains in the future to collect every specimen that can be collected. No history can be obtained relative to the bones contained in a single package from the National.
Very respectfully,
Your obedient Servant,
Lavington Quick
Surg. U.S.A.
| Lunchtime Talk and Book Signing with Author of "Breakthrough” on the Discovery of Insulin |
| |
| Lunchtime Talk and Book Signing with Author Arthur Ainsberg of "Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle" When: Thursday, December 9, 2010, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. What: In "Breakthrough," authors Thea Cooper and Arthur Ainsberg tell the true story of the invention of insulin, one of the most important medical advances of the 20th century. Ainsberg will talk about this fascinating tale of Nobel prize-winning research, and the brave little girl who risked everything for the groundbreaking experiment that saved not only her life but the lives of countless others. Where: Russell Auditorium, in the Museum, Bldg 54 on WRAMC campus Note: Books will be on sale in the lobby before and after the program ($25 each, cash or check only). Proceeds to benefit the AFIP MWR. Cost: FREE! Questions? Call (202) 782-2673 or e-mail nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil | ||
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David’s Island N.Y. Harbor
Dec. 1. 1872
Sir,
Your communication of June 25th 1872, requesting the pathological specimen in the case of Pvt. Burroughs Co F. 7th Inf was not received until to day, it having been send to Fort Buford – thence misdirected to Fort Shaw, again forwarded to Fort Buford and finally sent from that post to me through the Surgeon-General’s Office.
In reply I would respectfully state that the pathological specimen in question, after having been dissected by Dr. Barbour and myself was retained some days while we endeavored to find a jar at once suitable for its preservation and safe transportation. The specimen being large we did not succeed and finally disposed of it by burying on the prairie at some distance from the post. It would now be impractical to recover it.
Very respectfully
Your Obedient servant
W. Matthews
Asst Surg. U.S. Army
Asst Surg Geo A. Otis. U.S.A.
Curator A.M.M.
Washington. D.C.
