An unofficial blog about the National Museum of Health and Medicine (nee the Army Medical Museum) in Silver Spring, MD. Visit for news about the museum, new projects, musing on the history of medicine and neat pictures.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Jan 16: Comic book & thriller writer Brad Meltzer at Politics & Prose
Friday, December 28, 2012
Staff departures at NMHM
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Einstein's brain samples
Einstein's brain: Even on the surface, extraordinary - latimes.com Los Angeles Times One hundred sixty of the slides, made from 240 "blocks" of Einstein's brain, are at Princeton's University Medical Center, and an additional 560 slides are housed at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, until recently on the grounds of Walter ... |
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Voice of America visits medical museum
Visit to a Medical Museum; Plastic Surgeon Makes Healing Trips to ... Voice of America The museum also has anatomical collections of bones and preserved human organs. The National Museum of Health and Medicine opened as the Army Medical Museum ... |
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Einstein's brain app
Monday, September 24, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
VOA on National Museum of Health and Medicine
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US Museum Showcases National Medical Collection Voice of America The National Museum of Health and Medicine originally opened as the Army Medical Museum during the Civil War. It's celebrating its 150th anniversary with a ... |
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Google Alert - "National Museum of Health and Medicine"
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The National Museum of Health and Medicine: America's hidden ... The National Museum of Health and Medicine. It's not large like Mount Rushmore , iconic like the Statue of Liberty, or symbolic like The White House. It's small ... www.timetravelturtle.com/.../national-museum-health-medicin... | ||
DCMilitary.com: NMHM Holds 25th Annual Forensic Anthropology ... bySubmitted by: National Museum of Health and Medicine. Franklin Damann, Anatomical Collections Curator at the National Museum of Health and Medicine ... www.dcmilitaryed.com/.../nmhm-holds-25th-annual-forensic-... |
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Museum-related publication is notable.
AFIP swan song book picked as notable
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The tragic death of President James Garfield
The tragic death of President James Garfield
CBS News' Sunday Morning July 1 2012
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7413480n
In 1881 James A. Garfield became the second U.S. President to be assassinated. As Mo Rocca learns, however, his death could have been avoided.
[Book author Candace Millard did research in the Museum, and former Museum curator Jeff Reznick appears]
Monday, July 2, 2012
Google Alert - "National Museum of Health and Medicine"
Artifact History: Nélaton probe « BoothieBarn The collection of the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM) contains several objects relating to Presidential health and care. In regards to the ... boothiebarn.wordpress.com/.../artifact-history-nelaton-probe/ |
Friday, June 22, 2012
What Would Sickles Do?
The NMHM's public affairs office has moved the Museum's website and taken down a lot of material the Guide to the Collections (which listed over 500 large groupings of material for researchers), any articles written by staff, all the transcripts of the AFIP Oral histories, the Archives annual reports and probably more.
They did take the time to go through the Archives annual reports, cull all the users of the Archives over 20 years, and put it in one big list. They converted all the finding aids to pdfs, which probably makes them less visible to search engines. The also broke all the links in the History of Medicine Finding Aids Consortium search engine hosted by the National Library of Medicine.
You can still find the Guide to the Collections at the Internet Archive or buy a print copy at cost from Lulu. Fortunately Internet Archive had crawled the site and you can find all the useful missing material here. However, search engines will no longer pull this up for you apparently, based on a quick test for the Foreword to Photographic Atlas of Civil War Injuries (which you can still read here).
*Actually we didn't because he was a bit of a loon - see Gettysburg, battle of or, Key, Philip Barton, murder of.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Bruce Guthrie's NMHM opening pics
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Walt Whitman in the Civil War article online
Remains of War : Walt Whitman, Civil War Soldiers, and the Legacy of Medical Collections
Lenore Barbian, Paul S. Sledzik, Jeffrey S. Reznick
http://lcoastpress.metapress.com/content/2hp4847807u83752/fulltext.pdf
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Fredericksburg medical museum featured in paper
Bleeding-Edge Technologies
Dr. Hugh Mercer used only the best leeches, bone saws and lancets
By Holly J. Morris on December 01, 2011Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Nov 10: Cancer Education Film at the National Academy of Sciences
This is presented by friends of mine who really know their stuff and should be excellent. I'm planning on seeing it.
The Reward of Courage
Thursday, Nov. 10, 6 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
Keck Center, 500 Fifth St., N.W., Room 100
Join us for a screening of The Reward of Courage , the first public education film about cancer. Released 90 years ago this fall, the film introduced many ideas about cancer that are familiar today. A copy of this hitherto lost silent film was recently discovered, and in excellent
condition. A specially commissioned musical score, performed live by the
Snark Ensemble, will accompany the film.
More Information & RSVP
<http://click.newsletters.nas.edu/?ju=fe2e157376660074761676&ls=fdf017787767
0479741c797c&m=feef12737c620c&l=fe951573766c057973&s=fe1c10757562067a7c1d79&
jb=ffcf14&t=>
*********************
David Cantor PhD
Deputy Director
Office of History
National Institutes of Health
Bldg 45, Room 3AN38, MSC 6330
Bethesda, MD 20892-6330
U.S.A.
Phone: 301-402-8915 (Direct)
301-496-6610 (Office)
Fax: 301-402-1434
http://history.nih.gov/about/Cantor.html
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Dr. William Gardner's death notice
Dr. Gardener was the ultimate supervisor of over 200 people, and a busy man. I personally got along well with him, and enjoyed it when we talked history together. My condolences to his family.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
New Navy history of medicine blog sneak peak
Tranquillity, Solace & Mercy
The history of US Navy medicine
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Museum reopens to public
NATIONAL MEDICAL MUSEUM OPENS IN SILVER SPRING ON SEPT. 15, 2011
Exhibits will focus on human anatomy/pathology, Civil War medicine
September 15, 2011, Silver Spring, Md.: After more than 30 years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the District of Columbia, the National Museum of Health and Medicine has completed its relocation to its new home at the Fort Detrick -- Forest Glen Annex in Silver Spring, Md. The Museum will open its initial temporary exhibitions to the public on September 15, 2011.
Initial exhibits available to the public at the Museum's new location will feature artifacts and specimens related to Civil War medicine and human anatomy/pathology. "To Bind Up the Nation's Wounds" offers an in-depth view of military medicine at the time of the Civil War, and features the amputated leg of Union Maj. General Daniel E. Sickles. "Visibly Human: Health and Disease in the Human Body" features natural human specimens as well as plastinated artifacts, displaying normal and abnormal body functions. "Visibly Human" includes specimens such as a leg affected by a parasitic infection known as elephantiasis, a human trichobezoar, and more—including some of the "most requested" items from the collections.
The new building, located at 2500 Linden Lane in the Forest Glen section of Silver Spring, features a state-of-the-art collections management facility to house NMHM's 25-million-object National Historic Landmark collection.
The Forest Glen Annex is overseen by Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md. The new Museum was built under a design-build contract awarded to Costello Construction of Columbia, Md. and managed by the Baltimore District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The new NMHM offers a designated visitor parking lot and visitors will need to present photo identification upon entry to the Museum.
Exhibits available this fall are the first step in an ongoing exhibition development program that will culminate on May 21, 2012, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Army Medical Museum (today's NMHM). Stay tuned in coming months for a more revealing look at what is yet to come.
Visit the Museum's website, www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum, and Facebook page www.facebook.com/MedicalMuseum, for details.
About the National Museum of Health and Medicine
The National Museum of Health and Medicine, established in 1862, inspires interest in and promotes the understanding of medicine -- past, present, and future -- with a special emphasis on tri-service American military medicine. As a National Historic Landmark recognized for its ongoing value to the health of the military and to the nation, the Museum identifies, collects, and preserves important and unique resources to support a broad agenda of innovative exhibits, educational programs, and scientific, historical, and medical research. The Museum has relocated to 2500 Linden Lane, Silver Spring, Md., 20910. Visit the Museum website at www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum or call (301) 319-3300.
Friday, September 9, 2011
I'm done folks
Mike Rhode
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Well, sadly the Museum outlasted the AFIP
I found it in a quote from one of the former curators. World War II confirmed the Army Medical Museum's primary role in pathology consultation. James Ash, the curator during the war and a pathologist, noted, "Shortly after the last war, more concerted efforts were instituted to concentrate in the Army Medical Museum the significant pathologic material occurring in Army installations." He closed with the complaint, "We still suffer under the connotation museum, an institution still thought of by many as a repository for bottled monsters and medical curiosities. To be sure, we have such specimens. As is required by law, we maintain an exhibit open to the public, but in war time, at least, the museum per se is the least of our functions, and we like to be thought of as the Army Institute of Pathology, a designation recently authorized by the Surgeon General."
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
National Public Radio's Walter Reed series
Topics on the Pathology of Protozoan and Invasive Arthropod Diseases - last AFIP publication
This e-book, Topics on the Pathology of Protozoan and Invasive Arthropod Diseases, was originally conceived as a companion volume of our earlier book, Pathology of Infectious Diseases, Helminthiases, published in the year 2000. During the production of the current volume, however, administrative circumstances were not conducive to its publication as a hardcover book. We are pleased nevertheless to be able to present this treatise on protozoan and invasive arthropod related diseases electronically. As such, a great advantage is that it will be available freely to a wider audience; not just to the so-called developed world, but to less affluent and more remote areas-- in fact to anyone with access to the internet worldwide. This publication comes at an appropriate time when there is ever increasing attention being given to the neglected tropical diseases of this world, and as world travel is increasing. Pathologists highly experienced in many of the diseases discussed here are often not locally available, increasing the likelihood that accurate diagnoses will be unduly delayed.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
New article on medical museum move
Medical museum prepares move from Walter Reed campus
By Caitlin FairchildGovernment Executive August 26, 2011
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=48630&dcn=todaysnews
Walter Reed Army Medical Center's end covered by Washington Post
Two military medical icons become one - an article about the closing, and, Final Walter Reed patients move- a photo gallery of images.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Build your own medical museum
Thursday, August 25, 2011
THE GROG, Summer 2011-- A Journal of Navy Medical History and Culture
It is with great pleasure that we present the Summer 2011 edition of THE GROG. In this edition we examine the Navy Medical Department's role in the Coal Medical Survey of 1947 and how it came about. We follow this with a spirited assortment of original articles including Dr. James Alsop's look at Navy hospital care in 1812, Jan Herman's account of working in documentary films, Leanne Gradijan's statistical report of physicians in the Civil War and much more. As always we hope you enjoy your humble tour of Navy medicine's past.
THE GROG is accessible through the link below. If you prefer a PDF version to be sent directly to your inbox please let us know. For all those who have already requested to be put on the PDF mailing list a low resolution version will be sent to you shortly.
Link to THE GROG, Summer 2011
http://issuu.com/thegrogration/docs/the_grog_summer_2011
Very Respectfully,
André
André B. Sobocinski
Deputy Historian and Publications Mgr.
Office of Medical History (M00H)
Dr. Benjamin Rush Education and Conference Ctr.
Navy Medicine Institute for the Medical Humanities (NMI)
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED)
Tel: 202.762.3244
Fax: 202.762.3380
E-Mail: andre.sobocinski@med.navy.mil
Got Grog?
Summer 2011
http://issuu.com/thegrogration/docs/the_grog_summer_2011
Spring 2011
http://issuu.com/thegrogration/docs/the_grog_spring_2011
Museum public program photos online
They've been going to the Museum's website at http://www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum/events/recent_programs.html and are taken by new Museum photographer Matthew Breitbart.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Rhode's new assignment details
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
FW: Rhode leaving medical museum
It is with distinct melancholy that I will be resigning my post as chief archivist and leaving the National Museum of Health and Medicine on September 9, 2011 for a promotion as archivist in the US Navy Bureau of
Medicine's Office of Medical History (which is also in Washington, DC). It has been a pleasure and an honor to have built and led the Otis Historical Archives for the Museum and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology over the past twenty-two years. I trust I have lived up to museum curator George Otis' inspiring example.
Michael Rhode, Archivist
Otis Historical Archives
National Museum of Health and Medicine
Washington, DC 20306-6000
202-782-2212
http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum
http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/collections/archives/archives.html
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Nature on 'Death of a pathology centre'
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Sunday, August 7, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
City Paper on Walter Reed's closing
Fast Times at Walter Reed
by Lydia DePillis on Aug. 4, 2011
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2011/08/04/fast-times-at-walter-reed/
Monday, August 1, 2011
Former Museum Assistant Director of Collections wins award
Friday, July 22, 2011
Creative use of Museum's Civil War photos at Flickr
- his one soldier is Frederick Bentley.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Medical Museum Science Café, featuring author Matthew Algeo
Where: Silver Spring Civic Center, Fenton Room
One Veterans Place, Silver Spring, MD 20910
http://www.silverspringdowntown.com
What: In "The President Is a Sick Man," author and journalist Matthew Algeo offers the first full account of a monumental political scandal that shook the Gilded Age. In July 1893, President Grover Cleveland boarded a yacht somewhere off Long Island Sound and seemingly vanished for five days. What the American public did not know was that a dream team of surgeons had been assembled on the boat to remove a cancerous growth from Cleveland’s jaw (the Museum has histological slides with samples of the tumor). When a reporter attempted to expose the truth behind the president’s disappearance, he was immediately discredited by White House staff who had decided Americans could not know the truth.
Join this discussion about public perception and presidential health. Copies of the book will be available for purchase; a book signing will follow.
Presented by the National Museum of Health and Medicine
Cost: Free
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
July 13: NLM History of Medicine Seminar - Cassedy Memorial Lecture
History of Medicine Division Seminar
Fourth Annual James H. Cassedy Memorial Lecture
Wednesday, July 13, 2011, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Lister Hill Auditorium
NLM Building 38A
Bethesda, MD
"The Image of Modern Medicine: Aesthetic Belonging and the American Doctor, 1880-1950."
John Harley Warner, Yale University
Distinguished scholar John Harley Warner, Avalon Professor and Chair, History of Medicine, and Professor of History, Yale University, has long studied the cultural and social history of medicine in 19th and 20th century America. This presentation will examine clinical practice, orthodox and alternative healing, the multiple meanings of scientific medicine, and the interactions among identity, narrative, and aesthetic in the grounding of modern medicine.
All are welcome.
www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/happening/seminars/index.html
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Where are we?
Blog posts are getting fewer and further between because the packing of the museum for its move to Forest Glen, MD is well under way. Historical Collections is largely packed up, as is the Human Developmental Anatomy Center. Anatomical Collection’s specimens in formalin are about half packed, and the Archives is due to be packed mid-month. We’re moving to a new command so our email and Internet addresses all are changing too. So our access to everything is lessened for a few months, but please bear with us.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 28
War Department,
Surgeon General's Office,
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library,
Corner of 7th and B Streets SW.,
Washington,June 28, 1900.
Capt. Edgar A. Mearns
Asst. Surgeon, U.S. Army,
(Through Chief Surgeon Dept. of the East)
Sir:
The Surgeon General directs me to acknowledge receiveing a specimen of aneurism of the aorta, case of Sgt. John F. Walsh, Batty. "I" 7th Arty., and the history of the case dated 25th inst., in making contributions to the Museum of such illustrations of pathology is always much appreciated.
Respectfully,
[Lieut. Col. A.A. Woodhull]
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
New Civil War pictures added to Flickr
We’re finally away from the images of shattered bones, and you can see living men surviving their wounds at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/medicalmuseum/
Monday, June 27, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 27
War Department,
Surgeon General's Office,
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library.
Corner of 7th and B Streets S.W.
Washington, June 27, 1901.
To the Post Surgeon
Columbia Barracks,
Quemados, Cuba.
Sir:
At the time of my departure from your station I left on hand in Pathological Laboratory one incubator, under the impression that it was not part of the property for which I was responsible. I now find, however, that this incubator is borne on my annual return and I, therefore, enclose herewith the proper invoices and request that you will be kind enough to receipt me for the same.
Very respectfully,
Walter Reed
major & Surgeon, U.S.A.
(3 Enclosures)
Friday, June 24, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 24
War Department,
Surgeon General's Office,
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library.
Corner of 7th and B Streets SW.,
Washington, June 24, 1901.
Dr. M.P. Overholser,
Harrisonville, MO.
My Dear Doctor:
In compliance with your request of recent date, I have mailed to your address a copy of the paper which was read at the Pan-American Congress in February last. A previous paper on the same subject appears in the last Vol. of Transactions of the American Public Health Association; a later paper was read at the meeting of the Association of American Physicians, held in this city May 2-5, 1901, and will shortly appear, I hope, in American Medicine (Dr. Gould's new journal).
I regret to say that I know of no recent literature on the transmission of malaria by the mosquito in either the French or English language, nor anything relating to the propagation of yellow fever, except what I have mentioned above.
Very truly yours,
Walter Reed
Major & Surgeon, U.S. Army.
[hand notation]
Letter of Dr. O. not received for file. P.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 23
June 23, 1897
Mr. Albert Worsham
National home, D.V.S.
Hampton, Va.
Dear Sir:
Your letter of the 20th inst. has been received and in reply I would say that the eight-legged kitten referred to is not desired for this Museum. It has no commercial value.
Very respectfully,
D.L. Huntington
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
In charge of Museum & Library Division.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 22
June 22, 1897
Major Sam Q. Robinson,
Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Fort Reno, O.T.
Dear Sir:
In answer to your inquiry of the 17th inst. I would state that the 7 inch centipede, mounted dry, is not desired for the Museum collection. Thanking you for your kind offer, I remain,
Very respectfully,
D.L. Huntington
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S.A.
In charge of Museum & Library Division.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 21
June 21, 1899
1st Lieut. C. B. Millhoff,
Asst. Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Comdg. U.S. Genl. Hospital,
Camp Meade, Pa.
Sir:
The sample of blood sent by you on the 20th inst. in the case of Private Frank Gallay, Co. I, 2nd U.S. Vol. Infty., has been examined and gives a positive reaction. The case appears to be one of typhoid fever. Box returned herewith.
Very respectfully,
Walter Reed
Major & Surgeon,
U.S. Army
Monday, June 20, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 20
20 June 1960
Mr. Isidore B. Meyer
Coordinator of Exhibit
Civil War Centennial
Jewish Historical Commission
1109 Fifth Avenue
New York 28, New York
Dear Mr. Meyer:
Reference is made to your letter of 10 June relative to the loan of operating instruments for incorporation in your Centennial Exhibit.
These insturments, presently on loan to the B'nai B'rith Museum in Washington, will be made available to you on or about the 15th of October 1960.
As these items are not insured, it would be appreciated if you could have them insured for five hundred dolares ($500.00).
If we can be of any further assistance to you, please feel free to write.
Sincerely yours,
Albert E Minns Jr
Colonel MSC
Curator, Medical Museum
Letter of the Day: June 20
Army Medical Museum,
June 20, 1903.
Circular Order.
Hereafter no employs of the Surgeon General's Office, except commissioned Officers connected therewith, Dr. Fletcher, Dr. Hodge, Dr. Garrison, the Principal Clerks of the Divisions, Mr. Stone, Mr. Myers, Mr. Clark and Mr. Hardy of the Library, will be admitted to this building on Sundays. Also Dr. Lamb [handwritten note]
The night watchman must remain on duty until 8 A.M. The Superintendent of the building will instruct the watchman and see that these orders are strictly complied with.
Calvin DeWitt
Col. Asst. Surgeon General, U.S.A.
In charge of Museum & Library Division.
June 27, 1903.
Besides the persons above mentioned, Dr. D.S. Lamb and Mr. B Israeli will also be admitted on Sundays.
By order of Col C. DeWitt, Asst. Surgeon General U.S.A.
Coj[?] Myers
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 19
June 19, 1897
Captain W. O. Owen
Asst. Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Fort Bayard, N.M.
Dear Sir:
I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt of a barbed-wire fence staple removed from the throat of a child aged four months.
The Surgeon General desires me to thank you for this addition to the Museum collection.
Very respectfully,
D.L. Huntington
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army
In charge of Museum & Library Division
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Museum & AFIP's history book now available
Legacy of Excellence: The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 1862-2011 - Provides a narrative and photographic history of the AFIP (originally the Army Medical Museum) from its beginning during the Civil War, through the development of the modern field of pathology in the 20th century, to the response to 9/11 and beyond in the 21st century. This book is available for purchase only through the Government Printing Office (see Ordering Information).
Letter of the Day: June 18
18 June 1959
MM
Captain Mauro Gangai, MC
1st Hospitalization Unit
45 Field Hospital
APO 19, New York, N.Y.
Dear Captain Gangai:
Reference is made to your letter of 8 June 1959 relative to obtaining mounted gross specimens and microscopic slides.
The Institute prepares both macropathological and micropathological material for itself and for use by requesting organizations of the Armed Forces. While the Institute does not prepare material for sale, it does have a training program in the technique of preparation and mounting of gross material in which accepted students may learn modern gross mounting methods.
Glass is no longer employed as a mounting medium for gross specimens. the old glass jars have been replaced with plastic containers which are cheaper and more useful.
While commercial sources are somewhat uncertain, Mr. Robert E. Mincey, Bird L. Color Hospital, Welfare Island, New York, is reportedly engaged in a semi-commercial production of modern plastic wet mounts.
If we may be of assistance in this matter, please do not hesitate to write.
Sincerely yours,
Frank M. Townsend
Colonel, USAF (MC)
Deputy Director
Albert E Minns Jr
Colonel MSC
Curator, Medical Museum
Friday, June 17, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 17
17 June 1960
Dr. Francis R. Dieuaide
Medical Director
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
1 Madison Avenue
New York, New York
Dear Dr. Dieuaide:
The Medical Museum of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology is
dedicated to the collection, preservation and display of military
medical material. It is one of the four major departments of the Armed
Forces Institute of Pathology, a national institution jointly sponsored
by the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
While the parent organization is located on the grounds of the Walter
Reed Army Medical Center, the Museum is located in the downtown area of
Washington where it can better carry out its mission of service and
interest to the public. It is here that the military services portray
the developments in the field of military medicine and the resultant
benefits to all mankind. A dynamic program of current and timely Armed
Forces medical subjects, together with constantly changing exhibits of
the history and pathology of disease and certain other selected topics
of military medical history, have made this a living museum.
It has been learned through Dr. Hans Smetana, Chief, Pediatric Section,
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, that you have a very interesting
collection of oriental medical curiosities which you ultimately plan to
give to some museum or other institute of learning.
We would be most happy to have you consider the Medical Museum as a
suitable and logical repository for your collection of objects of
medical interest. Here they would be carefully preserved for the
heritage of the future, and exhibited for the enjoyment and edification
of the more than 360,000 persons who visit the Museum annually. In
addition, your name as donor would always be associated with them.
It would be a pleasure to meet with you the next time you are in
Washington and to show you the many and varied exhibits on display in
the Museum.
Sincerely yours,
Albert E Minns Jr
Colonel MSC
Curator, Medical Museum
Cc Dr. Smetana
CBS News features Museum smallpox photograph
pictures. See http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10007793-9.html for
"23 scary photographs."
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 16
June 16, 1897
Dr. I.S. Stone,
1449 Rhode Island Avenue,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Doctor:
I beg to report that the microscopic examination of sections of supposed additional ovaries, left for examination on may 26, 1897, shows in both a fibrous structure rich in spindle-shaped cells, such as one generally sees in sections of the ovary. There are no Graafian follicles to be found however. The surface of one of these bodies is partially covered with a low cuboidal epithelium which can be traced into the interior of the growth, where it becomes a higher cuboidal and even ciliated columnar epithelium, lining a number of clefts which branch in various directions. I think that these various clefts lined with epithelium merely mark the outlines of papillary projections which have been cut out transversely. One of those out in a longitudinal direction is seen to be covered with high columnar ciliated epithelium. This epithelium must be considered as modified germinal epithelium, thus demonstrating the ovarian origin of these bodies. I believe, therefore, that from the microscopic appearance, these bodies should be considered as superficial papillomata of the ovary. J. Whitwedge Williams has given a full description of these papillomata in Vol. III, Johns Hopkins Hospital Reports.
Sincerely yours,
Walter Reed
Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Curator.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 15
Surgeon General's Office
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library
Corner of 7th and B Streets
Washington, June 15, 1903.
Dr. R. S. Lamb
1017 14th St. N.W.
Washington, D.C.
Dear Doctor;
I am directed by the Surgeon General to express his thanks for the two specimens of eyes removed, one for panophthalmitia, and the other for atrophy following injury, received from you on this day. they will be added to the collection with properly inscribed cards.
Very respectfully,
Calvin DeWitt
Col., Asst. Surgeon General, U.S.A.
In charge of Museum & Library Division.
Specimens Nos. 12594 + 12632 Path. Sect.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Inventor Mike Doyle plans a technical marvel of a health museum
Inventor Mike Doyle plans a technical marvel of a health museum
By: Lisa Bertagnoli June 13, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 14
Subject: A Guide to the Clinical Examination of the Blood.
War Department,
Surgeon General's Office
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library
Corner of 7th and B Streets S.W.
Washington, D.C.. June 14, 1897
To the Surgeon General,
U.S. Army.
Sir:
Referring to your letter of June 12, 1897 I respectfully request that I may be permitted to retain in the library of the Army Medical School the two copies of "A Guide to the Clinical Examination of the Blood," by Cabot. During class work these two volumes will be daily consulted by the Student Officers and in my opinion, therefore, two copies are none too many for use of the class.
Very respectfully,
Walter Reed
Surgeon, U.S. Army
Secretary, Army Medical School.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 13
Surgeon General's Office
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library
Corner of 7th and B Streets
Washington, June 13, 1904.
1st Lieut. John R. Devereux,
Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A.
Fort Meade, S.D.
Sir:
Replying to your letter of May 30th forwarding specimens of skin scrapings, I have the honor to report the result of the examination as negative. No fungi could be detected in the material after treatment with caustic potash solution nor after staining with a solution of methylene blue.
This report would have been made earlier but for the fact that Your letter was mislaid.
Very respectfully,
James Carroll
1st Lieut. Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A.
Curator, Army Medical Museum.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 12
In reply refer to No. 1532
War Department,
Surgeon General's Office
Washington, June 12, 1897.
Major Walter Reed,
Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Secretary , Army Medical School,
Washington, D.C.
Sir:
The records of this office show that you have received two (2) copies of "A Guide to the Clinical Examination of the Blood," by Richard C. Cabot, M.D. If you have received two (2) copies of this book, the Surgeon General directs that one (1) copy be sent to this office and the same dropped from your next Return of Medical Property, with suitable remark.
Very respectfully,
C.H. Alden
Assistant Surgeon General, U.S. Army
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Letter of the Day: June 11
Surgeon General's Office
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library
Corner of 7th and B Streets
Washington, June 11, 1903.
Capt. W. F. Clark, 2d Cavy.
Quartermaster,
Fort Myer, Va.
Sir:
Replying to your letter of the 8th inst. in regard to the location of the intake pipe for the water supply at your post I would suggest that you consult Lieut. Col. Alexander M. Miller of the Engineer Corps, whose office is at 2728 Penna. Ave., Washington, D.C. Col Miller has been engaged for some years in the practical study of the water supply of the city of Washington, he is no doubt familiar with the points at which sewage and factory refuse are poured into the Potomac, and could give an expert opinion as to the points from which water could be taken with the least danger of sewage contamination during unusual conditions of flood in the river.
This seems to me to be a matter of vital importance and one that should be decided only by an expert who is familiar with the local conditions.
I have only a hearsay knowledge of your water supply but I shall be very glad to render any assistance in my power, at any time you may see fit to call upon me.
Very respectfully,
James Carroll
1st Lieut. Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A.
Asst. Curator.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Former Museum curator Elgin Cowart's funeral is June 13th
Services for Elgin Cowart's burial are at Arlington National Cemetery at the Post Chapel on Monday, June 13, 2011 at 11:00am.
If you are attending a chapel service prior to a funeral, you will no longer be able to drive to the Old Post Chapel or Memorial Chapel on Joint-Base Myer-Henderson Hall (formerly Fort Myer) from Arlington National Cemetery without DoD decals on your vehicle and the appropriate identification (government-issued photo ID, valid driver license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance). All vehicles without DoD decals must enter through JBM-HH Hatfield, Wright or Henderson Hall gates. For more information and directions to JBM-HH gates, please read the new access control policy.
Letter of the Day: June 10
Surgeon General's Office
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library
Corner of 7th and B Streets
Washington, June 10, 1903.
To the Surgeon General,
U.S. Army
Sir:
In accordance with letter dated Surgeon General's Office June 5, 1903 addressed to the Officer in Charge of the Medical Supply Depot, Washington, D.C. and accompanied by standard samples of bandages, etc., I have the honor to submit the following report of the result of an examination of the samples of sterility:
1. Sublimated gauze.
Portions placed in six bouillon tubes: all sterile.
2. Absorbent cotton.
Portions in sic bouillon tubes: 4 sterile; 2 contaminated.
3. Plain gauze.
Portions in six bouillon tubes: all contaminated.
4. Gauze bandages.
Portions from three bandages in thirteen bouillon tubes: 9 sterile; 4 contaminated.
Very respectfully,
Jams Carroll
1st Lieut. Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A.
Asst. Curator.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Articial kidney machine in Museum duplicated by students
Engineering students look to the past to learn about the future |
Preston Moretz June 8, 2011 http://www.temple.edu/newsroom/2010_2011/06/stories/Temple_students_kidney_dialysis_machine.htm |