New Posts of Old Daguerrotypes

Not a history of medicine thing, but here's a very nice online collection of daguerreotypes from the American Antiquarian Society.

Forensic Bone Histology Course offered by Museum

Description from the AskAFIP website.  The website can be found by following the “Education” tab on the left-side column at www.askafip.org .

 

Forensic Bone Histology Course (5197) July 13, 2009 - July 15, 2009 COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Mass fatality incidents such as acts of terrorism and mass transit accidents often leave human remains fragmented and burned, making identification efforts problematic.  Fragmentary remains prove difficult to identify as human, not to mention estimating the biological age, sex, ancestry and stature from those fragments.  Due to the small size of skeletal fragments, important macroscopic indicators used in establishing a biological profile may be lost.  

With advancements in bone microscopy, researchers have developed techniques that mitigate these problematic cases, as well as improve the overall evaluation of human remains when fragmentation is not an issue.  Through the analysis of bone microstructure it is possible to differentiate human from non-human bone tissue, estimate age-at-death, and identify potentially individuating characteristics, such as dietary deficiencies and disease processes.

This course addresses the application of bone histology to forensic case work through lecture and hands-on activities utilizing bone slides and microscopes.  After attending this course the participant will be familiar with basic microscope instrumentation and bone histomorphology. This knowledge leads to an understanding of how to differentiate human from nonhuman fragments of bone, estimate age-at-death, and evaluate biasing factors of bone microstructure, such as taphonomic effects.  

NOTE:  Each participant will be given the syllabus on CD.  There will be no printed syllabi.

CME CREDITS:  19

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

• Bone cellular biology
• Basic microscope instrumentation
• Slide preparation techniques
• Bone histomorphology and histomorphometry
• Differentiate human from nonhuman bone
• Estimate age-at-death
• Evaluate taphonomic effects on bone microstructure 

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Anthropologists, Pathologists, Forensic Scientists and anyone interested in bone mircostructure LOCATION:
The course willl be held at Building 53 (Radiologic Pathology Center), located on Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus, across from the National Museum of Health and Medicine (NMHM).  For directions to the facility, visit the museum's website at http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/about/directions.html 

RECOMMENDED LODGING:

Crowne Plaza Washington DC/Silver Spring

8777 Georgia Avenue

Silver Spring, MD  20910

301-589-0800

Rooms have been reserved at a reduced rate of $149 single/double or the prevailing government per diem until 6 July 2009.  Reservations received after this date will be filled on a space available basis.  When contracting the hotel to make your reservation to make your reservation, inform them that you are attending the Urological Pathology and Radiology Course.

Complimentary Shuttle is available to and from the campus.

FACULTY DISCLOSURE:
In accordance with the Essentials and Standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the authors involved in this continuing medical education activity are required to complete Disclosure Declarations.  The authors of this course do not have any financial interest, arrangement, or affiliation with organizations that may have a direct or indirect interest in the subject matter of this course. U.S. CITIZENS:
US citizens must provide, PRIOR TO THE COURSE, a clear copy of your birth certificate or the first two pages of your passport.  You will be unable to attend the course without this information. You may receive the syllabus and related material, but no refunds. NON-U.S. CITIZENS:
PRIOR TO THE COURSE, non-US citizens must mail or fax a one of the following:  (1)  a clear copy of the first two pages of your passport with number showing  (2)   a clear copy of your green card with number showing  (3)  a copy of your visa and the DS-2019 form Send to: Department of Medical Education, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 6825 16th St, NW, Washington, DC 20306-6000 Fax: (202) 782-5020.  You will be unable to attend the course without this information.  You may receive the syllabus and related material, but no refunds.  If you are sponsored by an ECFMG organization, please verify your status as current and active by including a letter from the program director with your registration form.  If you are affiliated with your country’s government/military, please write to the Office of the Surgeon General, DASG-HCZ-IP, 5109 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, Virginia 22041-3258 [FAX: (703) 681-3429] and provide:  (1) a copy of the application from the course announcement and  (2) a letter from your personnel office certifying full-time employment.  All non-US citizens must make checks or international money orders payable to the American Registry of Pathology.  All payments must be in US dollars and be accompanied by the course application. Send to the Department of Medical Education at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC 20306-6000.

Steampunk Anatomy

From the blog e-l-i-s-e, a different take on anatomical illustration. Make sure you click through to the original blog for more.

Obituary for AFIP's Dr. Scofield ran in Post

Henry H. 'Hank' Scofield Navy Oral Pathologist, Professor
-- Matt Schudel

Washington Post (June 6 2009)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/05/AR2009060503549_5.html

After several postings in the Dental Corps, Capt. Scofield received a doctorate in oral pathology from Georgetown University in the late 1950s. He was chairman of the oral pathology department at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology from 1963 to 1966.

 

Darn! Missed this for BAW

If only we'd known about this for Brain Awareness Week. It just shows what using your head will get you: your very own brain to sit in.

Lecture by Kazuo Kawasaki this week in Washington, DC

While we have artificial organs and devices related to extra-corporeal circulation in the Historical Collection of artifacts (ranging from the Kolff-Brigham artificial kidney currently on display to a heart-lung machine), we don't yet have examples of Kazuo Kawasaki's stellar medical designs.




Most are familiar with his eyewear, but I am tracking his work integrating medical science (in which he has a Ph.D.) and product design.

Although we might be as likely to see his 1989 titanium wheelchair in a modern art museum than rolling down the sidewalk, I am interested to learn how Kawasaki approaches the subject of personal experience, design and disability. Kawasaki himself uses a wheelchair and has heart trouble.

Hear Design Made in Japan: from Eyeglasses to the Artificial Heart this Thursday, June 11th, at 6:30 at the Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan, in Washington, DC. The lecture is free, but reservations are required.

www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc/events.htm

Andrea Seabrook's been twittering us

http://twitter.com/RadioBabe - for a story on NPR she says. I noticed because we're seeing a spike in interest in the Flickr photos again, and some atypical ones too. As of this afternoon: 1,407 items / 819,807 views.

Another upload to the Internet Archive

We uploaded another document to the Internet Archive yesterday: Proceedings of the Seventh Saranac Symposium on Pneumoconiosis. It's an important part of the 250+ boxes of the Arthur J. Vorwald Collection.  Vorwald was an industrial medicine investigator who pioneered in asbestosis research.

Sour Candy Body Fluids

In the interest of propriety, I'll let you read about it yourself. But what a great product for your inner 6th-grade boy.

Microscopes, illustrated

We had a request a couple of weeks ago for scans from old Bausch & Lomb microscope catalogs. This can't really do it justice, but hopefully you'll get the idea of how beautiful the engraving is from an 1893 catalog.

Dissection book interview on NPR

Curator and author Jim Edmondson writes in about his book of dissection photographs, noting:

Check out the interview on Dissection, with Ira Flatow of NPR's Science Friday:

 

http://www.sciencefriday.com/about/listen/

 

http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/510221/104742886/npr_104742886.mp3?_kip_ipx=1717569029-1243648443

 

 

The book has been getting amazing press coverage:

http://www.case.edu/origins/news/edmonson.htm

 

And within the last month it soared to #162 on Amazon.com...

Boxing and bones?

This photograph made me chuckle. This NCP image dates back to 1870 and displays soldiers from the Medical Detachment, U.S. Army Hospital in Fort Riley, Kansas. The soldiers "boxing" (obviously a not-so-candid shot) in the foreground first intrigued me, but it wasn't until I scanned the background that I really had to "lol", if you will. On the laps of two soldiers sits a human skeleton, whose skull has been positioned in a way that allows for him/her to watch the match. Why the skeleton on the lap, you ask? Well, perhaps the mysterious "guest" is the loser of the last boxing match (cue in the "mwah ha ha" courtesy of Vincent Price.) Or, perhaps sheer proximity to the hospital compelled the soldiers to shoot this interesting photo. Either way, it's a keeper.

Theresa Butler retiring today

Long-time Museum Staff Assistant Theresa Strong-Butler is retiring today after 40 years of government service, almost 20 of that at the Museum. Theresa filled one of those behind-the-scenes rolls that every museum needs, but you don't hear about. She ordered keys, supplies, and the like for the Museum and handled other administrative tasks. We wish her well as she pursues a new career in 'retirement'.

"Red Cross Work on Mutilés at Paris - 1918"

We just uploaded this 1918 film to the Internet Archive. Everything says it uploaded fine, but as I can't actually view it from work, I'll have to take their word for it.

See it here.

DAVID MACAULAY: Author Talk & Book Signing

When: Friday, June 12, 2009 (1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.)

Saturday, June 13, 2009 (10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.) & (1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.)

Where: National Museum of Health and Medicine

What: Join David Macaulay for a discussion about his new book, "The Way We Work," as he illuminates the most important machine of all -- the human body. Your body is made up of various complex systems, and Macaulay is a master at making the complex understandable. He shows how the parts of the body work together, from the mechanics of a hand, to the process by which the heart pumps blood, to the chemical exchanges necessary to sustain life. A book signing will follow the discussion.

This event is being held in conjunction with NMHM's temporary exhibition, "David Macaulay Presents: The Way We Work, Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body," which features the famous author's original artwork for the book.

Bring your kids along! This event, as well as the exhibit, is great for teaching children about the human body.

Cost: FREE!

Parking is available. Photo ID required.

Information: nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil or (202) 782-2200

www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum

David Macaulay bio:

Born on December 2, 1946, Macaulay was eleven when his family moved from England to the United States. An early fascination with simple technology and a love of model-making and drawing ultimately led him to study architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. He received his degree in 1969 after spending his fifth year with RISD's European Honors Program in Rome. Macaulay is probably best known for a very thick book called "The Way Things Work" (1988), an exhaustively researched compendium of the intricate workings involved in almost anything that functions. It was followed by "Black and White," winner of the 1991 Caldecott Medal. Over the next decade, Macaulay published eight additional books, and in 2003 he began a volume about the workings of the human body—the results of which comprise this exhibition. In 2006, Macaulay was named a MacArthur fellow.

Able and Baker--the Space Monkeys

Today is the day, 50 years ago, that the space monkeys Able and Baker were shot into space for 9 minutes of weightlessness before they returned to earth. Able is close to my heart, as one of my favorite specimens in the musuem's collections. When vets were removing electrodes from Able, her heart stopped beating as she lay on the operating table. Able's body was sent to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology for a necropsy. I went down to Otis Historical Archives today and rummaged through about 3 boxes that contained slides, films, x-rays, notes, diagrams and an autopsy report. Little Able weighed 5 lbs. at autopy and was 1-1/2 years old. It was amazing to read the first-hand descriptions, although the slides made me wish I hadn't peeked--necropsies of cute little monkeys are not so pleasant.

She did her duty and became a hero in our nation's space race. We have Able's skeleton in our Anatomical Collections--the Smithsonian has her pelt. She's not currently on display.

I hope you'll enjoy Baker & Able's story on NPR's site: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104578202

Leprosy found in 4000 year old skeleton

We've got a lot of material on leprosy here, so this article is pretty interesting -

A Skeleton 4,000 Years Old Bears Evidence of Leprosy

By NICHOLAS WADE

Published: May 27, 2009

The oldest known skeleton showing signs of leprosy has been found in India and may help solve the puzzle of where the disease originated.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/science/27leprosy.html

1512 alchemy book avaible online at NLM

NLM's History of Medicine Division is proud to announce that a new Turning the Pages Project has been released on the TTP kiosks in the Library and on the Web: http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/books.htm. 

The project features Hieronymus Brunschwig's Liber de Arte Distillandi, printed in Strasbourg in 1512.  The book is a practical manual on chemical, alchemical, and distillation devices and techniques used to manufacture drug therapies, and it includes a number of hand-colored woodcuts featuring scenes of laboratories, distillation devices, and doctor patient scenes. 

Special thanks to Anne Rothfeld, who curated the project, and Michael Chung, Glenn Pearson, and George Thoma, who created another visually beautiful project through their incomparable programming skills.  Also special thanks to Roxanne Beatty for encoding the files for the gallery page.

 

Michael J. North, northm@mail.nih.gov
Head of Rare Books & Early Manuscripts
History of Medicine Division
National Library of Medicine
8600 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD  20894

Recycling

We've found maps, or portions thereof, on the backs of some of Frank Mack's "Skeeter" malaria cartoons I've been scanning. Cool stuff.

Yester-Day in the Life of an Archivist

Yesterday due to heavy rains, we had some minor flooding in the Museum. The Archives is in the "new" (1971) wing, which attaches to the old (1955) building, and water can get between the walls so we had some bubbling up through about 5 square feet of rug. Other areas in the Museum saw some slight leaks too. Let's hope the rain lightens up for the rest of the week.