Letter of the Day: April 17 - North Pole expedition

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1418

1st Endorsement.
War Department,
Surgeon General’s Office

April 17, 1896.

Respectfully referred to Lieut. Col. D. L. Huntington, Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army, in charge of Museum and Library Division, for his action, in connection with previous papers in the case.

Geo. M. Sternberg
Surgeon General, U.S. Army

--

To the Minister of the United States of America
Mr. Thomas S. Ferguson

Dear Sir!

In answer to your request for the particulars of the medical equipment of the “Andrees Polarexpedition 1896” I respectfully beg to communicate to you the following:

In furnishing this medical outfit I had to consider two circumstances.

First, -the extent of the whole must be as limited as possible. Secondly, - the packing must [be] strong enough to stand jolting and water. For this purpose, I suppose it would have been most practical to have india-rubber vessels, but such articles are not manufactured in Sweden, and it would be very difficult to order them from abroad.

It was also requested that no object of metal should be used, Mr. Andree desiring to avoid metals wherever possible.

On this account no comparison can be made with the very nice medicine cases, (of American and English manufacture) provided for instance by Mssrs Burroughs Welcome & Co, London which are so highly approved by Stanley and Dr. Parker.

All the pharmaceutical preparations are with two or three exceptions in a dry form such as gelatin and tabloids.

For drawing up the schedule care has been taken to provide for the diseases occurring in earlier Swedish expeditions to Polar regions.

The medicines which are in small doses, are made up in gelatine, a form of medicinal preparations, invented many years ago by General direktor Almen, and is of a very practical nature, as a cover the size of a common envelope, can hold many hundreds doses. They are used in Sweden for such preparations as laudanum, morphia, and quinine, they are usually kept in their coatings, in this case, they have been put into glass tubes.

The rest of the medicines are in tabloids previously mentioned and which are also manufactures in Sweden.

Tabloids containing poisonous drugs are in addition enveloped in very thin paper to prevent them getting broken, it being impossible to use such tabloids unless they are in a perfectly whole collection.

The method for preserving and packing the medicine is as follows.

The gelatives and tabloids are put into tubes of thick glass, with corks especially cutted and prepared to resist damp and water. The labels are also prepared in a similar manner.

Each label is also supplied with a number – which is also given in the little book containing a list of the medicines, - and also the name of the expedition, the name of preparation and the dose to be taken, and finally the names of the diseases for which it is used, which are also given in the book above mentioned, in alphabetical order together with short advice given by the physician as to their treatment and the medicine to be employed.

Each of the glass tubes is fitted into a wooden case (turned?) lined inside with india rubber and cotton wool, a band of india rubber being fixed outside and finally the outside of the case is marked with the same numbers as the glass tube, and is burnt into the wood.

By this arrangement the most important medicines can be carried without further trouble as regards packing, in the event of a journey by sleigh, when everything in the way of baggage must be reduced to a minimum.

The whole collection is then packed in an air and water tight box of wood and india rubber, stamped on the outside with the name “Polarexpedition Andrees 1896,” the word “medicine” and the weight.

Respecting the above mentioned catalogue I herewith beg to enclose a leaf as a typical example of the whole.*

I am Sir yours very respectfully

C.F. Lundberg
Examined Apothecary
Hopapotcket Lejonet

Stockholm 31 Mar 1896

*Filed in a separate envelope

Letter of the Day: April 16

Smithsonian Institution

Washington, D.C., April 16, 1885

 

Dear Sir:

 

We are in receipt every few days from various menageries and zoological gardens, of animals that have died of some disease; some of them sent with the understanding that a report will be made of the causes of death. Learning from you that you propose to make a collection of soft parts of animals for the purposes of comparative anatomical study, I beg to say that it will give me much pleasure to transfer the carcasses, as they come to hand, to the Army Medical Museum, if you will cause to be furnished on each occasion a report of the post mortem, for transmission to the donors. I understand that the Museum is making preparations for permanent presentations of specimens to illustrate the comparative anatomy of various organs, and in this event the National Museum will abandon its previous intention of making such collection; and will turn over a large amount of material already in store, as it is not desirable to have a duplicate.

 

Respectfully,

Spencer Baird

 

Dr. J. S. Billings,

Army Medical Museum,

Washington

Unexploded Ordinance In the Head

This happens often enough
see the full

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/15/unexploded.shell.head.afghanistan/index.html?hpt=T2

"The projectile was part of the bomb that went off," explained Maj. John Bini, who oversees all trauma care at Bagram. "People will pack just about anything in to these things: rocks, nails, screws, explosives."
Bini and his team immediately summoned an explosive ordnance disposal team to assess how risky it would be to conduct the surgery. The doctors needed to minimize the risk of setting off the ordinance.
They were told not to drop the explosive, prick it with a scalpel or let it be exposed to any electricity.
"We knew that any electrical current possibly could cause detonation."

Another rifle slipped from our grasp

Also sent to the Smithsonian in 1950.

Almost a dime a dozen

I just came across this record in our accession files:

Harper's Ferry and Whitney 54 caliber rifle, circa 1851. Heavy steel barrel; Muzzle loader; Fine barrel; Brass hands and mountings; Brass butt plate; Patch box or place cut in butt stock to hold cleaning rag or caps; Brass cover with spring; Percussion lock. Bannerman Purchase. Sent to Smithsonian Institution 09/06/1950.

It was bought in 1912 for $2.50.

Letter of the day, April 15

Balduin Lucké was a Philadelphia pathologist, a professor of pathology at the University of Pennsylvania, Deputy Curator of the Museum, and in charge of the Professional Service (primarily the pathological division) of the Museum/Army Institute of Pathology.

I thought this letter interesting from the scrap-metal-salvaging aspect during WW2, and funny because of  government paperwork requirements in the face of roadblocks as shown at the end of paragraph 2 and the beginning of paragraph 3.

We have some of Dr. Lucké's materials in our Registry of Noteworthy Research in Pathology collection.

The American College of Pathology
East University Avenue
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.

April 15, 1944

Lt. Col. Balduin Lucké, M.C.
Army Medical Museum
7th St. and Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington 25, D.C.


Dear Colonel Lucké:

I am returning the letter from Major Pons, and Mrs. Weller joins me in thanking you for letting us see it.

We have noted that 1,050 reprints of your papers will be required. Do you wish the reprints of the two articles bound together?

We, of course, will wish to cooperate in respect to the preservation of the blocks for future use. We have been under considerable pressure to assure re-use of the metal as quickly as possible. There is a War Production Board order, under the title General Conservation Order M-99, covering this matter. As I understand it, we should be protected in the same manner when the issue is between two Government agencies as though we were dealing with a civilian. After the issue of General Conservation Order M-99, we withdrew the privilege of securing the blocks for a nominal fee to cover packing. On three occasions when re-use of the blocks seemed imminent, we have released them. The mechanism by which this is done is to file with us, in triplicate, a signed statement in the language which appears in fine print near the bottom of the middle column of the printed order which we are sending you herewith. One copy has to go to our engraver, one to our printer, and one copy is retained in our files.

Since it is almost impossible to secure additional copies of General Conservation Order M-99, and the one I am sending you is the only one which we have, I must ask you to return it at your early convenience. I will have to leave it to your judgment as to whether the statement which you submit should be signed by you or by General Love. Because of the large number of illustrations in your articles, the amount of metal is considerable and I fear that I am going to meet with some objection from our engraver, whom I believe to be under a quota in respect to the metal supplied him. This quota is influenced by the amount of salvaged metal which he can release. Therefore, any plan to retain these blocks should be well considered and readily defensible.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Carl V. Weller

CVW:DS
Enc., 2

Putting a face on it

I'm reviewing the first batch of Contributed Photographs to be uploaded to our database, and have started coming across photos of soldiers injured at Antietam and Gettysburg. It's not often we can put faces to the statistics of this war, but here's one example of a soldier injured at Gettysburg. This is what the record says:

Ludwig Kohn, private, Co. I, 214th Pa. Vols., aged 26, admitted to Harewood U.S.A. General Hospital, August 15, 1865, suffering from gunshot wound of chest, right side, ball fracturing third rib, transfixing chest, exit below scapulae same side. Wounded July 1, 1863, at the battle of Gettysburg, Pa. On admission to this Hospital, the parts had nearly healed; but patient states that the wound soon after the injury became gangrenous with considerable sloughing of soft parts; spit blood at time, and that the wound was so painful as to deprive him of his night’s rest; could not lie on his back, but was obliged to sit up day and night. There is still a slight fistulous opening, but otherwise parts entirely healed; is in very good constitutional state, and is now awaiting his discharge from U.S. service.

Contributed by R.B. Bontecou

Letter of the Day: April 14

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 7438

 

April 14, 1904

 

Dr. S. S. Adams,

1 Dupont Circle,

Washington, D.C.

 

Dear Sir:

 

I am directed by the Surgeon General to express his thanks for the photograph of a case of thoracopagus received from you on the 14^th inst. It will be added to the collection with a properly inscribed card.

 

Very respectfully,

 

C.L. Heizmann

Col. Asst. Surgeon General, U.S.A.

In charge of Museum & Library Division

 

The photograph was Contributed Photograph 2583, but is now missing.

Letter and Photographs of the Day: April 13 addition

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 8202

April 13, 1905

Mr. J. E. Standley,
Colman Dock,
Seattle, Washington

Sir:

Your letter of the 4th inst. Addressed to the Smithsonian Institution, containing two photographs of Samoans showing elephantiasis and one of a Javanese woman with multiple fibrous tumors has been referred with the photographs to the Surgeon General, U.S. Army, for deposit in the Army Medical Museum.

The Surgeon General directs me to express his thanks to you for the photographs and to inform you that they will be added to the series of contributed photographs of this Museum.

Very respectfully,

C.L. Heizmann
Col. Asst. Surgeon General, U.S.A.
In charge of Museum & Library Division

These two pictures from Ye Old Curiosity Shop and Indian Curio of Colman Dock, Seattle, became CP 2593 and 2594.

Letter of the Day: April 13

813 North Charles St.

Baltimore

April 13/96

 

Dear Doctor Reed,

 

Many thanks for the monkeys which came through all right.

 

I enclose ck for $18.00.

 

I was so unfortunate as to lose one on the table and the other two were not over strong, but they managed to pull through a minor operation and are doing well now. Section of the corpus calllosium is rather too serious an operation unless an animal is in very good order and I shall have to keep that for animals in first class order. With many thanks for your courtesy & kindly interest

 

I remain

Very sincerely yours

E. Linden Mellus

 

 

#18.00 received from Dr. Reed

April 15, 1896

C.J. Meyers

Accession of the day, April 13

Photograph Number 304. Chronic Arthritis of the knee. The subject of this illustration, Amos S. Young, a resident of Poolsville, Maryland, age twenty - five years, and of strumous diathesis, states that he first noticed a swelling of the left knee - joint in the spring of 1868. The knee steadily increased in size, measuring twenty inches in circumference on April 13, 1871, at which time this photograph was taken at the Army Medical Museum.

Photo of the day, April 13

World War 2 - combat battle scenes (European theater). This section of Heilbronn, Germany, has been completely demolished by Allied air attacks. US 7th Army, VI [6th] Corps. 04/13/1945.

Letter/Accession of the day, April 12 (2)

A two-fer:

Govt. Hospital for Insane

Of the Army and Navy
Washington, D.C. April 12, 1877

To
J.J. Woodward, M.D.

Dear Sir:

I desire to send to the Museum to be retained there if not judged unsuitable – a plaster Medallion – life size,- in plain gilt frame, about 20x18 in[?]. The Medallion represents a young soldier dead on the field of battle – name unknown – the model was molded hastily by an Artist-soldier, who in passing noticed the sweet, cold expression of the youthful face, and after the war, made a cast, which coming into my possession, I have considered worth preserving now for some years. The bust is not finely finished – but well defined, perhaps I overrate its value through countless associations with that terrible period embracing the Years of the “War of the Rebellion”. It seems to me worth adding to some collection, and I offer it for place in the Museum you so ably and very successfully have through years of severe labor brought to a condition of largest value as a National Institution.

With affection and esteem,
(signed) D.L. Dix

[this is Dorothea Dix]

Letter of the Day: April 12

12 April 1956

 

Honorable Noble J. Gregory

House of Representatives

 

Dear Mr. Gregory:

 

Reference is made to your letter of 19 March and our reply of 21 March 1956 in which you requested a change be made in the exhibit label of the Lyon Quintuplets.

 

In accordance with the letter you enclosed from Mrs. Tilford and the birth certificate, the exhibit label has been changed to indicated the correct date of death of the quintuplet mother. The label now also includes the date of death of the father.

 

The exhibit, as it is now presented in our Museum, has been rephotographed. Prints of this photograph are enclosed as requested. May I thank you for your interest in this matter.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

W.M. Silliphant

Captain, MC, USN

 

Incl Photograph

 

c.c. Curator, Med. Museum

Science Museum London's history of medicine collections on the web

This note introduces a really cool idea I'd like to emulate at our Museum. For those who haven't visited the London museum, they've got 2 floors of medical history exhibits from the Wellcome collection.

The new history of medicine website of the Science Museum London has now been completed. In all it now presents 4000 new images of artefacts from the collections linked to 16 specialised themes on medicine across time, written by staff and other professional historians of medicine. Each theme is associated with bibliographies and interactives suitable for teaching at several levels.


The themes are:

Belief and medicine; Birth and death; Controversies and medicine; Diagnosis; Diseases and epidemics; Hospitals;Mental health and illness; Practising medicine; Public health;Science and medicine; Surgery;Technology and medicine; Medical traditions;Treatments and cures; Understanding the body; War and medicine


You can find the site at: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife

Under a creative commons policy the images are available for download.

Dr Robert Bud

Principal Curator of Medicine

The Science Museum, London

Letter of the Day: April 11

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 4497

Repair of Animal Rooms

April 11 1900

To the Surgeon General,
U.S. Army.

General:

I have the honor to request that the following repairs be made in the animal rooms of the annex to this building:
Estimated cost
1. Repair of arch and walls of crematory … $30.00
2. Repairing plaster of portions of walls … $ 5.00
3. Whitewashing 3 rooms and ante-room… $25.00*
4. Painting woodwork in 3 rooms and ante-room… 25.00

This work should be done at the earliest possible date.

Very respectfully,

Dallas Bache
Col. & Asst. Surgeon General, U.S.A.
In charge of Museum & Library Divison

*This includes scraping of walls and at least two coats of whitewash.

Pencil notes added April 13, 1900, in accordance with 1st endorsement dated Apr 12, 1900. See Record Card No. 4497

Letter of the day, April 10 (1 of 2)

Camp Steele, San Juan W.T.
April 10 1868

Dear Doctor:

In reply to your letter in relation to Indian relics &c, I have to say that I am willing to do all I can in the matter; but that there are few or no Indians on this Island, and such articles are not procurable here by ordinary means.

In Victoria, in the shops, many articles such as you speak of, can be got; but not knowing how much money would be allowed for their purchase, I could not buy. Prices generally are high, as with everything else, on this coast.

One article, a really valuable relic, a shawl made by a tribe north of this place, for instance, was charged at $25.00: another at $10.00 &c. After officers exchange their paper pay into gold, & then buy the larger portion of the necessaries of life at prices nominally higher in gold than in paper at the East, they have but little left for speculations of such a kind.

Had I any information of the amount allowable, or a certain sum to expend, I might do something. Crania, or anything else, to be got without cost, I will try to procure.

I will also try to enlist Contract Surgeons in the work, as you desire.

Yours truly
J.E. Semple
Asst Surg. USA

Dr. Otis USA
Washington
D.C.

Letter of the Day: April 10 (2 of 2)

Military Hospital
Malahi Island, Laguna, P.I.
April, 10th, 1905.

Miss C.S. Ludlow,
S.G.O., Washington, D.C.

Madam:-

I have the honor to forward this date under separate cover 54 mosquitoes, collected at this station. Place:- Stockade, this post. Date:-April 9th, 1905, about 7 A.M. Collector:- Capt. C.E.B. Flagg, Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A. No prevailing diseases.

We have pill boxes on hand and will continue to use them for shipping boxes if they are satisfactory for the purpose. A cyanide bottle is needed as there is none available here. Chloroform is now used for this purpose.

A printed unsigned circular relative to collection etc., of mosquitoes, and a shipping box enclosing 3 pill boxes and purporting to contain a cyanide bottle was received from the S.G.O. March 26th, 1905.

No case of malarial fever has been known to have originated here. We make blood examinations in all fever cases and have occasionally one of malaria contracted elsewhere. We have not been able to secure any anopheles as yet, and I have not seen one since by arrival here last September. Lieut. Duncan, Med. Department, who was here last September, told me he found some anopheles in rear of his quarters.

These mosquitoes undoubtedly form a small per cent of the few on the island, but failure to catch any of them is probably due to inexperience of the collectors.

A statement as to whether you have ever received a malaria bearing mosquito from this station would be of interest for record in the medical history of the post.

Very respectfully,

Chas. E.B. Flagg,
Capt., Asst. Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Surgeon

Letter of the day: April 9 (2 of 2)

Alcatraz Island, Cal.,
April 9th, 1885

Surgeon General,
U.S. Army,
Washington, D.C.

General:

I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of request from your office for a specimen, if preserved, in the case of Private P. O’Callaghan, Batty. “D”, 1st Arty., who died in the hospital of this post from the effects of a shot perforation of the skull, February 17th, 1885, and to reply that peculiar circumstances rendered it, in my opinion, imprudent and impracticable to secure the specimen for the Army Medical Museum as was my desire and intention.

Very respectfully,
Your obedient Servant
Jno. Murray Dickson,
Asst Surg. U.S.A.
Post Surgeon

Letter of the Day: April 9 (1 of 2)

Washington, DC
April 9 1870

Dr. George A. Otis
Bvt Col. USA

Col

I sent by Hospital Steward Marshall one model of boat used by Indians in Alaska Territory, one waterproof bag from Alaska made of seal membrane, two beavers teeth, two walrus teeth. These articles I contribute as curiosities that may be acceptable to the Curator for presentation and as objects of illustration and information. They have been acknowledged as contributed by Mr Marshall himself. Will you please make the change rendered necessary by my omission and send a formal communication.

Very Respectfully & truly yours
Basil Norris
Surg U.S.A.