Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 00409
January 3, 1895
Messrs Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner & co.,
Paternoster House,
Charing Cross Road,
London, W.C., England.
Gentlemen:
Please purchase for the Army Medical Museum,
1 Arteriometer, and
1 Pulse-pressure gauge,
devised by Dr. George Oliver and figured in his work "Pulse-Gauging. A clinical study of radial measurement and pulse pressure." London, 1895, pp. 3 and 95.
The instructions can be obtained of the maker, Mr. Hawkesley, 357 Oxford St., London.
Have the kindness to send the articles with separate bill in the usual manner.
Very respectfully,
J. S. Billings
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
Director Army Medical Museum and Library.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Letter of the Day: January 2
Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 00376
[handwritten notation] Note: These histories relate to specimens received Dec 17 + Dec 21, 1894. See Record Cards nos. 376 + 383
Lt. Colonial W. H. Forwood
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
Attending Surgeon, Soldier's Home,
Near Washington, D.C.
Dear Doctor:
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the histories of the cases of John King, "D", 1st Cavalry, and of John Engel "H", 8th Infantry, which furnished specimens contributed by you to the Army Medical Museum, and to thank you for these additions to the Museum records.
Very respectfully,
Walter Reed
Major and Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Curator, Army Medical Museum
[handwritten notation] Note: These histories relate to specimens received Dec 17 + Dec 21, 1894. See Record Cards nos. 376 + 383
Lt. Colonial W. H. Forwood
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
Attending Surgeon, Soldier's Home,
Near Washington, D.C.
Dear Doctor:
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the histories of the cases of John King, "D", 1st Cavalry, and of John Engel "H", 8th Infantry, which furnished specimens contributed by you to the Army Medical Museum, and to thank you for these additions to the Museum records.
Very respectfully,
Walter Reed
Major and Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Curator, Army Medical Museum
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Letter of the Day: January 1
Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology,
Harvard University
F.W. Putnam,
Curator of Museum
Lucien Carr,
Assistant Curator
Cambridge, Mass., Jan 1 1886
Dr. Billings
Dear Sir
I have the material for five hundred skull stands abd partly made up shall I finish them up and send them to you
Truly yours
Edw. E. Chick
PS I'm in no hurry about the miny [money] if you have not got the appropriation yet
Harvard University
F.W. Putnam,
Curator of Museum
Lucien Carr,
Assistant Curator
Cambridge, Mass., Jan 1 1886
Dr. Billings
Dear Sir
I have the material for five hundred skull stands abd partly made up shall I finish them up and send them to you
Truly yours
Edw. E. Chick
PS I'm in no hurry about the miny [money] if you have not got the appropriation yet
Friday, December 31, 2010
Letter of the Day: December 31
Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 01920
December 31, 1896
Dr. Bailey K. Ashford,
Children's Hospital,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Dr. Ashford:
Dr. Adams has kindly consented to allow me to vaccinate a few children in your hospital, but requested me to consult you as to time, etc. I would be under many obligations if you could place at my disposal on Monday afternoon, at about 2 p.m., four children, two of these to be vaccinated hypodermically with glycerinated lymph, and the remaining two in the ordinary way, as controls. If this is agreeable to you please telephone on Monday morning.
Very sincerely yours,
Walter Reed
Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Curator
December 31, 1896
Dr. Bailey K. Ashford,
Children's Hospital,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Dr. Ashford:
Dr. Adams has kindly consented to allow me to vaccinate a few children in your hospital, but requested me to consult you as to time, etc. I would be under many obligations if you could place at my disposal on Monday afternoon, at about 2 p.m., four children, two of these to be vaccinated hypodermically with glycerinated lymph, and the remaining two in the ordinary way, as controls. If this is agreeable to you please telephone on Monday morning.
Very sincerely yours,
Walter Reed
Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Curator
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Letter of the Day: December 30 [mystery diagnosis, part 4]
December 30, 1896
Lieut. P. C. Fauntleroy
Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army,
Fort Niobrara, Nebraska
Dear Doctor:
I have examined the cover slips and urine which you recently sent, but have been unable to get any information from them as to the cause of your case of purulent urethritis. I think it more than likely that the peculiar bodies I referred to in my former letter are, after all, altered white blood cells. Certainly your case appears to be unique in one respect, namely, the apparent entire absence of bacteria from the discharge. Although I would not, as a rule, place much confidence in the statements of an individual who had been dancing and drinking, still, as far as the evidence goes in this particular case, you can probably exclude the gonococcus as the cause.
Very sincerely yours,
Walter Reed
Surgeon, U. S. Army,
Curator
Lieut. P. C. Fauntleroy
Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army,
Fort Niobrara, Nebraska
Dear Doctor:
I have examined the cover slips and urine which you recently sent, but have been unable to get any information from them as to the cause of your case of purulent urethritis. I think it more than likely that the peculiar bodies I referred to in my former letter are, after all, altered white blood cells. Certainly your case appears to be unique in one respect, namely, the apparent entire absence of bacteria from the discharge. Although I would not, as a rule, place much confidence in the statements of an individual who had been dancing and drinking, still, as far as the evidence goes in this particular case, you can probably exclude the gonococcus as the cause.
Very sincerely yours,
Walter Reed
Surgeon, U. S. Army,
Curator
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Letter of the Day: December 29
Attorney at [document torn]
And Notary Public
Lake Crystal, Minn., Dec 29, 1883
Surgeon General U.S.A.
Dear Sir.
Nineteen years ago Dec 15-last-Surgeon AJ Bartlett 33d Mo Vols, now of Virdeu Ill removed the head of the humerus from my left-arm. Hee [sic] writes me that he sent the bone with a minie ball sticking in it to the Army Medical Museum at Washington and it is numbered 6599 surgical section. I have never seen the piece removed and as I had taken a photograph of myself showing the wound taken + sent to the Medical Museum, will you kindly have the bone with the ball in it photographed + sent to me. I will be glad to incur all necessary expense.
I hope you will do this as it will be a valuable war relic to me.
Yours truly,
Lonnie Cray
And Notary Public
Lake Crystal, Minn., Dec 29, 1883
Surgeon General U.S.A.
Dear Sir.
Nineteen years ago Dec 15-last-Surgeon AJ Bartlett 33d Mo Vols, now of Virdeu Ill removed the head of the humerus from my left-arm. Hee [sic] writes me that he sent the bone with a minie ball sticking in it to the Army Medical Museum at Washington and it is numbered 6599 surgical section. I have never seen the piece removed and as I had taken a photograph of myself showing the wound taken + sent to the Medical Museum, will you kindly have the bone with the ball in it photographed + sent to me. I will be glad to incur all necessary expense.
I hope you will do this as it will be a valuable war relic to me.
Yours truly,
Lonnie Cray
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Letter of the Day: December 28
Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 01900
December 28th, 1896
Dr. S.S. Adams,
1 Dupont Circle,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Dr. Adams:
Surgeon General Sternberg is very anxious that I should try the hypodermic injection of vaccine virus on a few children. His idea is that one may make use of the virus free of pathogenic bacteria in this way and obtain complete vaccinal immunity without the formation of any vesicle. He has recently obtained from the Health Department of New York City a glycerinated vaccine virus for this purpose. I write to ask if you would be willing to place at my disposal a few children, say half a dozen, upon whom I could practice this method.
Very sincerely yours,
Walter Reed.
Surgeon, U.S.A.
Curator.
December 28th, 1896
Dr. S.S. Adams,
1 Dupont Circle,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Dr. Adams:
Surgeon General Sternberg is very anxious that I should try the hypodermic injection of vaccine virus on a few children. His idea is that one may make use of the virus free of pathogenic bacteria in this way and obtain complete vaccinal immunity without the formation of any vesicle. He has recently obtained from the Health Department of New York City a glycerinated vaccine virus for this purpose. I write to ask if you would be willing to place at my disposal a few children, say half a dozen, upon whom I could practice this method.
Very sincerely yours,
Walter Reed.
Surgeon, U.S.A.
Curator.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Self-referential post, OR, many thanks to Boing Boing
Boing Boing linked to my post about Civil War pictures on Flickr driving our normal traffic from 1500-2000 views per day to 327,779. Thanks!
Read more about Civil War photography
Shooting Soldiers: Civil War Medical Images, Memory, and Identity in America
by J.T.H. Connor and Michael G. Rhode
Invisible Culture no. 5, 2003
by J.T.H. Connor and Michael G. Rhode
Invisible Culture no. 5, 2003
CWMI013
'Blackman's Successful Amputation at the Hip Joint', illustration by Hermann Faber. This operation was rarely successful. The patient is Private Woodford Longmore, Confederate soldier. He was wounded June 11, 1864 at Cynthiana, KY.
(CWMI 013)
sp093
Deathbed of Lincoln by Hermann Faber
Civil War letters on Bottled Monsters blog
Transcribed letters that have been tagged with "Civil War" can be read here.
Letter of the Day: December 27
Personal
Richmond Medical Journal,
Richmond, Va., Dec. 27th 1866,
Major Gen JK Barnes
Dear Sir - On returning home, I devote a portion of my earliest leisure to thanking you and (through your self) the officers immediately around you for courtesies extended to me in Washington, such polite attention has been fully and pleasurably appreciated.
The Museum is a monument of scientific research and most successful labor - For Professional and (and Editorial) reasons, I should be glad to indicate the features and subjects (past and prospective)of greatest interest and, with the necessary faits allowed in my profession, I will, if it be acceptable, comprehensively allude to the gigantic labours characterizing all departments of the Museum and offering, to all scientifically interested, material for profitable study and reformations. I desire it to be understood that, in this manifestation of what is being done and has been done by you , for the practical improvement and development of medical science, I am actuated by professional motives exclusively - I seek the good of the profession and will irrespectively of all other objects -
Respectfully Yr Obdt Srvt,
E.L. Gaillard
Richmond Medical Journal,
Richmond, Va., Dec. 27th 1866,
Major Gen JK Barnes
Dear Sir - On returning home, I devote a portion of my earliest leisure to thanking you and (through your self) the officers immediately around you for courtesies extended to me in Washington, such polite attention has been fully and pleasurably appreciated.
The Museum is a monument of scientific research and most successful labor - For Professional and (and Editorial) reasons, I should be glad to indicate the features and subjects (past and prospective)of greatest interest and, with the necessary faits allowed in my profession, I will, if it be acceptable, comprehensively allude to the gigantic labours characterizing all departments of the Museum and offering, to all scientifically interested, material for profitable study and reformations. I desire it to be understood that, in this manifestation of what is being done and has been done by you , for the practical improvement and development of medical science, I am actuated by professional motives exclusively - I seek the good of the profession and will irrespectively of all other objects -
Respectfully Yr Obdt Srvt,
E.L. Gaillard
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Letter of the Day: December 26
Hammond General Hospital
Point Lookout, Md.,
Decem. 26th 1862
Dear Doctor,
I am very desirous to furnish cases + any information for the Surgical History of the War, that may be in my power. I am having notes of all cases of gun shot wounds that are of interest taken, + the cases written out carefully. If you have any suggestions or instructions to give it will afford me great pleasure to carry them out.
Very truly
Yr st.
C. Wagner
Dr. J.H. Brinton
Surg. US Vols.
Washington.
Point Lookout, Md.,
Decem. 26th 1862
Dear Doctor,
I am very desirous to furnish cases + any information for the Surgical History of the War, that may be in my power. I am having notes of all cases of gun shot wounds that are of interest taken, + the cases written out carefully. If you have any suggestions or instructions to give it will afford me great pleasure to carry them out.
Very truly
Yr st.
C. Wagner
Dr. J.H. Brinton
Surg. US Vols.
Washington.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Letter of the Day: December 25
Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1122
58 Washington St
Newport, R.I.
25 Dec. 1895
Dear Dr. Huntington,
I have received [?] German Swiss list. As [? ? ?] :
Dr. Charles Albert. Do you know his locality, + dates of birth + death?
Scholae Regiae Chirurg. 1775.
In one of my specimens of this, there is upon the book which rests against the column: L. VERO CONT | Q VIXAN and nine medals with the vase. In another, upon the book: XP (in monogram [?]) BR MUTAE | BQ VIXIT.D and nineteen medals. Which is yours? And what the explanation of these inscriptions? In both of mine the female leans her right arm on pedestal, and has wreath in right hand and roll in left. You give the contrary.
The 1690 medal was new to me. There is another of that date, but quite different.
Verein Deutscher Aerzte in Paris. You have “Gegrundad”. Is it not gegrundet? Is the Nunquam otiosus in quotations, as you give it?
Apoticaires et Epiciers. You say mortar + pestle “surrounded” by a crown. Did you mean this, or surmounted? There is another medal, somewhat similar.
Vaccination. Petit-Mangin. Is all with the wreath struck? or engraved?
Cholera. H. Ponscarme. Is the inscr. On tablet struck? or engraved?
Dr. F Chabaud. Is field of rev. struck? or engraved? I enclose rubbing of own of my own (silver) with obv. apparently similar, save CAQUE F. + with reverse save field, seemingly identical. These struck fields I presume to be separate, + inserted into the body of the medal. You say “bust” on obverse, mine has only head.
Emmerez. Dirigit [?] ut Prosit. Is it “Pharmacopoea” as you have it, or Pharmacopoea? At right, is there YCR in monogram, or is your Baron Pare? + is there any date in exergue?
With best wishes of the season,
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
58 Washington St
Newport, R.I.
25 Dec. 1895
Dear Dr. Huntington,
I have received [?] German Swiss list. As [? ? ?] :
Dr. Charles Albert. Do you know his locality, + dates of birth + death?
Scholae Regiae Chirurg. 1775.
In one of my specimens of this, there is upon the book which rests against the column: L. VERO CONT | Q VIXAN and nine medals with the vase. In another, upon the book: XP (in monogram [?]) BR MUTAE | BQ VIXIT.D and nineteen medals. Which is yours? And what the explanation of these inscriptions? In both of mine the female leans her right arm on pedestal, and has wreath in right hand and roll in left. You give the contrary.
The 1690 medal was new to me. There is another of that date, but quite different.
Verein Deutscher Aerzte in Paris. You have “Gegrundad”. Is it not gegrundet? Is the Nunquam otiosus in quotations, as you give it?
Apoticaires et Epiciers. You say mortar + pestle “surrounded” by a crown. Did you mean this, or surmounted? There is another medal, somewhat similar.
Vaccination. Petit-Mangin. Is all with the wreath struck? or engraved?
Cholera. H. Ponscarme. Is the inscr. On tablet struck? or engraved?
Dr. F Chabaud. Is field of rev. struck? or engraved? I enclose rubbing of own of my own (silver) with obv. apparently similar, save CAQUE F. + with reverse save field, seemingly identical. These struck fields I presume to be separate, + inserted into the body of the medal. You say “bust” on obverse, mine has only head.
Emmerez. Dirigit [?] ut Prosit. Is it “Pharmacopoea” as you have it, or Pharmacopoea? At right, is there YCR in monogram, or is your Baron Pare? + is there any date in exergue?
With best wishes of the season,
Sincerely yrs
H.R. Storer
Friday, December 24, 2010
Letter of the Day: December 24
Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 01890
Claim for services
December 24, 1896
Lieut. Colonial D. L. Huntington,
Deputy Surgeon General, U. S. Army,
In charge of Museum and Library Division,
Surgeon General's Office
Sir: In regard to the claim of Dr. D. Percy Hickling for $92.00 for services rendered myself and family, I beg leave to make the following statement: For any services rendered my family I have paid Dr. Hickling and hold his receipts. For the treatment of myself I must refuse to to pay anything whatever, for the reason that his treatment has not only not benefited me, but, on the contrary, has retarded my recovery, and that I am still, at the present day, more than a year after the injury suffering serious inconvenience from his improper treatment.
Very respectfully,
Michael Flynn
Assistant Messenger, S. G. O.
Claim for services
December 24, 1896
Lieut. Colonial D. L. Huntington,
Deputy Surgeon General, U. S. Army,
In charge of Museum and Library Division,
Surgeon General's Office
Sir: In regard to the claim of Dr. D. Percy Hickling for $92.00 for services rendered myself and family, I beg leave to make the following statement: For any services rendered my family I have paid Dr. Hickling and hold his receipts. For the treatment of myself I must refuse to to pay anything whatever, for the reason that his treatment has not only not benefited me, but, on the contrary, has retarded my recovery, and that I am still, at the present day, more than a year after the injury suffering serious inconvenience from his improper treatment.
Very respectfully,
Michael Flynn
Assistant Messenger, S. G. O.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
John Wilkes Booth's contested identity?
Here's an article that mentions specimens held in the Museum - Navy medical historian Jan Herman will appear on Brad Meltzer's Decoded tonight at 10 pm on the History Channel to discuss it
Booth descendants agree to brother's body ID tests
By Edward Colimore
Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 23, 2010
Letter of the Day: December 23
Hammond General Hospital
Point Lookout, Md.
December 23rd, 1862
Dear Doctor,
Your letter requesting me to preserve specimens for the Museum has been rec'd. I received last week eleven hundred wounded, I have already performed a number of interesting operations, resections, amputations etc[?] - I have more in prospect - the specimens in each case has been preserved- I intend keeping them until the results in each case is known. I would suggest that yyou have a circular issued giving us instructions as to the manner of preparing them whether wet or dry - rest assured I will do all in my power to enrich you collection.
Very truly,
Yours, &c.,
C. Wagner
Asst. Surg., U.S.A.
[To] Dr. J. H. Brinton
See above
Contextual Note: Hammond General Hospital was built in 1862 to care for Union soldiers wounded during the Civil War. It was built on the site of the Point Lookout lighthouse, which was constructed in 1825 to warn ships away from the shoals and mark the entrance of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. A few months after today’s letter was written, the first Confederate prisoners were assigned to the hospital and its ground were expanded, transforming the site into Camp Hoffman, the largest prison camp of the Civil War. Conditions in the camp were terrible and by 1864 the prison, with an original capacity of 10,000, had a population that exceeded 20,000 men. The suffering of the prisoners, primarily enlisted men, was terrible as the ground became filthy, the wells became contaminated and inadequate tents and blankets caused death from exposure. By the end of the war between 3,000 and 8,000 men had died at the camp and were buried on the lighthouse grounds.
The terrible conditions of Camp Hoffman are still felt today. Point Lookout State Park now encompasses the camp and lighthouse , which is considered to be the “most haunted” lighthouse in America. The Point Lookout Lighthouse Preservation Society holds nighttime "paranormal investigations" to raise funds for preservation and restoration activities and the site has been featured on segments of Mystery Hunters, Weird Travels and Haunted Lighthouses.
Sources: Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Point Lookout Lighthouse Preservation Society, Maryland Online Encyclopedia, Lighthouse Friends
Point Lookout, Md.
December 23rd, 1862
Dear Doctor,
Your letter requesting me to preserve specimens for the Museum has been rec'd. I received last week eleven hundred wounded, I have already performed a number of interesting operations, resections, amputations etc[?] - I have more in prospect - the specimens in each case has been preserved- I intend keeping them until the results in each case is known. I would suggest that yyou have a circular issued giving us instructions as to the manner of preparing them whether wet or dry - rest assured I will do all in my power to enrich you collection.
Very truly,
Yours, &c.,
C. Wagner
Asst. Surg., U.S.A.
[To] Dr. J. H. Brinton
See above
Contextual Note: Hammond General Hospital was built in 1862 to care for Union soldiers wounded during the Civil War. It was built on the site of the Point Lookout lighthouse, which was constructed in 1825 to warn ships away from the shoals and mark the entrance of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. A few months after today’s letter was written, the first Confederate prisoners were assigned to the hospital and its ground were expanded, transforming the site into Camp Hoffman, the largest prison camp of the Civil War. Conditions in the camp were terrible and by 1864 the prison, with an original capacity of 10,000, had a population that exceeded 20,000 men. The suffering of the prisoners, primarily enlisted men, was terrible as the ground became filthy, the wells became contaminated and inadequate tents and blankets caused death from exposure. By the end of the war between 3,000 and 8,000 men had died at the camp and were buried on the lighthouse grounds.
The terrible conditions of Camp Hoffman are still felt today. Point Lookout State Park now encompasses the camp and lighthouse , which is considered to be the “most haunted” lighthouse in America. The Point Lookout Lighthouse Preservation Society holds nighttime "paranormal investigations" to raise funds for preservation and restoration activities and the site has been featured on segments of Mystery Hunters, Weird Travels and Haunted Lighthouses.
Sources: Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Point Lookout Lighthouse Preservation Society, Maryland Online Encyclopedia, Lighthouse Friends
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Frederick News-Post columnist likes the Museum
Anna O'Brien: The Hoof Beat
A medical history primer
Originally published December 22, 2010
Last week, I visited the National Museum of Health and Medicine in D.C. I love those types of museums; you know, where there are antique glass jars filled with unknown carcinogenic liquid surrounding internal organs or long-forgotten severed limbs. In my humble opinion, a museum is just not a museum unless it's got a jar containing Siamese twins. To my delight, the National Museum of Health and Medicine does indeed have a set.
Click here to read more.
A medical history primer
Originally published December 22, 2010
Last week, I visited the National Museum of Health and Medicine in D.C. I love those types of museums; you know, where there are antique glass jars filled with unknown carcinogenic liquid surrounding internal organs or long-forgotten severed limbs. In my humble opinion, a museum is just not a museum unless it's got a jar containing Siamese twins. To my delight, the National Museum of Health and Medicine does indeed have a set.
Click here to read more.
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