Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 461
January 22, 1895
Mr. Michael H. Curlin,
538 Congress St.,
Portland, Me.
Dear Sir:
Your letter of the 18th inst. in regard to the excised portion of the tibia has been received.
The specimen has been described in the Catalogue of this Museum published in 1866, and a detailed history of the case, with a woodcut of the specimen has been given on page 453 of the Third Surgical Volume of the History of the Rebellion. As all these records would be vitiated by allowing the specimen to go out of the Museum, it is deemed impracticable to grant your request.
Very respectfully,
John S. Billings.
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
In charge of Army Medical Museum and Library.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
AFIP note for the record
Today the department of radiologic pathology shut down with doctors who had been assigned from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) returning there, and other staff being hired by the American College of Radiology which will continue the courses formerly done at AFIP.
AFIP cornerstone items
This is a list of what’s in AFIP’s cornerstone, which is now buried under the steps installed in the 1971 addition.
'Terminal Ballistics of Antique and Modern Firearms' online now
Terminal Effects of Projectiles from Antique and Modern Firearms in Ordnance Gelatin / Bone Targets (A1908-83-0010)
Ballistics experiments conducted by shooting bones embedded in gelatin blocks, done at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology by Dr. Bruce D. Ragsdale, M.D., Orthopedic Pathology Department, AFIP & Arnold R. Josselson, LTC, USAF, MC, Forensic Sciences Department, AFIP. Circa 1970.
Viewable at http://www.archive.org/details/TerminalEffectsOfProjectilesFromAntiqueAndModernFirearmsInOrdnance
Ballistics experiments conducted by shooting bones embedded in gelatin blocks, done at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology by Dr. Bruce D. Ragsdale, M.D., Orthopedic Pathology Department, AFIP & Arnold R. Josselson, LTC, USAF, MC, Forensic Sciences Department, AFIP. Circa 1970.
Viewable at http://www.archive.org/details/TerminalEffectsOfProjectilesFromAntiqueAndModernFirearmsInOrdnance
Letter of the Day: January 21
Tazewell, Tenn.
Jan. 21st, 1874.
Mr. A.L. Snow
Dear Friend,
Your letter from Coleraino Mass. was received some two weeks ago, and would have been answered immediately, but I thought it best to wait until I should make another trip to Lee, hoping that I would be able to give you more definite information in regard to the bones then I could then do. I preached up in Lee last Sunday, but Mr./ Fulkerson being sick, I failed to see him, and saw Mr. Bales, who is also interested in the matter, only at church. I called at his house on Monday morning, but he was absent from home. I left a message on the subject for him and Mr. F, and I have no doubt they will exert themselves to procure as nearly a complete skeleton as possible. I do not, however, feel very sanguine as to their success, for after Mr. Fulkerson received your letter, he and I visited several caves where from reports we confidently expected to find more valuable bones than the ones you took with you, but were disappointed, in consequence of so many of these having been carried off of late years as mere objects of curiosity.
I have so far ascertained the location of about twenty-one or twenty-two caves known to have bones in them, and a few others that have no bones, so far as is known. I feel confident that if these were all thoroughly explored that whole skeletons could be found. I believe that they contain a rich treasure for the antiquary and ethnologist, but it may be lost by delay. I cannot doubt that these bones have been very abundant within a few years past. The testimony on this point is abundant and from men whose veracity cannot be doubted. I wish you would urge Prof. Henry to get an appropriation for the exploration of the caves and mounds without waiting for a complete skeleton, for the very difficulty of obtaining one is an urgent reason against delay. If the testimony of the most prominent citizens of Lee county as to the abundance of these bones in past years, will answer the place of the skeleton in securing an appropriation, it can easily be had. If an appropriation is secured, it should be for Lee and the immediately adjoining county, for a few of the caves and perhaps one or two of the mounds are in the edge of Tenn. and probably there are some mounds at least in Harlan Co. Ky. I have no doubt that there are a good many of those "bone caves" in Lee that I have not yet heard of, for I hear of one or two additional ones nearly every time I visit the county.
Dr. Ewing received a letter from Prof. Henry in reference to the stone you spoke to me about. I saw it when in Lee the other day. It is neither conical nor hollow. It's exact shape is somewhat difficult to describe. It is about 18 inches long, the main body of it cylindrical or nearly so, tapering a little towards the ends and the ends themselves rounding. It is perhaps 2 1/2 inches in diameter. It is a black stone, of fine grit and smoothly polished. I am not mineralogist enough to say certainly what kind of stone it is. The doctor is unwilling to part with it, but has some others that will probably prove valuable additions to the cabinet of the Smithsonian Institute that he will part with, and thinks he can still procure others.
Your family are all well and mine tolerably well. I suppose Mrs. Snow keeps you posted in regard to all the news of Tazewell. There is nothing of any special interest in regard to church matters. Money is scarcer and the business of the community is a more prostrated condition than I have ever known it.
If I learn anything of importance in regard to the bones I will write again. I hope we shall see you home again before long.
Your Friend,
S.B. Campbell
Jan. 21st, 1874.
Mr. A.L. Snow
Dear Friend,
Your letter from Coleraino Mass. was received some two weeks ago, and would have been answered immediately, but I thought it best to wait until I should make another trip to Lee, hoping that I would be able to give you more definite information in regard to the bones then I could then do. I preached up in Lee last Sunday, but Mr./ Fulkerson being sick, I failed to see him, and saw Mr. Bales, who is also interested in the matter, only at church. I called at his house on Monday morning, but he was absent from home. I left a message on the subject for him and Mr. F, and I have no doubt they will exert themselves to procure as nearly a complete skeleton as possible. I do not, however, feel very sanguine as to their success, for after Mr. Fulkerson received your letter, he and I visited several caves where from reports we confidently expected to find more valuable bones than the ones you took with you, but were disappointed, in consequence of so many of these having been carried off of late years as mere objects of curiosity.
I have so far ascertained the location of about twenty-one or twenty-two caves known to have bones in them, and a few others that have no bones, so far as is known. I feel confident that if these were all thoroughly explored that whole skeletons could be found. I believe that they contain a rich treasure for the antiquary and ethnologist, but it may be lost by delay. I cannot doubt that these bones have been very abundant within a few years past. The testimony on this point is abundant and from men whose veracity cannot be doubted. I wish you would urge Prof. Henry to get an appropriation for the exploration of the caves and mounds without waiting for a complete skeleton, for the very difficulty of obtaining one is an urgent reason against delay. If the testimony of the most prominent citizens of Lee county as to the abundance of these bones in past years, will answer the place of the skeleton in securing an appropriation, it can easily be had. If an appropriation is secured, it should be for Lee and the immediately adjoining county, for a few of the caves and perhaps one or two of the mounds are in the edge of Tenn. and probably there are some mounds at least in Harlan Co. Ky. I have no doubt that there are a good many of those "bone caves" in Lee that I have not yet heard of, for I hear of one or two additional ones nearly every time I visit the county.
Dr. Ewing received a letter from Prof. Henry in reference to the stone you spoke to me about. I saw it when in Lee the other day. It is neither conical nor hollow. It's exact shape is somewhat difficult to describe. It is about 18 inches long, the main body of it cylindrical or nearly so, tapering a little towards the ends and the ends themselves rounding. It is perhaps 2 1/2 inches in diameter. It is a black stone, of fine grit and smoothly polished. I am not mineralogist enough to say certainly what kind of stone it is. The doctor is unwilling to part with it, but has some others that will probably prove valuable additions to the cabinet of the Smithsonian Institute that he will part with, and thinks he can still procure others.
Your family are all well and mine tolerably well. I suppose Mrs. Snow keeps you posted in regard to all the news of Tazewell. There is nothing of any special interest in regard to church matters. Money is scarcer and the business of the community is a more prostrated condition than I have ever known it.
If I learn anything of importance in regard to the bones I will write again. I hope we shall see you home again before long.
Your Friend,
S.B. Campbell
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Letter of the Day: January 20
HRG/crm
20 January 1956
Dr. William H. Feldman
Mayo Foundation
University of Minnesota Graduate School
Rochester, Minnesota
Dear Doctor Feldman:
Dr. Messimy sent us a photograph of Professor Cornil and also one of the base of a monument to Cornil. He states that the statues which was on the base was destroyed during the war. This monument was near Vichy. We are enclosing copies of these two photographs, if you wish additional copies to add to your report, please let us know.
We also enclose the other photographs which you need for extra copies of the report.
A copy of the letter sent Dr. Delarue is enclosed. I hope the slides reach us safely.
With best regards
Sincerely yours,
Hugh R. Gilmore, Jr.
Colonel, MC, USA
Curator
Medical Museum, AFIP
Encl: Photographs
Cc letter to Dr. Delarue
Overall this probably refers to OHA 140 Cornil Sketchbooks - Two volumes of pencil and watercolor sketches of syphilitic lesions and pathological histology by Dr. Victor Cornil (1837-1908), a Paris pathologist who participated in the autopsy of John Paul Jones in 1905. In the 1950s the AFIP obtained some of the materials from the autopsy. The collection also includes a report of this recovery effort. Related material in Historical Collections (acc. #517,588).
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
For the record...
At least 2 Museum pictures appeared in Health in America 2011 Calendar by CUNY / New York Times in College, copies of which arrived today. Reeve 63082 and SC 178198, but I’m still looking.
Letter of the Day: January 19 (2 of 2)
And speaking of moving problems…
Medical Purveying Depot U.S. Army.
No. 126 Wooster Street
P.O. Box 108.
Station A
New York, January 19th 1881
Surgeon George A. Otis, U.S. Army.
Army Medical Museum
Washington D.C.
Sir;
I have the honor to inform you, in reply to your letter of the 18th inst., that the 40 gallons of Benzine invoiced to you December 29th 1880, were shipped by steamer which sailed from this Port for Georgetown January 1st. The Quartermaster informs me that he was compelled to ship the benzene by water, as the Rail Road company declined to transport it.
Very respectfully
Your ob’t servant
F. O’Donnaghue
Captain + Med Storekeeper U.S. Army.
A Year of Letters of the Day
Today marks the beginning of a new year of ‘Letters of the Day’ – we started on January 19, 2010 and only missed July 4th when we couldn’t find a letter for it. Would you like to see us continue, although service will grow spottier due to the impending move of the Museum? Let us know.
Letter of the Day: January 19 (1 of 2)
Microsoft continually corrected the spelling in this letter, and it was easier to go along with it.
Washington D.C. Jan 19th 1887
Dr Yarrow assistant Surgeon U.S.A.
Sir
This is the list of things I can furnish for the lunch room in case no cooking is allowed in the Building
Cold ham
Bread & Butter
Tongue
Pies & cakes
Turkey
Puddings & milk
Corned Beef
Fruit
If I am allowed to have a gas stove I will have hot tea coffee & chocolate and hot soup and oysters.
And if I am allowed to cook in the Building I can furnish Beef steak, mutton chops, hot bread & cakes & omelets and vegetables if needed. And I wish to say that all the heaviest cooking will be done at my residence such as soup & pies, or other things that would be offensive. I can have a variety of other thins if I find that I can sell them.
Yours respct.
C.W. Procter
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Letter of the Day: January 18 (2 of 2)
Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 461
Portland Jan 18th /95
Surgeon General .U.S
Dear Sir
if it is possible I would like to have the Bones that was taken out of my leg. I was wounded at the Battle of White Hall North Carolina in 1862 and had 6 ½ inches of the fibular bone taken out, and the surgeon told me he was going to send them to Washington. I would like to have them. I was in Co H. 23rd regiment Mass vols.
Address Michael .H. Curlin
538 Congress St Portland
Maine
1326 Path Sect.
Letter of the Day: January 18 (1 of 2)
Memorandum:
January 18, 1896, Dr. G. N. Acker, Washington, D.C. contributes a specimen from a case of gangrene of lung in a child.
Ask for history.
Specimens Nos. 11013 & 11014 Path. Sect.
January 18, 1896, Dr. G. N. Acker, Washington, D.C. contributes a specimen from a case of gangrene of lung in a child.
Ask for history.
Specimens Nos. 11013 & 11014 Path. Sect.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Letter of the Day: January 17
Curatorial Records: Smithsonian Correspondence
Smithsonian Institution. January 17, 1871
Dear Sir:
We have just received a communication from Prof. H.H. [?] Giglioli of Florence, announcing the establishment at that city of a National Museum of Ethnology for the Kingdom of Italy, and expressing the earnest desire to secure crania belonging to the Indian races of America. For these in return he offers ancient Roman and Latin skulls in considerable variety - and we therefore present the subject to your consideration hoping that you may be able to meet his wishes.
In this cinnection [sic] we beg leave to say that it will give us much pleasure to be the medium of transmission of any specimens you may desire to send to the Museum at Florence, especially as we shall have occasion, ourselves, to forward duplicates of other objects to this address.
I am
Yours very truly,
Joseph Henry
Sect'y S. Inst.
[To] Dr. George A. Otis
Army Medical Museum
Etc. Etc. Etc. D.C
Smithsonian Institution. January 17, 1871
Dear Sir:
We have just received a communication from Prof. H.H. [?] Giglioli of Florence, announcing the establishment at that city of a National Museum of Ethnology for the Kingdom of Italy, and expressing the earnest desire to secure crania belonging to the Indian races of America. For these in return he offers ancient Roman and Latin skulls in considerable variety - and we therefore present the subject to your consideration hoping that you may be able to meet his wishes.
In this cinnection [sic] we beg leave to say that it will give us much pleasure to be the medium of transmission of any specimens you may desire to send to the Museum at Florence, especially as we shall have occasion, ourselves, to forward duplicates of other objects to this address.
I am
Yours very truly,
Joseph Henry
Sect'y S. Inst.
[To] Dr. George A. Otis
Army Medical Museum
Etc. Etc. Etc. D.C
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Letter of the Day: January 16
Post Hospital
Fort Clark, Texas
January 16, 1885
To the
Surgeon General,
United States Army,
Washington, D.C.
Sir:
I would respectfully state that there is at the post hospital a specimen of congenital malformation of the head in a Lamb recently brought forth at the post. The lower jaw, mouth, and nasal passages, are apparently wanting in the specimen. The eyes are absent from their normal position, and one situated just at the junction of the head and throat beneath the jaw. There is also an aperture, probably leading into the esophagus and trachea.
Please inform me if this specimen is desired for the Army Med Museum- and if desired, whether it shall be forwarded through the G.M. Dept., or by express.
Very respectfully
Your obedient servant
F.L. Town
Major and Surgeon U.S. Army
Post Surgeon
Fort Clark, Texas
January 16, 1885
To the
Surgeon General,
United States Army,
Washington, D.C.
Sir:
I would respectfully state that there is at the post hospital a specimen of congenital malformation of the head in a Lamb recently brought forth at the post. The lower jaw, mouth, and nasal passages, are apparently wanting in the specimen. The eyes are absent from their normal position, and one situated just at the junction of the head and throat beneath the jaw. There is also an aperture, probably leading into the esophagus and trachea.
Please inform me if this specimen is desired for the Army Med Museum- and if desired, whether it shall be forwarded through the G.M. Dept., or by express.
Very respectfully
Your obedient servant
F.L. Town
Major and Surgeon U.S. Army
Post Surgeon
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Letter of the Day: January 15
“Art Studio”
1639 19th St. N.W.
Dr. D.L. Huntington
Sir:
Having in my studio a Portait, painted in oil, of the celebrated “Siamese Twins,” said painting having been executed by a French Artist in Paris in 1836. I thought it would be a fitting subject for your Museum.
I will dispose of it for a moderate price.
Should you think favorable of the offer, it can be seen at my studio or I can send it down for your inspection.
Respectfully,
Mrs. V.B. Mullan.
Rec’d for file Jan 15 1884
1639 19th St. N.W.
Dr. D.L. Huntington
Sir:
Having in my studio a Portait, painted in oil, of the celebrated “Siamese Twins,” said painting having been executed by a French Artist in Paris in 1836. I thought it would be a fitting subject for your Museum.
I will dispose of it for a moderate price.
Should you think favorable of the offer, it can be seen at my studio or I can send it down for your inspection.
Respectfully,
Mrs. V.B. Mullan.
Rec’d for file Jan 15 1884
Friday, January 14, 2011
Brain Awareness Week at the Medical Museum: March 14-18, 2011
LIMITED SPACE REMAINING! SCHEDULE YOUR SCHOOL TODAY for Brain Awareness Week 2011! Sign up for one incredible day introducing the brain and brain sciences to students. Space is limited, so act now! Each two-hour session features an introductory talk that will highlight the brain and its functions. Students will then rotate through a series of hands-on activity stations for one-on-one interactions with neuroscientists. Presentations by Howard University, NIH, Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Rutgers University, and the Army Audiology and Speech Pathology Clinic.
This program is designed for middle school students, grades 5 through 8, and is for groups (minimum: 10 students; maximum: 72 students). A limited number of individual students and home school students may attend, depending on space constraints. Reservations are made on a first-come, first-served basis. Morning and afternoon sessions are available.
For more information or to make a reservation, call the Museum’s tour program office at 202-782-2456 or e-mail nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil.
This program is designed for middle school students, grades 5 through 8, and is for groups (minimum: 10 students; maximum: 72 students). A limited number of individual students and home school students may attend, depending on space constraints. Reservations are made on a first-come, first-served basis. Morning and afternoon sessions are available.
For more information or to make a reservation, call the Museum’s tour program office at 202-782-2456 or e-mail nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil.
Letter of the Day: January 14
Headquarters National Guard
of Pennsylvania
Adjutant General's Office,
Harrisburg, Pa., Jany 14" 1896
Daniel L. Foster, Esq.
Washington, D.C.
My dear Sir:
I wish you would call at the Government Museum, sometime at your leisure, and ascertain if possible, whether or not my leg is there. It was amputated at Alexandria, Va. Jany 30, 1864, and I learned at that time it would be sent to Washington, D.C. for examination, after which it would be placed Medical Museum.
By making some inquiry you may be able to ascertain where it is.
Very Truly Yours
A.L. Crist
x c/o
[verso]
Washington, D.C.
No. 19 Iowa Circle
Jany 18" 96
Respectfully referred to the Surgeon General U.S.A. with the request that reply be made direct to Mr. Crist.
I would add that he was a member of Company A 5th Pa. Reserve Vols. Infantry
Respect'yDaniel C. Foster
[Contextual Note: The Museum does not have Mr. Crist's leg, but given the information in his letter and in Foster's note, I was able to find Crist in the National Park Service's Soldier and Sailors Database, which tracks Civil War servicemen, from both the Union and Confederacy. Mr. Crist was very likely Corporal Abram L. Crist. He served in the 5th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry, Company A, on the Union side. He entered as a Private and left a Corporal. From the letterhead on which he wrote his letter to Foster, Crist may have gone on to work for the Pennsylvania National Guard.]
of Pennsylvania
Adjutant General's Office,
Harrisburg, Pa., Jany 14" 1896
Daniel L. Foster, Esq.
Washington, D.C.
My dear Sir:
I wish you would call at the Government Museum, sometime at your leisure, and ascertain if possible, whether or not my leg is there. It was amputated at Alexandria, Va. Jany 30, 1864, and I learned at that time it would be sent to Washington, D.C. for examination, after which it would be placed Medical Museum.
By making some inquiry you may be able to ascertain where it is.
Very Truly Yours
A.L. Crist
x c/o
[verso]
Washington, D.C.
No. 19 Iowa Circle
Jany 18" 96
Respectfully referred to the Surgeon General U.S.A. with the request that reply be made direct to Mr. Crist.
I would add that he was a member of Company A 5th Pa. Reserve Vols. Infantry
Respect'yDaniel C. Foster
[Contextual Note: The Museum does not have Mr. Crist's leg, but given the information in his letter and in Foster's note, I was able to find Crist in the National Park Service's Soldier and Sailors Database, which tracks Civil War servicemen, from both the Union and Confederacy. Mr. Crist was very likely Corporal Abram L. Crist. He served in the 5th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry, Company A, on the Union side. He entered as a Private and left a Corporal. From the letterhead on which he wrote his letter to Foster, Crist may have gone on to work for the Pennsylvania National Guard.]
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