Letter of the Day: March 2

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 08185

War Department,
Office of the Surgeon General,
Army Medical Museum and Library,
Washington

March 2, 1905

Major Henry A. Shaw
Surgeon, U.S.A.
Fort Adams, R.I.

My Dear Major Shaw,

The specimen from stool forwarded by you Feby. 27, 1905 was received yesterday and your letter came this morning. The microscopic examination of the stool gives a negative result, but the agglutination test with the blood and a culture of Shiga's bacillus gives decided clumping, so much so indeed that the reaction deserves to be called positive. The culture used was an alkaline type of Shiga obtained in the Philippines by Dr. Flexner.

With kind regards and best wishes,
Yours very sincerely,
James Carroll
1st Lieut. Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A.
Curator, Army Medical Museum.

PR: NLM Adds Rare Persian Manuscript to Turning the Pages

NLM Adds Rare Persian Manuscript, al-Qazwini's "The Wonders of Creation," to Turning the Pages Interactive Interface

The National Library of Medicine announces the release of a new Turning the Pages virtual book on its Web site (http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/books.htm. The new book is the Kitab Aja'ib al-makhluqat wa Gharaib al-Mawjudat, literally "The Wonders of Creation," compiled in the middle 1200s in what is now Iran or Iraq. The vibrantly illustrated work is considered one of the most important natural history texts of the medieval Islamic world.

The author, Abu Yahya Zakariya ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud-al-Qazwini (ca. 1203-1283 CE), is known simply as al-Qazwini. One of the most noted natural historians, geographers and encyclopedists of the period, he was born in the city of Qazwin in Persia and received much of his education in Baghdad, the cultural center of the region. Al-Qazwini wrote most of his works in Arabic. This beautifully illustrated Persian translation was created in 1537 in the Mughal Empire, corresponding to what is now Pakistan and northern India.

"The Wonders of Creation" is divided into two sections, focusing respectively on celestial phenomena, including the planets, stars, and angels, and the terrestrial world, including geography, ethnography, zoology, and botany. Al-Qazwini was primarily a compiler of information from different authors, both ancient and medieval, and made few original observations of his own. However, his flowing and understandable writing style and thoroughness on different topics made his texts popular and often quoted.

The manuscript copy itself consists of 335 leaves of paper with more than 150 illustrations, in opaque watercolors and ink, of constellations, mythical figures, and various plants and animals placed throughout the text. The Web exhibition contains a selection of these pages, accompanied by explanatory text.  The text is viewable by clicking the "T" in the upper left corner of the virtual book page. For more information see: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/turn_pages_persian.html.

Image caption: The Simurg, or Phoenix, and peacock in Zakarīyā' ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini's "Wonders of Creation," from Manuscript P 1 of the US National Library of Medicine's Turning the Pages project.

 

Civil War pictures continue to be posted to Flickr

Letter of the Day: March 1

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 07352

War Department,
Office of the Surgeon General,
Army Medical Museum and Library,
Washington

March 1, 1904

Dr. Lewis B. Rowland, D.S.
Hagerstown,
Maryland.

Dear Sir:
I am directed by the Surgeon General, U.S.A. to express his thanks for the specimen of a right lower canine tooth with two roots, received from you on the 29th ult. It will be added to the collection with a properly inscribed card.

Very respectfully,
James Carroll
1st Lieut. Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A.
Curator, Army Medical Museum

The Old Army Medical Museum and the Watch and Ward Society

NMHM (Reeve 85182-73)

A new blog post over at the Massachusetts Historical Society - "Discovering the New England Watch and Ward Society" - highlights the Godfrey Lowell Cabot papers and their research value in the recent publication by Neil Miller: Banned in Boston: The Watch and Ward Society’s Crusade against Books, Burlesque, and the Social Evil (Boston: Beacon Press, 2010). The Watch and Ward Society monitored illegal and illicit behavior in Boston, wielding considerable political influence between 1878-1967.

Among the Watch and Ward Society material is this mention of the "Old Army Medical Museum," captured here from the MHS post by Anna J. Cook:

On 16 April 1918, J. Frank Chase, the secretary of the Watch and Ward, wrote a letter describing his visit to the Old Army Medical Museum in Washington D.C. for a screening of “Fit to Fight,” a propaganda film that was part of the military’s attempt to combat “the Social Diseases.” While he approved of the general effort, Chase was critical of certain aspects of the film:

Realizing the difficulties of the subject and how mistakes are inevitable and the diversity of opinion even among good people as to the details and the methods of doing this necessary work, I am loathe to criticize the work accomplished. Yet, I must urge one criticism of the method. It concerns the unwisdom [sic] of putting on exhibition at the very beginning or at all the picture of a nude woman of full front view, as is done in this film.

While he acknowledges the “nude” is, in fact, a statue of Venus, he argues that its manner of display is troubling. It “does not declare itself as a statue until after such a time as gives the mind a chance to conclude ‘Here is the picture of a naked woman,’ and to gasp at the boldness.”It is unclear from the existing correspondence whether anyone in the War Department was similarly offended by the film, or whether Chase’s objection to it had any effect on future screenings.

Check out the rest of the post here.

You are invited! Walter Reed Society reception in Medical Museum, 2 March, 1100-1300

You are invited to a reception at the Medical Museum and learn about the
future of the Walter Reed Society!

Visit the Medical Museum in Bldg. 54 to enjoy exhibits featuring
battlefield medicine in Iraq, human anatomy and pathology, and the final
hours of President Lincoln, and more.

Then, talk to Walter Reed Society leadership about their unique mission
now and in the future.

Light refreshments will be served.

Date: Wed., March 2, 2011

Hours: 1100-1330

The Walter Reed Society was founded in 1996 to benefit Walter Reed Army
Medical Center (WRAMC) and its educational, patient, treatment, and
research activities. The Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
registered in the District of Columbia. All friends of WRAMC are welcome
to join.

Contact Information:

Walter Reed Society, Inc.
PO Box 59611, Walter Reed Station
Washington, DC 20012-9611
Walterreedsociety@verizon.net
http://www.walterreedsociety.org

Horace Greeley Jacobs collection now online

The finding aid for the Horace Greeley Jacobs Collection (OHA 199.5) has been uploaded to the NMHM website here.

The Jacobs collection contains 25 items documenting to the life of Horace Greeley Jacobs, including those related to his service to the Union during the Civil War. Two of the most unique documents are a letter Jacobs wrote to his mother from Camp 19 on May 31, 1862 and a short narrative titled "Thoughts on the Battle Field" (c. 1864). The finding aid includes a biographical note about Jacobs from his years in the Union Army (he joined at 16) through to his death in 1910.

This is a small collection, but part of what makes it unique is that the Museum's anatomical department already contains material relating to Jacobs, specifically his left humerus (AFIP 0384696), which was donated when Jacobs was injured during the war.

A few images relating to Jacobs:


SP 103
Excised head and portion of shaft of left humerus, comminuted by a musket ball.

Jacobs, Horace G. 2LT, G, 6, ME

Doctor: Bliss, D.W. & Otis

Battle: Rappahannock Station, 7 November 1863


CP 1669B


CP 1669A

Letter of the Day: February 28

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1285

February 28, 1896

Mr. Charles H. Ward,
Ward’s Natural Science Establishment,
Rochester, N.Y.

Dear Sir:

You will please prepare for this Museum, at your earliest convenience the following skeletons:

1 at birth. Received May 24, 18971 “ 1 month. Received Aug 7 18961 “ 2 months. Rec’d Aug. 7, 18961” 3 “ .
1 “ 6 “ . – Rec’d Sept 11, 1896 –1 “ 9 “ .
1 “ 1 year. Rec’d Sept 4 ,1897.1 “ 2 years.
1 “ 3 “ . –Rec’d June 22, 18961 “ 4 “ .
1 “ 5 “ .
1 “ 6 “ .

It is of course understood, that only skeletons of the known age, as indicated above, are desired for this Museum, as we already have quite a number of skeletons of unknown ages. They may be forwarded from time to time in small lots, and will be paid for as fast as received. In a short time I shall send you an additional order for some of 7 to 20 years of age.

You will also forward to this Museum:

A dislocating skeleton, Cat. Po. 7, No. 3. Rec’d Aug 7, 1896
A skeleton with muscles, Cat., p. 8, No. 4. Rec’d Aug 7, 1896
A larynx phantom, “ “ 43, “ 96. Received Mch 16/96
A preparation showing circulation of foetus, in a material not affected by heat. For this last preparation the Museum will ask for free entry, as soon as notified by you of shipment. Received Sept 11/96

Very respectfully,

D.L. Huntington
Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
In charge of Museum and Library Division

Letter of the Day: February 27

Read Colonel C. L. Heizmann's endorsement from February 23

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 08162

War Department,
Office of the Surgeon General,
Washington

February 27, 1904

Brig. Gen. R. M. O'Reilly,
Surgeon General, U.S. Army,
Washington, D.C.

General:

I have the honor to state in reply to endorsement of Colonel C. L. Heizmann, Assistant Surgeon General, U.S. Army, of February ___, 1905, reporting the fact of my absence from office and the cause, a copy of which has been furnished me, while his report as to the cause of my absence may be substantially correct, according to his information, I beg to mention in the same connection that I have been a great sufferer for a long time from catarrh and have been until about the 15th of February last under treatment of a specialist who gave me powders in which I found almost instant relief from pain, but my general health had been such that I consulted a physician, a friend, who came to my room, examined the powders I had been taking and destroyed them at once telling me that I had been taking poison, which accounted for my peculiar appearance and actions he had noticed, and from the effect of which drug it had taken me a long time to recover. I have only within the last week come to realize my condition and taken steps to commence life over again, as it were, by taking the pledge which I have never done before, and feel, after many years of honorable service, if given the opportunity, instead of being dismissed for drinking and disgraced

[Page two]

Gen. O’Reilly……………2.

for all time to come as my action my perhaps deserve, no one will ever again have cause to find fault with me, and of this I am confident.

Asking you kind consideration of my case for the sake of those dependent upon me as well as for my own sake, so far as consistent with your official duties,

I have the honor to be, sir,

Your obedient servant,
P. M. Kelly
Clerk, Class I.

Dental Corps anniversary exhibit

Letter of the Day: February 26

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 07341

War Department,
Office of the Surgeon General,
Army Medical Museum and Library,
Washington

February 26, 1904

Messrs Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co
Paternoster House,
Charing Cross Road,
London, England

Gentlemen:

Please purchase for this Museum of Ross, Limited, 111 New Bond St. London, W., the following microscope, described on p. 23 of their booklet catalogue, viz:

No. 1 Standard Microscope complete with circular, centering and revolving detachable Mechanical Stage 4 3/4 ins. diameter, swing down Abbe Condenser 1.40 N.A., with centering screws, swing out Iris Diaphragm, with electrical revolving movement, rack and pinon substage, course and fine adjustments as previously described, rack and pinon to draw tube, 3 Eyepieces, 2/3 in., 1/6 in., and 1/12 in. Oil Immersion Objectives, Triple German-silver Nosepiece in mahogany case complete.

Have the instruments carefully packed, and receive, pay for, and forward to this Museum, with separate bill, in the usual manner.

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

A Chronology of Medical Museum names

1862 Army Medical Museum (cf Henry, The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology: Its First Century, p. 11)

1883 Army Medical Museum & Library Division of the Surgeon General’s Office (cf Henry, p. 79; a Deputy Surgeon General is appointed in charge of the Division, but a curator remains in charge of the Museum)

1946 Army Institute of Pathology established; AMM becomes department thereof (cf Henry, p. 266)

1949 Armed Forces Institute of Pathology established; AMM presumably becomes Medical Museum of the AFIP (cf Henry, p. 284-5)

1974 Armed Forces Medical Museum (cf AFIP Annual Report, p. 11; “When the Institute was reorganized in August, a reorganization of the Medical Museum was also effected, creating a Museum Support Services in addition to the existing staff elements. At the same time the name of the Museum was changed to Armed Forces Medical Museum.”)

1988 National Museum of Health and Medicine (cf AFIP Annual Report, p. 150; “In December, the AFIP Board of Governors officially changed the designation of the museum from the “Medical Museum of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology” to the “National Museum of Health and Medicine of the AFIP.”)

Reminder about Museum closing and moving

Due to BRAC, the Museum will be moving in 2011 along with all of the rest of Walter Reed medical center. The exhibit floor will close this spring. Researcher access to collections will end this spring, as we begin packing the collections for the move which will take place over the summer. There will be no access for research at least through September 2011 and possibly longer. A new Museum building is being constructed at the former Walter Reed annex in Forest Glen, MD.

 

Letter of the Day: February 25

War Department,
Surgeon General's Office,
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library,
Corner of 7th and B Streets SW.,

February 25, 1902

Dr. Wm. C. Mitchell
608 California Building
Denver, Col.

My Dear Doctor:

Replying to your letter of the 22nd inst. I regret to say that I have no culture of Xerosis bacillus (Neisser), nor do I know just where you can obtain a culture, but I would suggest that you address a letter to Dr. A.C. Abbott, University of Pennsylvania, either of whom would be more apt to have a culture of this organism than anyone else in the country, I think. Regretting that my letter should be so unsatisfactory,

Sincerely yours,
Walter Reed
Major & Surgeon, U.S. Army

Letter of the Day: February 24

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 02047

February 24, 1897

Captain W. C. Gorgas,
Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Fort Barrancas, Florida.

Dear Doctor:

The very small fragment of warty growth from beneath the tongue of Commissary Sergeant Kieffer, has been received and examined microscopically. While a larger piece of the tumor would have enabled us to arrive at a more positive conclusion, I feel quite safe in saying that the microscopical structure of the aforesaid small fragment is that of a mixed cell sarcoma having a dense fibrous capsule.

A slide containing two or three small sections is sent to you by this mail.

Very sincerely,
Walter Reed
Surgeon, U.S. Army,
Curator

Rediscovered photographs

Today I've been stabilizing and doing some research in the Crynes Collection (OHA 143.02). This collection documents the life, and particularly the military career, of Major Sylvester F. Crynes MC, a pathologist with the 217th General Hospital during WWII.

Before donating his papers, Major Crynes' family digitized 400 35mm slide from his time in northern France during WWII. They are uniquely beautiful and I wish I could post them all, but I'll settle for a just a handful.

Letter of the Day: February 23

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 08162

War Department,
Office of the Surgeon General,
Army Medical Museum and Library,
Washington

February 23, 1905

To the Surgeon General,
U.S. Army

Sir:

Referred to your endorsement of the 14th inst. I have the honor to inform you that my letter of the 9th inst. recommending the discharge of Patrick M. Kelly, Clerk, Class I, in this office, was based upon the following facts:

1st. Mr. Kelly came to this office on the morning of November 19, 1904 in an intoxicated condition, was totally incapacitated for work, and I sent him home. He remained absent until December 10, 1904, and upon his return was forgiven on his promise that the same condition would not occur again.

2nd. On the morning of February 6, 1905, Mr. Kelly reported for duty in a state of intoxication. He was again sent home and has been absent ever since that time.

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

Witnesses:
Col. C.L. Heizmann, Asst. Surg. Genl. U.S.A.
M.W. Bayliss, Clerk, Class IV, S.G.O.
Convis Parker, Asst. Mess., &Supt. Building