More from the Ball Collection

Here are a few more scans from the Ball Collection. For as long as we've had it, we've thought the name was James Moore Ball. Today we discovered his middle name is Moores, with an s on the end. Just tuck that trivia away. You might need it one day.

Acc. 18873 Morbi Conjunctiva palpebrarum et bulbi. Diseases of the ocular and palpebral conjunctiva. Colored plate I from Dr. Friedrich August von Ammon's book (vol. 1).



















Acc. 18874 Diseases of the bulbar and palpebral conjunctiva. Colored plate II from Dr. von Ammon's book (vol. 1).


















Acc. 18875 Diseases of the cornea. Colored plate III from Dr. von Ammon's book (vol. 1).

Less pharmaceutical advertising fun

No Mug? Drug Makers Cut Out Goodies for Doctors
By NATASHA SINGER
New York Times December 31, 2008
The pharmaceutical industry has agreed to a voluntary moratorium on branded promotional items.

Well, darn. I like the geegaws, although I'm in a constant debate with historical collections over whether or not to keep them. I'm in favor since they are part of medical history of a type.

Photographs of Museum specimens on French blog

Morbid Anatomy tipped me to E-l-i-s-e's blog post on photographs of specimens taken at the Museum. It looks like some of these were shot behind-the-scenes as even I don't recognize some of the specimens (not that it's my department...)

Whatever Happened to Polio? exhibit photos

When the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History closed in 2006, one of the things that went with it was Katherine Ott's excellent exhibit "Whatever Happened to Polio?" I don't know if the exhibit is in the re-opened museum, but when I ran across my pictures I figured I'd share them here.




Would a vaccine work? panels


Will there always be polio? panels


What do these devices do? panel with crutches.


What is polio? panels


What could your dime do? (for the March of Dimes) panel




How did polio change us? panels


What happened in a polio epidemic? panel


Interactive station


Iron lung.


Model showing how iron lung reduced pressure to enable lungs to fill with air.


What do these devices do? panel with braces.

Staying Alive: A Look at the Medical Field in Putnam County

Visiting my inlaws over the holidays, I stumbled upon this nice little exhibit in Cookeville, Tennessee at the Cookeville History Museum on the medical history of the county. There's some stuff I haven't seen before in it, like the X-ray viewer, and some good archival records too. "Staying Alive: A Look at the Medical Field in Putnam County" is on through January 17 2009.














Physician's electrical cabinet








Diagnostic instruments, bandages, splints.






Drugs and pharmaceuticals.


X-ray equipment.


Note the sterilizer iin the corner.


Examination chair.


Birthing table.


Atropine for nerve gas from Vietnam War.


Walter Reed's dinnerware.


Doctors in Vietnam War.








Wheelchair from a doctor's office.

More from the Ball Collection

Some original drawings I scanned from the James Moore Ball (ophthalmology) Collection. I'm making what I hope is a final pass through the 89-page finding aid, checking every folder to make sure the spelling is right. I just wish I had time to scan everything, there are such interesting images there.

Also check out our latest Flickr account for another couple from Ball.

These were done by Margaretta Washington:



Acc. 18696 Lacrimal fistula

















Acc 18697 Trachoma

















Acc 18698 Um, I don't remember. This might be tuberculosis.

















Acc 18699 Acute catarrhal conjunctivitis

YMCA in World War 1

I emailed these three photos to myself a couple of weeks ago to post here, and of course don't now remember what led me to them to start with. In any case, I think they're interesting and not images you see every day.


Reeve 16000: YMCA kitchen. 11/05/1918. Metz, Lorraine. YMCA kitchen where all Allied prisoners of war are fed after being released from German prison camp.

















Reeve 16079: YMCA, Chavonne, France. Bringing supplies to the YMCA. On the door is a large "Y" made from shells which landed near the door while under shell fire.
















Reeve 16065: YMCA. Field Hospital #3. Froissy, France. Female workers giving refreshments to French patients.

Influenza News Means More Museum Photo Requests

News like this report from Reuters this evening will likely spur some additional requests this week and next for the Museum's collections of photos related to the influenza pandemics of the early 20th century.

"Researchers have found out what made the 1918 flu pandemic so deadly -- a group of three genes that lets the virus invade the lungs and cause pneumonia. They mixed samples of the 1918 influenza strain with modern seasonal flu viruses to find the three genes and said their study might help in the development of new flu drugs."

So be on the lookout for mentions of Camp Funston, everyone. You might see one of our photos gracing a newspaper near you.

Want to know more? The Museum had a temporary show on influenza (back in 1997, the exhibit, not the pandemic) and there's a virtual exhibit here.

Some updated links about the Balad exhibit

The new 'Trauma Bay II, Balad, Iraq' exhibit is garnering a lot of attention from visitors, and if you are in or around DC now or in the near future, make plans to check out the new offering in the gallery.  

We appreciate Medgadget for picking up our release about the exhibit, too.

And, this was probably linked earlier in the year, but this USAF news story from April offers some background on the preservation of the hospital.

Little Gems Are Worth The Effort

This quote says a lot about our Museum, I think, and the article itself from today's New York Times, is worth reading, too.

Sean Smith, director of government and public relations for the Association of Science-Technology Centers, said that these “little gems” offer “really, really unique things to people — if they take the trouble to go out and find them.”

Enjoy.

Medical museum annual visitor stats

So from 1958-1968, the Army Medical Museum or Medical Museum of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology is on the Mall, at 7th and Independence, NW, where the Hirshhorn Museum stands now. Our visitorship peaked in 1966 with 3/4 of a million people - about what the Hirshhorn achieves now.

Year Annual visitation notes
1958 234384
1959 363136
1960 586697
1961 684606
1962 631297
1963 478194
1964 451000
1965 543680
1966 765157
1967 571293
1968 280000* *partially closed

So in 1968 we were forced off the Mall, and were going to be moved up to Walter Reed, after some years in storage which severely damaged the collections.

1969 0 closed
1969 0 closed
1971 28216 reopens at WRAMC

In 1971, the Museum reopens in a new wing on the Pathology Institute building.

1972 65688
1973 >60000
1974 50000* *partially closed

Visitors are finding us, but then we get closed again as the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences gets established in our space...

1975 0 closed
1976 0 closed
1977 0 closed
1978 639* *partially closed
1979 6818

So I'm wondering what will happen when we close again, due to the BRAC of Walter Reed.

National Gallery of Art painting conservation

Here's an article that talks about how the National Gallery of Art does painting conservation - "Virgin Rebirth: Technology Helps Humans Work Miracles on a Renaissance Treasure," By Jessica Dawson, The Washington Post Tuesday, December 23, 2008; Page C01. And why should I care you ask? Because the Museum's painting of Philadelphia doctor John Hill Brinton by Thomas Eakins is being worked on in the same way. The painting of the Museum's first curator has been on loan to the Gallery since 1946, but recently has traveled to New York City and Italy for Eakins' shows.

I was down visiting the conservators and curator a few weeks ago when they uncovered some details in the painting that hadn't been obvious before. I told them I'd have no idea what they were and I didn't, but research goes on and I'll let them tell there story in their own time and place.