Letter of the Day: June 11

Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C., June 11 1878

Sir:

We have to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of “a tattooed head of a Maori, or New Zealander,” transferred to this Institution, where it originally formed part of the collection of the Wilkes Expedition.

Very truly yours,
Spencer F. Baird
Sect. S.I.

Dr. George A. Otis,
Curator Army Med Museum

Letter of the Day: June 10

Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, June 10, 1870

Dear Sir;

We are in receipt of a letter from Prof Quatrefages, of Paris, announcing the transmission to us of casts of the celebrated Cro-magnon crania, that has excited so much interest in France during the last few months, and hope, ere long, to have the pleasure of adding these important archaeological specimens to the Museum under your charge. We are promised full series of similar objects and are allowed to hope even that, in time, we will be possessors of some originals. We find an excellent feeling towards the Institution on the part of the archaeologists of Paris and disposition to place us in the first rank in the distribution of collections.

The Professor asks whether we can send him crania from our American races, definitely named by tribes, and also those of the mound builders, and if you can spare any specimens of the kind I am sure it would be a gratification to Prof. Henry to have you supply them; a satisfactory return will, certainly, be made for whatever may be sent. We are just packing our boxes for Paris and if you will forward to us a few such objects for the Ethnological Cabinet of Paris it will give us pleasure to forward them at once.

We are at present, prosecuting an exploration of Mounds in Tennessee from which we have reasonable grounds for expecting a number of crania. We have given injunctions to those in charge of the exploration to spare no pains in securing specimens and in preventing their being injured by digging..

I am,
Very truly yours,
Spencer F Baird
Asst. Sect. in charge.

Dr. Geo: A. Otis,
Army Medical Museum
Washington

Letter of the Day: June 9 - Whiskey?

Headqurs: 26th R.P.V.[26th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers]. 1st Brig: 2 Div 3 Corps
Camp near Falmouth June 9th 1863

Doctor:

Today I sent through Med: Purveyor Dr. McMillan a small box containing some of the pathological specimens refered (sic) to in your letter of the 6th inst:

I regret that the specimens are in such a bad condition and so few. The barrel containing the same was broken open and contents buried, my Asst. Dr. Dewling exhumed those I sent, further search is now instituted. The impression is that the barrel was mistaken for whiskey.

I prepared several interesting specimens during my leisure expecting to be the bearer of the same to Washington, as I received orders to report to the Department of the Cumberland in April last, but retained here by Genl: Sickles. I hope soon to present the balance in person.

I have the honor to be
Your obedient servant
S.J.W. Mintzer
Surgeon in Chief 1st Brig, 2 Div, 3 Corps

J.H. Brinton
Surgeon U.S.V. + Curator
Army Medical Museum

Letter of the Day: June 8 - Vivisection?

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1523

 

609 Third St.,

Washington, D.C.,

June 8, 1896.

 

Surgeon Walter Reed, U.S.A.,

Curator Army Medical Museum,

Washington, D.C.

 

Dear Sir:

 

In reply to your letter of June 5, 1896, enclosing an extract from the Report of the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia on the subject of vivisection, I would say that a very wonderfully distorted, inaccurate and false description has been given of work conducted at the Army Medical Museum some twenty years ago. Those who were practically engaged in the Microscopical Division should know better than any one else the character of the work that was performed, and that all animals experimented upon were under the influence of an anesthetic. One who was not in any manner connected with the Microscopical Division of the Museum, as was the case with Dr. L.E. Rauterberg, could draw upon his imagination very satisfactorily, and write a vivid description of what might have been done with animals, the remains of which he saw under alcohol in specimen jars. I, however, testify that at no time during my connection with the Army Medical Museum, from about 1870 to the end of the year 1895 have any experiments been performed upon animals in which an anesthetic was not used, unless some of the ordinary inoculation experiments, which are practically painless, nor were animals kept in a mutilated condition.

 

Very respectfully,

Dr. J.C. McConnell

Letter of the Day: June 7 (2 of 2) - the Navy's medical museum

 

[The US Navy had a short-lived medical museum too.]

 

Museum of Hygiene

Bureau of Medicine & Surgery

Cor. 18^th & G Streets, N.W.

Washington June 7 1884

 

Surgeon,

D.L. Huntington,

Acting Surgeon General, U.S.A.

Washington, D.C.

 

Sir:

 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of a colored drawing of a Cremation Furnace, designed by Surgeon Charles Smart, U.S.A., and by him presented to this Museum.

 

The contribution is very acceptable, and the courtesy of Surgeon Smart is gratefully recognized.

 

I am, very respectfully, +c.

J.M. Browne

Medical Director in Charge

Letter of the Day: June 7 (1 of 2) - Cuba! Yellow Fever! Sea Sickness!

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 4638

War Department,
Office of the Surgeon General,
Army Medical Museum and Library,
Washington,
June 7, 1900

 

Lt. Col. Francis B. Jones,

Quartermaster’s Department, U.S.A.

Army Building, 39 Whitehall St.

New York, N.Y.

 

Sir:

 

Per Special Orders No. 122, Par. 33, A.G.O. May 24, 1900, Actg. Asst. Surgeon James Carroll and I are ordered to proceed from New York City to Havana, Cuba. I have this day been informed by Col. Bird, of your Department, that the transports Crook and Sedgwick will probably sail from New York for Havana about June 20^th, and I, therefore, request that you will kindly reserve accommodations for Dr. Carroll and myself on one of these vessels. As both of us suffer very much from sea-sickness we would be glad to give state rooms amidships, if possible, and on the transport that is considered the steadiest sea-going boat.

 

Very respectfully,

Walter Reed

Major & Surgeon,

U.S. Army

Letter of the day, June 6 (2/2)

Surgeon General's Office
Washington City, June 6th, 1868

Dear Doctor,
I have met with very few "Flatheads" in my excursions through Oregon, and those few seemed to be as intelligent as any other Indians.
I know nothing about their qualifications for membership in a "smelling committee", but hope for their own sake, that they may be deficient in this "special sense", as they live in an atmosphere of "stinks", to which the far famed "City of Cologne", cannot "hold a candle".

Yours very truly,
C.H. Crane

Dr. Geo. A. Otis
U.S. Army

P.S.
The Surgeon General knows no more about them than myself.

Letter of the day, June 6

Controlling health care costs is not a new idea or concern, nor is the idea of universal health care. Also, I wonder if this is the beginning of the movement to have decisions about a patient's care made by hospital administrators?

John R. Mannix, the recipient of this letter, authored another article in the journal Hospitals (April 1944) where he states, "It has been confirmed and emphasized by every competent survey to date, including the Fortune poll, which showed that three-quarters (74.3 per cent) of all Americans believe the federal government should collect enough taxes after the way to provide for medical care for everyone who needs it."

From OHA 287, Registry of Noteworthy Research in Pathology

June 6, 1944

Mr. John R. Mannix,
Michigan Hospital Service,
Washington Blvd. Bldg.,
Detroit 26, Mich.

Dear Mr. Mannix:

Thank you for sending me the reprint of your article in the J.A.M.A. and also for having sent copies to Mrs. Bolton. I have read with considerable care your article on the Blue Cross. I particularly like the material under the heading Emergency is Here. I also favor the idea that such services should be interchangeable in the different parts of the country. I warmly approve your emphasis on the voluntary aspects of the proposal. There is one thought about your proposal which seems to me to deserve further consideration. You indicate that the provision of laboratory services and drugs, as well as the subscriber's stay in the hospital, should be left to the discretion and control of the physician. You know our experience here from your personal acquaintance with it. The selection of drugs should be made with care as to their exact purposes and relative costs. The exploitation of free laboratory services by the attending physician has been a real danger. The physician may also prolong the stay of a patient in the hospital for a variety of reasons not directly connected with medical care. Just how to control these possible disadvantages is a troublesome matter but that some sort of control should be exercised is certain. As you know, the vast majority of physicians are wholly considerate of their responsibilities to the organizations whith which they are connected but a few who allow other motives to influence their decisions may do harm. The greatest harm is not merely in their excessive requirements but rather in the influence brought to bear upon patients in their relations to other physicians. To delegate authority in this connection to administrative officers of the hospitals is not entirely without objection. There should, however, be some responsible group in the professional staff organization with authority to exercise control whenever necessary.

With best wishes, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Howard T. Karsner

Letter of the day, June 5 (2 of 2)

Department of State
Washington, 5 June 1877.

To Dr. George A. Otis,
Assistant Surgeon, U.S.A.

Dear Sir:
Many thanks for your attentive note of this date, with respect of the "Salmo Fontinalis", sent to you by my excellent brother. Having been much of an angler, and lover of the gentle art, it would certainly afford me great pleasure to take a look at him but, I must beg you not to to defer the opening of the box, as you have very kindly proposed, for my coming, as it will be impracticable for me to leave here this morning. With many thanks, repeated, for your attentions.

I am, very respectfully yours,
Your obedient servant[?],
A.H. Clements

Letter of the Day: June 5 (1 of 2)

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1515

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

June 5, 1896.

Major Walter Reed,
Surgeon U.S. Army,
Washington D.C.

My dear Doctor:-

Your kind favor is very much appreciated and I am glad I awaited the result of your examination before I entered into a controversy with the officials as to the presence of Anthrax.

The dried specimen of blood was sent me and I had no chance to take precaution against accidental contamination and it remained for me to determine whether among other organisms the anthrax was there. I am curious to know what the rod shaped organism was, which was spore bearing and which not only liquefied gelatin, but showed the feathery growth in slab culture and which was non-motile.

A stained specimen showed segmental chains not unlike anthrax.

I shall abide your decision of course and keep quiet as to positive diagnosis.

I am,
Very respectfully,
J. Hamilton Stone,
1st Lieutenant and Asst. Surgeon U.S. Army

Letter of the Day: June 4 (3 of 3)

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 702

Boeckmann’s Sterilizer, etc.

June 4, 1895

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

General:

Referring to your letter of June 3, 1895, I beg to state that the Boeckmann’s Steam Sterilizer and metal box for sterilizing catgut was received by me on June 8, 1894. I would further state that, as far as the records of this office show or as my recollection bears me out, no report was requested concerning the merits of this sterilizer. Since the date of its receipt, however, it has been in constant use in the Laboratory of the Army Medical School, and has given complete satisfaction. The inventor’s effort to supply an inexpensive sterilizer for saturated steaming, low over-steam, appears to have been perfectly realized in this apparatus. I first saw it in St. Paul, in the spring of 1893, and was at that time favorably impressed with its superiority as a steam sterilizer. I have not tried the sterilization of catgut since its receipt at the Laboratory, but will do so at once if this is desired.

I very much regret that I should have been under the impression that no report was required concerning the merits of this apparatus.

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

Letter of the Day: June 4 (2 of 3)

Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C., June 4, 1887

Dr. Billings,

Dear Sir:

The bearer, Mr. J. Z. Rogers, who I have known for some time as the keeper of an eating house near the Government Printing Office, desires the privilege of serving lunch in the Medical Museum.

He has had years of experience in the Lunch business, and I have no doubt he would give satisfaction should you grant him the privilege he desires.

Very respectfully,
E.W. Oyster,
Foreman, Specification Room, G.P.O.

Letter of the Day: June 4 (1 of 3)

Lincoln Gen’l Hospital
Washington, D.C.
June 4, 1864

Colonel:-

I herewith send you for the Army Medical Museum, a minie ball, which came from the thigh of Captain A. F. Schwartz of Co. F. 1st Maryland (Rebel) Cavalry. The Capt. Was wounded on the 9th of May in the battle of Beaver Dam. The ball, he thinks, struck a fence before hitting him. It entered about the centre of the right nates and did not pass out. The track of the ball is in the direction of the hip-joint. Probing shows that the bone was not touched.

A few hours after the admission of the patient to the Hospital, on the 21st of May, the ball dropped from the wound upon the bed-clothes, no search having been made for it since his entrance. The patient is doing well.

I have the honor to be,
Very Respectfully,
Yr. Obt. Serv’t
J.W. Merriam
Asst. Surgeon U.S. Vols.

Col. J.K. Barnes
Act’g Surg. Gen. U.S.A.
Washington, D.C.

Letter of the day, June 3

[Numbered Correspondence 1872]

June 3, 1897.

THE KNY-SCHEERER CO.
17 Park Place,
New York, N.Y.

Gentlemen:

The glass globe for the monkey skull has been received in good order, for which please accept my thanks. On account of closing our accounts for the present fiscal year, ending June 30, there may be some delay in paying your bill of $80.00 (2 skulls), possibly until after June 30, but I will have the vouchers prepared and sent to you as soon as the appropriation of 1897-1897 becomes available, which will be no later than July 1st.

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

Letter of the Day: June 2

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1515

June 2, 1896

Lieut. J. Hamilton Stone,

Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Army,

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

My dear Doctor:

I sent you a telegram this morning concerning the culture received late last evening. Carroll plated at once, and it requires only a glance at the colonies to state positively that this is not anthrax.

I will to-morrow inoculate a guinea pig with a 48-hour old culture in bouillon.

Don’t you think it a little risky to draw conclusions from a culture made with dried sheep’s blood which had been sent to you unless this blood had been taken with every known precaution to avoid contamination? One should exercise great care in a matter of this kind before giving a positive opinion. If I can ascertain what the organism is, or if it has pathogenic effects, I will let you know to-morrow. Very sincerely yours,

Walter Reed

Surgeon, U.S. Army

The latest forensic report on an artist

 

Beethoven May Not Have Died of Lead Poisoning, After All

By JAMES BARRON, New York Times May 29, 2010

Letter of the day, June 1

Howe Laboratory of Ophthalmology
Harvard University Medical School
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Address: 243 Charles Street
Boston, Massachusetts

June 1, 1934

Major V.H. Cornell
Army Medical Museum
7th and B Streets, S.W.
Washington, D.C.

Dear Major Cornell:

I am sending you the ophthalmoscope that Dr. Harrower presented to the Howe Library Museum, but it certainly is not an original Helmholtz ophthalmoscope, because it has a silvered mirror, and the first Helmholtz ophthalmoscope did not have a silvered mirror. If, after you have examined it, you do not find it of sufficient interest to keep, or if you already have one like it, please return it to us.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] F.H. Verhoeff, M.D.

FHV/T

Letter of the Day: May 22 - Civil War in Northern Virginia

Here's a nice letter for Memorial Day, even though it's from a week earlier. As I've noted elsewhere, writing during a memorializing age when much of Washington was being filled with statues of war heroes, Surgeon General Barnes hoped, "In carrying out the intentions of Congress, it has been my earnest endeavor to make this Medical and Surgical History of the War, not only a contribution to science, but an enduring monument to the self-sacrificing zeal and professional ability of the Volunteer and Regular Medical Staff; and the unparalleled liberality of our Government, which provided so amply for the care of its sick and wounded soldiers."

Centreville Camp Hays 22nd May 1863

J. H. Brinton, M.D.
Surgeon U.S.V.
Curator of the Army Medical Museum.

In obedience to Yours from May 16th I proceded (sic) to Gen’l Abercrombie’s Headquarters in submitting your letter. I was informed that official orders from Gen’l Heinzelmann were received to let nobody pass outside the lines. The battlefield of Bull Run is 3 miles outside the lines. If I could get a permission from Gen’l Heinzelmann and an escort of Cavalry from Gen’l Stahl in Fairfax, I am sure to be recompensed by a rich booty of pathological objects. Please and furnish permission and an escort and I will immediately proceed to the Battlefield and take with me such men well acquainted with the locality and relative places.

After the engagement at Strasburg and the battle of Kross Keys (sic - Cross Keys) I had a little collection, but afterwards meanwhile my captivity in June & July last year they were lost. The cranium Dr. Baron mentioned is lost, but I hope that this loss will be repaired by another one I will send to you.

Very Respectfully Your Obdt. Servant,
Frederick Wolf
Surgeon of the 39th Regt. N.Y.V.

P.S. Allow me to write you next time a letter, concerning views in composing the materials of a military museum which I would hazard to submit to you.

Letter of the day, May 31

We wish we had a benefactor, too.


May 31, 1912.

Mr. Leo Hamburger
Scheffelstrasse 24
Frankfurt, a/M

Sir;

In reply to your of 21st inst. Enclosing copy of letter of 29th Feby., 1912, relative to the purchase of collection of medals, “Pestilentia in nummis” of the late Mr. Pfeiffer for $10,000, you are informed that there is no money available for this expenditure, and that your suggestion to find some prominent man who would be willing to purchase the collection and present it to the Museum is entirely impracticable.

Very respectfully,
Walter D. McCaw
Lt. Col. Medical Corps, U.S.A.
In charge of Museum & Library Division

some of our exhibits

Letter of the Day: May 30

U.S. Marine-hospital Service,
District of the Gulf,
Part of New Orleans La, Surgeon’s Office,
May 30th, 1885

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

Sir:

On a recent visit to the exhibit of the U.S. Army Medical Department at the Exposition now in this city, I was more than gratified to find displayed therein, photogrpahs of skeletons of Sioux indians donated by me when a hospital stweard of the army on duty at Camp (now Fort) Robinson, Nebraska. If it can be conveniently done, I should be glad to procure copies of the photograps above mentioned and I shall greatly appreciate the favor.

At the time I made the last donation to the Museum Asst. Surgeon Otis (then Curator) promsed me that I should have a full and complete assortment of publications of the Surgeon General’s office, more particularly those relating to the Army Medical Museum. His subsequent illness and death prevented any action on his part and I imagine no record of his promises being made, the whole matter was forgotten.

Very respectfully,
Your obedent servant,
Samuel W. Richardson
Hospital Steward
U.S. Marine Hosp’l Service
(Formerly U.S. Army)
Care of Custom House

Five unmounted photographs of skeletons sent by mail June 8, 1885

Letter of the Day: May 29

This is in regard to Swiss Hospital Corps equipment.

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 738

Copy.
No. 70.

United States Legation,
Bern, May 29th, 1895.

Hon. Edwin F. Uhl,
Acting Secretary of State.

Sir:

In compliance with your instructions contained in Despatch (sic) No. 88 in relation to the purchase of articles for the Army Medical Museum as per request of the Acting Secretary of War, I have made arrangements with the Technical Division of the War Material Administration for the purchase of the articles desired by the Secretary of War. Some of them are on hand, others will have to be constructed, and it will probably be three months from this date, before they can be ready for shipment. In regard to some of the articles which are to be constructed the cost will probably be more than the estimates heretofore reported to the Department. I will not receive or send any of them until they are all ready for shipment.

I have the honor to be, &c.
(Signed)
James O. Broadhead.

History of phamarcy obituary

This is pretty interesting - the world of pharmacy changed immensely in the 20th century -

Robert L. McNeil Jr., 94, dies; third-generation pharmacist marketed Tylenol
By Emma Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 26, 2010; B07

William Osler photos website

Chris Lyons and the Osler Library of the History of Medicine at McGill University have put up a nice website of photographs of the famed William Osler. I especially like the Max Broedel caricature under the Baltimore period.

Letter of the day, May 28

Camp Merritt
Tues 28th [1918]

Dearest Sister:
Haven't heard from home since I've been here - guess my mail has been misplaced or sent on over. Had a letter from Charlie today - he is well & still getting along O.K.

Hot and sultry up here - we are all feeling the heat, rains nearly every day.

We have all gotten our equipment complete now but the men are not fitted out yet - think we will be here several days longer, so write me care of Camp Merritt.

I put in for commutation of quarters this morning - claiming Mother as dependent - this will amount to almost $60 which I will send home every month for the household expenses. I also made an allotment of $100 per month to you to be deposited with 1st Nat'l Bank of McComb - this is to begin with June pay - don't think I'll need much more than $120 a month over there. When this begins to come in, let to go to pay my debt to you, then save the rest for me.

Miss Hodges is in New York - together with Misses Clark & almost 20 more of the Camp Shelby nurses all being fitted out for foreign service.

Have been over to New York several afternoons & evenings - we are allowed this - so we are back by nine a.m. - and must remain until after dinner - nothing to do here except paperwork - which I have very little to do, & inspection of the men to see that they do not develop any diseases.

I suppose I don't have to say that I see Miss Hodges when I go over - we went to hear John McCormack - the famous Irish singer, Sunday night at the Hippodrome - it was a benefit for one of the Catholic orphanages - he was great - you know he is called America's foremost and favorite singer & he deserves all the praise he gets.

Does Frances get an increase in her salary with this new increase the government ordered for R.R. employees? I don't see why she shouldn't.

Much love to all at home-
Luther

[Captain Otken made a notation on the reverse of the first page of the letter, regarding his pay and allotment]:

Captains salary     $200
10% Foreign            20
                         ______
                              220.00
Commutation            60
                         _______
                           $280.00
                             160
                         _______
                           $120.00

WRAMC Centennial book news

From our publisher, Martha Lenhart of the Borden Institute -

More good news......

I just learned that Jim Cameron (GPO's Promotions Manager, GPO) featured our book, Walter Reed Army Medical Center Centennial: A Pictorial History, 1909-2009 in his latest blog post on the "Government Book Talk" blog. Jim created the book blog about two months ago and has been showcasing different Government books each week. He has created a community of followers in the past few months that is growing with each post. Check out the link http://govbooktalk.gpo.gov/

This post also notes that our book was featured as one of Library Journal's (LJ) picks for Best Notable Government Documents, 2009!

Letter of the day, May 27

Pretty uninteresting letters save for the note at the end that was in the folder with other letters in this series of correspondence. Also, does anyone know when the federal fiscal year changed from June 30 to September 30?

Shown here is a different letter in the series. Note the signer's first name is spelled Adolf and as Adolph in the one transcribed below.

May 27, 1915.

No. 517.

Hammers Ateliers

31 Lake Street

Chicago, Ill.

Dear Sir: 

When may we expect delivery of orders from this Museum of February 16 and 23, 1915?

These orders should be filled and the specimens received at the Museum previous to the expiration of the present fiscal year, Viz:- June 30, 1915, in order that they may come within the appropriation for that year.

Very respectfully,

Eugene R. Whitmore

Major, Medical Corps, U.S.A.

Curator, Army Medical Museum.

The reply:

Hammer's Ateliers for Scientific Models

Plastic Studio of the Royal University Munich

Munich-Chicago

U.S. Studio and Laboratories

Northwestern University Bldg.

31 West Lake Street

Chicago, Ill., June 2nd/[19]15

Mr. Eugene Whitmore

Curator, Army Medical Museum

Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:

Your letter of May 27th has been received.

The specimens will arrive here in the near future, as we understood, that they left our European house some time ago.

Very respectfully yours

Hammer's Ateliers

pcr Adolph Hammer

And the note that makes it all worth reading:

Dr. Lamb:

I do not like this man's way of doing business. He speaks of the things coming from their European house; when we know that they are being made here in the United States.

E.R.W.

Here is a catalog that was also in the file:

Photo of the day, May 26

Medical Department, 05/26/1918. Brest, France. Nurses and doctors with their patients.

Letter of the day, May 26

Lima Peru May 26th 1888

Dr J.S. Billings
Washington D.C.

Dear Sir-

I have just returned from a trip into the interior and found your communication of March 26th last awaiting me. I have received the $168.00 you refer to, and feel very thankfull to you for the prompt payment. In my last expedition I was in quest of just such skulls as you refer to and was accompanied part of the journey by “Dr Green” of the “U.S.S. Alert” but the hunt was very unsuccessfull.

I again leave today for a more extended tour and may do better this time. It would almost be a pity to undo the mummies from their wrappings as it is of interest to know how some of the ancient Peruvians wrapped up their dead for burial. Nevertheless in the wrappings will be found some relicts of interest.

I intend to return to the U.S. within a year hence and will undoubtedly bring with me a variety of mummies there will be some in an Adamite state so if you feel inclined to hold on to yours until then we may make an exchange for some you like better.

The Medical journals you require will be extremely difficult to obtain as they were never printed in one printing house at a time that is were published first in place one then another. All the copies of “El Monitor Medico” can be obtained but they have the audacity to ask 1 Sol per copy for back numbers, over 60 cts of our money. I will look at all medical works about here as soon as time permits. In the meantime forward you a sample copy of “La Cronica Medica” a monthly published here to which if you have not already subscribed you will see the terms on the cover leaf.

You can rely upon me to serve you in any manner I can down this way. Again thanking you for your kindness – I am yours truly

George Kiefer

[added to the bottom of the letter in pencil:] El Monitor Medico Want all prior to 1886, (i.e.) vol I

Letter of the Day: May 25 - yellow fever

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 4606

War Department,
Office of the Surgeon General,
Army Medical Museum and Library,
Washington,
May 25, 1900

Dr. Jesse Lazaer
Actg. Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A.
Camp Columbia
Quemados, Cuba

My Dear Doctor:

An order issued yesterday from the War Department, calls for a Board of Medical Officers for the investigation of acute infectious diseases occurring on the Island of Cuba. The Board consists of Carroll, yourself, Agramonte and the writer. It will be our duty, under verbal instructions from the Surgeon General, to continue the investigation of the causation of yellow fever. The Surgeon General expects us to make use of the laboratory at Military Hospital No. 1, used by Agramonte, and your laboratory at Camp Columbia.

According to the present plan, Carroll and I will be quartered at Camp Columbia. We propose to bring with us our microscopes and such other apparatus as may be necessary for bacteriological and pathological work. If, therefore, you will promptly send me a list of apparatus on hand in your laboratory, it will serve as a very great help in enabling us to decide as to what we should include in our equipment. Any suggestions that you have to make will be much appreciated.

Carroll and I expect to leave New York, on transport, between the 15th and 20th of June, and are looking forward, with much pleasure, to our association with you and Agramonte in this interesting work. As far as I can see we have a year or two of work before us. Trusting that you will let me hear from you promptly, and with best wishes,

Sincerely yours,

Walter Reed
Major & Surgeon,
U.S. Army

Articles on medical museums in Malaysia and Ohio

The Lau King Howe (LKH) Memorial Museum - In memory of Lau King Howe, Story and photos by ANDY CHUA, May 22, 2010.

The Rose Melnick Medical Museum - Medical museum exhibits offer a look at vintage equipmentBy Leonard Crist, TheNewsOutlet.org May 23, 2010.

Letter of the day, May 24

New Bedford Mass.
May 24th. 1907.

Miss Olive Mason.
Lansdowne, Penn.

My dear Grandchild.

You wished me to tell you something about the assasination [sic] of President Lincoln, in Ford’s Theatre in Washington, on the evening of April 14th. 1865. (forty two years ago) at which time I was present in the Theatre. On the 13th. I had ridden to the City of Washington, on some business connected with the Ordnance Department, from near Winchester Va. where my Regiment then was, and on the evening of that day, Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Capitol to the Army and Navy Building, was a blaze of glory with red fire, rockets, roman-candles, and bunting, in celebration of the surrender of the confederate General R.E. Lee and his army, which occurred on the 9th four days before. The Cities and Towns of the North, were also celebrating the same event with illuminations and great rejoicing. My friend, Captain Sweet and myself, took a carriage and drove along the Avenue, to see the illumination, and when we were near the Army and Navy Building, some one in the crowd, cried out, “there is General Grant”, and in a moment, our horses were unhitched from the carriage, and the men began to draw it along the street, cheering wildly for General Grant. In the uncertain light, they had mistaken me, for Gen. Grant, probably because I wore a beard something like his, and was in uniform. It was some time before I could make them understand they had made a mistake. My business would keep me in the City for two or three days, and so, on the evening of the 14th. I went to Ford’s Theatre, where the play was to be “Our American Cousin” – the principal actors, being E.H. Southern and Laura Keene. As it was known that the President and party would be there, the House was filled. My seat was in the centre of the Dress Circle, directly fronting the Stage, which gave me an unobstructed view of everything.

Some time after the play had begun, the Presinent’s [sic] party entered their box, on the second tier, and as they did so, the whole audience arose and cheered wildly, until the President came to the front of the box, and bowed. The play proceeded until the third act, and while the curtain was dropped for a moment, on one of the scenes, a shot was heard in the direction of the President’s box. Immediately, a man was seen to hurriedly make his way through the President’s box, with a dagger in his right hand, and jump over the rail, onto the stage, about twelve feet below. As he did so, the spur on one of his boots caught in the draping of a flag on the front of the box, and caused him to strike heavily on one foot, and fall to the floor, but he quickly sprang up, and running to the centre of the stage, threw his right hand aloft, still holding the dagger and exclaimed “Sic semper Tyrannis” (which means, Thus always with Tyrants). He then ran across the stage and passed out of sight, at the side entrance. As he jumped from the box, I knew something was wrong, and my impulse was to stop him with a bullet, and I reached for my revolver. It seemed I never regretted anything so much, when I found I had left it at my Hotel. For a minute, a long one it seemed, the people appeared to be dazed, as at some terrible calamity, and then some men jumped over the foot-lights and followed the man with the dagger, and some clambered up to the president’s box to see what was the matter. After a moment, one of them came to the front of the box and announced that the President was shot.

Then cries arose from all parts of the audience, of “catch him”, “bring him on the stage and cut him in pieces”, “kill him” “hang him”. Just after this, Laura Keene, stepped from behind the curtain and said “Wilkes Booth has done this”. She had recognized him as he ran across the stage. In a few minutes the President was carried along the corridor, back of the seats of the Dress circle, down the stairway, and across the street to a private house, where he remained until the following morning, when he died. As he was carried out of the Theatre, the blood from the wound in his head, dropped along the floor, and many of the people dipped their handkerchiefs in therein to preserve as a sacred souvenir of the beloved President. As I left the Theatre, the sound of the news of the terrible tragedy as it passed from lip to lip, could be heard as it extended in ever widening circles from the Theatre as a centre, like the sound of a coming of a mighty tempest, rolling on and on, until it had covered the whole country from the Lakes to the Gulf and from ocean to ocean. Next morning, the black emblems of mourning began to cover the Capitol, the other public buildings, and private residences, and as the sad news reached the Cities and towns of the North, the same thing was done, until the sable pall of unuterable [sic] sorrow seemed to hang over and envelope the land. Business was generally suspended, and the people went about with solemn faces and hushed voices, as if waiting for some even more terrible and impending stroke of Fate.

Never before, and never since, has our country been plunged into such widespread and desolate sorrow; and may the time never again come, when the happy and prosperous people of our beloved America, shall be overshaddowed [sic] with such poignant and heart-wringing grief.

This may give you some idea of that woeful period in the life of our country, and afford an added interest in your readings of its history during the years of the Great Civil War.

Hoping to see you very soon on my return trip from the Jamestown Exposition, I am as ever-
Your loving Gran’Pa.
Henry W. Mason

Letter of the Day: May 23

JWS/HP/go

23 May 1963

Mrs. Ruby M. Taylor
Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School
McElderry and Caroline Streets
Baltimore 5, Maryland

Dear Mrs. Taylor:

The Medical Museum of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology has an exhibit on human reproduction that should be of interest to your biology classes. The exhibit shows a series of normal embryos and fetuses. A study is presently being conducted on the abnormal specimens, but they will not be on display for several months.

It is hoped that your students will derive much benefit from the embryology, anatomy and other medical exhibits.

Sincerely,

John W. Sheriden
Colonel, MSC, USA
Deputy Curator

Letter of the day, May 22

[No date on the letter, so we're going with the postmark. Also, one of my favorite things, nice letterhead.]

[May 22, 1918]
Camp Merritt
Sunday

Dearest Mother:
Got two letters from you this week and that sweet card. Also had a couple of letters from Charlie. Didn't get the first letter you and sister wrote, guess they went on over. Dr. Williams is not in N.Y. now- is up in Conn. [Apparent] hasn't his last naturalization papers so can't get in the army.

Met one of my old college friends on the street in N.Y. yesterday afternoon, he is also in service now.

Very hot up here, humidity is great so we feel the heat very much but at that it is a great deal cooler here than in N.Y.

Got my "commutation of quarters" O.K. - am enclosing check for $230 - Use $60 of this for household expenses & tell sister to put the balance on what I owe her. We have had our final physical exam & everything preparatory is finished now and tomorrow morning, we go to the Port of Embarkation & we will be allowed to write no more letters until we get on the other side. I will leave cards here at the port that will be mailed as soon as we arrive safely over there.

Didn't get out to Camp Dix or Mills - would like to have seen Dr Johnson and Archie B.

Capt Sanderson is the man here that I was with in Camp Shelby.

This big drive doesn't look very favorable but I hope they will be able to stop the Germans before they get much farther.

Well, little Mother of mine, altho I'm going far away across the seas, the day never dawns but what I think of the mother and sisters back home and I hope and pray that some day I can come back once more.

I'm proud of the fact that I'm in this war, proud of the work the Medical Corps & Red Cross is doing and I'm trying to do my full share - hoping that when it is all over and peace comes once more, that this old world will be a better, cleaner place to live in. Goodbye - to you and the girls - all the love in the world  and a kiss for each of you.

Luther

Address me.
Capt. L.B. Otken M.R.C.
U.S.A. Base Hospital #22
American Exp. Force
New York N.Y.

Today is the Medical Museum's 148th birthday

148 years ago, a forward-looking medical man in a position of authority authorized the creation of the Army Medical Museum. Here's something I wrote about the creation of the Museum-

Like much of the rest of the country, the Army Medical Department was unprepared when the war began on April 12, 1861. As J.J. Chisolm wrote in his preface to the Confederate Manual of Military Surgery, "Most of those who now compose the surgical staff were general practitioners whose country circuit gave them but little surgery, and very seldom presented a gunshot wound. Moreover, as our country had been enjoying an uninterrupted state of peace, the collecting of large bodies of men, and retaining them in health, or the hygiene of armies had been a study without an object, and therefore without interest". America's last major war had been the much smaller conflict with Mexico thirteen years earlier which began in 1846 and lasted until 1848. As a result, most doctors, whether career military officers or newly-enlisted civilians, had almost no experience with gunshot wounds, especially those made by the newly-developed Minié ball. Minié had developed a conical bullet that came out of a rifled barrel; this high-speed bullet caused a significantly worse wound than the older soft lead ball.

Although, contrary to popular belief, physicians did use anesthesia during the war, medicine had not yet made the great advances now taken for granted. Since germ theory did not exist, bacteria and viruses were not recognized as the cause of disease. Anti-sepsis would not be practiced until the decade after the war. Blood typing did not exist and so transfusions were extremely rare. William Roentgen would not discover x-rays for another 30 years. Penicillin and antibiotics were 80 years in the future. Medical education was extremely simplistic, and the familiar modern hospital-based training would not be instituted until after the turn of the century. Amputation was a common treatment for a wound of a limb, although surgeons tried excision (removal of the damaged bone) more frequently - sometimes causing more problems than if they had amputated. The Department had no ambulance corps. It was not until the second year of the war that Dr. Jonathan Letterman developed a standard procedure for removing the wounded from the battlefield. To address some of these problems, Drs. William Alexander Hammond and John Hill Brinton created the Army Medical Museum.

Surgeon General William Hammond

By the end of the spring of 1862, Surgeon General William Hammond's plans for revising the Union Army's Medical Department were beginning to get underway. Secretary of War Stanton had not liked Hammond's aged predecessor, Clement Finley, and had forced him to retire. Hammond had then been appointed, regardless of seniority, to head the Medical Department on April 25, 1862. His appointment was due to the Sanitary Commission's pressure on Stanton for an younger, energetic Surgeon General who could revitalize the department.

At the height of his authority in May of 1862, the newly appointed Hammond had begun making changes in the Medical Department. Most importantly for the study of medicine and eventually its history, Hammond committed the resources of the Department to forming a museum, which would use its collections and the records of the Surgeon General's Office to compile a medical history of the war. Only a few weeks after taking over the Medical Department, Hammond established the Army Medical Museum, the first federal medical research facility. By creating the Museum, Hammond essentially began government-funded medical research which is now seen as such a basic part of the role of government. As Dr. J. J. Woodward, whom Hammond assigned to the Museum, pointed out years after the war:

The establishment of the Army Medical Museum was undoubtedly
suggested by a most pressing need experienced at the
commencement of the late war. There were at that time but
few persons in the United States who had any experience
whatever of military surgery, and there was no place in he
country to which the surgeon about to devote himself to the
military service could turn for definite information or
guidance beyond what he could obtain from foreign works. It
was natural that conscientious men, many of whom had never
seen a gunshot fracture in their lives, should feel a grave
regret that there was no place where, before assuming their
new responsibilities, they could obtain a more realistic
knowledge of the details of military surgery than they could
possibly gather from books and pictures alone." (Woodward,
Lippincott, p. 241)

Hammond issued several orders to implement his ideas. These were published in the form of "circular letters" which were intended to be passed through the Department until everyone had seen them. In Circular No. 2, issued on May 21, 1862, Hammond specifically stated "Medical Directors will furnish one copy of this circular to every medical officer in the department in which they are serving."

This circular established the Museum, stating:

As it is proposed to establish in Washington, an Army
Medical Museum, Medical officers are directed diligently
to collect, and to forward to the office of the Surgeon
General, all specimens of morbid anatomy, surgical or
medical, which may be regarded as valuable; together with
projectiles and foreign bodies removed, and such other
matters as may prove of interest in the study of military
medicine or surgery.

These objects should be accompanied by short
explanatory notes.

Each specimen in the collection will have appended
the name of the medical officer by whom it was prepared.

Shortly after the initial circular letter was issued, Hammond recalled Dr. John Hill Brinton from duty on the western battlefields. Brinton's orders were extremely laconic, telling him only to report to Washington for special duty. Brinton arrived hoping to receive one of the newly-created medical inspectorships, a job for which he felt well-qualified. Instead, he was assigned to the examining board for surgeons, placed in charge of the Museum, and told to prepare the surgical history of the war. Hammond's Circular No. 5, issued on June 9th, formally created The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion and placed the responsibility for accomplishing it on Brinton and Dr. J.J. Woodward. Brinton was assigned the Surgical part and Woodward the Medical.


Staff of the Army Surgeon General's Office after Hammond and Brinton's departure.

Now, almost a century and a half later, the Museum's fortunes have ebbed and swelled, a great pathology institute grew out of it as did the foundations of the National Library of Medicine, and we're about to embark on yet another move, this time to Forest Glen, MD where a new building is about to be started for us.

Letter of the Day: May 21

Internal Revenue Service,
1st District of New York,
Collector’s Office,
Brooklyn, N.Y.,
May 21, 1903

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

Sir:

Referring to your letter of the 20th instant, relative to the delivery of alcohol, I would respectfully state that the U.S. Storekeeper stationed at the distillery will deliver the alcohol on receipt of the duplicate permit issued by the Hon. Secretary of the Treasury to your office. I would therefore suggest that you have the said permit properly receipted, per instructions on the back of the form, and forward same to the Chief Quartermaster of the Department of the East, to be presented by his agent at the Columbus Distilling Co., 450 Greenpoint Ave., Brooklyn, this district.

Very respectfully,

Edward P. Jordan
Collector of Internal Revenue

Letter of the Day: May 20 (2 of 2)

 

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 8352

 

War Department,

Office of the Surgeon General,

Army Medical Museum and Library,

Washington,

May 20, 1905

 

To the Surgeon General,

U.S. Army.

(Through the Officer in charge of Museum & Library Division).

 

Sir:

 

I have the honor to ask the Commanding Officer of the U.S. General Hospital at Fort Bayard, N.M. to be requested to have prepared and forwarded to the Army Medical Museum, from time to time, as they can obtained, a series of specimens preserved by the Kaiserling method for the purposes of showing, in their natural appearance, the various lesions of tuberculosis and any other interesting pathological condition that may be encountered at post mortem examination. Such a collection would be of great interest and value, and the number of specimens should be large, in order to show the variations occurring in lesions essentially the same. It is desired to illustrate tuberculosis of all the tissues and organs, including the brain, meninges, bones, serous membranes, testicles, etc.

 

Kaiserling’s method is published in the work on Pathological Technique, by Mallory and Wright, and it requires only care and a little practice to insure success. Sections through organs should usually not be more than an inch in thickness, and for the purpose of identification a small parchment tag, bearing a number in India ink, should be stitched to each specimen. A number of specimens could be shipped in the same container and they should be accompanied by a brief note of the findings at autopsy, stating also whether from the clinical point of view the case was acute, subacute or chronic.

 

Very respectfully,

James Carroll

First Lieut, Asst. Surgeon, U.S.A.

Curator, Army Medical Museum

 

1^st Indorsement

Surgeon General’s office,

Museum & Library Division,

May 20, 1905

Respectfully forwarded recommended.

 

C.L. Heinzmann

Col. Asst. Surg. Genl. U.S.A.

In charge of M&L Division

 

Letter of the day, May 20 (1 of 2)

That darn metric system!!

George Tiemann & Co.

67 Chatham Street,
Corner New Chambers Street,
New York City, May 20, 1884

Dear Sir:

We fear we must have made an error in calculating. We calculated 2000 cubic centimeters being a trifle more than 3 1/2 pints. The light bag, when measured, holds just 3 ½ pints & you state that it held only 11 c. centimeters.

Would you not kindly inform us, how many pints a 3000 c.c. & 2500 c.c. is equal to? We calculated 5 ¼ pints for the 3000 & 4 2/5 pints for the 2500 c.c. The workman can make the instrument better by having it in pint measurements.

Is the above calculation correct? As soon as we receive an answer, we shall immediately make them & send them on. Is the tubing in the one (returned) large enough, or would you like it larger?

Very [truly?] Geo. Tiemann & Co.

W. Mathews M.D.

Surg. U.S.A.

Washington D.C.

[Beautiful letterhead, when you take the time to look at it closely.]

Walter Reed Pictorial History featured in Library Journal

This week's Library Journal includes its most recent edition of "Notable Government Documents for 2009." The Walter Reed Centennial book that Mike and I and several others worked on is included in this list. What an honor. 

This is what they say:

Walter Reed Army Medical Center Centennial: A Pictorial History, 1909–2009. ed. by John R. Pierce & others. Borden Inst. 2009. 279p. illus. maps. SuDoc # D104.2:W17/8. GPO Stock # 008-000-01020-0. ISBN 978-0-9818228-3-9. $35.


The Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC, and its predecessor, Walter Reed General Hospital, have treated millions of active and retired personnel from every branch of the military. This collection of photographs and text pays tribute to the center's legacy.

Letter of the day, May 19

Established 1826

Incorporated 1902

Cable Address: TIEMANCO-NEWYORK

George Tiemann & Co.

Manufacturers of Surgical Instruments

107 Park Row

Cor. New Chambers St.

New York City

May 19, 1915.

J.A.P.

Eugene R. Whitmore, Major, Medical Corps, U.S.A.,

Curator, Army Medical Museum,

Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:

Answering your communication of the 15th instant we beg to say that we have no record of Army Cases prior to those listed in our catalogue of 1868. We inclose lists of

The U.S. Army Field Case

The "  " Staff Surgeon's Capital Operating Case and

The "  "    "        "          Minor      "              "    -

from our catalogue of 1868 -

The latter would seem the nearest to your list.

The case to which you refer must have been made in the early sixties and was probably taken from our stock or made for some individual surgeon as was frequently the case during the Civil War.

If we can be of any further assistance we beg that you will advise us.

Your obedient servants,

George Tiemann & Co.

by C. Fred Stohlmann, President

Public medical appeals through the Post Office

The Museum has a stamp (or philately) collection, although not much has been done with it in recent years. Here’s two new additions to it – cancellations attempting to raise funds for medical charities

 

The 1952 appeal for the American Cancer Society seems early, inasmuch as a ‘war on cancer’ hadn’t been declared yet. The American Lung Association is known for putting out its Christmas Seals and we have a fairly good collection through the middle of the last century.

Letter of the Day: May 18

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 1476

 

War Department,

Surgeon General’s Office,

 U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library,

Corner 7^th and B Streets S.W.

Washington, D.C., May 18, 1896

 

To the Surgeon General, U.S. Army,

Washington, D.C.

 

General:

 

I have the honor to report that the roof over the Library room of the Army Medical School is in a very leaky condition. The roof, originally of concrete, began to leak some six years ago. It was then overlaid by a board and tin roof. The boards have become rotten, the tin is riddled with holes in many places, and the whole superstructure should be replaced by a new one, to be paid for from the Museum appropriation.

 

I enclose herewith an estimate of the cost of the repair, viz., $85.00, which I consider very reasonable, and as the work should be done at once, and before rainstorms do further damage, I would respectfully request that I be authorized to accept Mr. Yeatman’s offer, which I herewith forward. To prevent the rotting of the boards in the future, Mr. Yeatman purposes to put in five ventilators to allow the circulation of air between the concrete and the new roof.

 

Very respectfully,

D.L. Huntington

Deputy Surgeon General, U.S. Army

In charge of Museum and Library Division

 

 

May 18 1896

Approved.

Geo. M. Sternberg

Surgeon General, U.S. Army

 

Letter of the Day: May 17, 2 of 2

War Department,

Surgeon General’s Office,

Washington, May 17^th 1869

 

Dear Doctor,

 

The Surgeon General “approves” of your sending anything you can spare and deem best to convey to Russia.

 

It is desirable to foster the ‘fraternal’ relations which now exist between the “subjects of the Czar”  + ourselves.

 

Very truly yours,

C.H. Crane

 

Dr. Otis

U.S.A.

Letter of the Day: May 17, 1 of 2

Camp Gaston, Cal.

May 17, 1878

 

Surgeon General U.S.A.

 

Sir

 

I have the honor to enclose herewith a Receipt for a package I have this day turned over to the Post Quartermaster for shipment to you, for the Army Medical Museum.

 

The package contains a four-legged chicken. It was hatched from an egg of a common hen and was born alive. Mrs. Williams, a soldiers wife, told me yesterday forenoon that one of her hens had during the night, hatched out a chicken with four legs which was still alive and doing well. I at once went with her to see it. We found the feathered quadruped but it was dead. I do not know whether it was killed by accident, or whether its malformation was incompatible with a continuance of its life. It must have lived several hours at least.

 

I have not examined any of the viscera but have left all untouched. I have placed it in Alcohol, having first filled the alimentary canal with Alcohol, so far as I could by introducing a tube into the throat and allowing as much to run in as would do under a hydrostatic pressure of about one foot.

 

This specimen may not be rare or valuable but it is the first of the kind that has fallen under my observation.

 

Very Respectfully,

Your Obt. Servt.

C.E. Price

Asst. Surg. U.S.A.

A note on the envelope said the Museum's anatomist discarded it.

Accession of the day, May 16

A.M.M No. 10548
Pathological Section

Washington, D.C.
May 16, 1893

Lamb, Dr. D.S.
Pathologist, A.M.M.




Sternum showing attachment of eight cartilages on left side.

From Barbara Lippert, white, single, age 30 years, who was left handed. Died March 10, 1893. Necroscopy by Dr. Lamb, Mar. 11, 1893, for Dr. Amelia Erbach.

See Photographs Nos. 83 & 84 N.S. A.M.M.
Specimen received May 16, 1893

Letter of the day, May 16

[Numbered Correspondence 3138]
May 16, 1898.

Capt. Paul Clendenin,
Asst. Surgeon, U.S. Army.
Key West Barracks, Fla.

Dear Sir:

I have the pleasure of acknowledging the receipt, on this day, of a fragment of shell with pieces of cloth removed from the chest of Manuel Rivas, wheelsman of the Spanish Steamer, "Guido", and a few cigarette papers found in his pocket. The Surgeon General desires me to thank you for this interesting contribution, the first received at this Museum from the present war.

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

Letter of the day, May 15

[Numbered Correspondence 8336]
May 15, 1905.

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

(Thro' the Officer in charge Museum & Library Division, S.G.O.)

Sir:-

I have the honor to request that in order to facilitate the proper transaction of business a telephone be installed in the room adjoining the office of the Curator.

On the numerous occasions when it becomes necessary to use the telephone in communicating with the War Department, the Attending Surgeon's Office, Washington Barracks, Fort Myer, the various hospitals or physicians in the city a messenger must be sent from the floor below and the descent must be made to the same floor to reach the telephone from which the message comes. This involves a loss of time that could be remedied by the installation of a telephone with a new number to insure direct communication.

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

A note on the reverse:
May 16, 1905
Respectfully returned to the officer in charge, Museum and Library Division, Surgeon General's Office, with the information that the Secretary of War has decided that the number of telephones in use in this office cannot be increased. If, however, the officer in charge thinks the placing of a telephone in Lieut. Carroll's room will be of more importance to the service than where they are now located, one of them now in use can be removed to his room; otherwise, no further action will be taken upon this application.

Letter of the day, May 14 (2)

[Numbered Correspondence 8350]

Caney River Oil Co.
General Office
Harvey, Illinois

Chas. F. Craver, Pres.
M.W. Miles, Vice Pres.
James A. Sharp, Secy.
Arthur H. Craver, Treas.

Our Oil Lands are in Chautauqua Co., Kansas

Monett, Kans. 5/14 '05
Army Medical Museum
Washington, D.C.

I have in my possession the back bone of a large mare that died on my premises here about three years ago - presumably from being poisoned - which back bone is rigid throughout its entire lengty from coccyx to first vertebra of the neck. There are occasional markings showing where the vertebral joints should be & the scars at junctions of the ribs are at the usual intervals, also an occasional part of rib is in place.

It has been broken into two parts - one from coccyx forward is (32") in length & the next piece is 8" in length. - This break is at the marking of a vertebral junction, but it plainly shows that the whole length of 40" was in life rigid & one solid piece. The mare of whose skeleton this is a part was well known this this vicinity - as being an animal of great strengths and value & during her lifetime exhibited no peculiarities that would suggest anything abnormal in her structures. Do you care to investigate this case & would this specimen possess any monetary value? Kindly reply to me at Monett, Chautauqua Co. Kan.

I oblige
Yours truly
W.H. Harp

The reply:

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

May 20, 1905.

Mr. W.H. Harp
Monett,
Chautauqua Co.
Kansas

Sir:

Referring to your letter of the 14th inst., in regard to the diseased spine of a mare, I would state that this Museum possesses several specimens of this kind, "spondylitis deformans". I would be pleased to add your specimen to the Museum collection but would not care to pay for it, except the express charges for forwarding.

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

Letter of the day, May 14

[Numbered Correspondence 659]
Copy

Edge Hill, King George Co., Va.
May 14, 1895

The Army & Navy Medical Museum,
Washington, D.C.

Gentlemen in charge:-

I enclose you a root that was plowed up by a farmer in this county a few days ago. I am unable to determine what it is. I shall be very glad if you will kindly inform me what it is, etc. The farmer said there was nothing growing above the ground. He found three of the roots together, one of them was about 3 times as large as the one I send.

Any information you can give me will be highly appreciated.

Yours very respectfully,
(Signed) F.F. Ninde, M.D.

May 15, 1895, original transmitted with root to Hon J. Sterling Morton, Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.