- A Chinese Mendicant
Begging is by no means a profitable trade in China, and few therefore pursue it except the monks of Fo and Tao-tzé, and a few impostors who go about pretending to foretell events and predict good or ill fortune. The annexed is the representation of a beggar of a different description. The piece of hollow wood in his hand is struck to draw attention, and the label on his back describes his condition, which is not exactly such as in other countries would excite much compassion. It states his unfortunate situation, as having no children to take care of him, to console him in affliction, to give him food when hungry, or medicine when sick. The want of children is considered in China as the greatest of all misfortunes, and is in reality so, as by the moral precepts of that nation, which have all the force of law, filial piety is looked upon as the first of moral virtues; and, however poor a child may be, he is bound to share his earnings with his aged parents. - Illustrating Galen’s physiological teaching
The basic principle of life, in the Galenic physiology, is a spirit, anima or pneuma, drawn from the general world-soul in the act of respiration. It enters the body through the rough artery (τραχεῖα ἀρτηρία, arteria aspera of mediaeval notation), the organ known to our nomenclature as the trachea. From this trachea the pneuma passes to the lung and then, through the vein-like artery (ἀρτηρία φλεβώδης, arteria venalis of mediaeval writers, the pulmonary vein of our nomenclature), to the left ventricle. Here it will be best to leave it for a moment and trace the vascular system along a different route. - The Infallible Remedy
TOOTHACHE is an universal plague. Every country has a special " nostrum " for its cure. China knows the plague, and China has a nostrum, which may well challenge all others for originality and efficacy. The quacks who in this case advance their specific are all women. I speak of them and their doings as I have seen and known them in the province of Chekeang. Whether they are found elsewhere in China I know not. The remedy they employ has never yet, to my knowledge, been published to the world ; and we must not feel sur-prised if, after this paper has once got abroad, a shipload of these charlatans should be sent for, and make their appearance " one fine morning," in the Thames. These female quacks maintain that the usual cause of toothache is a little worm or maggot, which has its nest in the gum under the root, and if this little offender can be driven or coaxed out, the gnawing pain will immediately cease. But how he is to be driven or coaxed out is the secret of their trade, the knowledge of which they confine most rigidly to those of their own profession. We had not been resident many years in the country before we heard talk of these women and their wonderful performances, and as my friend and I took our customary walks together, our con-versation not unfrequently turned their way. My friend stoutly maintained that it was all impos-ture ; it was impossible, he said, that maggots in the gums or teeth should have escaped the obser-vation of our dentists, who had examined hundreds of thousands, not merely of teeth, but of mouths for so many years. - A fire ( Place of the School of Medicine )
An impressionable porter saw smoke on his staircase. — In his zeal, he went to smash the windows of all the warnings in the neighborhood, and from all points of the horizon the firefighters rushed to the scene of the disaster, a little unsure of his exact situation. All the kids they met escorted them with long strides, while the city sergeants stopped the traffic, under the fallacious pretext of ensuring it. - A Chinese sedan chair and bearers
A Chinese sedan chair and bearers - Hippocrates of Cos
Two other men with names greatly celebrated among the ancients may be referred to here, as representatives of what may be termed the Natural History group of sciences. One of them was a contemporary of Plato, the other was a pupil of Aristotle. The first is the famous physician HIPPOCRATES B.C. 470-375), to whom is attributed the foundation of medicine as a science. The healing of wounds and the cure of diseases is an art, and as such must have been practised in some form at a period coeval with the existence of mankind. The successful practice of this art depends largely upon knowledge of the causes, symptoms, and course of diseases, and upon a knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. - Siamese War Elephant
- Sitting Bull
Ta-ton-ka-I-yo-ton-ka (Sitting Bull) Sitting Bull, the famous commander at the Custer massacre, was, during his prosperous years, the chief of chiefs, or supreme head of the nation. He first inherited the office, and was able to retain it because of mental superiority and by reason of the fact that, until the last hope was gone, he assumed an uncompromising position in regard to the encroachment of the whites. Then, too, Ta-ton-ka-I-yo-ton-ka was a medicine man, capable of arousing religious fervor. That he was cruel toward the enemies of his people cannot be denied; but, according to the red man's philosophy, that was simple bravery and loyalty. - An early illustration of the octagonal scarificator
An early illustration of the octagonal scarificator, 1801. This plate also includes one of the earliest illustrations of the syringe applied to cupping cups. (From Benjamin Bell, A System of Surgery, 7th edition, volume 3, Edinburgh, 1801.) - Woman using leeches
Woman using leeches, 17th century. (From Guillaume van den Bossche, Historica Medica, Brussels, 1639.) - Mother giving medicine to girl in bed
Mother giving medicine to girl in bed - Scarification without cupping in Egypt
Scarification without cupping in Egypt in the 16th century. To obtain sufficient blood, 20 to 40 gashes were made in the legs and the patient was made to stand in a basin of warm water. (From Prosper Alpinus, Medicina Aegyptorum, Leyden, 1719. - A man employing leeches to reduce his weight
A man employing leeches to reduce his weight, 16th century. (From P. Boaistuau, Histoire Podigieuses, Paris, 1567. ) - Reducing Dislocated Jaw
Reducing Dislocated Jaw - Surgical instruments of the Arabs
Surgical instruments of the Arabs, according to Abulcasim After plates in Gurlt’s “Geschichte der Chirurgie” 1. A pincher for extracting foreign bodies from the ear 2. An ear syringe for injections 3. A tongue depressor 4. Concave scissors for the removal of tonsils 5. Curved pinchers for foreign bodies in the throat 6 to 29. Instruments for the treatment of the teeth 19 and 20. Forceps 21 to 25. Levers and hooks for the removal of roots 26. Strong pinchers for the same 27. A tooth saw 28 and 29. Files for the teeth - Thirteenth-century hospital interior
Thirteenth-Century Hospital Interior (Tonerre) From “The Thirteenth: Greatest of Centuries,” by J. J. Walsh This was built by the sister of Louis IX of France, Marguerite of Bourgogne, who retired to it herself to spend her life caring for the ailing poor. - A Greek Clinic of 400 BC
A Greek Clinic of 400 BC In the centre sits a physician holding a lancet and bleeding a patient from the median vein at the bend of the right elbow into a large open basin. Above and behind the physician are suspended three cupping vessels. To the right sits another patient awaiting his turn; his left arm is bandaged in the region of the biceps. The figure beyond him smells a flower, perhaps as a preservative against infection. Behind the physician stands a man leaning on a staff; he is wounded in the left leg, which is bandaged. By his side stands a dwarfish figure with disproportionately large head, whose body exhibits deformities typical of the developmental disease now known as Achondroplasia; in addition to these deformities we note that his body is hairy and the bridge of his nose sunken; on his back he carries a hare which is almost as tall as himself. Talking to the dwarf is a man leaning on a long staff, who has the remains of a bandage round his chest. - Reducing Dislocated Shoulder
Reducing Dislocated Shoulder - Medieval Surgical instruments
Surgical instruments of Guy de Chauliac, nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 (fourteenth century); and surgical apparatus of Hans von Gerssdorff, nos. 5, 6 and 7 (fifteenth century) After plates in Gurlt’s “Geschichte der Chirurgie” 1. Trepan 2. Balista used for extraction of arrows 3. Cauterizing shears with cannula for cauterization of the uvula 4. Bistoury 5. Extension arrangement for reducing upper arm dislocations, called “The Fool” 6. Screwpiece for extending a knee contracture 7. Extension apparatus in the form of armour-arm and armour-leg plates (“harness instruments”) for contractures of the elbow and knee joints - Amputation below the knee
This is the first picture of an amputation known From Gerssdorff’s woodcut, reproduced in Gurlt’s “Geschichte der Chirurgie” - Achilles bandaging Patroclus,
A kylix from the Berlin Museum of about 490 b. c. It bears the inscription ΣΟΣΙΑΣ ΕΠΟΙΗΣΕΝ, Sosias made (me), and represents Achilles bandaging Patroclus, the names of the two heroes being written round the margin. The painter is Euphronios, and the work is regarded as the masterpiece of that great artist. The left upper arm of Patroclus is injured, and Achilles is bandaging it with a two-rolled bandage, which he is trying to bring down to extend over the elbow. The treatment of the hands, a department in which Euphronios excelled, is particularly fine. Achilles was not a trained surgeon, and it will be observed, from the position of the two tails of the bandage, that he will have some difficulty when it comes to its final fastening! - Instruments and technique of phlebotomy
Instruments and technique of phlebotomy: Fig. 1 shows an arm about to be bled. A ligature has been applied to make the veins swell. The common veins bled—cephalic, basilic, and median—are illustrated. Fig. 2 shows several types of incisions. Fig. 3 is a fleam, Fig. 4 a spring lancet, and Fig. 5 a “French lancet.” (From Laurence Heister, A General System of Surgery, London, 1759. - Bloodletting
Bloodletting - Brunschwig’s surgical armamentarium
From Gurlt’s “Geschichte der Chirurgie” Hans von Gerssdorff and Hieronymus Brunschwig, who flourished in the latter half of the fifteenth century in Germany, have both left early printed treatises on Surgery which give excellent woodcuts showing pictures of instruments, operations, and costumes, at the end of the medieval period. - Damoiseau’s terabdella
Damoiseau’s terabdella. (From Damoiseau, La Terabdelle ou machine pneumatique, Paris, 1862. - Breech loading Gingal (Chamber out)
Breech loading Gingal (Chamber out) - Cupping Instruments
Cupping instruments illustrated by Dionis, 1708: a, cups made of horn; b, lamp for exhausting air; c, fleam for making scarifications; d, horns with holes at the tip for mouth suction; e, balls of wax to close the holes in the horn cups; f, g, glass cups; h, candle to light the tow or the small candles; i, tow; k, small candles on a card which is placed over the scarifications and lit in order to exhaust the cup; l, lancet for making scarifications; m, scarifications; n, plaster to place on the wound. (From Pierre Dionis, Cours d’opérations de chirurgie demontrées au Jardin Royal, Paris, 1708.) - Paré’s scarificator
Paré’s scarificator, 16th century. (From The Workes of that Famous Chirurgeon, Ambrose Parey, translated by Thomas Johnson, London, 1649.) - Manometer for measuring Blood-Pressure
A U-tube contains mercury, on which floats a rod supporting a scratching point, which makes a “tracing” on blackened paper wrapped round a revolving drum. Between the manometer and the cannula which is introduced into the central end of a cut artery is a three-way cock, which leads to a pressure-bottle containing a half saturated solution of sodic sulphate. This solution prevents blood from clotting. Before it is connected with the artery the apparatus is filled from the pressure-bottle. The cock is then turned into the second position, and the bottle raised until the mercury in the manometer stands at a level somewhat higher than that which it may be expected to attain under the influence of blood-pressure. The cannula being then inserted into an artery, the cock is turned into the third position, which places the manometer in connection with the blood, and excludes the pressure-bottle. As the mercury is a little higher than blood-pressure, some of the sodic sulphate solution enters the artery, but no blood enters the cannula. The scratching point, rising and falling with every variation in blood-pressure, makes a record on the soot-blackened paper, which is subsequently removed from the drum, and varnished. - W. D. Hooper’s patent cupping apparatus with tubular blades
W. D. Hooper’s patent cupping apparatus with tubular blades. (From patent specifications, U.S. patent no. 68985.) - Dry cupping for sciatica
Dry cupping for sciatica. (From Frederik Dekkers, Exercitationes Practicae Circa Medendi Methodum, Leyden, 1694. - Depurator patented by A. F. Jones, 1866
Depurator patented by A. F. Jones, 1866. (From patent specifications) - Advertisement for phlebotomy and cupping instruments
Advertisement for phlebotomy and cupping instruments. Note the rubber cups. (From George Tiemann & Co., American Armamentarium Chirurgicum, New York, 1889.) - Patent for a complex cupping pump
Patent for a complex cupping pump, J. A. Maxam, 1916. (From patent specifications, U.S. patent 1179129.) - Instruments for bleeding from the arm, 1708
Instruments for bleeding from the arm, 1708: a, a serviette to cover the patient’s clothing; b, a cloth ligature to place around the arm; c, a lancet case; d, a lancet; e and f, candles to give light for the operation; g, a baton or staff for the patient to hold; h, i, and k, basins for collecting blood; l and m, compresses; n, a bandage to be placed over the compress; p, eau de la Reine d’Hongrie that can be used instead of vinegar to revive the patient if he faints; q, a glass of urine and water for the patient to drink when he revives; r, s, t, implements for washing the hands and the lancets after the operation. (From Pierre Dionis, Cours d’opérations de chirurgie demontrées au Jardin Royal, Paris, 1708. - Wet Cupping for a headache
Wet cupping for a headache. (From Frederik Dekkers, Exercitationes Practicae Circa Medendi Methodum, Leyden, 1694.) - Demours’ device for combining cup, scarifier and exhausting apparatus
Demours’ device for combining cup, scarifier and exhausting apparatus. (From Samuel Bayfield, A Treatise on Practical Cupping, London, 1823.) - Rector and Doctor of the University of Paris
The Faculty of Theology, besides its dean, who was the senior doctor, chose every other year a syndic, whose business it was to administer the private business of the company. The Decree Faculty had only a dean selected by seniority in the grade of doctor, and the Faculty of Medicine had a dean elected every year from amongst the doctors in practice. Deans and proctors, to the number of seven, formed the higher tribunal of the University. The Faculty of Arts had, therefore, a clear majority of its own upon this tribunal ; it had, moreover, assumed for itself the exclusive right of nominating the rector or supreme head of the University, and he was bound to be a member of the faculty. - R. J. Dodd’s patent cupping apparatus
R. J. Dodd’s patent cupping apparatus. Figs. 4 and 5 are the tubes for cupping the uterus. Fig. 3 is the flexible match scarifier. (From patent specifications, U.S. patent no. 3537.) - Junod’s boot applied to a baby in the cradle
Junod’s boot applied to a baby in the cradle. (From Victor Theodore Junod, A Theoretical and Practical Treatise on Maemespasia. London, 1879. - Sphygmograph
A, An ivory button which is pressed on the skin over the radial artery by a metal spring. B, A continuous screw which works against the cogwheel C. By rotating B, the lever D is raised to a position in which its point scratches the travelling-plate E (covered with blackened paper). F, A box containing clockwork which moves E. G, A screw by means of which the pressure of the spring is adjusted to the force of the pulse. - Mayrs Wonderful remedy
Stomach and Liver Trouble Quickly Cured Mayr's Wonderful Stomach Remedy is a positive remedy for all Stomach, Liver and Intestinal Trouble, Gastritis, Indigestion, Dyspepsia, Pressure of Gas around the Heart, Sour Stomach, Distress After Eating, Nervousness, Dizziness, Fainting Spells, Constipation, Congested and Torpid Liver, Yellow Jaundice, Sick Headache and Gall Stones. The above ailments are caused by the clogging of the intestinal tract with mucoid and catarrhal accretions, backing up poisonous fluids into the stomach, and otherwise deranging the digestive system. I want every sufferer of these diseases to test this wonderful treatment. You are not asked to take this treatment for a week or two before you will feel its great benefits--only one dose is usually required. I say, emphatically, it a positive, permanent remedy and I will prove it to you if you will allow me to. The most eminent specialists declare that 75 per cent of the people who suffer from Stomach Trouble are suffering from Gall Stones. I firmly believe that this remedy is the only one in the world that will cure this disease. Sufferers of Stomach and Liver troubles and Gall Stones should not hesitate a moment, but purchase this remedy at once. I would be pleased to send you the names of people who state they have been cured of various aliments and speaking the highest praise of this medicine. Don't suffer with agonizing pains--don't permit a dangerous surgical operation, which gives only temporary relief, when this medicine will permanently help you. You are not asked to take this treatment for a week or two before you feel its great benefits. One dose is all that is necessary to prove its wonderful powers to benefit. Absolutely harmless. Guaranteed by the Pure Food and Drug Act. Serial No. 25793. GEO. H. MAYR, Mfg. Chemist Mayr Bldg, 154-156 Whiting Street CHICAGO For Sale and Recommended by Central Drug Stores and Others, Price $1.00 a Bottle. Worth $100.00. - The first Railway Journey in England
It was called the 'Locomotion.' George Stephenson stood ready to drive it as soon as the trucks, which a stationary engine was lowering down the slope by means of a wire rope, had been attached to it. In the first of these trucks came the Directors of the Railway Company and their friends, followed by twenty-one trucks (all open to the sky, like ordinary goods-trucks), loaded with various passengers, and finally six more waggons of coal. Such was the first train. A man on horseback, carrying a flag, having taken up his position in front of the 'Locomotion' to head the procession, the starting word was given, and with a hiss of steam, half drowned in the shouting of the crowd, the first railway journey ever made in England was begun. - Robins’ Balistic Pendulum
The only reliable mode of proving the strength of Gunpowder is, to test it with service charges in the arms for which it is designed; for which purpose the balistic pendulums, are perfectly adapted - The French Crout
Copy of an illumination from a manuscript in the Bibliothèque royale at Paris of the eleventh century. The player wears a crown on his head; and in the original some musicians placed at his side are performing on the psalterium and other instruments. These last are figured with uncovered heads; whence M. de Coussemaker concludes that the crout was considered 95by the artist who drew the figures as the noblest instrument. It was probably identical with the rotta of the same century on the continent. - Powder Mill
The three ingredients are now ground separately to a very fine powder. The mills which effect this, and incorporate, are so similar, that a description will be given under the head of “Incorporation.” Screening.After being ground in this way, the saltpetre is passed through a slope cylindrical reel, covered with copper sieving wire of 60 meshes to the inch, which, as it revolves, sifts it to the required fineness, being then received in a box or bin underneath. The charcoal and sulphur are likewise passed through similar reels of 32 and 60-mesh wire respectively, and that which remains without passing through, is ground again under the runners. - Light Artillery of Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus abandoned the leather gun, however, in favor of a cast-iron 4-pounder and a 9-pounder demiculverin produced by his bright young artillery chief, Lennart Torstensson. The demiculverin was classed as the "feildpeece" par excellence, while the 4-pounder was so light (about 500 pounds) that two horses could pull it in the field. - M102 Howitzer
- French Garrison Gun
French Garrison Gun (1650-1700). The gun is on a sloping wooden platform at the embrasure. Note the heavy bed on which the cheeks of the carriage rest and the built-in skid under the center of the rear axletree. - Bow strung
The Scythian bow strung - Washington's Coach
We must remember that travelling was no such simple and easy matter then as it is now. As the planters in Virginia usually lived on the banks of one of the many rivers, the simplest method of travel was by boat, up or down stream. There were cross-country roads, but these at best were rough, and sometimes full of roots and stumps. Often they were nothing more than forest paths. In trying to follow such roads the traveler at times lost his way and occasionally had to spend a night in the woods. But with even such makeshifts for roads, the planter had his lumbering old coach to which, on state occasions, he harnessed six horses and drove in great style. - Revolving Barrelled Matchlock
The Chinese of the present day make use of a species of matchlock revolvers, and also of another matchlock, consisting of several barrels, placed on a common stock, diverging from each other, and fired simultaneously. - Queen Elizabeth’s Pocket Pistol
At Dover there is a culverine, presented to Queen Elizabeth, by the States General of Holland, and called Queen Elizabeth’s Pocket-pistol. It is 24 feet long, diameter of bore 4 1⁄2 inches, weight of shot 12lbs.; it was manufactured in 1544, and is mounted on an ornamented iron carriage made in 1827, at the Royal Carriage Department, Woolwich Arsenal. - The old English 'crowd'
A player on the crwth or crowd (a crowder) from a bas-relief on the under part of the seats of the choir in Worcester cathedral dates from the twelfth or thirteenth century - Archlute
Archlute Wood, inlaid with ivory and tortoise-shell, engraved. Two sets of tuning pegs, the lower containing fourteen, and the higher, ten. On the middle of the neck is an ovl plate of mother-of-pearl, bering the German inscription, Gott der Herr ist Sonne und Schield ("God, the Lord, is sun and shield.") About 1700 - breechloader
Under the Swedish warrior Gustavus Adolphus, artillery began to take its true position on the field of battle. Gustavus saw the need for mobility, so he divorced anything heavier than a 12-pounder from his field artillery. His famous "leatheren" gun was so light that it could be drawn and served by two men. This gun was a wrought-copper tube screwed into a chambered brass breech, bound with four iron hoops. The copper tube was covered with layers of mastic, wrapped firmly with cords, then coated with an equalizing layer of plaster. A cover of leather, boiled and varnished, completed the gun. Naturally, the piece could withstand only a small charge, but it was highly mobile. - trebuchet
The trebuchet was another war machine used extensively during the Middle Ages. Essentially, it was a seesaw. Weights on the short arm swung the long throwing arm. - New Pattern Eprouvette
The only real use of these eprouvettes is to check and verify the uniformity of a current manufacture of powder, where a certain course of operations is intended to be regularly pursued, and where the strength, tested by means of any instrument, should therefore be uniform. - Old Eprouvette Pendulum
The only real use of these eprouvettes is to check and verify the uniformity of a current manufacture of powder, where a certain course of operations is intended to be regularly pursued, and where the strength, tested by means of any instrument, should therefore be uniform. - Matchlock
Breech loading Gingal (Chamber in)