Glinski preceded Simmonds in this important description of post-partum necrosis of the anterior pituitary. Abstract in Dtsch med. Wschr., 1913, 39, 473.

“Simmonds’s disease”-pituitary cachexia. See also Virchows Arch. path. Anat., 1914, 217, 226-39.

Erdheim made important studies on the pathology of the pituitary. He gave the name “nanosomia pituitaria” to describe pituitary dwarfism. See also his paper in Ergebn. allg. Path, 1926, 21, 482.

An extensive analytical tabulation of acromegaly; 1,319 cases are reported.

“Cushing’s syndrome”.

With C. Fisher and S. W. Ransom.

Production of diabetes insipidus in dogs by injury to the hypothalamus.

Sheehan’s syndrome – panhypopituitarism due to pituitary necrosis following post-partum hemorrhage.

L. W. Kinsell, G. D. Michaels, C. H. Li, and W. E. Larsen showed that there is an increase in growth hormone in plasma in acromegaly.

Demonstration of the beneficial effect of hypophysectomy in cancer of the breast and of the testis.

"As a history of the subject, this work is unsurpassed in detail and accuracy" (L.T. Morton).

A detailed illustrated history, tracing the development of knowledge from ancient times to the present. Includes biographical notes on the important pioneers in the field and chronological tables. Revised and updated second edition entitled The history of clinical endocrinology (1993).

A superbly produced and illustrated work, with tipped-in color plates. English translation, Bern: H. Huber, 1984.

Thematic historical essays written by pioneers in the field, edited by McCann.

Alkaptonuria described.

Cystinuria described.

Excretion of homogentisic acid (in alkaptonuria) first described.

Banting, a prominent English undertaker, and formerly obese, was the first to popularize a weight loss diet based on limiting intake of refined and easily digestible carbohydrates. He changed his diet at the suggestion of Dr. William Harvey, who in turn had learned about this diet in the context of diabetes management from lectures in Paris by Claude Bernard. Banting accounted all of his unsuccessful fasts, diets, spa and exercise regimes in his past; he then described the dietary change which finally had worked for him. His own diet was four meals per day, consisting of meat, greens, fruits, and dry wine. The emphasis was on avoiding sugar, saccharine matter, starch, beer, milk and butter. The diet that Banting promoted became known as “Bantingism” or the “Banting diet”. The first 3 editions sold 63,000 copies in England, and the book was translated and sold heavily in France, Germany and the U.S. The expanded 4th Edition (1869) included letters of testimony from a selection of at least 1800 readers who wrote to Banting supporting his assertions and praising his diet. Banting's book is probably the first of the endless stream of best-selling books on how to lose weight. Digital facsimile of the third edition, 1864, from the Internet Archive at this link.

Discovery of the first porphyrin, hematoporphyrin (p. 227). Hematoporphyrin has also been used as an antidepressant and antipsychotic since the 1920s,

First description of hemochromatosis.

Recklinghausen gave to hemochromatosis its present name.

First description of adiposis dolorosa (“Dercum’s disease”).

Pentosuria first described.

Noorden succeeded Nothnagel at Vienna. He made important studies of metabolism and its disorders. His section on obesity was translated into English as Obesity: the indications for reduction cures. Part 1 of Clinical treatises on the pathology and therapy of disorders of metabolism and nutrition (New York: E. B. Treat & Co., 1903.)

Cystinosis described.

Garrod established chemical individuality as a paradigm of Mendelian variation. His study, which he began around the turn of the 20th century, coincided with the rediscovery of Mendel's laws of inheritance in 1900. He realized that alkaptonuria (black urine disease) behaves like one of Mendel's recessive genetic traits, and guessed that people with alkaptonuria have a defective gene that produces a faulty enzyme that interrupts an important metabolic pathway. This was the first recognition of the possibility that genes direct the assembly of enzymes, and more specifically, that each gene codes for one enzyme. Over the next few years, Garrod discovered three more metabolic diseases that behave like recessive traits, including albinism. He showed that constitutional variation in function, as well as in structure, can give rise to what he termed “chemical malformations” – alkaptonuria, cystinuria, pentosuria, etc. The book was based on his Croonian Lectures, published in Lancet, 1908, 2, 1-7, 142-8, 173-9, 214-20. A second edition appeared in 1923. It was reprinted with supplement by H. Harris, London, 1963. Garrod’s first paper on the subject dealt with alkaptonuria (Lancet, 1901, 2, 1484-6).

First clear account of galactosemia (although A. von. Reuss may have been describing a case in Wien. med. Wschr., 1908, 58, 799).

Folin–Wu test for blood sugar.

Benedict’s test for blood-sugar.

Phenylketonuria (PKU) first described. This was the first hereditary metabolic disorder shown to be responsible for mental retardation. German translation in Hoppe-Seyl. Z. physiol. Chem., 1934, 227, 169-76. English translation in Boyer (ed.), Papers on human genetics, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1963.

“Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia”.

“Refsum’s syndrome”, an inherited disorder of lipid metabolism.

Maple syrup urine disease described. With P. L. Hurst and J. M. Craig.

Bacterial inhibition test for phenylketonuria.

Aretaeus left many fine descriptions of disease; in fact Garrison ranks him second only to Hippocrates in this respect. In the printed editions of this bibliography, before the present online version, the Adams edition was cited no less than 12 times for individual diseases, plus its first citation in "Collected Works" (No. 22.) This number of citations is, of course, greater than any other specific work by any other author, though the number of citations may be a reflection of idiosyncracies of the compilers rather than a proportionate measure of the significance of Aretaeus in the history of medicine. The citations are as follows:

3162. On angina, or quinsey. In his Extant works, ed. F. Adams, 249-52, 404-07.

3163. On pleurisy. In his Extant works, ed. F. Adams, 255-58, 410-16.

2433. On elephas, or elephantiasis. In his Extant works, ed. by F. Adams, 366-73, 494-98. Classic description of “elephantiasis Aretaei”, nodous leprosy.

5046. On ulcerations about the tonsils. In hiis Extant works, ed. F. Adams, 253-55. Aretaeus’s description of ulcerations about the tonsils, which he called “ulcera Syrica”, clearly referred to diphtheria, of which it was the first unmistakable description. For his treatment of the disease, see pp. 409-10 of the same work.

5089. On dysentery. In his Extant works, ed. F. Adams. 353-57. Prior to Lösch’s discovery of E. histolytica, all forms of dysentery were differentiated only on clinical grounds.

4915. Extant works. Ed. F. Adams. Aretaeus wrote important accounts of melancholy (298-300, 473-78) and madness (301-04).

5146. On tetanus. In his Extant works, ed. F. Adams,  246-49, 400-04. Aretaeus left a full account of tetanus.

4484,  On arthritis and sciatica. In his Extant works, ed. by F. Adams,  362-65, 492-93,

3612. On jaundice, or icterus. In his Extant works, ed F. Adams, 324-28.

4510. On paralysis. In his Extant works, ed. F. Adams.

4808. On epilepsy, in his Extant works, ed F. Adams,  243, 296, 399, 468. Aretaeus was well acquainted with hemi-epilepsy from local injury in the opposite half of the brain; partly from this knowledge he formulated the “decussation in the form of the letter X” of the motor path. He first described epilepsy resulting from a depressed fracture of the skull. In his excellent description he made the first mention of the aura.

3925. On diabetes.In his Extant works, ed. F. Adams. 338-40, 485-86. The first accurate account of diabetes, to which Aretaeus gave its present name; he insisted on the part which thirst plays in the symptomatology. 

According to the Wikipedia article on Headache, Aretaeus also provied the first recorded classification system for headaches: "He made a distinction between three different types of headache: i) cephalalgia, by which he indicates a shortlasting, mild headache; ii) cephalea, referring to a chronic type of headache; and iii) heterocrania, a paroxysmal headache on one side of the head." 

Digital facsimile of Adams's Greek and Latin edition from the Internet Archive at this link.

Willis’s last work deals with the anatomy and physiology of the thoracic and abdominal organs, and contains the first description of the superficial lymphatics of the lungs, the first clinical and pathological account of emphysema, and a clear and accurate description of pertussis (whooping-cough). The book also contains the first distinction between diabetes mellitus, characterized by glycosuria, from diabetes insipidus, in which sugar is not present in the urine. Willis noted that psychogenic factors, such as grief or sadness, could bring on diabetes. The second volume, published posthumously, includes a life of the author.

Three versions of Willis’s book were published simultaneously: A quarto version with the imprint of the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, another quarto version with the London imprint of Robert Scott added, and a duodecimo edition

"Epidemiorum et ephemeridum libri duo, pars secunda" in vol. 2 contains (p. 99) a description of “puerorum tussis convulsiva, chincough dicta” – a clear account of whooping cough (Treatise IX, pt. 2, p. 38 of his Practice of physick, 1684).

Brunner came near to discovering pancreatic diabetes. His experiments on the dog represent pioneer work on internal secretion. Following excision of the pancreas, he recorded extreme thirst and polyuria. Translated in Ann. med. Hist., 1941, 3, 91-100.

Dobson proved that the sweetish taste of diabetic urine was produced by sugar, an observation following on Willis’s discovery of the sweetness of diabetic urine. He also discovered hyperglycemia.

Cawley was the first to suggest a relationship between the pancreas and diabetes, observing that the disease may follow injury to that organ.

Rollo reported the success of a meat diet in the treatment of diabetes. He was the first to take Matthew Dobson's discovery of glycosuria in diabetes mellitus and apply it to managing metabolism.^[He was a pioneer in the systematic treatment of diabetes by restricted diet. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Chevreul proved that the sugar in diabetic urine is glucose.

Trommer’s test for glucose in urine.

By experimental puncture (piqûre) of the fourth ventricle of the brain, Claude Bernard produced temporary glycosuria.

Schiffs important experiments on the production of artificial diabetes.

Petters discovered acetone in diabetic urine.

Pavy devoted many years to the study of diabetes. He concluded that there was a definite relationship between the degree of hyperglycemia and glycosuria.

Gerhard’s iron-chloride reaction for aceto-acetic acid in acetonaemic urine.

First investigation of retinitis accompanying glycosuria.

Kussmaul explained diabetic coma as being due to acetonemia. He described the air-hunger (“Kussmaul’s respiration”) present in this condition. Partial English translation in No. 2241.

Bouchardat used the fermentation test, polariscope and copper solutions for the detection of diabetes; he substituted fresh fats for carbohydrates, advised the avoidance of milk and alcohol, invented gluten bread and advocated the use of green vegetables. This was the most rational treatment for diabetes up to his time.

A record of Leber’s important studies on the disorders of the eye in diabetes.

Bernard showed that in diabetes there is primarily glycemia followed by glycosuria.

Lancereaux was the first definitely to claim a causal relationship between lesions of the pancreas and diabetes.

“Ebstein’s disease”, hyaline degeneration and necrosis of the epithelial cells of the renal tubules, sometimes seen in diabetes mellitus.

Stadelmann studied ammonia excretion in diabetes and noted an acid substance in the urine, which Minkowski (No. 3947) showed to be ß-oxybutyric acid. Stadelmann recognized that diabetic coma was the result of the increased formation and accumulation of acids.

Arnozan and Vaillard showed that blockage of the pancreatic ducts caused atrophy of the pancreas but not diabetes.

Discovery of ß-oxybutyric acid in diabetic urine.

An important investigation concerning acetone in diabetic urine.

Mering was able to produce experimental diabetes by means of phloridzin.

Minkowski produced experimental diabetes by removing the pancreas of a dog. This proof of the role of the pancreas in diabetes was of the first importance; previous experiments on similar lines had attracted attention. Partial English translation in No. 2241. Preliminary report in Centralblatt für Klinische Medizin (June 8, 1889) 393-394.

Noorden’s extensive studies on diabetes greatly advanced our knowledge of the subject. He made many observations regarding metabolism in diabetes.

Naunyn devoted his life to the study of metabolism in diabetes and in diseases of the liver and pancreas. This is his most significant work. He was a co-founder of the Archiv für experimentelle Pathologie.

Magnus-Levy studied the relationship of ß-oxybutyric acid and diabetic coma.

Mering and Minkowski had focused attention upon the pancreas as the seat of diabetes, Opie’s work was another important step forward; he established the association between failure of the islets of Langerhans and the occurrence of diabetes.

Sobolew found that ligation of the pancreatic excretory ducts led to atrophy of the acinous tissue, the islets of Langerhans remaining intact.

Frommer’s test for acetone in urine.

Lydia De Witt ligated the pancreatic ducts and obtained extracts from the islets of Langerhans in cats, noting their glycolytic qualities.

Test for acetone bodies in urine

Zuelzer succeeded in isolating the pancreatic extract which contained what we now know as insulin; serious hypoglycaemic reactions sometimes followed its use, however, and led to its abandonment. Preliminary paper in Berl. klin. Wschr.,1907, 44, 474-75.

MacCallum suggested a relationship between lesions of the islands of Langerhans and the glycosuria of diabetes.

Magnus-Levy is remembered for his work on the treatment of diabetic coma.

Barron confirmed the experimental work of Sobolew. It was whilst reading the above paper that Banting first formulated the hypothesis upon which he based his successful experiments.

Paulesco isolated the anti-diabetic hormone of the pancreas before Banting and Best. He named it “pancréine”.

A preliminary one-page communication regarding the isolation of insulin, made to a meeting of the American Physiological Society in December 1921. Digital facsimile from insulin.library.utoronto.ca at this link.

In 1923 Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of insulin." Banting was only 32 years old at the time. When I wrote this note in 2017 Banting remained the youngest person to receive the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. See also Nos. 1205, 3967 and 3968.

This paper reports the isolation of insulin. An extract from the pancreas of a dog, removed after ligation of the excretory duct, was found to exercise a reducing influence on the percentage of sugar in the blood. Digital facsimile from insulin.library.utoronto.ca at this link.

The first clinical application of insulin in the treatment of diabetes. Co-authored by W. R. Campbell, and A. A. Fletcher. Digital facsimile from PubMedCentral at this link.

Collip improved insulin.

Crystalline insulin first obtained. See also J. Pharmacol., 1927, 31, 65-85.

R. M. Wilder, F. N. Allan, M. H. Power, and H. E. Robertson reported the occurrence of carcinoma with hyperinsulinism. They also reported the first operation for hyperinsulinism performed on December 2, 1926 by William Mayo.

Discovery of the hypoglycemic effect of certain sulphonamide derivatives. With L. L. Silva and L. Libenson.

Hagedorn created NPH insulin and founded Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium, known today as Novo Nordisk. NPH insulin is one of the earliest examples of engineering drug delivery.

Hagedorn became interested in modifying the sbsorption rate of insulin. He was aware that contaminating proteins slowed the aborption of insulin into the bloodstream, but these caused irritation and side effects. Searching for a protein that would not cause any irritation, he came upon protamine, a protein isolated from fish sperm. Hagerdorn discovered that the addition of protamine to insulin caused the insulin to form microscopic clumps. These clumps took longer to dissolve in the bloodstream. With B. N. Jensen, N. B. Krarup, and I. Wodstrup,

R. B. Kerr, C. H. Best, W. R. Campbell, and A. A. Fletcher advocated the combination of zinc with insulin to delay its absorption rate. Later this was combined with protamine to form protamine zinc insulin.

Anterior pituitary diabetogenic hormone.

Loubatières initiated work on the hypoglycaemic sulphonamides. See his historical account in Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 1957, 71, 4-11.

Experimental diabetes produced by artificially-induced hyperglycemia.

First clinical trials of lente, ultralente, and semilente insulin zinc suspension. See also Science, 1952, 116, 394-98; and J. Amer. med. Assoc., 1952, 150, 1667. With M. Jersild, K. Peterson, and J. Schlichtkrull.

Introduction of carbutamide (BZ55), the first of the sulphonylureas. It was followed by tolbutamide and chlorpropamide.

A Symposium on tolbutamide, introduced by H. Maske.

Phenformin, a biguanide formerly used in diabetes. With L. Freedman and S. L. Shapiro. Clinical report on pp. 193-4.

With G. Hetenyi and W. R. Feasby.

The first systematic textbook on diseases of the skin. English translation by R. L. Sutton Jr, Kansas City, Missouri, Lowell Press, 1986. Mercuriali enjoyed a great reputation in his day; he wrote on many medical subjects, including medical gymnastics. See No. 1986.1.

Turner may be regarded as the founder of British dermatology. His book, the first English text on the subject, gives a good idea of contemporary knowledge of skin diseases. Turner began his career as a barber surgeon, but eventually bought his way out of the guild. He obtained membership in the College of Physicians without an official medical degree. Yale College conferred an honorary MD on Turner in 1723, for donating a collection of books to the school’s library. This was the first medical degree awarded in English-speaking America. Its circumstances led one wit of the period to suggest that the letters on Turner’s diploma actually stood for Multum Donavit.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

A classification of skin diseases upon the basis of their clinical appearance. Until the time of Willan, von Plenck’s book was the greatest authority on dermatology. He mentioned 115 different skin diseases, all that were known at that time, and divided them into 14 classes.

Lorry is regarded as the founder of French dermatology. A pupil of Jean Astruc, his most important work was his Tractatus, in which he attempted the classification of diseases on the basis of essential relations, their physiological, pathological, and etiological similarities. It was the first modern text on the subject, and the last major work on dermatology to be published in Latin.

An attempt to classify skin diseases upon the basis of their pathology.

Modern dermatology may be said to start with Willan. His classification of skin diseases gained him the Fothergillian Medal of the Medical Society of London in 1790. He established a standard nomenclature which is still more or less in use today. He was also a clinician of great ability who made numerous original observations. His book was issued in four parts under the title “Description and treatment of cutaneous diseases”, from 1798 to 1808, and only vol. 1 had been completed when Willan died. The first three parts exist in revised versions. Copies of the book may contain varying states of the parts. See F. Sutherland, Willan’s Cutaneous diseases, J. Hist. Med., 1958, 13, 92-94, supplementing T. Beswick, Robert Willan, J. Hist. Med., 1957, 12, 349-65. The above work and that of Alibert (No. 3986) are the first dermatological works with colored plates. 

Includes (pp. 73-76) original description of prurigo mitis; under the name “ichthyosis cornea” Willan quoted Crusio’s case of scleroderma (see pp. 197-212); Willan also established psoriasis as a separate skin disease (pp. 152-88). 

The largest and most spectacular of the early classics of dermatology, with hand-colored illustrations unsurpassed for their quality of execution. The illustrations are also the first on the subject in a French book. This book also contains the first description of mycosis fungoides (pian fungoide, framboesia mycoides), one of several conditions to which the name of Alibert has been attached.

Bateman, the pupil of Willan, continued his teacher’s classification of skin diseases. The above work is notable for its 72 colored plates. Strictly speaking it is the first atlas of dermatology, as Willan’s work falls more into the category of illustrated treatise. This book includes numerous original contributions by Bateman. Originally issued in 12 fasciculi from 1814-1817. Unchanged reprint, 1828. 

Includes (pl. lii) important description of herpes iris (erythema iris), and of the eczema due to external irritation (pl. lv-lviii, eczema solare, impetiginoides, rubrum mercuriale). Pl. lxi represents the first description of molluscum contagiosum, but according to Paterson (No. 4032) the disease was probably noticed by Tilesius about 1793. Bateman refers to Tilesius but calls his case molluscum pendulum. 

In this summary of dermatological literature of the period Rayer first described adenoma sebaceum and xanthoma multiplex. He was the first to differentiate between acute and chronic eczema. The second edition, Paris, Baillière, 1835, includes an entirely new third volume of text and a much enlarged atlas of colored plates. English translation, 1883.

This book codified and published the lectures, doctrines and observations of Laurent Biett (1781-1840), the leading clinical teacher in dermatology of the early 19th century, who published very little himself. Cazenave was a master clinician who founded the first scientific periodical devoted exclusively to dermatology. The Abrégé improves upon Bateman, especially in the section on the cutaneous manifestions of syphilis. “Continually revised and translated into all of the important languages of the Western World, the Abrégé becamethe most influential text of the time and remained so for 30 years” (Crissey & Parish). English translations 1829, 1832, 1842.

This includes the first published illustration of Alibert’s famous “family tree” for the classification of skin diseases, a concept which Alibert borrowed freely from Torti (No. 5231). This classification was never widely adopted. The book contains an important description of dermatolysis.

Hebra’s classification of skin diseases was based upon their pathological anatomy.

First comprehensive American work on dermatology.

Hebra's work includes 104 spectacular folio-sized chromolithographed plates reproducing paintings by Anton Elfinger and Carl Heitzmann.

Cazenave was among the first to classify skin diseases on an anatomical basis. He founded the first journal devoted entirely to dermatology (Annales des maladies de la peau et de la syphilis). This large folio atlas is the most visually impressive of all his books. From publication in fascicules, 1845-56.

Anderson was Professor of Clinical Medicine at Glasgow. Digital facsimile of the second edition (1868) from the Internet Archive at this link.

Erasmus Wilson gave the original descriptions of several cutaneous diseases, and made a fine collection of dermatological preparations. He classified skin diseases on an anatomical basis. The above book consists of his lectures at the Royal College of Surgeons, at which institution he founded a chair of dermatology.

 English translation by J. C. Johnston in 1895.

Fox, who was Professor of Dermatology in New York, produced a valuable atlas of skin diseases.

Hans von Hebra was the son of Ferdinand, whose work he continued. His textbook correlated skin diseases to diseases of the entire organism.

In his extensive studies of the role of fungi in skin diseases, Sabouraud revived and elaborated the discoveries of Gruby (Nos. 4030, 4034-36), which had remained neglected for half a century. See also No. 4116.