Digital facsimiles from the Internet Archive at this link.

First adequate description of apraxia.

A classic account of the development and architecture of the muscular wall of the heart.

Head and Campbell showed herpes zoster to be a hemorrhagic inflammation of the posterior nerve roots and the homologous spinal ganglia.

Also: Landsteiner, "Ueber Agglutinationsercheinungen normalen menschlichen Blutes," Wiener klinische Wochenschrift, 14, 1901, 1132-1134.

Landsteiner discovered that human blood contains iso-agglutinins capable of agglutinating other human red blood cells. He first mentioned this chance discovery in a footnote to the above paper published in 1900. In the following paper published in 1901 he proved that this agglutination was not the result of a disease process, but was demonstrable in the serum of healthy individuals. Furthermore, he was able to show that each serum can agglutinate the red cells only of certain other individuals. He found that the sera could be divided into three distinct groups: group A agglutinates the red cells of group B, but not those of group A; group B agglutinates the red cells of group A, but not those of group B; and group C agglutinates both and B red cells, but is not agglutinated by the sera of either group A or group B.
He divided human blood into three groups (A, B, and O, which he called A, B, C).

1930 Landsteiner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine "for his discovery of human blood groups."

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for the reference to Landsteiner's 1901 paper and its interpretation.)

Tallqvist’s hemoglobin scale.

Demonstration of the reversible action of lipase.

First full description. Order of authorship in the original publication: Russell, Batten, Collier.

First description of unilateral progressive ascending paralysis (“Mills’s disease”).

First description of “Oppenheim’s disease” – amyotonia congenita.

Part 3, with 365 pages and illustrations was the main work of this series. Mall began the introduction to the third part as follows:

"The present communication is the outcome of a study of 163 pathological human embryos which I have collected during the past fifteen years. The first contribution which I made to this subject included a report of 53, and the second of 20 of these embryos. These two studies are rather anatomical in nature and do not consider the causes which produce pathological embryos, nor their relation to ordinary human monsters. A more careful study of my specimens, which have more than doubled in number during the past five years, establishes beyond doubt (1) the identity of pathological embryos and small monsters, that is many of them would have developed in real monsters if they had not been aborted, and (2) that all of them are developed from normal ova due to external influences, — in man to a condition which I shall term faulty implantation."

An account of the work of the Rothschild Hospital at Berck-sur-Mer, where Calot specialized in the treatment of surgical tuberculosis in children.

Isolation of Lactobacillus acidophilus.

Welch grouped together the diseases caused by Cl. perfringens, earlier discovered by him in association with Nuttall (see No. 2508).

The Henry system of fingerprint classification,  developed when Henry served as Inspector-General of Police in Bengal, is the basis for the system presently in use worldwide.

English translation in T. Bordet et al., Studies in immunity, New York, 1909, p. 186.

Describes the first clinical use of the oesophagoscope by Kussmaul in 1867-68. The latter made only brief mention of it himself in his paper on the stomach pump, Dtsch. Arch. klin. Med., 1869, 6, 456.

Mayo’s operation of partial gastrectomy. Mayo was co-founder of the Mayo Clinic.

The Spanish-American War was the first war in which X rays were used for diagnostic purposes. This is the first report on the application of X rays in military medicine. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Hektoen produced experimental cirrhosis of the liver. His notable work in pathology includes the foundation of the Archives of Pathology.

“Minkowski–Chauffard disease”, familial hemolytic jaundice. See also No. 3781.

Babinski preceded Fröhlich in describing dystrophia adiposo-genitalis.

Benda showed that the pituitary tumor in acromegaly consists of chromophil cells.

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.)

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.

Jaboulay was the first to perform the operation of sympathectomy for the relief of vascular disease.

“Klippel–Trenaunay syndrome”.

The active inoculation of man against typhoid was first performed by Wright in 1896. For a preliminary note see Lancet, 1896, 2, 807.

Further work on dysentery by Kruse led to the coupling of his name with Shiga to designate both the “Shiga–Kruse bacillus” and “Shiga–Kruse disease”.

The organism isolated by Flexner was at first thought to be identical with Shiga’s bacillus. Later Martini and Lentz, Z. Hyg., 1902, 41, 540, showed it to be different; it was named Bact. flexneri, and later Shigella flexneri.

Freud’s greatest work, the influence of which has been felt far beyond the psychiatric and medical community. Here he refined his understanding of the operation of the unconscious, interpreted dreams on the basis of wish-fulfillment theory, discussed displacement, the extensive appearance of symbols for repressed thought in conscious thought, regression, and the erotic nature of dreams. First English translation by A. A. Brill from the third German edition (New York: Macmillan, 1913). Digital facsimile of the 1900 edition from the Internet Archive at this link; of the 1913 English translation at this link.

 Ellis's Studies represent a lifetime of research devoted to the subject, at first in the face of bitter opposition.

Dukes described a condition similar to that noted earlier by Filatov (No. 5503). Dukes called it the “fourth disease”, distinguishing it from scarlet fever, measles, and rubella on the ground that an attack of any of these diseases gives no immunity. The autonomy of this disease (“Filatov–Dukes disease”) is not universally accepted.

Toxoplasma described.

Recognition that the protozoan was the pathogenic phase of a mycelial fungus.

Demonstration of the complete chain of filarial infection from man-to-mosquito-to-man.

The above work is the exposition of Gullstrand's general theory of monochromatic aberrations. This is an offprint from Nova Acta Reg. Soc. Sci. Ups., 1900-01, ser. 3, 20.

In 1911 Gullstrand was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his work on the dioptrics of the eye." See also No. 1525.2.

Smith, an officer in the Indian Medical Service, had remarkable success with his method of extraction of cataract within the capsule. He modified his operation in 1926 (Arch. Ophthal. N.Y., 55, 213-24). See also Smith's monograph, The Treatment of Cataract (Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co, 1910).

First description of the “Fowler position”. Reprinted in Med. Classics, 1940, 4, 551-80. Fowler was preceded in this innovation by Charles White. See No. 6270.

Includes first clinical and pathological study of hyperplasia of the endometrium. Cullen is remembered eponymically for “Cullen’s sign”, a discoloration of the skin about the umbilicus, regarded as a sign of ruptured ectopic gestation. See Nos. 6220 & 6124.1.

Gilliam’s operation for prolapse.

Noble introduced a flap operation for atresia of the vagina.

Carter's determination of the incubation period yellow fever influenced the direction of Reed’s researches, and was instrumental in the discovery of the mode of transmission of the yellow fever virus.

“Pfannenstiel’s incision”.

Wertheim’s radical operation for cancer of the uterus.

First definite proof that the organism causing yellow fever is transmitted to man by the mosquito Aëdes aegypti. During the period spent by these workers in the investigation of the disease in Cuba Lazear and Carroll subjected themselves to the bite of infectious mosquitoes to test the theory that mosquitos were carriers of yellow fever. Lazear died from the yellow fever infection in 1900, but Carroll recovered and completed the research. He later died of the yellow fever infection in 1907. Reproduced in part in Major, Classic descriptions of disease, 3rd ed., 1945, p. 131. Further account in J. Hyg. (Camb.), 1902, 2, 101-19.  Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

The first of Stroganoff s important papers on the pathogenesis and treatment of eclampsia.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link. 

Includes the best illustrations of the various stages of the malaria parasite published up to that time.

In a classic demonstration Manson allowed infected mosquitoes from Rome to bite a volunteer (his son) in London, who developed malaria 15 days later with tertian parasites in the blood, and who was cured by quinine.

Classic description and classification of pelvic deformities.

Pioneer treatise on the care and feeding of premature and newborn infants. Budin sponsored the idea that an infant should be given milk equal in amount to one-tenth of its body weight. English translation, London, 1907.

“Eddowes’s syndrome” – blue sclerotics and fragility of the bones, occurring as a familial syndrome; osteogenesis imperfecta. See also No. 6358.1.

De Vries and Correns independently rediscovered and confirmed Mendel’s laws. This is De Vries’s most important paper on the subject. De Vries’s first published paper on the topic is “Sur la loi de disjonction des hybrides”, C.R. Acad. Sci. (Paris), 1900, 130, 845-47. Reading of this paper led Correns to write his own paper (No. 239.1), although Correns claimed he had previously and independently arrrived at the same conclusions. English translation in No. 258.4.

Correns had come to the same conclusions as Mendel before seeing the latter’s 1865 paper. Of the three “rediscoverers” of Mendel’s laws, Correns showed the greatest understanding of them. English translation in No. 258.4.

Rhinosporidiosis first described. Digital facsimile from bibliomedicinadigital.fmed.uba.ar at this link.

With Correns and de Vries, Tschermak brought Mendel’s work into prominence and confirmed it, although Tschermak may not have fully understood the Mendelian laws before he had read Mendel’s work. See also Tschermak’s first paper on the subject: “Über künstliche Kreuzung bei Pisum Sativum”, Ber. dtsch. bot. Ges., 1900, 18, 232-39.

After extensive bacteriological researches, Poynton and Paine considered that a diplococcus was the cause of rheumatic fever.

A comparison of mortality rates in institutions and private practice between homeopathic and other modes of treatment. Digital facsimile from The Medical Heritage Library at the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Surgical history of the naval aspects of the First Sino-Japanese War. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

"The ʔívil̃uqaletem (or Ivilyuqaletem) are Native Americans of the inland areas of southern California.^[2] Their original territory included an area of about 2,400 square miles (6,200 km²). The traditional Cahuilla territory was near the geographic center of Southern California. It was bounded to the north by the San Bernardino Mountains,^[2] to the south by Borrego Springs and the Chocolate Mountains, to the east by the Colorado Desert, and to the west by the San Jacinto Plain and the eastern slopes of the Palomar Mountains^[3]"  (Wikipedia article on the Cahuilla, accessed 07-2017).

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

The work was offered for sale by J. B. Lippincott with title pages dated 1901.  Digital facsimile of the Lippincott issue from Google Books at this link.

Proust performed the first radical perineal prostatectomy. He was the younger brother of the writer Marcel Proust. Digital facsimile from BnFgallica at this link.

This was Osler's first collaboration with Thomas McCrae. Osler and McCrae reviewed 150 cases of cancer of the stomach seen at Johns Hopkins in an encyclopedic fashion. Surgery was often recommended for definitive diagnosis and early treatment. The close interaction between Osler and William Halsted at Hopkins was perhaps one of the earliest examples of multidisciplinary management, which has proved to be such a valuable approach in oncology. “To attain the best possible results the physician and surgeon must cooperate.”  Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS), a genetic disorder characterized by deformities of the ears, eyes, cheekbones, and chin. Also known as mandibulofacial dysostosis.

Order of authorship in the original publication: Reed, Carroll. In this paper of monograph length the authors irrefutably proved that yellow fever was not caused by a bacterial infection, allowing them to concentrate future research on a viral cause of the disease.

Digital facsimile from PubMedCentral at this link.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)

Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.

Pages 275-288 are titled "Note sur la médecine des Mongols." Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Includes 56 nature-printed and handcolored plates produced from impressions of the wings of the actual insects pressed onto the paper. Digital facsimile from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

Laguesse, who in 1893 named the islets of Langerhans, established in this work that the islets of Langerhans were the seat of internal secretion of the pancreas. On figures 425 and 427 he drew that are now called "the beta cells of the islets of Langerhans."

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)

Ehrlich's "lock and key" theory of antibody antigen relationship, or interaction, in which the toxin molecule (i.e the antigen) binds to the cell receptor, and then the antibody binds in a lock and key manner to the toxin (antigen) to neutralize the toxin. 

Digital facsimile from royalsocietypublishing.org at this link.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)

Ayurveda is the most ancient system of Hindu medicine; only fragments of the original remain. The early Hindus believed it to be of divine origin and ascribed it to Brahma. It dates from circa 1400-1200 BCE. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Fredericq “established that chemical changes in the blood acting somewhere in the head were the major factor in the regulation of breathing” (Kellogg). English translation in No. 1588.16.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

5th edition (5 vols.), 1919-21; English translation (5 vols.), London, 1911-21. Luciani was professor of physiology successively at Siena, Florence, and Rome.

Muybridge, an Englishman, made exhaustive photographic investigations of consecutive animal movements while he was in America. More than 100,000 photographs were embodied in his Animal locomotion. An electro-photographic investigation of consecutive phases of animal movements, 1872-85. Philadelphia, 1887. The great cost of producing this work of 11 folio volumes with 781 photo-engravings restricted its sale to a very few copies and the above two books are abridgements. This pioneer study of serial photography demonstrated the possibilities of motion pictures and foreshadowed modern cinematography. Reprinted New York, 1955. All 781 plates from the 1887 Animal locomotion were republished, New York, Dover, 1979, with introduction by A. Mozley.

Einthoven directed much of his research to the development and perfection of recording instruments. His most famous work was in connexion with his string galvanometer, a perfection of the instrument invented by J. S. C. Schweigger, of Halle.

In 1924 Einthoven was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "for his discovery of the mechanism of the electrocardiogram."  See also No. 842.

Haldane’s hemoglobinometer and method for determination of hemoglobin.

Isolation of tryptophan.

Chemical distinction between DNA and RNA. Levene elucidated the fundamentals of nucleic acid chemistry. His work led to the tetranucleotide hypothesis.

Reprinted 1924 and (Dover Pubs.), 1970.

Weigert noted the connection of myasthenia gravis with hypertrophy of the thymus.

Isolation of adrenaline.

Independently of Takamine, Aldrich succeeded in isolating adrenaline in a crystalline form. He gave it the formula C₉H₁₃NO₃. Adrenaline was the first hormone to be isolated.

“Lissauer’s atypical general paralysis” first described. Heinrich Lissauer was bom in 1861 and died in 1891.

Introduction of ionic medication.

Magnus and Starling reported that pituitary extracts caused expansion of the kidney and a marked and often prolonged diuresis. This was the first indication that the neurohypophysis plays a part in the regulation of urine secretion.

Ramón y Cajal’s descriptions of the limbic cortex are still the most authoritative. The above work and three shorter papers in the same volume were translated by L.M. Kraft as Studies on the cerebral cortex, London, 1955.

The most comprehensive work on the coca plant and the history of its use by the Incas and their descendants. Reprinted, San Francisco, And/Or Press, 1974.

First edition in book form, expanded from the journal publications, London: Bale, 1901. Digital facsimile of the book-form edition from the Internet Archive at this link.

Wilms was first to carry out full excision of burnt tissue, and sometimes grafted excised areas.

Bloch was a chief modern supporter of the theory of the Columbian origin of syphilis.

Uhlenhuth was the first to use precipitins in medico-legal tests for human blood.

Loeb successfully transplanted cystic sarcoma of the thyroid in rats. He established the fact that growth of the transplant occurred through proliferation of its peripheral cells.

The Bordet–Gengou complement-fixation reaction is the basis of many tests for infection, notably the Wassermann test for syphilis, and reactions for gonococcus infection, glanders, hydatid disease. English translation in Bibel, Milestones in immunology (1988), pp. 268-71.

A classic study of the mechanisms concerned in specific antibacterial immunity, and one of Metchnikoff’s best works.  Russian edition: Nevospriimchivost’ k infekcionnim boleznyam. St. Petersburg: K.L. Rikker, 1903. English translation, London, 1905. Digital facsimile of 1901 edition from bnf.gallica at this link.

In 1908 Metchikoff shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Paul Ehrlich "in recognition of their work on immunity." See also Nos. 2307 and 2538.

First recorded case of extreme leucopenia.

Depage used a tube formed from the anterior wall of the stomach, lined with mucous membrane, in his gastrostomy operation.

Because of rapid developments in this field Williams put this book through three editions, in 1901, 1902, and 1903. Digital facsimile of the 1901 first edition from the Wellcome Collection at this link, of the 1902 second edition from the Internet Archive at this link, and of the 1903 third edition from the Wellcome Collection at this link.

“Rendu–Osler–Weber disease.” Multiple hereditary telangiectasis was first described by Legg (No. 2707) in 1876 and later by Rendu (No. 2710) and Weber (No. 2714). Reprinted in Medical Classics, 1939, 4, 243-53.

Battle’s operation for femoral hernia.

Mayo’s operation for umbilical hernia.

Grijns succeeded Eijkman as director of the Research Laboratory for Pathological Anatomy and Bacteriology in Batavia. He was the first to adopt the view that beriberi was simply a “deficiency disease”, since he found it to be due to the lack of an unknown substance in the diet. English translation of this and related papers in Grijns, Researches on vitamins 1900-1911, Gorinchem, 1935.

Pepper’s type of adrenal medullary tumor.

Fröhlich’s classic description of dystrophia adiposogenitalis, pituitary tumor, with obesity and sexual infantilism (“Fröhlich’s syndrome”). Reprinted (in German) in Research Publications, Association for Nervous and Mental Disease, XX: The hypothalamus, Baltimore, 1940, pp. xvi-xxviii. Partial English translation in No. 2241.

Edebohls introduced the operation of renal decortication for the treatment of chronic nephritis.

First application of radium in the treatment of lupus.

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

Freyer claimed priority over Fuller (No. 4263) in originating the rectovesical method of prostatectomy. Although mistaken in this claim, Freyer certainly popularized the operation. Regarding the controversy, see Brit. med. J., 1907, 1, 551.

Géza von Illyés showed that ureteral calculi could be accurately demonstrated by x rays with the help of an indwelling opaque catheter. German translation in Dtsch. Z. Chir., 1901, 62, 132-40.

Kelly tipped the catheter with wax, so that it registered clearly any pressure from sharp stones. This became an important means of diagnosing calculi.

Introduction of intracranial trigeminal neurotomy, using a modification of the techniques of Horsley (No. 4865) and Krause (No. 4871). Also published in Philad. med. J., 1901, 8, 1039-49.

Description of the syndrome to which the name “Ehlers–Danlos syndrome” was later attached (see also No. 4144), earlier described by Tschernogubow: Cutis laxa, Mh. prakt. Derm., 1892, 14, 76.

In his important paper on granulosis rubra nasi, Jadassohn gave the condition its present name. Previously Pringle, 1894, and Luithlen, 1900, had described probable cases.

Schamberg’s progressive pigmentary dermatosis; first description.

“Kienböck’s atrophy” – acute atrophy of bone in inflammatory conditions of the extremities.

Kraepelin evolved a new classification of insanity. He introduced the concepts “dementia praecox” and “manic-depressive insanity”. (Regarding the latter, see also No. 4932.)

Looss discovered that hookworms can penetrate the skin; he himself became infected when hookworm culture accidentally spilled on his hands. English translation in Kean (No. 2268.1).

A history of ancient ophthalmology in which the writer has attempted to reconstruct the anatomical concepts of the ancient Greeks. Translated into English by Richey L. Waugh as Ophthalmology of the ancients, Oostende: J.P. Wayenborgh, 1998-99.

Crile made important contributions to knowledge regarding shock. He originated the theory that it is due to exhaustion of the vasomotor center. (See also No. 5629.)

Chapter V:  On the physiologic action of cocain and eucain when injected into tissues. (pp. 88-162). Crile developed anesthetic blocking of nerve trunks.

Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.

Ochsner was professor of clinical surgery at the University of Illinois. The above is reprinted in Med. Classics, 1940, 4, 600-26.

Caudal anesthesia.

Overton developed the lipid theory of narcosis.

“Baldy–Webster operation”. Webster’s method of treating retrodisplacement of the uterus was later modified by J. M. Baldy, Amer. J. Obstet. Dis. Wom., 1902, 45, 650-54, and N.Y. med. J., 1903, 78, 167-69.

Besides biographical accounts this work reproduced many portraits of physicians. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link. Second, revised edition, containing entries from 1880 to 1930, 2 vols., Munich & Berlin, 1929-1935.

“Leishman’s stain”, a modification of that introduced by Romanovsky in 1891.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

First edition, 1839-45. Continuation by R. Dohm, for the period 1840-80, forming Bd. 3 (see No. 6289).

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

The theory of mutation was first advanced by de Vries. English translation, 2 vols., Chicago, 1909-10.

Reproduction of some of the texts produced at the School of Salerno. In all, it is believed that the total output from the School numbered 100 texts, including the famous poem Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, or Flos Medicae. Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

"The article describes a series of experiments conducted to explore how yellow fever is propagated from individual to individual and how the contagium is spread within households. The study was conducted in an experimental sanitary station in Cuba, where exposures and movements could be completely controlled. During the investigation, 12 nonimmune persons underwent different exposures, including mosquitoes that had fed on yellow fever patients, blood from infected patients, and fomites belonging to infected patients.

"The study provided the following observations: (1) Aedes aegypti mosquitoes transferred the disease from an infected individual to a nonimmune person; (2) at least 12 days were needed for the extrinsic incubation period in the mosquito before it could transmit the infection; (3) yellow fever can be transferred to a nonimmune person from the blood of an infected individual taken during the first 2 days of the illness; (4) a filterable agent was responsible for infection; (5) the incubation period for humans ranged between 2 and 6 days; and (6) yellow fever cannot be transmitted by fomites nor spread in a house without the presence of mosquitoes. The most significant conclusion was that the 'spread of yellow fever can be most effectually controlled by measures directed to the destruction of mosquitoes' " (http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/182442, accessed 05-2017).

Digital facsimile of the 1910 edition from Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

Edition of the Mulomedicina in Codex Monacensis Latinus 243 saec. xv, a translation in vulgar Latin (by Claudis Hermeros?) of a Greek treatise. In the subscriptions of books 1 and 2, 9, 10, "Chiron Centaurus", "Chiron Centaurus et Absyrtus" and "Claudius Hermeros veterinarius" are respectively named as authors. The Mulomedicina Chironis is the main source for Vegetius' Mulomedicina. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Leffingwell sought a middle ground between the anti-vivisectionists, who callled for the abolition of all experimentation, and vivisectionists who rejected any restraint. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from BnF Gallica at this link.

In this paper on humoral immunity in humans Ehrlich addressed the bacteriocidal property of the blood, attributing that to antibodies and antitoxins.

Digital facsimile from pei.de at this link.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)

Discovery of nitrogen fixation, the process by which diatomic nitrogen gas is converted to ammonium ions and becomes available to plants. Bacteria perform nitrogen fixation, dwelling inside root nodules of certain plants (legumes). In addition to having discovered a biochemical reaction vital to soil fertility and agriculture, Beijerinck revealed this archetypical example of symbiosis between plants and bacteria.

Contains 30 chromolithographed plates of cross-sectional anatomy made from frozen sections, with accompanying uncolored outline plates and text, published in German, English and French. Digital facsimile from biusante.parisdescartes.fr at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

At the Seventh Congress of the German Dermatological Society held in 1901Blaschko presented observations of a rare dermatological condition involving patterned skin lesions S-shaped on the abdomen, V-shaped over the upper spinal region with an inverted U-shape from the breast onto the upper arm. Blaschko based his findings on examinations of over 140 patients with nevoid and acquired linear skin diseases. This unusual patterned condition was later referred to as "lines of Blaschko". Blaschko proposed an embryonic origin for this phenomenon.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

“Babinski-Nageotte syndrome”.

Traumatic cavity formation in the spinal cord, so well described by Kienböck, is known as “Kienböck’s disease”.

Bernstein’s studies on the nature of muscular contraction included the observation that changes in surface tension are a controlling factor in the development of the energy of muscular contraction.

First description of Einthoven's string galvanometer that recorded electrical changes occurring in the human heart. Includes the first illustration of an EKG (ECG) recording. Modern electrocardiography became a reality through his work, and the string galvanometer finally displaced the capillary electrometer in the measurement of the electric current produced by the contracting heart. See also No. 840.

Demonstration of the existence of secretin in the duodenal secretion. Preliminary note in Lancet, 1902, 1, 813.

Rubner’s classic work on the influence of foodstuffs on metabolism. In it he introduced the term “specific dynamic action of the foodstuffs”.

Sahli’s method for the determination of hemoglobin.

Following Landsteiner’s division of human blood into three groups (A, B and O which he named A, B, C), Decastello and Sturli discovered a fourth (the rarest) group, later named AB.

Includes an account of all the methods of determining osmotic pressure.

Well illustrated, and finely printed, but dated history, by a pupil of Ludwig. See No. 629.

“Distal myopathy of Gowers”, a form of progressive muscular dystrophy.

McClung showed that the accessory chromosomes are the determinants of sex.

Bielschowsky’s method of silver staining of nerve fibers. Further paper in the same journal, 1903, 22, 997-1006.

While in Germany Kyes showed lecithin to be a complement of cobra-hemolysin. English translation in Ehrlich, Studies in immunity, 1910.

A collective work edited by Oliver. Digital fascimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Edridge-Green first put forward his theories on the function of the retinal rods and of the visual purple about 1889. See also his Physiology of vision, 1920.

“With this book the microscopical epoch in the evolution of the knowledge of cancer may be said to have been brought to a close” (Haagensen).

Frieben reported the carcinogenic effect of x-rays in man.

Hansemann originated the theory of anaplasia.

See No. 2396.

In his classic monograph Mackenzie included (p. 10) a description and illustration of his polygraph, with which he made simultaneous tracings of the pulse, apex beat, etc.

Orthodiagraphy of the heart.

Weir’s appendicostomy operation.

Holzknecht did important work on x-ray dosimetry.

First full description of the phenomenon of “anaphylaxis,” the name of which was coined by Richet. Abbreviated English translation in Bibel, Milestones of immunology (1988).

In 1913, Richet was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work on anaphylaxis."

Improvement of Ingals’s operation (see No. 3289).

Dorothy Reed’s classic work on Hodgkin’s disease included a study of the histological picture. She described the proliferation of the endothelial and reticular cells, and the formation of lymphadenoma cells – “Dorothy Reed’s giant cells”. The Reed-Sternberg cell is diagnostic of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Its existence disproved the then-common belief that Hodgkin's disease was a subtype of tuberculosis.

Pineles differentiated endemic (familial) cretinism associated with goitre from sporadic cretinism.

Carrel perfected the operation of arterial suture, end-to-end anastomosis of severed vessels with triple-threaded sutures. See also No. 3026.

Successful autotransplantation of kidneys in dogs.

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

Brauer was first to suggest the operation of cardiolysis, a procedure carried out by Petersen.

Scleroedemaadultorum syndrome of Buschke.

“Brocq’s disease”; he proposed the term “parapsoriasis” for the condition which had previously been described under various names and often mistaken for other dermatoses.

“Fox–Fordyce disease”. These writers described a papular, itchy eruption, confined to the axillae, nipples and pubes, and considered to be due to a dysfunction of the apocrine glands.

Taylor described the condition in 1876 (No. 4069) and Herxheimer and Hartmann named it, separating it from other atrophies which had been called by a number of different names.

Morestin’s method of mammaplasty. He was also responsible for several of the techniques employed in maxillo-facial surgery. Reprinted, Pittsburgh, 1959

Discovery of the actinobacillus.

While a medical officer in the tea plantations in Assam, India, Bentley demonstrated the mode of entry of Ankylostoma into the body.

Discovery of the American species of hookworm, afterward re-named Necator americanus. It was later believed to have originated in Africa, being brought over by slaves.

William S. Halsted was first to use infiltration anesthesia (see No. 5679) and it was later developed by  Cushing.

A comprehensive summary, in tabular form.

Ballantyne was a pioneer advocate of antenatal care. Volume 2, The Embryo,  is the most complete history of teratology in English, and among the best in any language. American edition, New York, 1905. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

“Gigli’s operation”. Gigli substituted pubiotomy for symphysiotomy.

“Twilight sleep”.

Medicine preserved on cuneiform tablets, with a chronological account of discoveries in this field. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Puschmann died before the completion of this work, and it was then edited by Pagel and Neuburger. It ranks with the work of Haeser; many authorities collaborated in the writing of the histories of the various subjects treated. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

In 1901 Forde saw (but did not at first recognize as such) trypanosomes in the blood of a patient in Gambia. (See No. 5275.)

Dutton was the first to recognize human trypanosomiasis. He saw Forde’s patient (see No. 5274) and named the trypanosome T. gambiense. Sleeping sickness itself has been referred to as “Dutton’s disease”. The first announcement was in the form of a telegram to Ronald Ross, published in Brit. med. J., 1902, 1, 42.

The first book on Mendelism in English, and the first English textbook of genetics. It contains a reprint of the first English translation of Mendel’s “Versuch über Pflanzen-Hybriden” from the J. Roy. Horticult. Soc., which Bateson had published the previous year together with the first edition in English of Mendel’s second paper on Hieracium (1869). Bateson named the science, “genetics” in 1905-6. He published a much expanded second edition as Mendel’s principles of Heredity, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1909.

Considered by many historians to be the scientific starting point of the study of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Digital facsimile of the separate offprint from the Internet Archive at this link.

Analysis of Dioscordes from the pharmacological standpoint, including determination of his units of measurements, critical in dosage. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Translation of Book III, Fan III of Avicenna's Canon pertaining to the eye and its diseases. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Includes short accounts of the field medical units and other details of the army medical service of 20 different states. Digital facsimile from Wellcome Library at this link.

See Andreas-Holger Maehle, "'God's ethicist': Albert Moll and his medical ethics in theory and practice," Medical History, 56 (2012) 217-236. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Contributors included Charles Elliot, G. Stanley Hall, William T. Sedgwick, James J. Putnam, Henry P. Bowditch, William T. Porter, William T. Councilman, Theobald Smith, and members of the religious community.  Digital facsimile of Harvey Cushing's copy at Yale from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile of the 1903 revised 2nd ed. plus the 1st ed. of vol. 2 from the Internet Archive at this link.

Cartailhac’s famous retraction of his opposition to the concept of paleolithic cave wall art, published over 20 years after Sanz de Sautuola’s discovery of the Altamira cave paintings in northern Spain. Cartailhac, one of the most influential prehistorians of the time, had ridiculed Sanz de Sautuola’s announcement of the Altamira paintings at the 1880 Prehistorical Conference in Lisbon; his refusal to accept the paintings’ authenticity—or even to visit the Altamira site—retarded the study of cave art for two decades. The case against paleolithic cave art was weakened by the subsequent discovery of several examples in France, including La Mouthe, and in 1902 Cartailhac finally agreed to go to Altamira to see the cave’s paintings for himself. Convinced by this visit, Cartailhac became one of the most fervent and enthusiastic scholars of cave art, publishing several works on the subject.

According to Theodore Janeway (No. 11572), Cushing was the first to recommend routine measurement of blood pressure during surgery using the Riva Rocci sphygmomanometer.(See No. 2804). Cushing visited Riva Rocci at Pavia in 1901, made drawings, and was given an example of the device. Along with George Crile, Cushing played a major role in popularizing Riva Rocci's mercury sphygmomanometer. In this paper Cushing wrote, "For the proper estimation of gradual alterations in arterial pressure in clinical cases reliance should not be placed alone on the palpating finger any more than the hand should be depended upon for the determination of a patient's temperature."

By 1902 Reed knew that the infectious agent of yellow fever was smaller than bacteria, though he did not specifically call it a virus. "In 1898, the passage of an animal pathogen through a Chamberland filter was reported; it is now named foot‐and‐mouth disease virus. In Cuba, serum from a yellow‐fever case was diluted and passed through a Berkefeld filter (of diatomaceous earth and impervious to bacteria). When inoculated into a non‐immune individual it promptly induced an attack of yellow fever. The word ‘virus’ was not used for this case, but because it might be designated as ultra‐microscopic, the infectious agent of yellow fever was compared with that of foot‐and‐mouth disease of cattle" (Clements & Harbach, "History of the discovery of the mode transmission of yellow fever virus," J. Vector Ecol. , 42 (2017) 208-222).

The yellow fever virus discovered by Reed was the first virus discovered that caused human disease.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

In this paper Stiles fully characterized and extensively illustrated the American hookworm parasite that he first described in No. 5363. This species and the Schistosoma are the pathogenic organisms that can penetrate intact skin of mankind.

Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)

Hill reported his successful suturing of a knife wound in the left ventricle. His patient, a thirteen-year-old boy recovered. This was the first successful suture of the heart performed in America. Hill argued "that any operation which reduces the mortality from 90 to about 63 per cent is entitled to a permanent place in surgery, and that every wound of the heart should be operated upon immediately."

Westaby & Bosher, Landmarks in cardiac surgery, 36-37, 316-318 reprinted this paper declaring, "It caused a sensation. 'Lived with Stabbed Heart' reported the headline of an article in the New York Sun, which described Hill's stitching of 13-year-old Henry Myrick's three-eight-inch stab wound in the left ventricle with a single catgut suture on the kitchen table of a shack, lit by two kerosene lamps."

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Digital facsimile of the 1902 first edition from the Hathi Trust at this link.

The first systematic work on child psychiatry in Germany. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.

In this speech Ehrlich explained how the molecular structure of a drug can define its action and function. It represents his first attempts at modifying the molecular structure of a compound in order to tailor the in vivo physiological actions of a drug.

Digital facsimile from wellcomelibrary.org at this link. According to Ehrlich's Collected papers, this was reprinted from v., Leyden-Festschr., Berlin: Hirschwald, 1902. That may have been its first publication.

English translation as "The relations existing between chemical constitution, distrtibution and pharmacological action," in Collected papers of Paul Ehrlich (No. 86.4).

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)

Znamensky, professor of stomatology in Moscow, had a very clear understanding of periodontitis, and the interaction of local and systemic factors in its etiology. He presented the first description of the histopathology of periodontal disease, and demonstrated the close association between calculus, the inflammatory response, and the migration of the epithelial attachment to produce the periodontal pocket. Very little information about Znamensky appears to be available in the western literature, his first and middle names are only recorded as initials.

Jung's M.D. thesis, in which he dealt for the first time with spiritualism in psychological terms, reporting data gathered at seances, and formulated the prototype of his theory of synchronicity.

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Digital facsimile of the 33rd impression (1922) from the Internet Archive at this link.

Martin and colleagues reported on the study of 192 sterile couples. Martin pointed out "that 33 (17%) of the men in this group were azoospermic and two more could produce no ejaculate at all. From an examination of the semen from these patients he came to several very important conclusions. He pointed out that in order to determine the potential fertility of a male patient, the semen must be fresh, because if a sample of semen is allowed to age, sperm movement is lost. However, he also noted that sperm motility could be preserved by cooling the semen sample. He also found that repeated samples of semen are necessary as some patients may produce an azoospermic sample and then at a later date can be found to have semen containing low numbers of sperm. Having examined large numbers of samples of human semen, he made detailed drawings of human spermatozoa and noted their polymorphism, particularly in relation to the variations in both size and shape of the sperm heads. He was perhaps the first person to describe twin-headed sperm and to describe sperm with two tails. He also noted the presence of cytoplasmic droplets on spermatozoa but could not explain their nature or their aetiology. He described psammoma bodies in semen and surmised that they came from the prostate. A further fundamental observation made by Edward Martin during surgery on these patients was that intratesticular sperm are immotile.

"In this paper, he [Martin] described the first epididymo-vasostomy. Initially, he carried out epididymo-vasostomies on three dogs after tying the vas proximally and then attempted this procedure on a patient with obstructive azoospermia" (Anne. M. Jequier, "Edward Martin (1859-1938). The founding father of modern clinical andrology," Int. J. Androl., 14 (1991), 1-10).

With J. Valentine Levi and M. E. Pennington.

Digital facsimile from BnF Gallica at this link

Some copies of this book include 8 of the 16 plates hand-colored; an unusual manual process for a book produced at this date.

In 1908 Archibald Garrod delivered the Croonian Lectures at the Royal College of Physicians in London on inborn errors of metabolism. In his studies of the rare disease alkaptonuria, which affects about one in one million people, Garrod noted that over twenty-five percent of the recorded cases were the offspring of first cousins. In 1902 he consulted the pioneer English geneticist William Bateson about whether the disease might be hereditary. In a footnote to the first of his "Reports to the Evolution Committee of the Royal Society" (1902), pp. 133-134 Bateson noted Garrod's work and suggested that since first cousins are often similar genetically, Garrod's data might be best understood if one assumed alkaptonuria to be caused by a recessive gene:

"In illustration of such a phenomenon we way perhaps venture to refer to the extraordinarily interesting evidence lately collected by Garrod regarding the rare condition known as "Alkaptonuria." In such persons the substance, alkapton, forms a regular constituent of the urine, giving it a deep brown colour which becomes black on exposure. The condition is exceedingly rare, and, though met with in several members of the same families, has only once been known to be directly transmitted front parent to offspring. Recently, however, Garrod has a noticed that no fewer than five families containing alkaptonuric members, more than a quarter of the recorded cases, are the offspring of unions of first cousins. In only two other families is the parentage known, one of these being the case in which the father was alkaptonuric. In the other case the parents were not related. Now there may be other accounts possible, but we note that the mating of first cousins gives exactly the conditions most likely to enable a rare and usually recessive character to show itself. If the bearer of such a gamete mates with individuals not bearing it, the character would hardly ever be seen; but first cousins will frequently be bearers of similar gametes, which may in such unions meet each other, and thus lead to the manifestation of the peculiar recessive characters in the zygote. See A. E. Garrod, 'Trans. Med. Chir. Soc.,' 1899, p. 367, and 'Lancet,' November 30, 1901."

Bateson's statement in this footnote published in 1902 was the first proof of Mendelian heredity in humans, and the foundation of human biochemical genetics.

The five reports in this series were separately published between 1902 and 1902. In 1910 they were collected under a general title page and issued together.

Distinctively, Senn devoted his first chapter to the "Preparation of Operating Room in a Private House," suggesting that surgeons may have been frequently called upon to perform operations in homes when the book was published. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link. Second edition, 1958 with appendix listing physicians, surgeons and pharmacists who received degrees or taught at the University of Guatemala from1902 to 1953.

First studies of the physiology of apnea in man.

“Cestan–Chenais syndrome”.

“Froin’s syndrome” – a coagulation of the cerebrospinal fluid.

Morawitz’s theory of blood coagulation.

Reticulocytes described.

Batten disease, a fatal disease of the nervous system that typically begins in childhood. Onset of symptoms is usually between 5 and 10 years of age. Often, it is autosomal recessive. It is the common name for a group of disorders called the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs).

See No. 4713.1

History of the care of the wounded during the Wars of the Swiss Confederation. Brunner shows that the Swiss were the first nation in Europe to organize state care of the wounded. Part 2 of the above work was published in book form, Tübingen, 1903.

Leduc reported the effects of a galvanic current on the brain. His work led the way to electric convulsion therapy, introduced by Carletti and Bini (No. 4962).

Section of the white rami caused retrograde degeneration of the lateral column cells.

Synthesis of barbitone (Barbitol), the first available barbiturate.

Rideal–Walker method for testing disinfectants.

English translation in Ehrlich, Studies in immunity, 1910.

English translation in Ehrlich, Studies in immunity, 1910.

First correct electroretinograms.

Gullstrand invented the slit-lamp, making possible the microscopic study of the living eye.

Murine leprosy described.

Records the first successful employment of radium in the treatment of cancer.

Perthes was among the first to study the inhibitory effect of x rays on carcinoma; he was a pioneer in radiotherapy.

Jensen carried rat sarcoma through as many as 40 generations of rodents without change in microscopic structure. His classic study discredited the theory of the infectivity of cancer, and established its inoculability. See also Z. Krebsforsch., 1909, 7, 45-54.

Schmidt supported the theory of the hematogenous origin of carcinoma metastases.

Third edition, 10 vols. [in 19], 1929-31.

Metchnikoff and Roux successfully transmitted syphilis from man to the higher apes. Although not the first to do this, they recorded much new information concerning the disease.

Distinction of infantile and adult types of coarctation of the aorta.

Wright and Douglas showed the existence of thermolabile substances (opsonins) in normal and immune serum.

When describing polycythemia with cyanosis, Osler thought it a new entity, but later acknowledged the priority of Vaquez’s description (No. 3070). Reprinted in Med. Classics, 1939, 4,254-75.

Wolff-Eisner trephined the tibia and femur of experimental animals and suggested biopsy of bone marrow as a clinical procedure.

Various rectal and vesical specula were designed by Kelly.

Development of Bloch’s two-stage Operation for resection of tumors of the rectum. English translation in Medical Classics, 1937, 2, 210-29.