ROBERT JAMES (1705-1776). A medicinal dictionary. 3 vols. London: T. Osborne, 1743-1745. James studied at Oxford and was granted his M.D. from Cambridge by royal mandate in 1728. He settled in London after practicing at Sheffield, Lichfield, and Birmingham. A successful physician, he became quite wealthy and famous when his “fever powder” became the most popular nostrumContinue reading “Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room; James Medicinal Dictionary”
Category Archives: News
Presentation on the History of Malaria and DDT
The University of Iowa History of Medicine Society invites you to hear Patrick T. O’Shaughnessy, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Iowa, speak on “Malaria and DDT: the History of a Controversial Association” on Tuesday, January 19th, 5:30 to 6:30, room 2032 Main Library. Dr. O’Shaughnessy observes: “Although it helped prevent millionsContinue reading “Presentation on the History of Malaria and DDT”
Notes From the Rare Book Room –A Private Pestilence
Puerperal fever, often called childbed fever, ravaged obstetrics patients in the U.S., Britain, and Europe throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Its symptoms included severe abdominal pain, fever, and debility and carried a mortality rate as high as seventy percent during some epidemics. Even though the greatest incidences occurred in close-quartered “lying-in hospitals,” (state-supported maternityContinue reading “Notes From the Rare Book Room –A Private Pestilence”
Notes from the Rare Book Room “Anatome animalium”
Gerardus Blasius (1626?-1692?). Anatome animalium. Amsterdam, 1681. Although Blasius was a practicing physician in Amsterdam, his real interest lay in anatomy and, in particular, comparative anatomy. He worked closely with philosophers and scientists such as John Locke, Jan Swammerdam, and Niels Stensen to promote the study of anatomy and to widen the availability of bothContinue reading “Notes from the Rare Book Room “Anatome animalium””
Notes from the Rare Book Room “Histoire de medicine”
Daniel Le Clerc (1652-1728). Histoire de la médecine. Nouvelle ed. Amsterdam: Aux depens de la Compagnie, 1723. Swiss physician, Daniel Le Clerc was born at Geneva and studied medicine at Montpellier and Paris. He received the M.D. degree at Valencia in 1670 and returned to Geneva to enter private practice. Although successful as a physician,Continue reading “Notes from the Rare Book Room “Histoire de medicine””
Notes from the Rare Book Room “Wrap up the Sword and Call me in the Morning”
But she has taen the broken lance, And washed it from the clotted gore, And salved the splinter o’er and o’er. —Sir Walter Scott: Lay of the Last Minstrel—1805 The notion that wounds can be healed from a distance dates back hundreds, perhaps thousands of years and is retained in some folk remedies today. However,Continue reading “Notes from the Rare Book Room “Wrap up the Sword and Call me in the Morning””
Notes from the Rare Book Room: The Great Herbal of Leonhart Fuchs
In the sixteenth century the same spirit which inspired Vesalius and others in the field of anatomy served also as the inspiration for the study of flora from actual specimens, culminating in what is certainly the most celebrated and probably the most beautiful herbal ever published, Fuchs’ De historia stirpium commentarii Basel, 1542. Leonhart FuchsContinue reading “Notes from the Rare Book Room: The Great Herbal of Leonhart Fuchs”
Meet our new Coordinator – Kelly Thormodson
Kelly Thormodson is Hardin Library’s newest staff member! Originally from Fergus Falls, MN, she completed her undergrad studies at North Dakota State University, and then went on to receive her Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Iowa. Although she is not new to Iowa City and the University of Iowa, she spentContinue reading “Meet our new Coordinator – Kelly Thormodson”
Hardin Student-Workers 2009 Graduates
Of Hardin Library’s student employees, five will be graduating this year! Alexa Groff is graduating with a BA in English. She will be attending graduate school at the University of Iowa in Education. Adnan Fazal is receiving an MHA is Health Administration. He has already moved to Marshalltown where he is the manager of anContinue reading “Hardin Student-Workers 2009 Graduates”
News from the John Martin Rare Book Room – Activities of Daily Living
Activities of Daily Living– While fads and fancies in health and medicine come and go, the underlying essentials of wellbeing, including, rest, nutrition, exercise, and moderation have gone unchallenged for millennia. One of the more popular works outlining keys to basic fitness is the Tacuini sanitatis by the eleventh century Iraq physician, Ibn Butlān (d.Continue reading “News from the John Martin Rare Book Room – Activities of Daily Living”