Hardin News – Page 9

Ibn Butlan’s Tacuini Sanitatis (1531)

The Maintenance of<br /><br />
The Maintenance of Health by Ibn Butlan Image via the guardian.com, credit Royal Society

This images are from a 14th century translation of Arabic doctor Ibn Butlan, who died circa 1068. Butlan’s title roughly translates to “health report.” The report addresses the impact of nature, emotional states, daily life, and meteorological conditions on health. Butlan wrote that his book concerned “the six things that are necessary for every man in the daily preservation of his health.” These included:

1. “The treatment of air, which concerns the heart.”

2. “The right use of foods and drinks.”

3. “The correct use of movement and rest.”

4. “The problem of prohibiting excessive wakefulness.”

5. “The correct use of elimination and retention of humors.”

6. “The regulating of the person by moderating joy, anger, fear, and distress.”

Wine. Image via offi.fr Making spaghetti. Image via spaghettiforever.wordpress.com

Announcing the completion of the William Osler Pamphlet Collection

About William Osler

Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet (July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the four founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of physicians, and he was the first to bring medical students out of the lecture hall for bedside clinical training. He has frequently been described as the “Father of Modern Medicine.” Osler was not only a physician but a bibliophile, author, historian, and renowned practical joker. He had numerous ties to the University of Iowa. Special Collections holds letters between Osler and Campell Palmer Howard, a faculty member at the University, and Osler’s desk is housed in the John Martin Rare Book Room at Hardin (Room 401).

Hardin’s Osler Pamphlet Collection

From 1972 to 2010 the Hardin Library received a significant collection of documents by and about William Osler, including several copies donated by Dr. R. N. Larimer. The Rare Book room staff has provided helpful guides and online versions for much of this material. An index for the collection, which contains 317 items ranging from 1878-1976, can be found here.

[Osler at his desk]

William Stewart Halsted, Father of American Modern Surgery: a retrospective

The University of Iowa History of Medicine Society invites you to hear:

Nicholas P. Rossi, M.D.

Nicholas P. Rossi, Emeritus Professor, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Iowa College of Medicine. Rossi will provide a fascinating look at the life and medical achievements of William Stewart Halsted, considered the father of modern American surgery.

Halsted, who lived from 1852-1922, was one of the “Big Four” professors who founded John Hopkins Hospital. Halsted was an early pioneer for anesthesia and for aseptic technique in surgery, including the use of rubber gloves. Halsted also led a fascinating personal life: he was addicted to cocaine and morphine (which were not illegal during his lifetime) and was considered eccentric by his students. Throughout his lifetime, he was responsible for several innovations and advances in his field, including:

Halsted’s law, which states that transplanted tissue will grow only if the host lacks that tissue
Halsted mosquito forceps, a type of hemostat
Halsted’s operation I, a procedure for inguinal hernia
Halsted’s operation II, radical mastectomy for breast cancer
Halsted’s sign, used to detect breast cancer
Halsted’s suture, a mattress suture for wounds which minimized scarring

Attend this lecture to learn how the major preceding events of Halsted’s time and character ushered in one of the great eras of modern medicine.

This event will be held on Thursday, February 27 from 5:30-6:30 pm in Room 401 at Hardin Library for the Health Sciences. Find out more here or contact the Rare Book Room with questions at 335-9154 or by emailing donna-hirst@uiowa.edu. Want to know more about this fascinating figure? Read about Halsted at Hopkins Medicine or see his documentary.

Asitha Jayawardena: “Expedited ‘Diffusion of Innovation’: A Reflection on the Ponseti Method in the current era of medicine”

The University of Iowa History of Medicine Society invites you to hear: Asitha Jayawardena on Thursday, January 23 from 5:30-6:30 in Room 401.

Sparks Essay Contest winner and College of Medicine Student Jayawardena will describe the history and cultural context of clubfoot and treatments developed by Dr. Ignacio Ponseti. He will then describe diffusion theory as Ponseti’s treatment spread through the world. Visit the UI History of Medicine Society for more info or call Donna Hirst in the Rare Book Room at 335-9154.

Photo: Exciting new voices are coming to the Rare Book Room at Hardin!

The University of Iowa History of Medicine Society invites you to hear Asitha Jayawardena, College of Medicine student and winner of the Sparks Essay Contest, on the history and diffusion of the Ponseti Method for treating clubfoot. This event will be held in Room 401 from 5:30-6:30 on Thursday, January 23.

Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room, December 2013

Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room, December, 2013

JOHANN CASPAR LAVATER (1741-1801). Essai sur la physiogno-monie : destiné à faire connoître l’homme… 4 vol. 1781[-1786].

Lavater was born in Zürich; he was a poet and a physiognomist. His name would be forgotten but for his work in the field of physiognomy. The fame of his book, which found admirers in France, England as well as Germany, rests largely upon the handsome style of publication and the accompanying illustrations.

The two principal sources from which Lavater de-veloped his physiognomical studies were the writings of the Italian polymath Giambattista della Porta, and the observations of Sir Thomas Browne in his Religio Medici. This pseudo-scientific analysis of the human face, and all the feelings it is capable of expression, was partially written by Goethe, a leading expert in craniology. To defend the science of physiognomy, Lavater drew upon the work of Haller, Herber, Leibnitz and Sulzer.

Although this work remains controversial, it is highly valued for its superb engraved illustrations. There are numerous portraits of famous writers, artists, musicians, scientists, and contemporary personages including Goethe, Samuel Johnson, Locke, George Washington, Voltaire, Heidegger, Wren, Diderot, Isaac Newton, and Johann Sebastian Bach.

Expedited Diffusion of Innovation: A reflection on the Ponseti Method

The Univ. of Iowa History of Medicine Society invites you to hear: Asitha Jayawardena, medical student and winner of the Sparks Essay Contest, speak on “Expedited Diffusion of Innovation: A reflection on the Ponseti Method in the current era of medicine.”

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, 5:30-6:30. Room 401 Hardin Library

A cast from the past– Our speaker will describe the history and cultural context of clubfoot and treatments developed by Dr. Ignacio Ponseti. He will then describe diffusion theory as Ponseti’s treatment spread through the world.

Literature Searching for a Systematic Review Free class Friday 10-11am

This class will focus on tips and techniques for carrying out a successful literature search in support of a systematic review.

Topics will include techniques for developing search strategies, deciding which databases to search and how to seek out grey literature for a given topic. There will also be discussion on selecting journals for hand searching, documenting search strategies, and saving and organizing references.

Our next session:

Friday, September 27th 10:00-11:00am (Location: East Information Commons, Hardin Library)

No time for a class? Contact your librarian for individual instruction.

Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room, September 2013

HANS VON GERSDORFF (ca. 1455-1529). Feldtbuch der Wundartzney. Strasbourg: Bey Hans Schotten, 1530.

Gersdorff was a military surgeon who gained wide experience during forty years of campaigning and was an expert in the treatment of battlefield injuries. His work covers anatomy, surgery, leprosy, and glossaries of anatomical terms, diseases, and medications. Gersdorff emphasized a well-founded knowledge of anatomy because the surgeon was frequently called on to deal with extensive bodily trauma. He derived his anatomy from Arabic authors and works of Guy de Chauliac. The surgical portion of the work was devoted to wound surgery and covers the methods he employed for extracting foreign objects and amputating limbs. He used a tourniquet to control bleeding when amputating and covered the stump with the bladder of a bovine to help control postoperative hemorrhaging. Of special interest are the sedatives and analgesics, although he appears not to have used them in his practice. The section on leprosy is given over largely to remedies for a disease he did not believe could be cured.

Univ. of Iowa College of Medicine Historical Photographs

University of Iowa College of Medicine Historical Photograhs are now available through the Iowa Digital Library. The collection includes 194 images from 1844-2010. The collection is a composite of several collections held at the Hardin Library including two boxes of lantern glass slides from ca. 1910. The original slides are now housed in the University Archives. Work to document and compile these images has been active in the Rare Book Room since 2012. It is with great pleasure that we can now make these images broadly available.

Donna Hirst, Curator
John Martin Rare Book Room June 26, 2013

Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room

Notes from the John Martin Rare Book Room, June 2013

STEVEN BLANKAART (1650-1702). Anatomia reformata, sive Concinna corporis humani dissection… Leiden, 1695.

Blankaart, Dutch pharmacist, physician, and anatomist, initially practiced pharmacy and later medicine in Amsterdam. He studied medicine and philosophy at Franeker where he graduated in 1674. He was a prolific writer and was the first to edit and publish a medical journal in Holland. Blankaart is also known for his use of the injection technique to study the details of blood vessel distribution. This technique was first suggested by Leonardo da Vinci and later used by such prominent anatomists as Graaf, Swammerdam, and Ruysch. Blankaart first published this popular anatomical text at Leiden in 1687. In this comprehensive work, he cited nearly seventy authors whose works he had consulted. The finely engraved plates in this profusely illustrated work attest to Blankaart’s keen observational powers. A plate depicts some of the apparatus used in the embalming process.