Abstract
Leo Abse has written The Bi-Sexuality of Daniel Defoe, A Psychoanalytic Survey of the Man and his Works (ISBN 1-8557-5456-8). The work of a backbench MP, this paperback is beautifully printed by Karnac Books but without illustrations though well provided at the end of each chapter with notes, much in the style of this journal since they include references as well.
Brian Gardiner has contributed a picture quiz on James Paget (1814–99), Surgeon at Barts, in the Journal of the Linnean Society (The Linnean 2007;
Several books have been published recently on the History of Anaesthesia. A new book entitled Anaesthesia and the Practice of Medicine: Historical Perspectives by Keith Sykes and John Bunker (RSM Press, ISBN 978-1-85315-674-8) deals with some transatlantic issues in relation to anaesthesia, the Morris Motor Company, underwater anaesthesia in the dog and various aspects of equipment and obstetric anaesthesia. It is a good read and value at £15.95.
Items of medical history and biography turn up in unexpected places, on this occasion in Curtis's Botanical Magazine 2006, volume 23, the beautifully illustrated journal published by Blackwells for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. The founder in 1787, William Curtis (1746–99), was demonstrator at the Apothecaries’ Garden in Chelsea, now the Chelsea Physic Garden. He wrote Flora Londiniensis. The leaves of Eupatorium semialatum have been used in cases of malaria and dysentery, among other disorders, effective maybe due to the sesquiterpine lac-tones found there (page 286). Three Japanese doctors mentioned in the same issue (pages 325–6) might merit the attention of a medical biographer – they are Keisuke Ito (1803–1901), his father and his teacher Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold (1796– 1866), each of whose botany studies were necessary for medicine in that era. Of interest are The Romance of the Apothecaries’ Garden at Chelsea by F Dawtrey Drewitt, 1924, Chapman and Dodd, London and Doctor in the Garden, Nomen Medici in Botanicis, by John Pearn, Brisbane: Amphion Press, 2001.
The Secret Life of Dr James Barry by Rachel Holmes (ISBN 0-7524-4139-6) discusses the life of this female Inspector General of Hospitals who qualified as a Doctor of Medicine in Edinburgh in 1812. The style is easy and roams from Cape Town to her gravestone in Kensal Green Cemetery. Tempus Publishing has produced an interesting paperback of 336 pages at £12.99.
The Osler Library in Montreal has published number 10 in the studies in the History of Medicine, this entitled The Transatlantic Voice, A Philological Study (ISBN 0-7717-0642-1). This is an annotated and hitherto unpublished Osler manuscript. He discusses peculiarities of voice – American, British – and change of voice in Englishmen, and analysis of accent.
A History of Neuro-Oncology by Rolando F Del Maestro is the second book beautifully produced by the Osler Library. Copious colour illustrations include the early stereotaxic apparatus used for operations on the human brain, an early ophthalmoscope and discussion of phrenology. This book is a joy to handle and to read.
Herbert Reiss has written a biography of Francis J Browne (1879–1963), a paperback published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (ISBN 978-1-904752-10-3). Browne retired from the Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University College Hospital in London in 1946 and, shortly after, he moved to Sydney with his new wife.
Steve Jones and Milo Keynes have published Twelve Galton Lectures, A Centenary Selection with Commentaries (ISBN 978-0-95465-701-7). These lectures, at The Galton Institute in London, were delivered in 1940 and 1982, and provide a source of classic papers.
Lynda Payne has published through Ashgate With Words and Knives, Learning Medical Dispassion in early Modern England (ISBN 978-0-75463-689-2), one in the series of The History of Medicine in Context. The work originated with her thesis dealing with clinical detachment, a concept often criticised in doctors. She considers William Hunter's dispassionate protocols to deal with his own discomfort since he fainted at operations.
Resuscitation Greats (ISBN 978-1-85457-049-9) is edited by Peter Baskett and Thomas F Baskett, and discusses more than 90 contributors to resuscitation, considering tracheal intubation, defibrillation and rescue from immersion. John Snow, Sharpey-Schafer and Magill among others each have their place.