An arrow escape
In 1871 the Surgeon-General’s office of the US Government published a document identified simply as Circular no 3. The dull […]
Mysterious illnesses
The forgetful sailor
In 1832 a surgeon serving aboard a British Navy vessel in the Mediterranean, David Burnes, sent an unusual case history
He sliced his penis in two
This case sounds so implausible that you may start thinking it’s a spoof. I assure you it’s not: I came
Fifty years ahead of his time
I’m writing this post on the 122nd anniversary of the first attempt at heart surgery, which took place in Norway
Medical shenanigans
Not getting his hands dirty
If you haven’t been watching the BBC2 comedy Quacks, you’re missing a treat. It’s set in the world of mid-Victorian
Remarkable recoveries
A span in length
More strange news from the Philosophical Transactions, the venerable journal of the Royal Society. This brief report was contributed in
Unfortunate predicaments
An unfortunate couple
Johann Georg Steigerthal was an eminent German medic of the early seventeenth century. In 1715 he was appointed court physician
Mysterious illnesses, Unfortunate predicaments
An unwelcome visitor
A short news item published in 1843 by the Gazette Médicale de Paris contains the sort of case that would
Going for a dance
In 1871 a coroner from the city of St Louis, Dr G. F. Dudley, sent a short paper entitled ‘Interesting
The boy who choked on his gold
I came across this interesting story in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Surgery at Paris, a collection of