Doctors 19th century
Carte de Viste photo of a doctor with a Cammann binaural and a wooden monaural stethoscopes resting on the table and aslo holding in his left hand a percussor resting on a medical text, c. 1855.
Carte de Viste photo of a doctor with a surgical set resting on the table. Note the phi beta kappa medical honor society pin on his vest, c. 1860.
Brigade Surgeon Dr. Stephen F. Elliot, cdv c. 1863. Dr. Elliot was a 1848 graduate of Harvard Medical School and moved to California during the gold rush of 1849 where he was commissioned Surgeon, 4th Battalion California Mountaineers in which he served until 1862. In April 1862, President Lincoln commissioned Dr. Elliot as Brigade Surgeon for Brig. Gen. George Crockett Srong, who he treated for a fatal wound received during the union assault on Fort Wagner, Morris Island, South Carolina in July 1863. Dr. Elliot was charged with insubordination for disobeying orders from the chief medical officer for Morris Island when he persisteed in placing his field hospitals too close to the field of battle. He resigned his commission in October 1863.
George Cammann carte de visite c. 1860
Carte de visite of Dr. George Cammann c. 1860 who designed the first usable binaural stethoscope (1852). During his postgraduate training at Paris hospitals in 1828-1830, he acquired a special interest in auscultation while attending lectures given by a friend and colleague of Laennec's, French physician Pierre-Charles-Alexandre Louis . He was working as a physician caring for the working poor at the Northern Dispensary in New York City (1831-1859) where he recognized the need for a better stethoscope and developed a practical instrument that came to bear his name. Interestingly, he never patented the stethoscope believing it should be freely available to physicians. The stethoscope was named Cammann's Stethoscope by the manufacturer of the original instrument, George Tiemann & Co.
Austin Flint cdv by Mora c. 1870
Carte de visite of Dr. Austin Flint, Sr. c. 1860 who was recognized as an execptional clinician and teacher, prolific writer, visionary thinker and the forerunner of modern cardiology, was regarded as the "American Laennec." Dr. Flint was one of the founders of the Bellevue Hospital Medical College (1861), also serving as professor of both the Long Island College Hospital (now SUNY Downstate Medical College) and Bellevue Hospital Medical College (now NYU School of Medicine). He was elected president of the New York Academy of Medicine in 1872 and the American Medical Association in 1884. Dr. Flint continued to evolve the art of physical diagnosis and especially percussion and auscultation. His texts on diseases of the heart, respiratory system and manual on percussion and auscultation are considered classics.
Albumin photo of Women's Ward 20 at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, circa 1888.
The photo has a legend identifying the hospital, ward, physicians and nurses bearing the mark of the Bellevue Hospital Photography Department, NY City. The enlarged photo shows Dr. Nammack holding a Cammann stethoscope in his left hand, Dr. Tingley taking notes, and nurse Ried with an open chart. Note that Dr. Nammack is also holding his patient's hand, perhaps to reassure her, as he discusses his observations.
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Dr. William H. Nammack was a 1886 graduate of Bellevue Medical College and was one of four "successful candidates for appointment in the Bellevue Hospital ". He served as a House Physician on the 3rd Medical Division at Bellevue Hospital in 1886-1887. Dr. Witter Kinney Tingley was also a graduate of Bellevue in 1886 and another of the four graduates to serve as a House Physician on the 3d Medical Division in 1887-1888. Dr. Robert Alexander Murray was a graduate of University Medical College (NYU) in 1873 and a House Physician on the 2d Medical Division from 1874-1875. Ms. Ried, Autisdale and Chase were Nurses at Bellevue Hospital.
A photo dated May 1889 of a physician in his office with a medical text on his lap, surrounded by medical equipment including a Bauch & Lomb microscope and Cammann stethoscope on his desk. The use of the microscope and stethoscope by physicians represents the advances in technology applied to the practice of medicine in the nineteenth century.
Rounds at Bellevue Hospital from the Bellevue Hospital Photography Department, c. 1891. A physician is using a Cammann Stethoscope to auscultate the heart of a young patient, while a medical student takes notes of the physical diagnostic findings and a nurse holds an open chart.
A photo of the Cardiac Clinic at the New York Post Graduate Medical School and Hopsital (now Tisch University Hospital of NYU Medical Center) with a physician standing who is using a ford bell stethoscope to auscultate a patient's heart and another physician sitting who is taking the blood pressue of a patient, c. 1910
A glass lantern slide with a label that reads "Doctor using stethoscope to listen to patient's heart; nurse making record on chart. Cornell Med. Center, NY" c. 1911.
Ulster Medical Society photo of John Creey Ferguson, A.M., M.B., T.C.D., c. 1863 who was Hon. F. King’s and Queen’s Coll. Physician and First Professor of Medicine Queen’s Medical College (1849). First President of Ulster Medical Society (1862-63). Ferguson was one of the leading figures in Irish medicine in the nineteenth century as practitioner, researcher and educator. He was a prominent advocate of using the stethoscope for auscultation, especially to detect the fetal heart beat in pregnant women.
Portrait of Dr. John William Schmidt, Jr. (1811-1858), a New Yorker, circa 1849. Dr. Schmidt was a close friend to the well-known surgeon Dr. Valentine Mott, and, fittingly, in the painting, Schmidt is holding upright a book titled Mott's Velpeau. Dr. Mott's translation of Alfred-Armand-Louis-Marie Velpeau's Operative Surgery was published in 1847. Schmidt was the first visiting surgeon to St. Vincent's Hospital, New York, opened in 1849. Ex. New York Academy of Medicine.
Wood engraving of St. Vincent's Hospital, 11th Street and Seventh Avenue, New York City, Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1870, page 405.
Valentine Mott cdv by Brady c. 1860
Valentine Mott (1785-1865) was considered one of the most influential American surgical leaders of his time. He received his medical degree from Columbia Medical College in 1806. In London, Mott studied surgery under Sir Astley Cooper. In 1809, Mott returned to New York City and was appointed professor of surgery in Columbia College. From 1811 to 1834 he was in very extensive practice as a surgeon, and most successful as a clinician and teacher. Mott was a founding faculty of the University Medical College of New York, now NYU School of Medicine. In 1849, he was elected president of the New York Academy of Medicine, as well as serving as president of the medical and surgical board of the newly opened St. Vincent’s Hospital. Valentine Mott was the first American to ligate successfully a great number of large arteries. Because of his extraordinary vascular surgery work, he is known as the “father” of American vascular surgery.
Page 372 from the Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York showing Professor Mott, M.D. as President of the Medical and Surgical Board and Consulting Surgeon and Consulting Physician of St. Vincent's Hospital. St. Vincent's Hospital was established in 1849, but was only identified in the Manual starting in 1861. Dr. Mott served continuously as President of the Board from 1849 until his death in 1865. Note that his son, Alex. B. Mott, M.D. was a Visiting Surgeon at the hospital.
Early Photograph of Dr. Étienne Destot (1864-1918) at the Hôtel-Dieu, Lyon, France, signed by the photographer Jules Sylvestre, c. 1894. Noted as France's pioneer radiologist, Dr. Destot did substantial radiological research while tending to WWI wounded. A monaural Stokes stethoscope standing upright on its ear plate is set upon the table. Part of an early sphygmomanometer used to measure Blood Pressure is also resting on the front of the table.
​​In 1896, Scipione Riva-Rocci developed the mercury sphygmomanometer, almost as we know it today. The sphygmomanometer could only be used to determine the systolic blood pressure. Observing the pulse disappearance via palpation would only allow the measuring physician to observe the point when the artery was fully constricted. Dr. Riva-Rocci is on the left side of the photograph taking a patient's blood pressure, c. 1910
The operating theater at Bellevue Hospital, New York, c. 1885. The image was taken by the Bellevue Photographic Department as noted in the lower left corner. The demonstrator is the English surgeon Sir William MacCormac (1836-1901). Dr. MacCormac, who served as surgeon-in-chief to the Anglo-American Ambulance in the Franco-Prussian War, also gave a lecture at Bellevue on his experiences with military surgery. George A. Peters, M.D., is in an arm chair in the left forefront. Directly behind Dr. Peters is seated the young Dr. Austin Flint, and sitting to his left and wearing a skull cap is Lewis Albert Sayre, M.D.
Carte de visite of a physician holding a Quain stethoscope in his right hand, resting on a table, Glasgow, c. 1860.
A heliogravure portrait of Dr. Ernst Viktor von Leyden, c. 1880. Von Leyden, a student of Ludwig Traube, is depicted holding a Traube percussion hammer in his right hand, while his left hand rests on one of his texts. He was an authority on neurological diseases and authored several manuscripts and a textbook on the subject
Carte de viste of Mary Walker, M.D. in civil war union army uniform with medical staff insigna on hat, c. 1863. In September 1863, she was employed as a "Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian)" by the Army of the Cumberland, becoming the first female surgeon employed by the U.S. Army. Walker was later appointed assistant surgeon of the 52nd Ohio Infantry. During her service, she frequently crossed battle lines and treated civilians. In 1864, Dr. Walker was captured as a spy behind enemy lines by the confederates and released 4 months later. After the war's conclusion Dr. Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor for Meritorious Service in January 1866 by President Andrew Johnson. She is still today the only woman to be awarded the medal of honor.
Photograph of Clara Barton by J.E. Purdy, 1904. Barton was a pioneering humanitarian who served on the front lines during the Civil War, where she earned the nickname "Angel of the Battlefield" for her compassionate care of soldiers. After the war, she established the Office of Correspondence with Friends of the Missing Men and helped identify and mark countless graves. In 1881, at age 60, she founded the American Red Cross and led it for 23 years, expanding its mission to include disaster relief. Clara Barton's lifelong dedication to service broke barriers for women in government and inspired the international movement for humanitarian aid
Samuel Gross, M.D. carte de visite, circa 1875. Dr. Gross was a distinguished American academic trauma surgeon who acted as an advisor to the US Surgeon General during the War. He wrote "A Manual of Military Surgery" in 1861, which became an essential guide for surgeons in both the Union and Confederate armies. A pioneer in surgical techniques, Dr. Gross was also dedicated to teaching and extensively writing on surgical subjects. In his manual, he noted that soldiers could feign disease of the heart in the form of palpitations that can be produced by the use of hellebore (a cardiac glycoside). However, 'organic cardiac disease could easily be detected with the stethoscope.' He served as the chairman of surgery at Jefferson Medical College from 1856 to 1889.
Jacob Da Costa, M.D. carte de visite, c. 1860. Dr. Da Costa was an Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian contract surgeon) at Turner's Lane Hospital in Philadelphia during the civil war. Over the course of the war, Da Costa studied over 300 soldiers who complained of a rapid pulse, heart palpitations, and chest pain. As early as 1862 in a letter to the War Department he identified a new anxiety disorder he termed "irritable heart," soon referred to as Da Costa’s Syndrome. In 1871, he published his findings in a paper "On Irritable Heart; A Clinical Study of a Form of Functional Cardiac Disorder and Its Consequences." Dr. Da Costa served as chairman of medicine at Jefferson Medical College from 1872-1891.
Oil portrait of Dr. John T. Metcalfe ex. New York Academy of Medicine c.1900, who was Professor of the Institutes and Practice of Medicine at the University of New York Medical Department from 1854-1866. He was responsible for the Medical Lectures and Clinics. The Medical Clinics were "full of interest, from the great number of miscellaneous cases of disease. The Clinical Class is divided into sections, each of which examines, at leisure, in a room provided for the purpose, the lungs, heart, etc., of patients, a written record of whose cases has been previously dictated before the class by the Professor, and which serves as a guide during the examination (University of New York Medicine Department, Course of Instruction, 1862-1863). Dr. Metcalfe was an expert on Miasmatic fevers.​
The carte de visite of Dr. T. Gaillard Thomas, c. 1865, who was a lecturer at the University of New York Department of Medicine from 1855-1863. Dr. Thomas was a close associate of Professor Metcalfe and taught many of Metcalfe's clinics on medicine. He was an expert in Diseases of Women and was a professor at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1863-1889, where in 1896 became the Chair of the Department of Gynecology. Dr. Thomas presented the portrait of Professor Metcalfe to the New York Academy of Medicine in 1900.
New York University medical student Cromwell O. Johnson took lecture notes on January 8, 1863 about case 31 given by Professor Metcalfe on Cancer and Abscess of the Liver.
His notes on Case 35 are about Hypochondriasis describe a case of anxiety disorder that Dr. Da Costa identified in 1862 among civil war soldiers and in civilian practice that he termed "irritable heart.”
New York University medical student Cromwell O. Johnson took lecture notes on January 14 about case 34 given by Dr. Thomas on Nephrotic Dropsy (Edema).
His notes on Case 40, page 158 are about Phthisis Pulmonalis (Tuberculosis) show the importance of Physical Examination and especially Percussion and Auscultation in the diagnosis of Tuberculosis. During the civil war more soldiers died from diseases than battlefield wounds, especially infectious diseases like tuberculosis.
Civil war surgeon Cromwell O. Johnson received his medical degree form the University of New York, Department of Medicine in March of 1863. His lecture notes of medical cases above were taken between October 1862 and and March 1863 at the University of New York Medical Clinics. After graduation, Dr. Johnson enlisted as an assistant surgeon of the 5th Pennsylvania Reserves, also known as the 34th Pennsylvania, on March 9, 1863 and was an assistant surgeon in March of 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. Unfortunately, just seven months into his service, he resigned from active duty on September 22, 1863 on account of impaired health. He did however return to service with the Minnesota Cavalry in Brackett's Battalion in April of 1864, aiding in the fight against the “American Indian uprisings.” He died before reaching the age of 30 on December 21, 1864 during the harsh winter at Fort Ridgley on the frontier border of the Dakota Territory.
Carte de visite of Israel Philip Lecrone, M.D., c.1871 depicted with dissection tools and a skull. He is dressed in an apron typical of an autopsy room. Dr. Lecrone graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1871 and studied under anatomy professor William H. Pancoast, who he joined in practice after graduation. Dr. Lecrone eventually had a very successful practice in Arendtsville, Pennsylvania.
Carte de visite of medical student George R. Hagerman, 1880 upon graduation from Cleveland Medical College (now Case Western Reserve School of Medicine). Dr. Hagerman began his practice at age 23 in his small hometown village of Mendon, Ohio. He tried to establish a practice in Chattanooga, Ohio and also owned a grocery store which he sold in 1903. Dr. Hagerman finally settled in the small rural village of Kipton, Ohio where he practiced medicine for almost 40 years.
Jefferson Medical College ticket to attend Dr. Wm. H. Pancoast's course on General Descriptive and Surgical ANATOMY dated 1876. Dr. Lecrone would have attended this anatomical course during his medical education. Perhaps this explains the unusual dress in the carte de visite of Dr. Lecrone to the left.
Also shown is Dr. Lecrone's graduation essay on Typhoid Fever, 1870-71.
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Letter from Dr. Hagerman, Chattanooga, Ohio in 1896 to the Commissioner of Adams County, Indiana making his bid to care for county poor in Jefferson and Blue Creek townships. We do not know if his bid was accepted but in 1903 he relocated to Kipton, Ohio and where he practiced medicine until his death in 1939.
Carte de visite of Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D. c.1865 who was an American physician, essayist and poet. He was acclaimed by his peers as one of the best writers of the day and was also an important medical reformer. He gained a wide spread reputation after winning Harvard Medical School's prestigious Boylston Prize in 1836, for which he submitted a paper on the benefits of using the stethoscope, a device with which many American doctors were not familiar. Dr. Holmes was professor and then dean at the Harvard Medical School from 1847 to 1882.
The Stethoscope Song by Oliver Wendell Holmes, M.D.
Dr. Holmes penned the satirical poem, "The Stethoscope Song," shown above in 1848. This poem humorously depicted the initial resistance to the stethoscope's adoption and served as a cautionary tale about relying solely on the device for diagnosis.​
Sir William Osler, M.D. photograph signed "Sincerely yours, Wm Osler," c. 1900. Dr. Osler is considered the "father" of modern medicine. He was an ardent "student" of pathology in the great tradition of Laennec and others who applied their post-mortem findings to better understand the pathophysiology of disease. Dr. Osler’s most notable teaching to his students at the bedside of patients was "Listen to your patient. He is telling you the diagnosis," emphasizing the importance of taking a thorough history as part of the complete examination of a patient.
Dr. Osler was renowned for his pithy, memorable and defining quotations. Some of these are shown in the document above.
Ludwig W. Eichna, M.D., photograph c. 1973. Dr. Eichna was Professor and Chairman of SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn from 1960 until 1974. Eichna’s contributions in the field of cardiovascular disease and physiology are well recognized as well as his tireless efforts on the wards of Kings County Hospital. After retirement, he went on to another unique career. He entered Downstate as a medical student, completed the course of study and was awarded a second M.D. degree in 1979. Dr. Eichna published his perspectives as a medical student in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1980, stating in conclusion that "The patient comes first."
Dr. Eichna's special article in the New England Journal of Medicine, 1980 after completing a second four years of medical school and graduating in 1979. From his experience as a medical student he developed eight basic principles that he believed should govern medical-school education.