Hope stethoscope

Dr. James Hope's oil portrait by Thomas Phillips, c. 1841. Dr. Hope gave an award for ausculatation to exceptional medical students . One such student was Mr. C.J. Freemen. Mr. Freeman started his medical studies in 1837 at the Aldersgate Medical School in London. One of his courses was the Principle and Practice of Medicine taught by Dr. Hope. From 1838-1839, he completed 12 months of clinical experience at nearby St. Batholomew's Hospital his clinical clerkship, Mr. Freeman presented a case that is discussed in Hope's textbook on Diseases of the Heart. The patient was in St. Bartholomew's Hospital from May 4-27, 1839. Dr. Hope writes that "the following case is a curiosity, as it presents a greater number of different murmurs (namely, six, including that rare one- the direct mitral) than I have heard in any other instance: yet it will be seen that they were unraveled with the greatest clearness by a student! This gentleman was James Freeman, a pupil of my class on the practice of medicine, who brilliantly won my prize for auscultation for the year. I give this case in his own words, the accuracy of which I have verified by a personal examination of the patient." There were only a total of four such presentation stethoscopes awarded, and the stethoscope pictured above is one of three known to exist today.