doctors delights

A Doctor's Delights

Discoveries from the Richard Travers Collection

An exhibition of material from the Monash University Library



Rare Book Collection



I am greatly honoured to be asked to put this exhibition together. It has been

hard to pick the hundred or so favourites from a collection of 15,000 titles, but

I have chosen those titles I was most pleased to find. To make a dangerous

paraphrase of Dryden, there is a pleasure in collecting books, which none but

collectors know. My excitement might have come from finding a book by a

special author for the first time (such as John Hunter, who was introduced to

me by Graeme Schofield); it might have come from finding a book not known

to exist (such as Cole‟s Anatomy), or one known only by title (such as Percy

Mole‟s). It might have come from finally completing a set (such as the

Australian Medical Journal). Many of the Australiana items are unique; at

least, there are no other known holdings in Australia. Much of the joy comes

from collecting ephemeral publications, and here I must acknowledge the

great help I have had from Melbourne book dealers, who have kept many of

these things aside for me, awaiting my periodic visits.



I first collected books on the history of medicine, encouraged by Dr Frank

Forster. He had an unparalleled obstetrics and gynaecology collection, which

is now in the appropriate College, housed in a splendid library of his own

creation. Soon after this, I started collecting the classic texts of medicine, and

here my greatest stimulus was the second-hand department of H. K. Lewis &

Co., Ltd., a medical bookseller in London. Between 1976 and 1979 I spent

many happy hours studying the shelves with my bible, Garrison and Morton‟s

bibliography, in hand. What a great way to learn about the development of

medicine! For the last 25 years, however, I have concentrated on medical

Australiana in its broadest sense, with the encouragement of that doyen of

Australian medical history, Dr Bryan Gandevia.



The suggestion to transfer my collection to Monash University came first from

Barry Firkin, Professor of Medicine at the Alfred Hospital, and keen medical

historian. Richard Overell, the Rare Books librarian, offered me shelf space

and now, with the AMA collection and the Ian Goller AIDS collection, Monash

University has a remarkably strong holding in the historical and social aspects

of medicine. In every great library I have consulted I have found myself the

beneficiary of the generosity of previous donors, so I can think of no better

place than this one for my own books.



Dr. Richard Travers



Abbreviations used in the text:

BIBAM – Bicentenary Bibliography of Australian Medicine and Health

Services to 1950. Edited by B Gandevia, J Donovan, R Doust, B Pribac,

B Proud, R Travers and P Woolcock. 4 vols. Canberra, AGPS, 1988.

Ford – Bibliography of Australian Medicine 1790-1900, by Sir Edward Ford.

Sydney: Sydney University Press 1976.

GM – Morton’s Medical Bibliography. An annotated checklist of texts

illustrating the history of medicine (Garrison and Morton), edited by

Jeremy M Norman. Fifth edition. London, Scholar Press,1991. Previous

editions were published in 1943, 1954, 1970, and 1983. Because of the

many additions and the few deletions, there may be minor changes in

number.

Central Display Case

Early works



1. Willis, Thomas, 1621-1675.



Opera omnia (Geneva : Samuel de Tournes, 1676)



Willis was remarkable for his careful clinical observation, and was

second only to Sydenham in his day. This book, volume 1 of his

collected works, was written in Latin and bought in Florence in 1976.

The transaction had to be conducted, rather unsatisfactorily, in French,

and on returning to our camp site I realised that Vol. 2 was missing.

When the bookshop eventually reopened at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, delaying

our departure, the proprietor was unable to find the missing volume, so –

most unusually – refunded half the cost. The book is open at the famous

plate of the inferior surface of the brain, showing the arterial “Circle of

Willis” (Cerebri Anatome, Plate 1). This plate, and many of the others,

was engraved by Christopher Wren. [GM 62].



2. Bernard, Claude, 1813-1878.

Illustrated manual of operative surgery and surgical anatomy

, 1861)



This French surgical textbook, which in translation was much used in

North America, has hundreds of hand-coloured plates. A point of interest

is that the fifth Baillière brother listed as publisher of the translation,

Ferdinand François, worked in Melbourne. He published many of Dr

James Beaney‟s books, and sued him unsuccessfully for recovery of

some of the costs [see Ford 224].



3. Cadogan, William, 1711-1797

A dissertation on the gout / by William Cadogan 11th ed. (London :

Dodsley, 1772)



Cadogan‟s book was an instant success on its publication in 1771, and

went through 11 editions in just two years. He said that gout was caused

by idleness, intemperance and stress, rather than it being an hereditary

and (at the time) incurable disease. One is reminded of John Abernethy‟s

advice to such a patient a generation later: “Live on sixpence a day, and

earn it.” [GM 4489]



4. Darwin, Erasmus, 1731-1802.

Phytologia, or, The philosophy of agriculture and gardening : with

the theory of draining morasses, and with an improved construction of

the drill plough / by Erasmus Darwin (London : Printed for J. Johnson ...

; by T. Bensley ..., 1800)

Erasmus Darwin, the grandfather of Charles Darwin, was a physician

and was noted for his freethinking opinions, his poetry (often dealing with

scientific subjects), his large botanical garden and his mechanical

inventions. Phytologia is chiefly remarkable for his advocacy of bone

dust as a fertiliser. This copy was bound by Miss Edith Dew, a creative

bookbinder in Melbourne, and sister of Sir Harold Dew [see item 64]



5. Le Clerc (Charles Gabriel), M., b. 1644.

The compleat surgeon: or, The whole art of surgery explain'd in a

most familiar method. Containing the principles of that art; and, an exact

account of tumours, ulcers, and wounds, simple and complicated ... The

method of dissecting the brain, by M. Duncan; several reflections and

new machines by M. Arnaud. Likewise, a chirurgical dispensatory;

shewing the manner of preparing all such medicines as are most

necessary for a surgeon ... Written in French ...The 6th ed., to which are

added, the method of midwifery; of preparing the unguentum matris,

and the unguentum styracis; a short introduction to botany; and some

examples of reports in surgery. (London, J. Walthoe, 1727)



A translation of a chirurgie compl te, a book covering many topics,

which went through 18 editions. The control of bleeding was (and still

is!) very important, and Le Clerc mentions the use of vitriol buttons and

direct pressure. This copy has been bound by Miss Edith Dew, and

signed by her on the back cover. [GM 5574]



6. Giffard, William, d. 1731.

Cases in midwifery / written by the late Mr. William Giffard,

surgeon and man-midwife ; revis'd and publish'd by Edward Hody

(London, Printed for B. Motte, 1734)



William Giffard was a London obstetrician, who made notes of 225 cases

he attended between 1724 and 1731. These were collected after his

death and published by Edward Cody. Case 14 contains the earliest

public record of the use of the hitherto secret Chamberlen forceps, with a

folding plate to show two variations. This copy was bought at the Bourke

Street Treasure Chest in 1969. One of my teachers at the Queen

Victoria Hospital told me how disappointed he was to have been beaten

to it – a great lesson that, if one sees a desirable rare book, one should

put one‟s foot on it! [GM 6156.3]



7. Nightingale, Florence, 1820-1910.

Notes on nursing : what it is and what it is not / by Florence

Nightingale. (London : Harrison, [1859])



The Crimean War (1853-1856) allowed Florence Nightingale to show the

value of trained nurses. Within a few months of her arrival at Scutari, the

mortality rate among soldiers there fell from 42% to 2%. Her 800-page

report to the Royal Commission on the Army (1858) was not intended for

circulation, but her distilled wisdom, published here, has caused her to

become the greatest figure in the history of nursing. The copy displayed

was presented by Florence Nightingale‟s cousin, M. W. Tindall, to her

sister, E. O. Blackburn, June 1860. [GM 1612]



8 Travers, Benjamin, 1783-1858.

A synopsis of the diseases of the eye, and their treatment / by

Benjamin Travers. 3rd ed.(London: Longman,Hurst,Rees,Orme & Brown,

1824).



Benjamin Travers FRCS, FRS, a pupil of Sir Astley Cooper [see item 39],

was a surgeon at St Thomas' Hospital in London, and President of the

Royal College of Surgeons in 1847 and 1856. This book is the first

systematic treatise in English on diseases of the eye. [GM 5843]



Benjamin Travers and I are both descendants of Benjamin Travers 1708-

1758 (separated by 2 and 6 generations respectively), who was master

of the Vintners Company in 1725. Sir Thomas a‟Beckett Travers, a third

cousin of mine, trained in ophthalmology at Moorfields Hospital in

London in the 1930s, and was agreeably surprised to discover this

connection. He achieved great prominence in eye surgery on his return

to Melbourne.



9. Virchow, Rudolf Ludwig Karl, 1821-1902.

Cellular pathology : as based upon physiological and pathological

histology. Twenty lectures delivered in the Pathological Institute of

Berlin during the months of February, March, and April, 1858 / by Rudolf

Virchow. (London : John Churchill, 1860)



Virchow was the greatest figure in the history of pathology. This book,

published first in Berlin in 1858, is one of the most important books in the

history of medicine, and the foundation stone of cellular pathology. One

of his sayings has relevance to my book collecting, for it is the

behavioural aspects of medicine which interest me most: “Medicine is a

social science, and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale.”

[GM 2299]





10.H. K. Lewis (Publisher

Lewis's 1844-1944 : A brief account of a century's work.(London :

H.K. Lewis, 1945)



Before its closure in the 1990s, H K Lewis & Co. Ltd. was a world leader

in medical bookshops. In addition to selling a copy of nearly every

medical book published, one was placed in its circulating library. When

a book ceased to be borrowed from the library, it was sent down to the

second-hand department, to join the books recycled by clients. This was

entered through the door on the left of the building, as shown in the

frontispiece. What treasures there were for the person who had the time

to scan the shelves! In addition to being a book dealer, the firm had a

long history in medical publishing, particularly of the New Sydenham

Society (1859-1907) volumes. In addition to giving modern translations

of ancient authors, these volumes provided translations of important

French and German contributions, and are much sought after by medical

historians. Lewis‟s also published many Australian authors; Sir James

Barrett gets a special mention in this book. It was a real moment of

sadness when, going down Gower Street, I discovered that this shop

had disappeared.



Australian medical books

11. Alexander, F. Matthias (Frederick Matthias), 1869-1955.

The theory and practice of a new method of respiratory re-

education / by F. Matthias Alexander. (Melbourne : H. Hale, 1907)



Alexander was born in Wynyard, in north-west Tasmania. He developed

a love of the theatre in his later teenage years when the mining

company, of which he was a clerk, brought in entertainment to divert the

men from gambling and prostitution. He soon came to Melbourne, and

was apprenticed to the elocution teacher FW Hill. In 1892 he began a

career as a professional elocutionist himself. It was with this background

that he became interested in voice production and breathing control,

which was later developed into the control of posture itself, in later days

with the laying on of hands accompanying the instruction. This has the

Alexander technique has proved enormously popular throughout the

world, and is an important Australian contribution to physical therapy.

[the BIBAM copy]



12. Sanitary tracts / issued by the Australian Health Society, Melbourne.

(Melbourne : the Society, 1882) First series, No.1-13



The Australian Health Society was founded in 1875, dedicated to health

education and campaigns to improve health legislation. Leaders of the

profession gave public lectures, classes, and prepared pamphlets and

broadsheets. The lectures appeared as separate publications, but a few

collections were prepared for presentation to public libraries and

institutions. This is a collection of the first 13 pamphlets. [Ford 101]



13. Beaney, James George, 1828-1891.

Original contributions to the practice of conservative surgery :

being a selection from the surgical cases occurring in the practice of

James G. Beaney. (Melbourne : George Robertson, 1859)



The first book on surgery to be published in Victoria. This copy belonged

to William Fookes, who was clerk to Palmer and Hedderwick, solicitors.

This firm acted for Beaney – unsuccessfully – in his suit against

Fitzgerald, which sought damages for libel or slander, the issue being

whether he was, or was not, entitled to display a Crimean medal in a

glass case in his consulting room. Beaney was, however, successful in

defending two charges of murder, in 1866 (perforated uterus) and in

1866 (removal of a bladder stone). [Ford 191]



14. Bird, Frederick Dougan (1858-1921)

“Notes of cases”



Frederick Dougan Bird (1858-1929) was a charismatic figure, and a keen

teacher and surgeon. He was associated with the Melbourne Hospital

and the University of Melbourne, and had a very successful private

practice, centred on his private hospital in Spring Street. He was three

times mentioned in dispatches and for his part in the Gallipoli campaign

during the Great War. It might be wondered why he was not given a

knighthood; the medical students certainly thought he deserved one. A

verse written for their anthem at the time of Prince Edward‟s visit in 1920

refers to him, and to William Moore (1859-1927), in this context. It was

sung to me by Sir William Upjohn, in 1975:



And now to bless our land

Prince Edward’s on our shores, sir.

The Regent said “Arise, Sir Fred

And Sir Jerry Moore, sir.”



Neither of them was knighted, in the event.



This notebook documents 52 cases seen between 1886 and 1892. At

the back are tables of income, 1885-91. This and two other notebooks

(with notes of lectures he had attended, a catalogue of his library, and

draft lectures he gave at the University of Melbourne) were given to me,

along with John Hunter‟s portrait (Wall Case 1) by Margaret Colquhoun,

née Brookes, who was Bird‟s granddaughter. She was a great friend to

me.



15. Bird, Samuel Dougan, (1832-1904)

On Australasian climates and their influence in the prevention and

arrest of pulmonary consumption / by S. Dougan Bird. (London,

Longman, 1863)



Bird came to Australia in 1861, suffering from tuberculosis. Following his

cure, and the apparent improvement seen in many other cases, he was

an early advocate of the benefits of the Australian climate. Not everyone

agreed with him. Dr William Thomson, according to a reviewer in the

Australian Medical Journal, wanted to erect a sign on each of the Port

Phillip heads with „Dangerous‟ in large letters. Bird‟s volume is open at a

colour plate of “Mt. Abrupt, near Dunkeld, Western District”, by Eugene

von Guerard. [Ford 310]



16. Clutterbuck, James Bennett.

An essay on the nature and treatment of Australian diseases :

including, more especially, dysentery and fever / by James B.

Clutterbuck. (Melbourne : Stillwell and Knight, 1868)



The book is a reprint of articles originally published in the Australian

Medical Journal, in which he claims that local factors make the old,

familiar diseases more virulent. These views were attacked by Dr James

Robertson, and in this book Clutterbuck‟s reply is reprinted on p. 43-60.

[Ford 531]



17. Cole's atlas of anatomy and physiology of the human body.

(Melbourne : E.W. Cole Book Arcade, [191-?])



A remarkably well-preserved pamphlet, probably from the second

decade of the 20th century, which uses a mannikin of five folding

coloured plates to illustrate human anatomy. E W Cole published many

medical tracts – some were local printings of overseas authors, and

some were overseas printings with an E W Cole title-page tipped in.



18. Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930.

The wanderings of a spiritualist / by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

(London : Hodder and Stoughton, [1921])



It is an astonishing fact that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, medical practitioner

and creator of the ruthlessly scientific Sherlock Holmes, became a

promoter of spiritualism. How could he have been duped into writing

The Coming of the Fairies, with photographs of fairies dancing on flower

petals, later revealed as a hoax? The wanderings of a spiritualist is a

rare book, not discussed in his official biographies, which documents his

Melbourne visit in 1920.



19. Florey, Howard Walter (1898 - 1968) and Cairns, Hugh William Bell

(1896 - 1952).

Investigation of war wounds : penicillin : a preliminary report to

the War Office and the Medical Research Council on investigations

concerning the use of penicillin in war wounds. (London : War Office,

1943)



Sir Alexander Fleming discovered the antibiotic properties of the

penicillium mould in 1929, but did not take it any further. Sir Howard

Florey (a South Australian at Oxford University) and Sir Ernst Chain set

about purifying the extract and in 1940, after many difficulties, penicillin

was proved to be effective in a small number of patients. It became

available for field trials in North Africa in 1942, conducted by (amongst

others) Hugh Cairns (see item 52). Only a few copies of this report were

printed, and it is an important part of the penicillin story. Fleming, Florey

and Chain were awarded the Nobel Prize for this work in 1945. [The

BIBAM copy]



20. Mole, Percy.

Crown, bar, and bridge work : with contour gold filling / by Percy

Mole. (Bendigo : J.B. Young, 1893)



This “well illustrated little brochure,” to quote the review in the Australian

Medical Journal (1894, p. 50) was known only by title, until I was lucky

enough to be offered a copy in Salamanca Place, Hobart. What makes it

special, apart from the rarity, is that the plates appear to use real

Bendigo gold leaf to show the methods of repairing the effects of decay

in teeth. [Ford 1398, Not Seen; the BIBAM copy]



21. Great Britain. Emigration Commission.

Instructions to surgeons-superintendent of Victorian Government

emigrant ships. (London : Spottiswoode and Co., 1871)



A wonderful description of the duties of the ship‟s surgeon, with

emphasis on ventilation, diet and the provision of fresh water. His

medical training would hardly have prepared him for some of his

responsibilities. “The Surgeon-Superintendent should promote music,

dancing and every harmless (my italics) means of combining exercise

and amusement.” For bathing, the men had tubs in the fore part of the

ship, and the women a bath room prepared for their use. The Surgeon-

Superintendent was supposed to “take care to prevent indecency and

practical jokes.” The text was written by George Verdon, the Agent-

General for Victoria. [Not in Ford, but 2083 lists the same publisher and

title, except that it is for South Australia, in 1873]



22. Webster, Victor H (1905-1980).

Bush medicine : a practical handbook for managing serious

illnesses and accidents in the outback / by Victor H. Webster. (Tennant

Creek, N.T. : [Jackhammer Press, 1948?])



After medical residency in Melbourne and psychiatric training in Perth,

Webster went to Tennant Creek as Medical Officer. Companies which

had industrial developments in the outback were required to undertake

some community project to compensate the local inhabitants. Perhaps

the best-known example is the feature-length documentary film The Back

of Beyond, made by the Shell Film Unit in 1954. It is likely that Bush

Medicine was such a project, underwritten by a mining company, who

gave their printing department an appropriate name – the jackhammer

being a mining tool. It is illustrated by Basil Schmidt, who was also from

Tennant Creek. The book covers wounds, haemorrhage, coma from

diabetes, fractures, urinary retention and burns, and important illnesses

in adults and children, including aboriginal health issues. The aim is for

the lay person to be able to deal with the problem, and to give a good

account of the illness, over the phone or radio, if they are fortunate

enough to have medical help available to them.



This copy of the book was bought at auction in 1985. It belonged to Dr

G. F. S. Davies, whose path crossed with Webster‟s in 1925-28, when he

was the Stewart Lecturer in Pathology at the University of Melbourne.

[BIBAM]





23. The grown-up Glaxo babies. [Sydney? : Glaxo, ca. 1900]



There are many ephemeral publications on infant feeding, from drug

companies, from State Governments, from interest groups such as the

Nursing Mothers Association or the Truby King movement, and from

individuals. How to chose one‟s favourite? This pamphlet has 8 tipped-in

photographic plates, to illustrate the progress of Glaxo-reared babies. It

gives addresses for agents in the Australian capital cities.



24. Kaye, Geoffrey, with Robert H Orton and Douglas G Renton.

Anaesthetic methods.



The seminal work on Australian anaesthesia, and a reminder of the

developments in anaesthesia, surgery and resuscitation that took place

during the Second World War. The book is open at p. 574, the

illustration of the Julian Smith rotary pump, a now-ubiquitous Australian

invention. Geoffrey Kaye (1903-1986) designed and built much of his

own equipment, and collected widely. His Anaesthetic Museum is

housed in the Royal Australian College of Anaesthetists building in St

Kilda Rd. This copy of the book belonged to my father, Dr Lennard

Travers (1905-1968), who was a surgeon before the War, and an

anaesthetist after it.



25. Making paper by hand (Melbourne : Plant Craft Cottage)



This book is hand-made, in concertina form. One side consists of

photographs showing the steps involved in making paper at home, and

the other has samples of paper made with different sources of fibre. It

was given to me by the woman who made it, J Walsh, at a talk I gave on

The Diseases of Books to the Arts and Crafts Society of Victoria.



Surgical Atlases and Plate Books



26. Addison, Thomas, 1793-1860.

On the constitutional and local effects of disease of the supra-

renal capsules / by Thomas Addison, M.D., 1855. ([London] : Dawsons of

Pall Mall, 1968)



This sumptuously-illustrated monograph is unusual because it describes

two conditions – adrenal insufficiency (then most often caused by

tuberculosis) and pernicious anaemia (now known to be caused by lack

of vitamin B12). The edition featured here is a facsimile reprint of the

1855 edition; for my purposes, a well-produced facsimile is perfectly

acceptable, when the original is unobtainable, or too expensive. [GM

3864]



27. Thompson, J. Ashburton (John Ashburton), 1846-1915.

A report to the President of the Board of Health : containing

photographs of a person suffering from variola discreta, and account of

the case; to which is added a clinical report and diagnosis of the five

cases with which the outbreak of small-pox of 1884-5 began / by J.

Ashburton Thompson. (Sydney : Thomas Richards, Govt. Printer, 1886)

This was prepared for the instruction of doctors, since “it was impossible

to give these gentlemen an opportunity of examining the patients for

themselves, since the patients were isolated in the Quarantine hospital-

ship.” Photographs are given of the rash as it appeared on day 3 to day

25, in a 7 year-old girl, whose mother had just died from smallpox. [Ford

2196]





28. Hunter, William, 1718-1783.

The anatomy of the human gravid uterus exhibited in figures / by

William Hunter. (London : Sydenham Society, 1851)



Hunter had trained as Dr Smellie‟s assistant, and once he achieved

professional and financial success he prepared this wonderful atlas,

“anatomically exact and artistically perfect,” according to Ludwig

Choulant (1791-1861). Except for J Dalby‟s little book on rabies, Virtues

of cinnabar and musk against the bite of a mad dog, the first edition

(1774) was the only medical work to be published by John Baskerville in

Birmingham. The plates are engraved from drawings by Jan van

Rymsdyk, who had done the drawings for Smellie‟s atlas 20 years earlier

(see Wall Case 3). An interesting feature is that the reprint used

caoutchouc binding, patented in 1836 by William Hancock, a pioneer in

the use of rubber. As with many adhesives used for unsewn binding, this

has lost its grip with time, and the book now consists of loose sheets.

[GM 6157]



29. Pearn, John Hemsley, AO.

A doctor in the garden : nomen medici in botanicis : Australian

flora and the world of medicine / John Hemsley Pearn. (Herston, Qld. :

Amphion Press, 2001)



This work is the magnum opus of a man to whom Australian medical

historians owe much. In addition to being Professor of Paediatrics at the

Royal Children‟s Hospital in Brisbane, he is Surgeon-General to the

Australian Defence Force and National Director of Training for St John

Ambulance, Australia. He outside interests include local history, medical

philately, medical botany and, of course, the not-for-profit Amphion

Press, which he founded in 1982.



30. Berry, R. J. A. (Richard James Arthur), 1867-1962.

A cerebral atlas : illustrating the difference between the brains of

mentally defective and normal individuals with a social, mental, and

neurological record of 120 defectives during life / by Richard J.A. Berry.

(London : Oxford University Press, 1938)





Richard Berry came from Edinburgh to be Professor of Anatomy at the

University of Melbourne from 1906 to 1925, then Dean of the Faculty

1924-29. He became very interested in the skulls (and, by implication,

the underlying brain) of various groups, including those of people from

other races (such as the Australian aboriginal), people with mental

deficiency, and criminals. In 1929 Berry accepted the position of director

of medical services at the Stoke Park Colony at Stapleton, Bristol,

England, and chairman of the Burden Mental Research Trust, with this

book being the result of his researches.







31. Baillie, Matthew, 1761-1823.

A series of engravings, accompanied with explanations, which are

intended to illustrate The morbid anatomy of some of the most

important parts of the human body / by Matthew Baillie. (Carlton, Vic. :

Melbourne University Press : 1985)



Baillie was a nephew of William and John Hunter, and this is the first

systematic atlas of pathology. The plates were prepared by William Clift,

and this edition has been reproduced from Clift‟s own copy, now in the

University of Melbourne. The 48 engravings have been replaced by the

original drawings. Twenty-four of the remaining illustrations are

reproduced from the original drawings held by the Royal College of

Physicians, London. This edition is edited by Harold Attwood (1928-

2005), a Scot who made his career in Melbourne as a distinguished

pathologist and medical historian. [GM 2282]



Wall Cases 1 and 2



John and William Hunter



32. Hunter, John, 1728-1793.



Engraving of a portrait of John Hunter by Joshua Reynolds. It belonged

to the Melbourne surgeon F D Bird, and was given to me by Margaret

Colquhoun (see item 14).



Following his older brother William, John Hunter went from Glasgow to

London, and there transformed the practice of surgery; he is said to have

found surgery a mechanical art and left it an experimental science.



Also on display are portraits of William and John Hunter from Two great

Scotsmen : the brothers William and John Hunter / by George R. Mather.

(Glasgow : James Maclehose, 1893)



Their story was first told to me by Professor Graeme Schofield, in an

introductory lecture to the anatomy course in the second year of the

medical course in 1966, and was an important stimulus to my reading

about the history of medicine.



33. Hunter, John, 1728-1793.

A treatise on the blood, inflammation, and gun-shot wounds / by

the late John Hunter. (London : Printed for E. Cox [et al.], 1812)

This, and item 36, were bought in Dawson‟s, a very superior antiquarian

bookshop in Pall Mall. My chief memory of the shop is that here my wife

and I met Lester Cahn, the venerable New York oral pathologist. While

Lester and I examined the books in the safe, Mrs Cahn leaned on her

cane, and told Caroline that she thought she had waited outside every

bookshop in Europe!



34. Holmes, Timothy, 1825-1907.

Introductory address delivered at St. George's Hospital, October

2, 1893, on the centenary of John Hunter's death / by T. Holmes.

(London : Adlard, 1893)



A nice centenary tribute by the man who took over as the editor of Gray‟s

Anatomy on the premature death of Gray – both had been at St.

George‟s Hospital, as had John Hunter.



35. Hunter, John, 1728-1793.

The works of John Hunter, F.R.S. : with notes / edited by James F.

Palmer. (London : Published by Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green,

and Longman ..., 1835-1837)

4 v. plus atlas



This volume is water-stained, but it was the only copy I could find in

those pre-Google days. It was important for me to own the slightest of

links between Australia and the Great Man. This is one of them. The

editor, James Palmer (1803-1871), was house surgeon at St George‟s

Hospital, and came to Melbourne having failed to secure a hospital

appointment. He had a number of business ventures here, and became

mayor of Melbourne in 1845-46. Although he did not practice medicine

here, he was a staunch supporter of the need for a public hospital in

Melbourne and, in 1846, had the honour of laying the foundation stone.

[GM 78]



Hunter‟s atlas is open at plate 52: the “Siren of Linnaeus or mud iguana

from S. Carolina.”





36. Hunter, John, 1728-1793.

A treatise on the venereal disease / By John Hunter. 2nd ed.

(London : G. Nicol; and Mr. J. Johnson, 1788)



A very nice quarto copy, dealing with a topic that is strongly represented

in this collection. We hear of doctors performing experiments upon

themselves; a recent example is Barry Marshall, of Perth, who ingested a

culture of Helicobacter pylori to see if he could produce gastritis. This

formed part of the work for which Marshall and his collaborator, Robin

Warren, shared the Nobel Prize in 2005. In Hunter‟s day, syphilis and

gonorrhoea were thought to be caused by the same poison. Hunter

tested this hypothesis by inoculating himself with gonorrhoeal discharge

from a patient. Unbeknownst to him, the patient had syphilis as well, so

he maintained his belief that the two diseases had one cause. The

differentiation was finally made by Benjamin Bell, five years later.

Hunter‟s book is a major contribution to urological surgery. [GM 2377]



Wall Case 3

37. Smellie, William, 1697-1763.

A sett of anatomical tables, with explanations, and an

abridgement, of the practice of midwifery : with a view to illustrate a

treatise on that subject, and collection of cases / by William Smellie,

M.D. (London, 1754)



William Smellie was a Scot who practiced in Lanark for 20 years before

coming to London, and setting up as a practitioner of midwifery in 1741;

he commissioned these plates to accompany his 3-volume Treatise on

the theory and practice of midwifery. There are 39 striking copper-

engraved plates, the first accurate illustrations of the foetus in utero and

during labour, made from drawings by Jan van Rymsdyk, Dr Pieter

Camper and Smellie himself. The University of Auckland produced a

facsimile edition of this wonderful atlas in 1971, which I bought on

publication. When my first child was born in 1973, however, I was so

overjoyed that I gave the book to the obstetrician involved. It was

ordained, therefore, that I should replace it, and I bought the original

when I had the chance. [GM 6154.1]





Wall Case 4

38. Lizars, John, 1787?-1860.

A system of anatomical plates of the human body, accompanied

with descriptions, and physiological and surgical observations / by John

Lizars. (Edinburgh : published by W. H. Lizars [1804?])



John Lizars was Professor of Surgery and Anatomy at the Royal College

of Surgeons at Edinburgh; he did the dissections illustrated here, and his

brother, W.H. Lizars, engraved the plates.



Flat Case 1

Immunology



39.Cooper, Astley, Sir, 1768-1841.

The anatomy of the thymus gland / by Sir Astley Cooper, bart.

(London, : Longman, Rees, Orme, Green, and Brown, 1832)



This is one of the foundation books of immunology. Cooper was the

most popular surgeon in London in the early 19th century, and this is one

of his best works. He describes the “reservoir” of the thymus as being

lined by a smooth mucous membrane and running spirally through the

gland. The copy on display is inscribed “B Travers Esq. – from his old

master and real friend. Astley Cooper.” [GM 1119]



40. Burnet, F. M. (Frank Macfarlane), Sir, 1899-1985

The clonal selection theory of acquired immunity / by Sir

Macfarlane Burnet. (Nashville, Tenn. : Vanderbilt University Press ;

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1959)



“The best book I ever wrote,” was how Sir Macfarlane Burnet described it

to me, while he was signing some books at the Hall Institute. This is why

I chose this book for display, rather than the earlier Production of

Antibodies. For his work on immunological tolerance, Burnet was

awarded the Nobel Prize in 1960, shared with Sir Peter Medawar. [GM

2578.31]



41. Greenup, Richard, 1803-1866

Vaccination : a letter addressed by Dr. Simon, medical officer of

the General Board of Health, to the president of the Board, on

vaccination : presented to the Imperial Parliament by command of Her

Majesty, 1857 / abridged for the use of the colony of New South Wales

by Richard Greenup (Sydney : Thomas Richards, Govt. Printer, 1859)



Richard Greenup had worked in mental asylums in England and came to

Sydney in 1850. As well as private practice, he the first Registrar of the

University of Sydney and later Member of the NSW Board of Health, and

Medical Advisor to the Government. In 1852 he became Superintendent

of the Parramatta asylum, and during a routine inspection, he was

stabbed in the abdomen by one of the patients, dying two days later.

The book serves as a reminder both of the protection offered by

vaccination, and the potential dangers of medical practice. [Ford 768]



Flat Case 2



Cardiology



42. Lewis, Thomas, Sir, 1881-1945.

Report upon soldiers returned as cases of "disordered action of

the heart" (D.A.H.) or "valvular disease of the heart" (V.D.H.) / by Thomas

Lewis. (London : H.M.S.O., 1917)



This study was initiated because too many soldiers were becoming ill

with palpitations and fatigue, attributed to heart disease. Lewis showed

that in most cases the hearts were normal, and with explanation of the

physiology and avoidance of exhaustion, a return to duty was achieved

in 50% at 6 weeks. Similar symptoms are seen in Battle Fatigue, Da

Costa‟s Syndrome, Gulf War Syndrome and, in civilian practice, chronic

fatigue syndrome, and so forth. This copy has a typewritten note added

by Sir James Parkinson (1885-1976), who had been Sir James

Mackenzie‟s chief assistant at the London Hospital in 1913 until the

Great War: “The clinical findings and recommendations of this report are

based on upon the work of the three medical divisions of which Dr.

Lewis, Professor Meakins, and I, respectively, were in charge. J. P.” [GM

2847]



43. Lewis, Thomas, Sir, 1881-1945.

The mechanism and graphic registration of the heart beat / by

Thomas Lewis. (London : Shaw, 1920)



Thomas Lewis was a pioneer in the application of the electrocardiograph

to clinical medicine. This book is both an exhaustive treatise and a

valuable bibliographic tool. [GM 854]



44. Mackenzie, James, Sir, 1853-1925.

The study of the pulse arterial, venous and hepatic and of the

movements of the heart / by James MacKenzie. (Edinburgh : Young J.

Pentland, 1902)



The “Beloved Physician” (as one biographer has it) started as a general

practitioner in Burnley, UK. His patients who had rheumatic fever asked

what their outlook was, and he could not tell them; there was no data

available. So began an investigation of cardiac function in several

thousand patients over twenty years, which saw him become one of the

great physiologists of his time. Yet he maintained, to the end, that “no

doctor lives long enough to write a reliable book on prognosis.” His first

monograph, here displayed, has an illustration of his polygraph, at page

10. [GM 2812]



45. Halford, George Britton MRCS Lond., MRCP, LSA, MD St Andrews

(1824-1910)

On the time and manner of closure of the auriculo-ventricular

valves / by George B. Halford. (London : John Churchill, 1861)



Halford was appointed inaugural Professor of Anatomy, Physiology and

Pathology at the University of Melbourne (the first medical school in

Australia) in 1862, when he was Lecturer in Anatomy at the Grosvenor

Place School of Medicine. In this pamphlet, described by K F Russell as

“a classic and well in advance of its time,” he studied the action of the

valves by injecting water down the great vessels of the hearts of

humans, bullocks and birds. His subsequent career did not permit the

luxury of continued researches: he built the reputation of the Melbourne

Medical School, at the expense of his own. He presented this copy of the

pamphlet to Dr. Dickson, of 16 Hertford St., London. [Ford 807]



Flat Case 3



Metabolic Disorders





46. Vaughan, Kathleen Olga.

The purdah system and its effect on motherhood : osteomalacia

caused by absence of light in India / by Kathleen Olga Vaughan.

(Cambridge : W. Heffer, 1928)



Vitamin D was discovered in 1922, and its lack shown to be the cause

of osteomalacia (rickets) in 1929. A year earlier, Kathleen Vaughan

compared the high-born Kashmiri women, veiled from childhood,

whose deformed pelves caused them to die from obstructed labour,

with the strapping daughters of the local boatmen. This is a hot topic in

Australia at the moment.



47. Sheldon, J. H. (Joseph Harold)

Haemochromatosis / by J.H. Sheldon. (London : Oxford University

Press, H. Milford, 1935)



It is always a pleasure to find an authoritative, one-author monograph.

This book deals with a rare, but treatable, inherited condition. The

reason that there are so few copies around is that the publisher‟s

stocks were destroyed by fire. This is the author‟s presentation copy to

WF Cholmeley.



48. Nye, L. J. J. (Leslie John Jarvis)

Chronic nephritis and lead poisoning / by L.J. Jarvis Nye. (Sydney

: Angus & Robertson, 1933)



An important clinical study in Australian medicine. Children were

poisoned by the lead paint used on the railings of the verandas of

Queensland houses, either passively from the powdered paint, or

actively by licking the raindrops. They played there because the

houses were raised on stilts, as in this illustration.



49. Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (Australia)

Insulin : its use in diabetes / Commonwealth Serum Laboratories ;

[Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Health]. (Melbourne : Albert

J. Mullett, Govt. Printer, [1925]



John Wilkinson, as part of his wanderjahr, visited Toronto in September

1922, and saw the clinical use of insulin. He persuaded the Insulin

Committee of the University of Toronto that insulin could be

manufactured under licence by the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories

in Melbourne, only the second place outside Toronto to be granted this

right. He demonstrated the initial results to the Victorian Branch of the

BMA in June 1923. The story of diabetes in Australia has been told by

the Melbourne endocrinologist and medical historian FIR „Skip‟ Martin

(1929-2008), in whose memory this prized item is displayed.



50. Banting, William, 1797-1878.

Letter on corpulence addressed to the public / by William Banting.

4th.ed. (repr. 1883), with prefatory remarks by the author, copious

information from correspondents, and confirmatory evidence of the

benefit of the dietary system which he recommended to public notice.

(London : Harrison, 1875)



This is not the Banting who shared the Nobel Prize in 1923 for the

discovery of insulin, but the London cabinet-maker whose method of

weight loss by avoiding fat, starch and sugar was first published, and

much discussed, in 1864. He gave the world the expressions

Bantingism and to bant. Maintenance of the ideal weight – neither too

far below, nor too far above – is one of the major public health

problems in Australia.





Flat Case 4



Neurosciences





51. Bell, Charles, Sir, 1774-1842.

An exposition of the natural system of the nerves of the human

body : with a republication of the papers delivered to the Royal Society,

on the subject of the nerves / by Charles Bell. (London : Printed by A. &

R. Spottiswoode, 1824)



In this book, Bell reprints the paper read before the Royal Society in

1821 [GM 1255 – the long thoracic nerve of Bell; GM 4520 – Bell‟s

palsy], as well as papers from Philosophical Transactions in 1922

(nerves of the chest) and 1823 (muscles and nerves of the eye). He

drew the detailed plates himself.



52. Cairns, Hugh, Sir, 1896-1952.

A study of intracranial surgery / by Hugh Cairns. (London :

H.M.S.O., 1929)



Hugh Cairns was born at Port Pirie, South Australia and graduated

from the University of Adelaide in 1917. He served in the Australian

General Hospitals in France, and had further surgical experience in

Oxford and London. In order to develop neurosurgery at the London

Hospital, he spent 1926-27 studying the new specialty with Harvey

Cushing at the Peter Brigham Young Institute in Boston. This report to

the Medical Research Council is the resultant publication. He was the

first Nuffield professor of surgery at Oxford, and became an important

advisor to the Government in 1937. His study of the use of penicillin in

war wounds is also shown (Item 19).





53. Gowers, W. R. (William Richard), 1845-1915.

A manual of diseases of the nervous system / by W.R. Gowers.

(London : J. & A. Churchill, 1886-1888) 2 v.

This book used to be called the bible of neurologists. It was always

said that before writing up an obscure case, one should read Gowers,

to make sure it had not already been described. My own association

with Gowers is that my friend Suzanne Walker gave me her inscribed

copy of Macdonald Critchley‟s biography of Gowers; as his secretary,

she had typed it for publication. [GM 4569]



54. Eccles, John C. (John Carew), Sir, 1903-1997

The physiology of synapses / by John Carew Eccles. (Berlin :

Springer, 1964)



Sir John Eccles graduated in Medicine at the University of Melbourne

and, after working in Oxford, Sydney and Otago, he was Professor of

Physiology of the Australian National University from 1952-1966. In

1963 he shared the Nobel Prize with A L Hodgkin and A F Huxley "for

their discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in

excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the

nerve cell membrane." One of Eccles‟ students, Archibald K McIntyre

(1913-2002), was the inaugural Professor of Physiology at Monash

University from 1962-78, who in turn attracted some of my teachers,

Robert Porter and Richard Mark, to the Physiology Department.





55. Cushing, Harvey, 1869-1939.

Intracranial tumours : notes upon a series of two thousand

verified cases with surgical-mortality percentges pertaining thereto / by

Harvey Cushing. (Springfield, Ill. ; Baltimore, Md. : C.C. Thomas, 1932)



Cushing was a pioneer neurosurgeon in Baltimore and Boston, best

known for his description of the basophil adenoma of the pituitary

gland, and its effects (Cushing‟s syndrome). It may be, however, that

his most important contribution was the introduction of blood pressure

measurement to North America, following his visit to Riva-Rocci in

Turin, soon after his development of the sphygmomanometer in 1896.

Cushing made intracranial operations much safer; this book is the last

published report of the results of his surgery for brain tumours [GM

4900]





Flat Case 5



Sex Education



56. Stopes, Marie Carmichael, 1880-1958.

Love letters of a Japanese / edited by G.N. Mortlake. 2nd ed.

(London : S. Paul, [1911?])



Marie Stopes was one of the most influential figures of the 20 th century.

She was a palaeobotanist, PhD and DSc, before her first marriage in

1911. The honeymoon was a very unpleasant experience for her (in

fact, the 3-year marriage was apparently unconsummated), so she

consulted the libraries for information on sexual matters. She was

appalled at how little there was, and how inaccurate it was. Rather

than display her Married Love, which appeared in 1918 (my copy is not

the first edition), I chose this record of the torrid love affair with

Professor Kenjiro Fuji. He must have been astonished to find his

letters published under the thinnest of disguises! The passion was not,

I imagine, carried to its conclusion, because she always claimed that

her sex guide, Married Love, was written while she was still a virgin.



57. Stopes, Marie Carmichael, 1880-1958.

A banned play and a preface on the censorship : Vectia / by Marie

C. Stopes. (Sydney : Hal & Lew Parks, [1932?])



This was not published, nor the play performed, in London. [The

BIBAM copy]





58. Sexual Reform Congress (3rd : 1929 : London, England)

Sexual Reform Congress, London 8.-14:IX:1929 : World League

for Sexual Reform : proceedings ... / edited by Norman Haire. (London :

K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1930)



Norman Haire graduated from the University of Sydney in 1915 as

Norman Zions; he changed his name when he went to London. As

Frank Forster pointed out to me, Haire‟s father was originally called

Zajac which, in his native Polish, means „hare.‟ Haire became a

prominent figure in sexual matters, and championed, among other

things, the Steinach operation, a vasectomy done with the aim of

restoring male sexual vigour to men; the most famous patient was the

writer W. B. Yeats. The 1929 meeting was a high point in sexual

reform; this copy belonged to Dr Eustace Chesser (1902–1973), noted

psychiatrist and social reformer



59. Oxoniensis.

Early marriage and late parentage : or, Was Malthus wrong? ... /

by Oxoniensis. Australian ed. (Melbourne : Saunders, [1898?])



„Oxoniensis‟ is the pseudonym of David George Ritchie (1853–1903).

The aim is to show “how the working classes may at once achieve the

radical improvement of their condition.” Among other things, he

recommends that marriage licences should be issued only to people

who have been certified by a medical board to be fit and healthy. His

book contains many gems for the right-thinking person, such as “Think

of the hopeless ugliness, the hideous vulgarity of an age and

civilization which has produced (1) London; (2) The modern Music-hall;

and, (3) The Salvation Army!” This local reprint has an advertisement

for J. C. Henry on p. 129. [The BIBAM copy]



60. Wood-Allen, Mary, 1841-1908.

Almost a woman / by Mary Wood-Allen. (Melbourne : Echo

Publishing Co., [1902]) [the BIBAM copy]



61. Wood-Allen, Mary, 1841-1908.

Almost a man / by Mary Wood-Allen. (Melbourne : Echo

Publishing Co., [1902]) [not in BIBAM]



Sex education in Australia is an enormous topic; there are 520 items in

this collection alone. Because of their ephemeral nature, they tend not

to survive, so finding this pair on separate occasions gave special

pleasure. Ellen G White, a co-founder of Seventh-day Adventism, lived

in Melbourne from 1891 to 1900. She oversaw the publication of The

Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, which came weekly from their

press in North Fitzroy, the Echo Publishing Co. When the Seventh-day

Adventists moved to Warburton, the name was changed to the Signs

Publishing Co., which has published reliable information on health and

sex topics ever since.



Flat Case 6



Infectious Diseases





62. Hackett, C. J. (Cecil John), 1905-1995

Boomerang leg and yaws in Australian Aborigines / by Cecil J.

Hackett. (London : Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,

1936)

Hackett graduated MB BS from the University of Adelaide in 1927. He

went to London in 1930 studying tropical medicine, and in 1932

returned to Adelaide to convalesce from tuberculosis. In 1933 he took

part in an expedition to the Musgrove and Mann Ranges, learning how

the Pitjantjatjara aborigines (who looked after them) live and fight

disease. He returned to London, where he stayed. His studies form

the basis for this book. His 1963 article on the origin of the

trepanematoses (pinta, yaws, endemic syphilis and venereal syphilis)

has been described as “perhaps the most scholarly investigation of the

origin of syphilis.” [GM 5308.2] It is also to be remembered that another

treponeme, leptospira, was the particular interest of Solomon Faine,

the Professor of Bacteriology at Monash University from 1968 to 1991.





63. Thomson, William, 1819-1883.

The germ theory of phthisis verified, and illustrated by the

increase of phthisis in Victoria / by William Thomson. (Melbourne :

Sands & McDougall, 1882)



William Thompson was a fervent advocate of the germ theory of

disease. This is the reprint of a review of his work The germ theory of

phthisis verified (1882) which appeared in the Journal of Science,

London, in December of that year. Thomson had claimed priority from

Koch for his discovery of the bacterial origin of tuberculosis, in studies

that he had published in 1876, six years before Koch. Thompson's

influence was no doubt very great at the time, but he trod on so many

toes that he received scant acknowledgement at the time. [Ford 2252]



64. Dew, Harold R. (Harold Robert), 1891-1962

Hydatid disease, its pathology, diagnosis and treatment / by

Harold R. Dew. (Sydney : Australasian Medical Pub., 1928)





Australians have contributed greatly to the understanding and

management of this disease, where the parasite passes from the

definitive host (dogs) to the intermediate host (sheep or cattle) and

thence to humans. Monographs by S. D. Bird (1874), J. D. Thomas

(1884) and A. A. Lendon (1896) are in this collection, but I chose Dew‟s

account because it is the authoritative source, and summarises his

many contributions to the study of the disease. During the mass chest

x-ray campaign of the 1950s, more cases of pulmonary hydatid cyst

were found than cases of the target tuberculosis. [GM 5352]









65. Archbishop Mannix and the Victorian Government : no popery and

the Spanish influenza. (Melbourne : Australian Catholic Truth Society,

[1919])



The “Spanish influenza” – another example of scapegoating – refers to

an outbreak of unprecedented severity in 1918-1919, accounting for

550,000 deaths in the United States, and more than 21 million

worldwide. There was a second, less virulent wave in 1920. What

made it the worst disease shock humans had faced was its rapidity (it

did most of its killing in 6 months, compared with years for the Black

Death) and its predilection for children. The pamphlet on display deals

with sectarian opposition to an offer by Mannix to provide voluntary

nursing staff for the temporary hospital at the Exhibition Buildings.

[The BIBAM copy]



66. Fenner, Frank, 1914-

Myxomatosis / by Frank Fenner and F. N. Ratcliffe. (Cambridge :

[Cambridge] University Press, 1965)



In the late 1950s and early 60s, I used to have holidays on my uncle‟s

property in the Western District of Victoria. Each morning we would do

a round of the sheep and cattle, with a .22 rifle in the Jeep. We would

arrive at a paddock that was alive with rabbits, but as soon as one was

shot, the others would disappear underground. One year, things were

very different: there were only a few rabbits, and those we saw were in

a pitiful state. I particularly remember one rabbit, made blind by the

huge tumours in its eyes, which limped along until it stumbled into the

tyre of the stationary Jeep. It left a great impression on me, and for this

reason myxomatosis has always had a special place in my memories.

This is a wonderful account of the planning and prosecution of the

biological war on the rabbit plague, and its benefits.



Flat Case 7



Scuttlebutt





67. Physician

Experience versus theory in the practice of medicine : being notes

on medical practice and medical education ; a peep behind the scenes /

by a Physician. (Melbourne : Melville and Mullen, [1904?])



It is not known who the author is; the NLA attribution to L J Jarvis Nye

is incorrect. The point is that the relationship of the front-line

practitioner and the academic (“town versus gown”), and the

desirability or otherwise of curriculum reform, is always a hot topic.

[BIBAM – 1 copy]



68. Reeves, Charles Evans, 1828-1880. The Queen v. Beaney :

extraordinary charge of murder against a medical man, in consequence

of a diseased womb being ruptured after death / with medical notes and

observations by C.E. Reeves. (Melbourne : W.B. Stephens, 1866)



This is the report of the two trials of J. G. Beaney for the murder of

Mary Lewis by procuring abortion. The death was allegedly caused by

rupture of the uterus, with a hung jury in the first trial and a verdict of

not guilty in the second. [Ford 1776]



69. Webster, Alfred.

Fools, frauds and physicians / by Al Kazaz Emdee. [Perth : A.

Webster, 193-]



A satire on the Perth medical scene in the 1930s. This copy, which I

believe belonged to Sir Paul Hasluck, has a list that gives the real

names of the people mentioned in the book. [The BIBAM copy]



70. McLaughlin, M. A.

Dr. McLaughlin's electric belt. ([Sydney : Dr. McLaughlin Co.],

c1901)



71. Wallace, R.

"Pro bono publico." : Read this article. It will pay you well. Some

points about the "Dr. McLaughlin electric belts." What they really cost ...

[Sydney : Freeman & Wallace Electro-Medical and Surgical Institute?,

190-?]

These two items call to mind the fad of electricity in medicine in the

late 19th and early 20th centuries. A mild shock, delivered by an electric

belt, was reputed to restore health and, more importantly, sexual

vigour. The first Freeman and Wallace book, Rescued at last (1900)

was so explicit and alarming that the Government required it to be

toned down for subsequent editions, appearing as Clinical

experiences… We have very little idea of what happens when a new

purveyor of quack medicine appears on the scene, which makes the

Freeman & Wallace – McLaughlin spat very appealing.



72. Roberts, Charles F. (Charles Frederick)

Iniquities of lunacycraft and hocus-pocus of three learned judges

: in the first law case of the kind on this side of the world / by a great

victim to them. (Melbourne : Printed and published for the public good,

by Charles F. Roberts, 1882-3)



Before the days of proper safeguards, people could be committed to

mental institutions, with loss of civic rights, on fairly flimsy grounds.

They then had to persuade the authorities that they were sane – and,

of course, the more stridently they pushed their claim, the more likely

they were to appear unhinged. A dreadful predicament! This case

ended in the Supreme Court of Victoria, where Roberts was awarded

damages of 1 farthing for wrongful certification. [Ford 1805]



Flat Case 8



Tobacco and Alcohol



73. Campbell, Francis (d. 1877)

A commentary on the influence which the use of tobacco exerts

on the human constitution / in a series of letters by (Vox E. Deserto),

Francis Campbell. (Sydney : Published and sold by all the booksellers,

1853)



Campbell was a Glasgow graduate was the Medical Superintendent of

the Lunatic Asylum at Tarban Creek, NSW. He published it, at first

privately, “in the hope that it may be the means of tempering the insane

rage for smoking, so epidemic in this colony.” He saw the harmful

effects concentrated on the mind, however, and “the stomach and

associated organs.” [Ford 483]



74. Molesworth, Francis Hilton (1854-19-?)

The downfall of Demos : he that is not with me is against me,

Jesus Christ . Sydney : F.H. Molesworth, 1931?



F. H. Molesworth was born in England but married in Adelaide; at the

time of writing, he was a Public Analyst under the Pure Food Act, in

Sydney. He wrote this anti-smoking tract so that “the youth of this

world may be rendered worthy to gain a place in the next…” [The

BIBAM copy]



75. Lucas, Thomas Pennington, LRCP, MRCS (1843-1917)

The true action and physiological results of alcohol / by T.P.

Lucas. (London : Wesleyan Conference Off., [1875])



Lucas was a prolific author, campaigning against the immoderate use

of alcohol, the Melanesian labour trade in Queensland, and other social

aspects of medicine. He is best known now for his championship of

paw-paw ferments for the treatment of various diseases: Dr. Lucas‟

paw-paw ointment can still be bought. [Not in BIBAM]



76. Local option with compensation : opinions of leading English

statesmen, clergy, and other prominent men on the subject. (Sydney :

United Licensed Victuallers' Association of New South Wales, [1903?])



The Temperance Movement was active in Australia in the late 19th

century – an international temperance convention was held in

Melbourne in 1888, for example – and it is especially interesting to see

ways in which it was resisted. „Local Option‟ refers to the choice

available to a local Council to accept or reject national legislation

dealing with the sale of alcohol. This is a local reprint of a UK

publication. [Not in BIBAM]





77. Dry munitions / prepared by John Vale ; foreword and statement of

the case for war-time prohibition by R.B.S. Hammond ; State Sections by

James Marion ... [et el.] (Melbourne : Australian Alliance Prohibition

Council, [1918])



John Vale was the former secretary of the Victoria Alliance and then

the Australian Alliance; the graphics emphasize the war being waged

by the temperance movement against alcohol. [Not in BIBAM]



[Not in BIBAM]



78. Druitt, Robert, 1814-1883.

Report on the cheap wines from France, Germany, Italy, Austria,

Greece, Hungary, and Australia: their use in diet and medicine. 2nd ed.

rewritten and enl. (London, H. Renshaw, 1873)



The 1st edition was a reprint of a series of articles in the Medical Times

& Gazette, in 1863 and 1864. The 2nd edition gives high praise to a

number of Australian wines, including those of Dr. A. C. Kelly of

Tintara. [Ford 635]

Flat Case 9



Domestic Medicine



79. Buchan, William, 1729-1805.

Domestic medicine, or, A treatise on the prevention and cure of

diseases by regimen and simple medicines ... / by William Buchan. 6th

ed., corr., to which is now added a complete index. (London : Printed for

W. Strahan, T. Cadell [etc.], 1779)



This book, published in 1769, was the first book written in English to

bring together all the components of domestic medicine: hygiene and

regimen, description of diseases and their causes, and details of

medicaments. It was a huge success; by 1803 it was up to the 18 th

edition, after which the publishers stopped counting. The book was a

model for many imitations in the 19th century, the information being

modified, as Blake says, to accommodate the moral conviction or

system of medicine of the writer.



80. Elkington, J. S. C. (John Simeon Colebrook), 1871-1955.

Health reader : with chapters on elementary school hygiene / by

J.S.C. Elkington ; illustrated by Norman Lindsay. (Christchurch ;

Melbourne : Whitcombe & Tombs, [1908?])



Elkington was a great advocate of public health, yet the great thing

about this book is not the text, but the illustrations. Elkington had

married Mary Parkinson in 1896, and Norman Lindsay married her

sister Kathleen in 1900. Elkington helped his brother-in-law to get a job

on the Bulletin, and he probably agreed to illustrate this book as a quid

pro quo. [Not in BIBAM]



81. Smith, Louis L. (Louis Lawrence), 1830-1910.

Medical household sketches, or, Popular treatises for parlour and

bush-hut on the diseases prevalent in Australasia / by Louis L. Smith.

Melbourne : H. Cordell, Printer, [1873?]



Smith, a fascinating character, was in his own words, “the only legally

qualified medical practitioner who advertised.” He solicited postal

consultations, and advocated the Brown-Sequard treatment

(subcutaneous injections of orchitic and other glandular extracts). He

founded the annual Medical Almanac in 1860, which was continued

after his death. He was prominent in medical, commercial, political and

sporting life in Melbourne. This book was compiled from articles written

by Dr. Smith in the Australian Journal, under the name of 'Colonial

Lancet'. [Ford 1942]



82. Holmes, Thomas James (The Wardmaster)

Recipes, secret, selected, practical, original : comprising the

home doctor, invalid cookery, cakes, pastry etc., household recipes,

toilet secrets, beverages, confectionery, etc., etc. / compiled by the

Wardmaster. (Melbourne : Veritas Library, [1924])



TJ Holmes served in the RAMC during the Great War and came to

Australia after it. He was the secretary (and possibly founder) of the

Disabled Servicemen‟s Association of Australia. His intentions seem to

have been to educate the public on health matters, and to provide

income for returned servicemen who were not able to work; they were

given the books to sell on the street. [BIBAM]



83. Jenkins, William Henry, 1831-1875.

The family medical index; or, What to do in cases of emergency :

written expressly for the colonies / by William Henry Jenkins.

(Melbourne : F.F. Bailliere, publisher, 1874.



This was first published as a weekly supplement to the Hamilton

(Victoria) Spectator during 1873. The articles are arranged

alphabetically from Abscess to Yellow Fever, with reference to local

conditions, especially when dealing with hydatids, snake-bite and

sunstroke. This rare book may have been commoner had not Jenkins

died the year after its publication from one of the diseases he

discusses – dipsomania. [Ford 1049]







Flat Case 10



Psychological medicine



This section contains books dealing with that part of psychological medicine

that I, as a rheumatologist, come across. I am not involved in the treatment of

severe depressive or psychotic illness, but rather that ill-defined field of

„psychosomatic medicine,‟ by which I mean the complex interaction

between mind and body.



84. Cheyne, George, 1673-1743.

The English malady: or, a treatise of nervous diseases of all kinds

: as spleen, vapours, lowness of spirits, hypochondiracal, and hysterical

distempers, &c. ... / By George Cheyne (London : printed for G. Strahan,

and J. Leake at Bath, 1733)



A classic account of hypochondria, which he attributed to the moisture

and variability of the British climate. He draws largely on his own

symptoms, making the eponym „Cheyne‟s disease‟ doubly appropriate.

[GM 4840]



85. Ross, T. A. (Thomas Arthur), 1875-1941.

An Enquiry into prognosis in the neuroses / by T.A. Ross.

(Cambridge : University Press, 1936)



A favourite of mine. Ross ran the Cassell Hospital for Nervous

Diseases after the Great War, and sent his shell-shock and other

patients an annual questionnaire to see how they were getting on after

leaving hospital. An interesting finding was that wives would beg him

to stop sending these annual circulars of inquiry, because it

reawakened the old symptoms in their previously-well husbands.

86. Gavin, Hector.

On feigned and factitious diseases, chiefly of soldiers and

seamen ; on the means used to simulate or produce them, and on the

best modes of discovering impostors ; being the prize essay in the class

of military surgery, in the University of Edinburgh, session, 1835-6, with

additions / by Hector Gavin. (London : John Churchill, 1843)



This book is a wonderful discussion of the tricks men got up to in order

to avoid military service. Gavin wrote it in the hope that it might serve

“either to prevent the honourable physician from being made the dupe

of the artful impostor, or guard him against judging too harshly in

doubtful cases and unjustly punishing the innocent.” True malingering

(complete fabrication of symptoms) is rare in civilian life, although the

question of how much is real, and how much is put on, lies at the very

heart of medico-legal practice.



87. Ellery, Reg S. (Reginald Spencer), 1897-1955

Psychiatric aspects of modern warfare / Reg. S. Ellery. (Melbourne :

Reed & Harris, 1945)



In 1940, Ellery was one of the co-founders of the Melbourne Institute

for Psycho-Analysis. He was, in addition, an „armchair socialist‟ and a

peripheral figure in the Angry Penguins movement. He gave Sidney

Nolan examples of drawings by psychotic patients, and one of Nolan‟s

resultant paintings is used as the cover of this book. Ellery suffered

from rheumatoid arthritis, and was said to be the first person in Victoria

to be treated with cortisone.



88. Erichsen, John Eric, 1818-1896.

On railway and other injuries of the nervous system / by John Eric

Erichsen. (London : Walton and Maberly, 1866)



Erichsen wrote this book as a result of his experiences with people

injured in railway accidents, which occurred fairly often in the early days

of rail travel, as speed was increased and safety features were just being

developed. Anyone doubting the horror of these incidents can read

Dickens‟s short ghost story The Signal-Man, based on the Clayton

Tunnel crash of 1861, but written after his own involvement in the

Staplehurst rail crash in 1865. Many of Erichsen‟s patients were

seriously injured, but he gives a detailed discussion, for the first time, of

the condition widely known as „whiplash.‟ [GM 4538.1]



Flat Case 11



Public Issues



89. Girdlestone, T. M. (Tharp Mountain), 1823-1899

Under the floor / by T.M. Girdlestone. Rev. ed. (Melbourne :

Australian Health Society, 1887)

One of the lectures published by the Australian Health Society, in which

Girdlestone, the Medical Officer of Health, criticizes the local drainage.

In 1885, George Sala wrote an article entitled “Marvellous Melbourne.”

This jingoistic phrase was taken up widely, and a play of that title was

produced in 1889. In it, one of the characters parodies it as Marvellous

sMelbourne, a label that achieved currency as Marvellous Smellbourne.

[GM 735]



90. Muskett, Philip E. (Philip Edward), 1857-1909

The art of living in Australia / by Philip E. Muskett ; together with

three hundred Australian cookery recipes and accessory kitchen

information by Mrs. H. Wicken. (London ; Melbourne : Eyre and

Spottiswoode, [1892?])



This book has sections on the Australian climate, bathing, ventilation,

clothing, diet, exercise, food habits, fish, oysters, wine and cookery.

[Ford 1443]



91. Bruce, John L. (John Leck)

The Australian sanitary inspector's text book / by John L. Bruce

and Theodore Mailler Kendall. (Sydney : William Brooks, 1901)



A well-illustrated reminder of the importance to living of fresh air, safe

food and water, and the removal of waste.



92. “The work that can cripple”, in ABEU newsletter, no. 5 (Aug. 1983)

(Melbourne : Australian Bank Employees Union, 1983)



In 1980, workers began to complain of pain, usually somewhere in the

dominant forequarter, attributed to overuse. Although this was either an

exaggeration of normal fatigue, or one of the common conditions, such

as tennis elbow or carpal tunnel syndrome, a new term was introduced

in Melbourne – Repetitive Strain Injury. Between 1980 and 1986, by

which time the epidemic of RSI had passed, over 30% of Telecom

Australia‟s staff had needed time off for this condition. In these cases,

which occurred on a background of high unemployment and interest

rates on bank loans of 18%, the only useful measures were often just

education and reassurance. This edition of the ABEU newsletter, with its

sensational story under a photograph of a cheque-processing machine,

contradicted the messages that a treating doctor would want to convey.

It is a treasured reminder of the time.



Small Upright Case

Karyon : journal of the Monash University Medical Undergraduates'

Society. Number 1 – 1964, edited by N. Pointer.



The first issue of the annual magazine (as against the yearbook) of the

Monash Medical School. The last edition in the collection is 1974.

Pruritus : the official organ of the MUMUS.



This newsletter appeared between 1962 and 1972; the volume on

display contains 1965-1970, which were my undergraduate years.

Started by Ron Matthews, Pruritus acquired popularity outside the

Medical Faculty in the early days because of its student humour, and

saw itself as being in competition with the Monash Association of

Students‟ publication Chaos (subsequently called ot’s Wife.)





Porter, Robert (ed.)

Studies in neurophysiology : presented to AK McIntyre. Cambridge

University Press, 1978.



Archibald McIntyre was the first Professor of Physiology at Monash.

This festschrift marked his retirement, and emphasises the importance

that neurophysiology had in the development of the Department. Robert

Porter was himself Professor of Physiology at Monash, and later Dean of

the Faculty.



A decade of medical progress 1975-1985 : Monash medical graduates'

ten year reunion, October 1985.



There is a good, but by no means complete, run of reunion magazines in

the collection. It would be wonderful if graduates, for whose reunion one

of these ephemeral publications was produced, could fill in the gaps.



Nairn RC (editor). Fluorescent protein tracing. 2nd ed. E & S

Livingstone, 1964



Nairn was Professor of Pathology at Monash University from 1963-1984.

This is a signed presentation copy to the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria.





Lake, Joshua (editor).

Childhood in bud and blossom : a souvenir book of the Children's

Hospital Bazaar. Melbourne: The Atlas Press, 1900



A pretty book, with many illustrations and a short history of the Children‟s

Hospital, this is copy no. 68 of a deluxe limited edition. [Ford 1355]



Perry, Grace, 1927-1987

Staring the stars : and other poems. Sydney: Consolidated Press, 1943



Grace Perry was born in Melbourne, but graduated MB, BS from the

University of Sydney in 1951; she is the most important figure in

Australian medical poetry. In addition to her in paediatric practice in Five

Dock, she founded the South Head Press, and published the periodical

Poetry Australia. Her encouragement gave a start to many poets,

medical and non-medical. This is a reprint of her first published work,

written in 1942, when she was only 15 years of age. It is a signed

presentation copy to Rex Ingamells, 23 September, 1943.





Meares, Ainslie, 1910-1986)

How distant the stars : case notes and other poems. Melbourne: F.W.

Cheshire, 1949



This is copy number 59/150, inscribed to Guy Springthorpe, a fellow

psychiatrist: “This is nearly as bad as giving someone your Rorschach to

read.” [Not in BIBAM]



Corridor Cases

Fremantle Lunatic Asylum. Occurrence Book. Entries for march 1889 to

November 1891.



This manuscript book from the old Fremantle Asylum was given to me by

Robert Finlay-Jones, who has been a close friend and fellow bibliophile

for over 30 years. The word-perfect monotony of the entries emphasises

the parlous state of mental institutions a century ago.



Prescription Books from Howard James Pharmacy, 289 Bridge Rd,

Richmond.



The pharmacy on the corner of Church St and Bridge Rd, Richmond,

was closed in 1990, in response to a Government incentive. The

pharmacy had been started by John Clark Jones in 1852; in 1900 the

proprietor was George May, his nephew. In 1914 the proprietor was

Robert Holdsworth, who had come from a pharmacy in Beaufort,

Victoria, who was succeeded by his daughter, Nancy Holdsworth. In

1960 Howard James became the proprietor, until the end.



Driving past, I noticed that it was being vacated and, in a variation of the

book collecting technique known as „hearse-chasing,‟ I stopped to ask if

there were any old prescription books I could have or, if necessary, buy

(the latter, as it turned out.)



This remarkable run of 76 prescription books, from 1902 to 1986

(unbroken from 1930), records over half a million prescriptions provided

to the local community. In addition, there are 2 Own-Prescribe books

covering prescriptions for staff, and veterinary prescriptions, and 2

manuscript recipe books for the various Jones‟ mixtures, and the

favourite mixtures of local medical practitioners. A thesis awaits!



Health and Physical Culture.



This magazine was started in 1929 in Sydney, by Alfred James Briton;

on display are several early numbers. One frequent topic is eugenics,

with articles by Marion Piddington (1869-1950), described by Diana

Wyndham as a „loose cannon.‟





Screens

On the screens on the western wall are displayed colour photocopies of

ephemeral publications to do with health, not necessarily in the order they are

listed here. They are all rare; either the only known copy, or hitherto

unrecorded. If the date of publication is not stated, I give my estimate, based

on internal evidence.



Gresswell, Dan Astley MD (Oxon) [1853-1904]

Report ... to the Board of Public Health on bubonic plague : The plague -

the Black Death. (Melbourne : Robert Brain, Government Printer, 1900)



not in Ford [see 793], not in BIBAM



Central Board of Health, Victoria.

Precautions against small-pox. (Melbourne : John Ferres, Government

Printer, 1872)



These regulations, made under the Public Health Statute, 1867, are

dated 18th July 1872. TR Wilson, was the Board secretary. Smallpox

was a greatly feared epidemic, because of its high mortality and the

facial disfigurement of survivors. The disease was officially eradicated in

1979 (though stockpiles of the virus still exist). The first author of the

definitive history of smallpox and its eradication was Frank Fenner, an

eminent Australian virologist (See item 66).



Consultative Council on Poliomyelitis, Victoria.

Statement on poliomyelitis for the guidance of parents. (Melbourne : no

colophon, 1950-55?)



The Council was chaired by Dr. WDG Upjohn; other members were JB

Colquhoun, Jean MacNamara, CH Hembrow, H McLorinan, AM Morris

and H Buchanan. The poliomyelitis virus caused epidemics of disease

in the early 1950s. While this was often asymptomatic, or caused only

transient neurological abnormality, significant numbers of children had

permanent paralysis of a leg or arm. The most feared complication was

involvement of the respiratory muscles, requiring permanent ventilation

in an “iron lung.” With the introduction of the Salk and then the Sabin

vaccines in Australia, the disease has disappeared here (though the

virus still exists).



Victorian Association for the Prevention and Cure of Tuberculosis.

Advice to consumptive patients. (Melbourne : The Association, 1920-

30?)

[Zwar BT, Hon. Sec.] Tuberculosis was a big public health problem here

until the late 1950s, but it is starting to emerge again among people who

were not born in Australia or who are immunosuppressed for one reason

or another.





Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society.

The crime of mosquito breeding. (Melbourne : CMLA Society, 1920-30?)





In the period between the two World Wars the Colonial Mutual Life

Assurance Society, produced a series of pamphlets on topical health

issues “published and distributed for the benefit of its Policyholders.”

There are 9 titles in this collection, of which 2 are displayed, but there

may perhaps be more. The first, on mosquito breeding (never seen as a

problem in southern Australia) was chosen for the wonderful picture of

larvae hatching in the broken beer bottle. The text was reviewed by R

Hamlyn-Harris DSc, of Brisbane.



Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society. Who loved the most?

(Melbourne : No colophon, 1925?)



This pamphlet deals with the Schick test for diphtheria. The moral of the

story, told in pictograms, is that the mother who really loved her boy

allowed him to have the pain of a needle, to spare him later suffering and

death.



Australian Home Beautiful (Homecrafts No. 39): edited by Sue Flay.

Diets : eating for health. (Melbourne : United Press, "Herald" Buildings,

1930-39?)



There is a large number of popular books and pamphlets dealing with

health topics. The pamphlet may have a barrow to push (a particular

regimen or food supplement) but often, as here, it gives conventional

advice. My interest in this one centres on the charming picture, and the

conviction that “Sue Flay” is actually a well-chosen nom-de-plume.



Pleasance's Pharmacy, 275 Chapel St., Prahran [CM Pleasance]

A list of 40 of the principal homoeopathic remedies ... compiled at

Pleasance's Pharmacy. 4 p. : 22 cm. Melbourne : no colophon, 1890-

1900?



Homoeopathic medicine, based on the principle that „like cures like‟ (that

is, diseases are cured by small doses of the very drug which can

produce the symptoms of the disease), attained credibility during the

cholera outbreaks in Vienna in the mid 18th century, when it was shown

to be associated with better survival rates than conventional (i.e.

allopathic) medicine. The comparison was actually between doing

nothing, and dehydrating the patient by blood-letting, so such a result is

not surprising. The claim that a medicine is the more powerful the

greater number of times it has been diluted has always been difficult to

defend, but the fact remains that for nearly a century homoeopathy was

an important part of domestic medicine. It will be remembered that

Prince Henry‟s Hospital (now The Melburnian apartments) started life as

the Homoeopathic Hospital. Honest traders, such as C M Pleasance,

were important suppliers.



Foster-McClellan Co., 76 Pitt St, Sydney.

Egyptian dream book. New edition. (Sydney : John Sands, 1910?)



A pretty pamphlet, used as a vehicle to advertise Doan's Backache

Kidney Pills, and other nostrums. The testimonials are an integral

feature of all these publications, and the latest date used here is 1910,

so that was taken as the date of publication.



F. Coutts & Sons.

The acid cure...etc. Adelaide : W C Rigby, sole consignee for SA, 1890-

1900?)



This broadsheet is a favourite because it appeals to two of my interests

– domestic medicine and medical poetry. The Adelaide agent for

Francis Coutts has reprinted the eulogistic poem by John Rae – A tribute

from a pen obscure / to Coutt’s perfect Acid Cure – from the North

Melbourne Advertiser of 12 October, 1883. You can be sure this was

paid for, as were the testimonials on the verso, in all probability.



Chamberlain's Pty Ltd.

Have you eye appeal? : how to obtain that elusive quality. Sydney : no

colophon, 1938



Chamberlain's Pty Ltd.

How to win £20 : profit by experience. (Sydney : no colophon, 1935?)



These two items were issued by Chamberlain's Pty Ltd, 508-528 Riley

St., Sydney. They are characterised by extraordinarily good artwork

(How to win £20 appears to be signed „Benilong‟). The year 1938 is

described as „the 42nd year of Chamberlain's Remedies in Australia – if

this is so, they arrived in 1897.



De Witt, EC & Co. (Australia) Pty Ltd., PO Box 26, St Kilda, Melbourne

De Witt's 200 year calendar and book of horoscopes. Melbourne :

Stockland Press, 1930



This pamphlet advertises De Witt's kidney and bladder pills. Its date of

publication is indicated by the list of Melbourne Cup winners, which ends

at 1929 [not in BIBAM]



Dr. Williams' Medicine Co. of Australasia, Canada Buildings, 6 Dalley

Street, Sydney. How to do a lot of things. Sydney: S.T. Leigh & Co.,

1905?

Who could fail to be attracted by the splendid name “Pink Pills for Pale

people?” They contained iron (though not in quantities sufficient to

combat the prevalent anaemia in young women, known as chlorosis),

and arsenic (a stimulant). The pill was invented by George Taylor

Fulford, of Canada; he sent his nephew Charles to Australia to peddle

the nostrum, along with the equally-alliterative Bile Beans for

Biliousness. There never was a “Dr. Williams,” and the pills were

recommended for a breathtaking range of illnesses. George Taylor

became a Senator in Canada, received a public funeral when he died,

and left five million dollars in his will.





Also on display in the large upright cabinet:



The Julian Smith needle sharpener.



Julian Augustus Romaine Smith (1873-1947) went to secondary school

and university in Adelaide, but the Adelaide Hospital dispute of 1895-6

drove Smith, and other medical students, to Melbourne. He had a

brilliant undergraduate career, and after working at the Melbourne

Hospital, in Gippsland, at St Mary‟s Hospital in London, and in

partnership with Frederick Dougan Bird, he took his definitive post on the

surgical staff of St Vincent‟s Hospital, Melbourne. Two of his inventions

were aimed at making the transfusion of blood easier. In those days,

blood transfusions were given directly from donor to patient, and Smith

invented the rotary pump to expedite this. It is illustrated in Item 24, and

is now used in all dialysis machines. Needles were not then disposable,

and he invented the machine on display in order to keep them sharp.

Smith was also a remarkably good photographer, both in technique and

composition.



S m M x m’ Pipe of Peace and Maxim Inhaler.



Hiram Maxim (1840-1916) was a remarkable man. Born in the USA, he

went to England in 1881 to further his inventive, eccentric genius. Of the

many inventions, two are particularly remembered. One is the Maxim

gun, which made him a huge amount of money. This allowed him to

fund the development of his heavier-than-air machines (powered by

steam, mind you), one of which he claimed to be the first to lift off the

ground.