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History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

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CHAPTER XVIIPATHOLOGYBy EDWIN F.HIRSCH, M.D.*THEearly <strong>medical</strong> schools <strong>of</strong> the State <strong>of</strong> Ill<strong>in</strong>ois, both <strong>in</strong> and aboutChicago, did little or noth<strong>in</strong>g to arouse an <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> promot<strong>in</strong>gpathology. The earliest record <strong>of</strong> a necropsy <strong>in</strong> Chicago was one performedby Dr. Daniel Bra<strong>in</strong>ard <strong>in</strong> i8_j.j, who described an anencephalic with acardiac malformation. In the same year, Dr. Aust<strong>in</strong> Fl<strong>in</strong>t reported two <strong>in</strong>stances<strong>of</strong> sudden death "with autopsical exam<strong>in</strong>ations." The first personto hold a Chair <strong>in</strong> Pathology <strong>in</strong> Chicago was Dr. N. S. Davis, who cameto this city <strong>in</strong> 1849 as Pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Physiology and Pathology at Rush MedicalCollege. He brought with him a microscope, believed to be the first one<strong>in</strong> the state. 1At the staff meet<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> Cook County Hospital on December 30, 1865,Dr. Henry M. Lyman was appo<strong>in</strong>ted to the newly created position <strong>of</strong>pathologist, or "curator <strong>of</strong> the dead house." Dr. Lyman had few facilitiesfor his newly created assignment: a knife, a saw, a chisel and a mallet. Theattend<strong>in</strong>g physicians, who themselves wished to make dissections on theirdead patients, left little equipment for the curator <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>stitution whichhad no microscope and was unwill<strong>in</strong>g or unable to afford alcohol and jarsfor specimens. Dr. Lyman <strong>in</strong>1870 was succeeded by Dr. Hosmer A. Johnson.Shortly after November, 1873, the <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> the pathologist at CookCounty Hospital was abolished by the <strong>medical</strong> staff, but on March 31, 1877,the staff, recogniz<strong>in</strong>g the value <strong>of</strong> this service, decided aga<strong>in</strong> to appo<strong>in</strong>t acurator. A month later Dr. I. N. Danforth was so designated. Dr. Hektoenstated that <strong>of</strong> the three physicians mentioned for this appo<strong>in</strong>tment onlyDr. Danforth merited the designation <strong>of</strong> pathologist. In fact, he regardedDanforth as the only pathologist worthy <strong>of</strong> this name before Dr.Christian Fenger; for it was he (Danforth) who first <strong>in</strong>itiated the <strong>practice</strong><strong>of</strong> demonstrat<strong>in</strong>g postmortems to classes <strong>of</strong> <strong>medical</strong> students. Before re-* For many years Dr. Hirsch has been Pathologist to the St. Luke's Hospital <strong>in</strong> Chicago.For the past 29 years he has served as the Secretary <strong>of</strong> the Chicago Pathological <strong>Society</strong>and is widely known for his numerous scientific papers; especially for his illustratedautopsy reports published from time to time <strong>in</strong> the Ill<strong>in</strong>ois Medical Jourtial and <strong>in</strong> theJournal <strong>of</strong> the American Medical Association.—Editor1Hektoen, Ludvig: Early pathology <strong>in</strong> Chicago and Christian Fenger, Proc. Inst. Med.<strong>of</strong> Chicago, IX'. 258, 1937.339

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