The Master Violet Ray

Early American Energy Medicine: "Gleet - By the use of the urethral No. 21 and the rectal No. 23 tubes, unusual results have been obtained. Insert same with any antiseptic lubricant, giving 10 to 15 minute treatments daily."

Plastic surgery

Project facade: "The First World War was a war dominated by high explosives and heavy artillery. Battlefield casualties included an unprecedented number with horrific facial injuries - injuries so severe the men were commonly unrecognizable to loved ones and friends. Often unable to see, hear, speak eat or drink, they struggled to re-assimilate back into civilian life. This secondary tragedy - the living unable to 'live' - catalyzed Surgeon Sir Harold Gillies to transform the fledgling discipline of plastic surgery based on his unrivalled observation of the profoundly wounded and his ability to push the parameters of the profession beyond all known techniques."

A little tin solder

Lead poisoning: "as possible cause of deaths at the Swedish House at Kapp Thordsen, Spitsbergen, winter 1872-3"

Plague in prairie dog towns

Carnivorous mice spread deadly plague: "Grasshopper mice have no respect for prairie dog territories,' Jones said. 'They're nasty little beasties, and when they eat the carcass of a prairie dog that's died of plague, the fleas climb aboard the mice. The mice then schlep the fleas around to different territories, connecting family groups that otherwise wouldn't be in contact."

Yearbooks revisited

For those that may have looked at the Yearbooks post and have been interested in the 1907 book but put off at the format provided by the site (I obviously was), I have taken the liberty of creating a PDF (so that I can read it on my iPad) and I make it available for you, dear reader, to download at BlueWhite.pdf [20.51MB] (for the next 3 days). It makes for interesting reading as a snapshot of the times. Some of the content make shock the younger reader that is not familiar with how common words like 'nigger' and suchlike were used, but read it with the times in mind. The students come across as cruel at times but essentially honest in their appraisals of each other. There is a palpable sense of camaraderie in the stories and pictures of the medical students and I found it to be a fascinating documentation of the times.

Yearbooks

Saint Louis University School Yearbooks: Compare 1907 with 2005.

L'Alcoolisme

Alcohol: is bad for society (is that a flaming dildo in his left hand?), rabbits, human brains and feet.

Design winners

red dot: "Design Awards 2010."

Postmortem

Virtual Autopsy: "Have a look at the inside of a human being."

Anatomy Murders

Burke and Hare: "On Monday, November 3, 1828, Edinburgh awoke to the horrifying news that the most atrocious murders of the decade — of the century — had been committed in the West Port district of the Old Town. William Burke and William Hare, together with Helen M'Dougal and Margaret Hare, were accused of killing 16 people over the course of 12 months, in order to sell their cadavers as 'subjects' for dissection."