The first volume covers the history to 1800; the second deals solely with the history of dentistry in America.

Also issued as Bildgeschichte der Zahnheilkunde. Zeugnisse aus 5 Jahrtausenden.  Parallel texts in German, English, French, Italian, and Spanish!

Covers monographs and periodical literature.

First edition in English. First edition, in Spanish, 1971.

Reproduces all the classic Japanese prints that concern the teeth or dentistry. By Nakahara, Yoshihisa Shindo, and Kuninori Homma. 

The author does not consider this a simple translation of his Geschichte der Zahnheilkunde (1973), as in the sections devoted to the 19th and early 20th centuries it has been so substantially revised as to be “almost a different book”. This is the best history of dentistry from the bibliographic point of view. Second edition in German, 1985

Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Ariboflavinosis

Wang’s test for avitaminosis.

4th edition, 2 vols, 1980.

Jean de Joinville was probably the first, about 1250, to describe scurvy; Vasco da Gama noted its occurrence at sea, and Jacques Cartier mentioned it. Ronsse gave an early medical account describing how sailors cured themselves by eating oranges and lemons as soon as they reached the coast of Spain. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Woodall was the surgeon-general to the East India Company. This was the first textbook for naval surgeons. Woodall, surgeon to Saint Bartholomew's Hospital, was an early advocate of limes and lemons as a preventive measure against scurvy. The second edition (London, 1639) included the first edition of Woodall’s collected works, and an unusual and difficult to read chart of the many drugs that Woodall organized in his surgeon's chest. The enlarged edition was required reading for all naval surgeons in the East India Company. Facsimile reprint of the 1617 edition, with introduction and appendix by John Kirkup (Bath: Kingsmead Press, 1978). Biography by J. H. Appleby, Med. Hist., 1981, 25, 251-68. Digital facsimile of the 1617 edition from The Medical Heritage Library, Internet Archive, at this link.

The first important work on tropical diseases. Only six copies of the original edition of this book are known. It includes full accounts of malaria, typhoid, and scurvy, and the first accurate descriptions of yellow fever, amoebic hepatitis, dracontiasis, trichuriasis, and tungiasis. Abreu's description of scurvy was remarkably precise. He treated the disease with fresh milk and antiscorbutic syrups, particularly rose syrup- a rich natural source of ascorbic acid. For a study of the book see F. Guerra, Clio Medica, 1968, 1, 59-60. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Lind, founder of naval hygiene in England, wrote a classic treatise on scurvy, in which he described many important experiments he made on the disease. These experiments have been called “the first deliberately planned controlled therapeutic trial ever undertaken”. Lind showed that in preserved form citrus juices could be carried for long periods on board ship, and that, if administered properly, they would prevent the disease. The application of this knowledge by naval surgeons who followed Lind led to the eventual elimination of the disease from the British Navy. Reprinted, with notes, Edinburgh, 1953.

Following the scurvy-preventing suggestions of James Lind, Cook lost only one man to disease on his second voyage from 1768-1771. Reprinted in Phil. Trans., 1776, 66, 402-06. See No. 2156.

William Hunter recommended Blane as private physician to Admiral Rodney; Blane sailed with him to the W. Indies and became physician to the British Fleet. He was held in great esteem in the navy and was instrumental in effecting improvements in living conditions among seamen. He strongly supported Lind’s views on scurvy. In 1799 he made recommendations which formed the basis of the Quarantine Act of that year. Later he became physician to St. Thomas’s Hospital. With Lind he stands predominant in the history of naval medicine.

Although Blane added nothing to the knowledge on scurvy, he demonstrated the value of fresh lemons, limes, and oranges; through his influence the issue of lemon juice in the British Navy was ordered in 1795, after which scurvy soon disappeared. Blane’s extreme coldness of manner earned him the nickname “Chilblain”.

Möller was the first to describe the acute form of rickets combined with scurvy now associated with the name of Barlow (No. 3720).

Infantile scurvy was confused with rickets until Cheadle differentiated between the two conditions.

Classic description of infantile scurvy (“Barlow’s disease”), which includes the pathology of the condition. See also his earlier paper in Trans. int. med. Congr., 1881, 4, 116-28. Reprinted, but without the colored lithographs and detailed list of cases included in the original, in Arch. Dis. Childh., 1935, 10, 223-52.

Experimental production of scurvy in guinea-pigs. Holst published further papers on the subject in the same journal, 1907, 7, 634-71, and in Z. Hyg., 1912, 72, 1-120, both with Theodor Froelich. Their work made it possible to employ guinea-pigs for assessing the relative values of antiscorbutic foods.

Includes a history and bibliography.

Demonstration of the effect of deprivation of biotin.

First case of infantile scurvy cured by the administration of ascorbic acid.

In his 26th year Whistler published his graduation thesis at Leiden; this was the first description of rickets as a definite disease manifesting itself by a more or less constant association of symptoms. Still (No. 6356) gives an interesting account of Whistler, with abstracts from the above work. The book attracted little attention, and the credit for the first description is usually given to Glisson. English translation by G.T. Smerdon, J. Hist. Med., 1950, 5, 397-415.

Boate who spent many years in Ireland, included a full first-hand account of rickets in Chapter 12 of the above book (“De tabe pectorea”). He showed how widespread the disease was at that time. Reprinted in Opuscula Selecta Neerlandicorum, Fase. 5, pp. 260-73, Amsterdam, 1926.

Although anticipated by Whistler and others in the description of infantile rickets, Glisson’s account was the fullest that had till then appeared. He was first (Chap. 22) to describe infantile scurvy. Glisson’s book on rickets was one of the earliest instances of collaborative medical research in England, combining the observations of Glisson and seven other contributors. G.Bate and A. Regemorter are credited as co-authors. This monograph on the biomechanics of deformities included an early study of the pathologic anatomy of scoliosis. An English translation appeared in 1651.

First report of the value of cod-liver oil in the treatment of rickets.

Hess considered this the foremost contribution to the subject during the 19th century.

Rickets cured by ultraviolet irradiation.

First convincing experimental evidence that rickets is a deficiency disease, curable by correct diet.

In his important experiments on rickets, Mellanby both induced and controlled the disease by diet.

Hess made numerous clinical observations on rickets and scurvy and discovered that antirachitic properties could be imparted to certain oils and to food by exposing them to ultra-violet rays. His book includes an important history and bibliography of the subject.

Bontius was probably the first to regard tropical medicine as an independent branch of medical science. He spent the last four years of his life in the Dutch East Indies, and his book incorporates the experience he gained there. It is the first Dutch work on tropical medicine and includes the first modern description of beri-beri and cholera. On pp. 115-120 of the first edition Bontius provided the first modern description of Beri-beri, the deficiency disease endemic to Eastern and Southern Asia (sporadic elsewhere). This diseases results from a thiamine deficiency caused by too great a dependence on polished rice in the diet. (See No. 3740). It was mentioned in Chinese literature before the Christian era. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link. Translated into English anonymously as An account of the diseases, natural history and medicines of the East Indies to which are added annotations by a physician (London, 1769). Digital facsimile of the English translation from Google Books at this link.

One of the earliest accounts of beri-beri is on pp. 300-05 of this work. Tulp, notable as the demonstrator in Rembrandt’s “Anatomy Lesson”, was among the first, in the same book, to describe the ileo-caecal valve (“Tulp’s valve”). The first edition was published in 1641.

"Tulp's book has various accounts of unusual illnesses and primarily growths or carcinomas, but also has accounts of creatures brought back from Dutch East India Company ships. His drawing of a Chimpanzee is considered the first of its kind.^[2] This creature was called an Indian Satyr, since all ships cargo was considered Indonesian. However, the accompanying text claims the animal came from Angola. This drawing was copied many times and formed the basis for many theories on the origin of man. Most notably, Tulp's work and that of Jacob de Bondt (alias Jacobus Bontius) was copied and republished by Linnaeus to show a link between apes and man.^{[2]" (Wikipedia article on Observationes medicae (Tulp).}

Digital facsimile of the 1652 edition from Google Books at this link.

A classic account, in which the author brought together all that was known about the disease in his day.

In his important account of beriberi, Baelz dealt with the Tokyo outbreak of 1881.

Takaki was the first conclusively to show the dietary origin of beriberi. Measures introduced by him resulted in its eradication from the Japanese Navy, where it had previously been a serious problem.

Eijkman produced beriberi experimentally in fowls; from this he was led to conclude that a diet of over-milled rice was the chief cause, both in fowls and humans. Thus his work was of great importance in determining the aetiology of beriberi, and he further had the distinction of being the first to produce experimentally a disease of dietary deficiency origin. German translation in Virchows Arch. path. Anat., 1897, 148, 523-32.

In 1929 Eijman shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with F. G. Hopkins "for discovery of the antineuritic vitamin."

Grijns succeeded Eijkman as director of the Research Laboratory for Pathological Anatomy and Bacteriology in Batavia. He was the first to adopt the view that beriberi was simply a “deficiency disease”, since he found it to be due to the lack of an unknown substance in the diet. English translation of this and related papers in Grijns, Researches on vitamins 1900-1911, Gorinchem, 1935.

Studies from the Institute for Medical Research, F. M. S., No. 10. Careful and long-continued experiments on the aetiology of beriberi were carried out by Fraser and Stanton in Malaya.

One of the earliest attempts to isolate what later became known as vitamin B_1.See No. 1051.

Funk determined the chemical nature of the substance in rice polishings which could cure beriberi.

Important studies of beri-beri are recorded in this book. After its publication the author made many additional contributions to the literature on the subject.

Isolation of vitamin B₁ (aneurine, thiamine), lack of which is a cause of beri-beri.

Wenckebach wrote a classic account of the heart in beriberi.

Synthesis of aneurine.

Thiérry wrote an account of pellagra from what he had seen or heard of Casal’s cases. His work antedates that of Casal in date of publication but is not a first-hand description. English translation in No. 2241.

The first recognizable description of pellagra is included on pp. 327-60 of this book, which was written in 1735 but not published until 1762, after the writer’s death. He called the disease mal de la rosa. Reprinted, Oviedo, 1900.

In Frapolli’s careful description of pellagra, the disease was first given its present name. This book is also the first Italian account of the malady. Partial English translation in No. 2241.

By 1776, pellagra had attained serious proportions in Italy; Strambio was placed in charge of a hospital for the treatment of pellagrins, and he left an important account of the disease. He and Casal y Julian (No. 3750) first pointed out that pellagra might occur without the cutaneous lesions, till then regarded as characteristic.

Roussel was awarded a prize of 5,000 francs for this work.

Lombroso upheld the maize theory of the origin of pellagra. He believed that the symptoms were caused by a toxin which developed in deteriorated maize. Reprinted from Riv. clin. Bologna, 1869, 8, 289-314, 321-44.

With C. H. Waring and D. G. Willets. A collection of Goldberger’s most important papers with a list of his publications appeared in 1964.

Goldberger was born in Central Europe in poor circumstances. He migrated to America, and following attendance at a lecture by Austin Flint, decided to study medicine. He entered the U. S. Public Health Service in 1899. He was a pioneer in the study and treatment of pellagra, demonstrating its experimental production and its prevention by proper diet.

Anti-pellagra vitamin. With G. A. Wheeler, R. D. Lillie, and L. M. Rogers.

First accurate description. “Kwashiorkor” was the local name in Ghana for a nutritional disease of children, associated with a maize diet. The first modern account was probably that of L. Normet in Bull. Soc. Path. exot., 1926, 19, 207-13.

Isolation of nicotinic acid, the pellagra-preventing factor (Vitamin B3). With R. J. Madden, F. N. Strong, and D. W. Woolley.

Proof that the spleen is not essential to life. For a translation and notes on the book, see Bull. Hist. Med., 1941, 9, 144-76, 311-31 (S. Jarcho).

First full description of lymphadenoma, which Wilks in 1865 referred to as “Hodgkin’s disease”. This is more typically designated as Hodgkin's lymphoma. In 1666 Malpighi had vaguely outlined the condition. Hodgkin was pathologist at Guy’s Hospital. The paper is reproduced in Med. Classics, 1937, 1, 741-70.

While most people in Germany still considered splenectomy beyond the bounds of possibility, Quittenbaum performed the operation in 1829, establishing it as a surgical procedure.

Wilks really put Hodgkin’s disease “on the map”; the second paper for the first time attached Hodgkin’s name to the disease

First reported case of (infantile) splenic anemia.

Vanlair and Masius were the first to suggest the concept of hereditary hemolytic anemia. Their paper was republished in book form, Brussels, 1871.

Langhans noted the presence of giant cells in the lesions of Hodgkin’s disease.

Greenfield also drew attention to the giant cells in lymphadenoma, which later became known as “Dorothy Reed’s giant cells” (see No. 3780).

“Gaucher’s disease” – familial splenic anemia. Digital facsimile from wellcomecollection.org at this link.

“Pel-Ebstein disease”, a remittant pyrexia occurring in Hodgkin’s disease (see also No. 3771).

Dreschfeld preceded Kundrat in differentiating Hodgkin’s disease and lymphosarcoma.

Kundrat separated lymphosarcoma (“Kundrat’s disease”) from other malignant tumors involving the lymphatic system.

“Banti’s syndrome”, Splenomegalic anemia. Reprinted with translation in Med. Classics, 1937, 1, 901-27. (For his earlier work on the subject, see No. 3126.)

“Paltauf-Sternberg disease” (see also No. 3776). On the European Continent the name “Hodgkin-Paltauf-Sternberg disease” is in use.

In his classic description of lymphadenoma, Sternberg separated it from aleukemic leukemia, with which it had hitherto been included.

“Hayem–Widal disease” –acquired hemolytic anemia (see also No. 3783).

“Minkowski–Chauffard disease”, familial hemolytic jaundice. See also No. 3781.

Dorothy Reed’s classic work on Hodgkin’s disease included a study of the histological picture. She described the proliferation of the endothelial and reticular cells, and the formation of lymphadenoma cells – “Dorothy Reed’s giant cells”. The Reed-Sternberg cell is diagnostic of Hodgkin's lymphoma. Its existence disproved the then-common belief that Hodgkin's disease was a subtype of tuberculosis.

“Minkowski–Chauffard disease” (see No. 3779).

“Whipple’s disease”. Whipple suggested the name lipodystrophia intestinalis (intestinal lipodystrophy) for this condition because there were abnormal lipid deposits in the small intestine wall. In figure 9 of his paper Whipple reproduced a photomicrograph clearly showing the "bacillary bodies" that were later seen by Yardley (1961). Whipple captioned the photograph, "section of gland stained by the Levaditi method. Vacuole (a) containing rod shaped organism?" In his text Whipple called these "very peculiar structures." He wrote, "The majority of these structures closely resemble in form the tubercle bacillus. They are very sharply cotoured and appear as jet black rods, sometimes bent but more often straight or only slightly curved. Some show a slight welling of one end and others a beaded appearance....Whether this is the active agent in this peculiar pathological complex cannot be determined from the study of this single case, but its distirubtion in the glands is very suggestive."

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for assisting me in updating the annotation to this entry.)

“Widal-Abrami disease” (Hayem-Widal disease), acquired hemolytic anemia. (See also No. 3777.)

First description of that form of xanthomatosis which Pick described more fully in 1926 (No. 3785) and to which the eponym “Niemann-Pick disease” has been applied.

“Niemann-Pick disease” – a group of inherited, severe metabolic disorders, first noted by Albert Niemann in 1914, (No. 3784) in 1914. Pick’s account is of greater importance.

See No. 3787. With G. Baehr and N. Rosenthal.

“Brill-Symmers disease” (see No. 3786).

Acquired hemolytic anemia was the first condition to be recognized as an auto-immune disease.

Gilbert was among the first to achieve durable responses to radiotherapy in Hodgkin’s disease.

Introduction of nitrogen mustard in treatment of Hodgkin’s disease

With D. A. Karnofsky, J. H. Burchenal, and L. F. Craver.

Clinical use of vinblastine (for Hodgkin’s disease and other lymphomas) and vincristine (for acute leukemias of childhood). With J. G. Armstrong, M. Gorman, and J. P. Burnett. Preliminary communication in J. Lab. clin. Med., 1959, 54, 830.

First known report of a case of death from hypertrophy of the thymus, in an infant, is reported on p. 172; it is reproduced on p. 239 of J. Ruhräh’s Pediatrics of the past, New York, 1925. Platter first described flexion contracture deformity of the fingers (“Dupuytren’s contracture”) in Liber I, p. 140. On p. 13 he provided the first description of an intracranial tumor —a meningioma. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

First description of progeria.

First account of the pathology of carotid body tumors.

Hastings Gilford gave progeria its name; it was first fully reported by him in Practitioner, 1904, 73, 188-217. Digital facsimile of the 1897 paper from PubMedCentral at this link.

Sajous, pioneer American endocrinologist, wrote the first treatise on the subject. In this work he regarded the adrenal, pituitary, and thyroid glands as controlling the immunizing mechanism of the body.

Biedl showed that the adrenal cortex is essential for life. His classic work shows the rapid development of the knowledge concerning endocrinology. In 1890 there were few publications dealing with internal secretion, but Biedl, in the second edition of his book, 1913, was able to include a bibliography of 8,500 items. The 4th edition (1922) includes an exhaustive bibliography. An English translation appeared in 1912.

First attempt to systematize the endocrine disorders. English translation, 1915.

Steinach rejuvenation operation, ligation of the vas deferens, later discredited.

Voronoff first reported his controversial experimental rejuvenation by means of testicular transplants in 1919.

Introduction of stilboestrol, the first synthetic estrogen. With L. Gol[d]berg, W. Lawson,