Indiana Medical History Museum

06/09/2025

"In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Freedom House Ambulance Service set the standard for emergency medical care, laying the groundwork for the services available today."

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Freedom House Ambulance Service set the standard for emergency medical care, laying the groundwork for the services available today

06/03/2025

"Interestingly, medical practitioners often counteract the effects of su***de tree ingestion with the product of another notorious plant: Atropa belladonna, otherwise known as “deadly nightshade...Like deadly nightshade, the su***de tree isn’t exclusively harmful. Ethnobotanical records describe how other parts of the plant have been used in traditional medicine."

*This is not an endorsement. Don't try this at home!

Even before The White Lotus, people feared the poisonous pong-pong tree, Cerbera odollam. But there's another way to look at the plant and its effects.

05/16/2025

On May 15, 1864, the Battle of New Market became a defining moment in the Civil War. Fought in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, this clash saw the Confederate forces defending the advances of the Union army whose aim was to destroy a key transportation infrastructure. The battle ended with Confederate forces maintaining control of the Shenandoah Valley and more than over 1,300 casualties between both armies.

From our Anatomical Collections, we have the left distal femur of U.S. Army Cpl. J. E. D., Co. G, 34th Massachusetts, who sustained a gunshot wound in the back of the thigh at the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1865.
[AFIP 1000759]

05/09/2025

"It is probably safe to say he was the only Black, Hispanic, Jewish person to have ever served as both a Confederate and Union officer during the Civil War."

Morris had ties to the Confederacy, the Union, an acting dynasty, and medicine

05/06/2025

"The British government claimed that eating carrots helped its fighter pilots shoot down German planes at night. In truth, the Royal Air Force relied on top-secret radar"

The British government claimed that eating carrots helped its fighter pilots shoot down German planes at night. In truth, the Royal Air Force relied on top-secret radar

05/05/2025

"In 1912, Dr. William Osler, a renowned internist and the co-founder of Johns Hopkins Hospital...described Dr. William Beaumont as “the pioneer physiologist of the United States and the first to make a contribution of enduring value.” Dr. Osler wrote that Dr. Beaumont’s “work remains a model of patient, persevering research.” But like that of many founding figures in our nation’s history, including Dr. Osler himself, Dr. Beaumont’s legacy is complicated by ethical questions related to his medical research and informed consent that persist in medicine today."

In 1912, Dr. William Osler, a renowned internist and the co-founder of Johns Hopkins Hospital, described Dr. William Beaumont as “the pioneer physiologist of ...

05/01/2025

James Syme, the Napoleon of surgery (1799–1870)

James Syme was born in Edinburgh in the year when Napoleon became First Consul, and in later years came to be called the Napoleon or Wellington of surgery.1-6 As a young man he had an interest in chemistry and at age eighteen developed a method of making textiles impermeable to water by impregnating...

04/22/2025

Here's another interesting article from Hektoen International:

"Röntgen published three papers on X-rays. He became the first recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901...In addition to his work on X-rays, Röntgen made many contributions in the field of metallurgy, structural analysis, and crystallography, publishing more than fifty papers on topics other than X-rays."

Arpan K. Banerjee Solihull, England The name Röntgen will be familiar to most for his discovery of X-rays on November 8, 1895. This date is now celebrated as the International Day of Radiology. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was born in Lennep, Germany on March 27, 1845. The house where he was born is now...

04/21/2025

"On a gray morning in March 1882, Ehrlich attended the lecture in which Robert Koch reported that he had discovered the organism causing tuberculosis. This was a sensation, for Ehrlich his “greatest experience in science.” The next day in his laboratory he made a dry preparation in which bacteria fixed on a slide could be stained with methylene blue. It allowed the public for the first time to actually see the tuberculosis bacterium"

George DuneaChicago, Illinois, United States To understand Paul Ehrlich, the man who developed the first effective cure for syphilis, we must dial back to 1826. In that year, a German scientist called Otto Unverdoren isolated from indigo a volatile organic substance that smelled like rotten fish. Ot...

04/08/2025

Hello, all. The recording for the Spring 2025 Installment of the Forensic Science Lecture Series "Recovering the Victims of Fox Hollow with Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison" is now available on our YouTube channel. See link in comment.

04/04/2025

While studying chromosome breakage in maize during the 1940s and 1950s, she observed that some genes could move to different locations within the genome, challenging the widely held belief that genes were fixed in a linear arrangement on chromosomes. She coined the term "transposons" to describe these mobile genetic elements, which influence gene expression and contribute to genetic variation. At the time, her findings were met with skepticism, as they contradicted the prevailing understanding of genetics. However, decades later, her research gained widespread recognition, leading to her being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1983, making her the first woman to receive the honor unshared. Her groundbreaking work reshaped our understanding of genome flexibility, influencing fields such as evolution, gene regulation, biotechnology, and even disease research. Today, transposable elements are recognized as a fundamental aspect of eukaryotic genomes, playing a crucial role in genetic diversity and adaptation.