Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1292

JEAN MARIE GASPARD ITARD (1774-1838) Traité des maladies de l'oreille et de l'audition. Chez Méquignon-Marvis 1821 Vol. I: [4] xvi, 396 pp.; Vol. II: [4] 522 pp., 3 fold. plates. 21.2 cm.

Had it not been for the French Revolution, Itard would have undoubtedly become a successful businessman as intended by his father. However, in order to avoid military service, his uncle secured him a post as health officer in a military hospital at Soliés. He became interested in medicine, studied and worked under Larrey (see No. 1212 ff.) and ultimately became a physician. It was while physician at the Institute for Deaf-Mutes in Paris that a feral child found in the woods near Aveyron came under his care. His teaching objectives and experiences with the boy have been chronicled in François Truffaut's film "The Wild Child" as well as in several books. The current contribution was based on twenty years of research and includes Itard's review of earlier works on the ear and a new classification of hearing loss based on speech discrimination ability. Among the many therapeutic procedures discussed are those dealing with Itard's catheter for the eustachian tube. He also outlines specific criteria for employing puncture of the ear drum and describes 182 case histories.

See Related Record(s): 1212

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 3364; Waller 5080; Wellcome III, p. 334

Gift of John Martin, M.D.