Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1749

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES (1809-1894) Medical essays, 1841-1882. Houghton, Mifflin 1892 xvii [5] 445 pp., [4] plates, front. (port.). 19.3 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 1742

First published in 1861, this collection of famous essays and lectures indicate the force which Holmes exerted in medicine during the mid-nineteenth century. He exposed quackery, attacked the resistance of prominent contemporaries in medical practice, and made a strong plea for the improvement of medical education. Such essays as "Homeopathy and its kindred delusions," "The contagiousness of puerperal fever," and "Currents and counter-currents in medical science" brought criticism from many sides, all of which only more strongly confirmed Holmes' blunt and iconoclastic opinions. The book is an excellent source for the history of American medicine during the mid-1800s.

Cited references: Cushing H417 (1892 ed.); Garrison-Morton 6390 (1883 ed.); Waller 4851 (1909 ed.)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.