Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1823

DANIEL CORNELIUS DANIELSSEN (1815-1894) Traité de la spédalskhed ou éléphantiasis des Grecs. Chez J.-B. Baillière 1848 Vol. I: xxi [3] 535 [1] 4 [8] 2 [2] 4 [8] pp. 20.9 cm.; Vol. II: [4] pp., 24 plates. 47.5 cm.

Danielssen, a native of Bergen, Norway, began his career as apprentice to a pharmacist but was forced from that occupation because of tuberculosis. Although he recovered and went on to study medicine, the disease periodically affected his health for the rest of his life. Danielssen became a physician in 1838, began practice in Bergen, and was appointed chief of staff at the Lungegaarden Hospital, which specialized in care for leprosy when it opened in 1849. In his quest for the cause of leprosy, he inoculated himself and other staff members with leprous tissue on a number of occasions but was never successful in transmitting the disease. When Hansen (see No. 2041), his son-in-law, discovered the leprosy bacillus in 1873, Danielssen was firm in his refusal to accept it as the causative agent. Danielssen's coauthor, Boeck, entered the practice of medicine in 1831 and from 1846 served at the University of Christiania where he became professor of dermatology in 1851. Although he is well known for his contributions to syphilology, he studied leprosy in England, Italy, and Greece and, after returning to Norway, worked with Danielssen for several years. One of the earliest scientific studies of leprosy, this work was first published at Bergen in 1847. This first French edition, translated from the Norwegian by L. A. Cosson (fl. 1840), was financed by the Norwegian government under Danielssen's direction. The historical background of this ancient disease, the laws governing its victims throughout the centuries, the various classifications of the leprosy syndrome, the clinical appearance and course of the disease, and its treatment are all discussed in the book. Aside from isolation of the patient, the many remedies that are mentioned were noted to have no basic effect on the progress of the disease. However, the authors specifically cautioned against the use of topical ointments containing mercury. Included are a number of cases histories illustrating the relentless progress of the disease and the clinical skill of the authors in trying to contain it. The atlas, Volume II, contains twenty-four colored lithographs depicting deformities of the face, limbs, and internal organs of leprosy victims. The plates of the atlas are captioned in Norwegian and have been shown to be from the same stock as the Norwegian edition of 1847.

See Related Record(s): 2041

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 2434 (1st Norwegian ed., 1847); Waller 2286 (Atlas only); Wellcome II, p. 430 (1st Norwegian ed.)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.