Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 2076

SIR WILLIAM RICHARD GOWERS (1845-1915) The diagnosis of diseases of the spinal cord. J. and A. Churchill 1880 viii, 80 pp., illus., plate. 22.1 cm.

Gowers was a prominent member of a group of British clinical neurologists who, during the latter part of the nineteenth century, made important studies in nervous system physiology and pathology. Most of Gowers' professional life was spent at University College Hospital where he developed the extraordinary powers of observation, personal study habits, and writing ability for which he was known. His works are admired almost as much for their clarity and organization as they are for content. Gowers invented the first practical hemoglobinometer and was the first to describe the bundle of nerve fibers in the spinal cord (Gowers' tract). With Sir Victor Horsley (1857-1916) he became the first to remove a spinal cord tumor successfully. Gowers was a fine artist and his Manual and atlas of medical ophthalmology (1879) was illustrated by his own hand. The present work on spinal cord diseases was originally delivered in 1877 to the Medical Society of Wolverhampton. It is a fine example of the painstaking scholarship which characterizes all of his writings.

Cited references: Garrison-Morton 4562; Osler 2783; Waller 3663