The Edinburgh History of Medicine Group 2011–12 Seminars
The Edinburgh History of Medicine Group allows those interested in
social and
medical history to enjoy some talks and to interact with medical practitioners
and
medically-trained historians at the Royal College of Physicians of
Edinburgh.
We hope that our 14th, 2011–12 season will be the
best yet. We invite anyone with either
a general interest in medical history or a particular interest in any
of the topics on
the programme to come along to the College at 9 Queen Street for the
Wednesday
meetings which are promoted jointly by the Royal College of Physicians
of Edinburgh
and the University of Edinburgh.
Refreshments are available from 4.00pm; the seminars begin
at 4.30pm and should
finish around 5.45pm.
Further information is available from —
Admission to the seminars is free
View webcasts of previous EHMG seminars
and other Sibbald Library Project medical history activities here.
12th October 2011
Victorian Skin
Professor Pamela Gilbert University of Florida
The body brings together a number of vexing questions: it is ‘animal’ yet ‘human’; ‘natural’ yet
the ultimate object of cultural inscription? The part of the body that
most represents us to others is its surface: for Victorians, skin, especially
of the face and hands, was an important medium through which to read character
and selfhood, a membrane that both divided the inner and outer worlds and served
as a medium for the projection and interpretation of interiority. In this
talk, I will discuss Charles Bell, Charles Darwin and Cesare Lombroso’s
discussions of blushing and the emotions. I will survey examples from both literary
and visual culture to show how Victorian perspectives on the skin aid our understanding
of representations of the relation between selfhood, the material body and the
emotions
26th October 2011
After Burke and Hare: Procuring Corpses to Dissect in Scotland
Dr Helen MacDonald University of Melbourne
Grave-robbing and the Burke and Hare murders have become anatomy’s enduring
reference points, but during the nineteenth century most bodies were stealthily
acquired by medical schools through other means. After the 1832 Anatomy Act a
distinctive pattern of corpse procurement was creatively forged in Scotland,
through alliances between the country’s anatomists, anatomy inspectors,
local law makers, and the men who were in charge of hospitals, poor houses and
lunatic asylums. This system was one that the English schools could only envy.
23rd November 2011
Vesalius and the Canon of the Human Body
Dr Sachiko Kusukawa University of Cambridge
Andreas Vesalius’ De humani corporis fabrica (1543) is a landmark publication
in the history of medicine, well known for its illustrations. Yet, the actual
function of these illustrations within Vesalius own project of classical anatomy
has not always been appreciated. In this talk, I examine the different - and
often ingenious - ways in which Vesalius used anatomical images in his book.
7th December 2011
George III and the Porphyria Myth: Diagnostic Implications for James VI/I
Professor Timothy Peters University of Birmingham
Considerable doubt has been cast on the claim that King George III suffered
from acute porphyria. The alternate diagnosis of recurrent acute mania is much
more in keeping with his clinical features, but historians and their adherents
still claim that suggestive features of acute porphyria in some of his ancestors,
notably King James VI/I, support a diagnosis of porphyria in George III. Assessment
of his detailed and complex clinical history and features using the computerised
diagnostic aid SimulConsult provides no support for porphyria in James but
indicates a quite unexpected diagnosis that may help to explain the King’s
medical condition and psychological behaviour.
11th January 2012
The Piano Plague: The Nineteenth-Century Medical Campaign Against Female Musical
Education
Dr James Kennaway Durham University
Although playing the piano was often seen as a thoroughly respectable pastime
for young ladies, for much of the nineteenth century there was serious medical
discussion about the dangers of excessive music in girls’ education.
Many of the period’s leading psychiatrists and gynaecologists argued
that music could over-stimulate the female nervous system, playing havoc with
vulnerable nerves and reproductive organs, and warned of the consequences of
music lessons on the developing bodies of teenage girls. This talk will examine
some of the theories relating to this medical panic and consider the motivations
behind it.
25th January 2012
Title of talk to be confirmed
Dr Thomas Rutten Newcastle University
22nd February 2012
Is there such a thing as “Scottish” medicine?
Dr David Hamilton University of St Andrews
Medical practice and medical education in Scotland have shown distinctive features
from earliest times, and these distinctions may in fact be increasing. The
reasons for these differences will be explored, notably in relation to attitudes
to scholarship and support for the common weal.
14th March 2012
Books and Beaks: Doctors’ Fight against the Plague
in Early Modern Europe
Dr Jane Stevens Crawshaw Oxford Brookes University
The plague was one of early modern Europe’s most deadly and feared diseases.
At the forefront of developing public health campaigns in the face of epidemics,
from the 14th century onwards, were the doctors who advised on the prevention
and treatment of the disease. This paper will consider continuity and change
in the attitudes and advice given by doctors between 1500 and 1700. In particular,
it will set theories, as reflected in written texts, alongside the information
we have about the realities of treatment. In the context of the latter, attention
will be paid to the material culture of public health for the plague, including
occupational clothing and the iconic plague doctor costume.
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