The Surgeon Evgueni Vasilievich Pavlov in the Operating Theater, by Ilya Repin, 1888. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Medicine

Volume II, Number 4 | fall 2009

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The Travelling Quack, by Tom Merry, 1889.

Preamble

The God in the Machine

By Lewis H. Lapham

Americans ask of medicine more than medicine can deliver—not only the cure for death, but also the gift of riches.

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The Hippocratic Oath in Greek and Latin, 1595.

Oath of Office

By Richard Selzer

A conversation between Richard Selzer & Peter Josyph on the origins of the Hippocratic Oath.

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Map

Contagion

A brief history of malaria, leprosy, and smallpox.

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1847 | Philadelphia

Gaining Admission

Elizabeth Blackwell changes the face of medicine.More

1804 | London

Helping Himself

Thomas De Quincey enters the church of opium.More

1747 | London

Cure-All

John Wesley throws some cold water on, well, everything.More

Charts & Graphs

Tools of the Trade

Medical instruments throughout time.

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Black and white photograph of American writer and critic Anatole Broyard.

Photograph of Soviet playwright and writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Image of Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

Oil painting portrair Michel de Montaigne in red robes and white collar

Medication alone is not to be relied on. In one half the cases medicine is not needed, or is worse than useless. Obedience to spiritual and physical laws—hygiene of the body and hygiene of the spirit—is the surest warrant for health and happiness.

—Harriot K. Hunt, 1856

Emily Dickinson & William Styron

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