The tale of an old stethoscope: from Mr Bampton (1816-65) to the British Thoracic Society

The stethoscope has long been a powerful symbol of the physician. This article describes a stethoscope that was presented as a prize to an outstanding student, Mr Bampton, by his eminent teacher Dr James Hope (1801-41) in 1837. The extraordinary journey of this prize stethoscope that eventually found its way to North Wales and into the hands of the Liverpool physician, Robert Coope (1892-1972), is outlined. Its subsequent importance and symbolism to the Thoracic Society and the British Thoracic Society is emphasized.

[Development of modern physical diagnosis and its application in cardiothoracic surgery]

The year 2000 marked the 300th anniversary of the birth of Gerard Van Swieten (1700-1772). He reformed medicine in Vienna, putting new emphasis on diagnosis based on clinical observation in combination with anatomical-pathological findings. This led to the introduction by Leopold Auenbrugger (1722-1809) of percussion in the examination of thoracic organs. However, further work by Joseph Skoda (1805-1881) was required to finally establish this method as a diagnostic tool for pathologies in the thorax. The surgeon Franz Schuh (1804-1865) carried out further basic research in respiratory physiology that cleared the way for the use of percussion and auscultation in thoracic surgery. He is also remembered for introducing experimental surgery in Austria, thus making surgery a science. This article aims to recall these men and their fundamental work behind early paracentesis of the thorax, and especially the first successful pericardiotomy by Schuh 160 years ago, which is also considered a milestone in cardiac surgery.

Bicentenary of Sir John Forbes (1787-1861)

This year is the bicentenary of the birth of the distinguished Scottish physician, Sir John Forbes, famous for his translation of the great French medical classic, De L'Auscultation Médiate by R.T.H. Laennec, the inventor of the stethoscope.

Promises to keep

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R T H Laënnec 1781--1826 his life and work: a bicentenary appreciation

René Théophile Hyacinthe Laënnec was born on 17 February 1781 in Quimper and spent much of his youth in Nantes, where his uncle Guillaume was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. He was considerably influenced by his uncle and went to study medicine in Paris where he qualified in 1804. Among his teachers were Corvisart and Bayle who stimulated his interest in the clinical diagnosis of diseases of the chest and especially tuberculosis, from which Laënnec himself suffered. His clinical experience and morbid anatomical dissections at the Necker Hospital culminated in his invention of the stethoscope (1816) and the writing of his masterpiece De l'Auscultation Médiate (1819) which may be regarded as the pioneer treatise from which modern chest medicine has evolved. Despite his great success in Paris, laënnec always retained a great love for his native Brittany. When his health finally broke down, he returned to his home Kerlouarnec, near Quimper, and died there on 13 August 1826, aged 45 years. On the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth we pay homage to the memory of this great French physician.

Norman R. Barrett, CBE, MA, MChir, FRCS

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Obituary notices

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Application of electrotherapy to noncardiac thoracic disorders

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Obituary Notices

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