Timeline of Medical Advancements during the Victorian Era
Timeline (noun): a table listing important events for successive years within a particular historical period
The definition given to us by Merriam-Webster precisely describes what is represented below. The Victorian-era had many advancements all over the medical field. In order to accurately represent the diversity and progress of the people during this time period there are successes presented that range from diseases, to drugs/medicines, to treatments, to walking aids, to medical/surgical tools, to anything the medical world could include. This shows the influence this time period had for future lives to come.
The definition given to us by Merriam-Webster precisely describes what is represented below. The Victorian-era had many advancements all over the medical field. In order to accurately represent the diversity and progress of the people during this time period there are successes presented that range from diseases, to drugs/medicines, to treatments, to walking aids, to medical/surgical tools, to anything the medical world could include. This shows the influence this time period had for future lives to come.
· 1804- development of the well known morphine- Friedrich Serturner effectively isolated pure morphine from opium- this was not used right away but was finally separated
· 1815- the “Anglesey Leg” – a prosthetic- after James Potts was injured, he created a wooden shaft and socket, steel knee joints and an articulated food with artificial cords or catgut tendons that connected the knee flexion with foot flexion- this caused the first incorporation of dorsiflexion/plantar-flexion of foot with accordance to knee movement
· 1816- stethoscope invented- a wooden tube that was monaural- Rene Laennec invented this instrument to avoid having to place his ear on women’s chest to hear heart sounds
· 1840- Laughing gas comes into the world- Sir Humphrey David tested nitric oxide on himself and found that it eliminated pain from surgery
· 1842- Found that when ether was inhaled people became desensitized to pain by American Crawford Long
· 1840- Determined that chloroform could be used for anesthetic by James Young Simpson
· 1853- a medical hypodermic syringe with a needle was invented by Charles Pravas and Alexander Wood that was fine enough o to pierce the skin
· 1857- Theory that is was fungus and bacteria that caused infection and not bad air that caused disease (ex. Tuberculosis)- these germs could be killed by heat and antiseptics- Louis Pasteur
· 1865- Use antiseptic to prevent surgical infection (discovered by Pasteur as mentioned earlier) rather than amputating a patient’s leg- Joseph Lister would clean the wound with carbolic acid and then set the bone and bandaged it up with a antiseptic soaked wrap
· 1865- Along with finding that antiseptic could prevent surgical infection- Joseph Lister also discovered a piece of machinery that is used to spray the antiseptic in the operating room prior to surgery- this combined with surgical masked and sterilized instruments was the start to a germ-free environment in hospitals
· 1882- the bacillus bacterium was found that was causing the tuberculosis epidemic by being spread through sputum droplets in the air and proved that TB wasn’t hereditary (Robert Koch & Paul Baumgartener)
· 1883- the bacillus bacterium that was found just as it was for tuberculosis was now found for the cholera outbreak by Robert Koch
· 1885- the rabies vaccination was developed- it used a sample of a virus that was harvested from infected and dead rabbits by weakening it and allowing it to dry for 5-10 days- first tested on a 9-year old human in July of 1885 who had been attacked by a rabid dog
· 1887- Creation of the first eye covering to be seen through and tolerated- contact lenses- F.E. Muller used a glass blower and artificial eye maker
· 1895- found X-rays emanating from an experiment (Crookes tubes) and began studying them- Wilhelm Rontgen referred to the radiation as “X” to indicated that it was an unknown type of radiation- a plaque was published in a medical journal that showed a picture of the left hand with a deformation side by side to a picture of the same left hand seen through using X-rays
· 1815- the “Anglesey Leg” – a prosthetic- after James Potts was injured, he created a wooden shaft and socket, steel knee joints and an articulated food with artificial cords or catgut tendons that connected the knee flexion with foot flexion- this caused the first incorporation of dorsiflexion/plantar-flexion of foot with accordance to knee movement
· 1816- stethoscope invented- a wooden tube that was monaural- Rene Laennec invented this instrument to avoid having to place his ear on women’s chest to hear heart sounds
· 1840- Laughing gas comes into the world- Sir Humphrey David tested nitric oxide on himself and found that it eliminated pain from surgery
· 1842- Found that when ether was inhaled people became desensitized to pain by American Crawford Long
· 1840- Determined that chloroform could be used for anesthetic by James Young Simpson
· 1853- a medical hypodermic syringe with a needle was invented by Charles Pravas and Alexander Wood that was fine enough o to pierce the skin
· 1857- Theory that is was fungus and bacteria that caused infection and not bad air that caused disease (ex. Tuberculosis)- these germs could be killed by heat and antiseptics- Louis Pasteur
· 1865- Use antiseptic to prevent surgical infection (discovered by Pasteur as mentioned earlier) rather than amputating a patient’s leg- Joseph Lister would clean the wound with carbolic acid and then set the bone and bandaged it up with a antiseptic soaked wrap
· 1865- Along with finding that antiseptic could prevent surgical infection- Joseph Lister also discovered a piece of machinery that is used to spray the antiseptic in the operating room prior to surgery- this combined with surgical masked and sterilized instruments was the start to a germ-free environment in hospitals
· 1882- the bacillus bacterium was found that was causing the tuberculosis epidemic by being spread through sputum droplets in the air and proved that TB wasn’t hereditary (Robert Koch & Paul Baumgartener)
· 1883- the bacillus bacterium that was found just as it was for tuberculosis was now found for the cholera outbreak by Robert Koch
· 1885- the rabies vaccination was developed- it used a sample of a virus that was harvested from infected and dead rabbits by weakening it and allowing it to dry for 5-10 days- first tested on a 9-year old human in July of 1885 who had been attacked by a rabid dog
· 1887- Creation of the first eye covering to be seen through and tolerated- contact lenses- F.E. Muller used a glass blower and artificial eye maker
· 1895- found X-rays emanating from an experiment (Crookes tubes) and began studying them- Wilhelm Rontgen referred to the radiation as “X” to indicated that it was an unknown type of radiation- a plaque was published in a medical journal that showed a picture of the left hand with a deformation side by side to a picture of the same left hand seen through using X-rays