Exonumia - YIKES!
mt_msla
Posts: 815 ✭✭✭✭
mt_msla
Posts: 815 ✭✭✭✭
mt_msla
Posts: 815 ✭✭✭✭
Comments
Poor fellow. I cannot imagine how many of these people died septic... Odd theme for a medal.
Oh dang!
Seller thinks it's French but it's all in English ...
Kind regards,
George
First of all,
. Rare to see a dude patient pictured in lithotomy and my warped sense of humor thinks it's funny to see--especially fully clothed and in no distress. Let's just say the position is very useful for access to the perineum. The name of the position references that original use of removing stones (to which I say yikes as I have no idea what they used to do that but googling the instruments looks like a horror show).
Lithotomy classically was lying flat on the back with the legs apart and the feet much higher than what the medal shows. So called 'high lithotomy'. The medal is showing 'low lithotomy' with legs lower and head of bed elevated. Looking at google images the position in much older eras it was basically whatever leg apart/held high version the patient could be held in by attendants.
This medal looks to be from a modern series regarding milestones in medicine. The edgemarks don't ring a bell, but don't look French at all. It's not the type I might collect and ignore them, like the Franklin Mint series. Shoot, this might BE from that series.
For the slightly more Too Much Information crowd:
Allegedly the lithotomy position for childbirth became popular because some French king or other liked to watch his mistresses give birth this way. Once ether/chloroform came into practice the mother would be positioned in a way to facilitate access as she would not really be an active participant in the delivery process (lots of forceps and the 'twilight sleep' deliveries). The lithotomy positions are great for attendants and surgeons
The low lithotomy is still used for much in the general gynecology clinic. Legs are lower and the beds are now made so the head can be elevated. When I traveled in less affluent places in the world I saw a beds and exam tables that couldn't be positioned with the head up. Shoot, in one place I used a teacher's desk. So, flat on the back for an exam.
The classic high lithotomy, with patient flat and hips/knees close to 90 degrees, so pretty much up in the air, is still used in the OR for several procedures given the approach. Not just Gyn, but Urology too. And, under anesthesia.
Lithotomy is NOT a great position for childbirth as it changes the mechanics of the pelvis to be suboptimal. No one capable of movement will do this position spontaneously. Even with epidurals the positions are much more modified these days--placing the legs and hip flexion to best mimic a squat. I can't remember the last unmedicated delivery that looked anything remotely like this...unless stitches were needed, and then yes the MODIFIED position is used, which was for the original purpose of access to the perineum.
@Stork without clicking on your Spoiler link above, I can guarantee you that the information you have provided already is sufficient!
Oh, and just let me say: ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!
Kind regards,
George
Ouch !!!
Some medals tell a story and beg the question. And in this instance we have
Doc... I want to be a Saprano Opera singer... Can you help?
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
On a more serious note, how many are watching Victoria on PBS? For those of you that are and have an appreciation for medicine, I hope that you watched the season premier last night. So here is my question... The former Prime Minister Lord Melbourne was seen receiving treatment whereby leeches were on his arm and I assume consuming blood. Was this still a common practice in the early to mid 1840s? I was somewhat surprised to see that as I thought that practice ended at an earlier time... Especially in England. I will say that the Masterpiece productions on PBS are usually quite accurate and very well done.
And just to keep this topical, in an earlier episode they featured drawings for the proposed gothic coinage.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Leeches became obsolete with the invention of taxes.
Famous early patient with bladder stone problems - FWIW
The English Restoration and Stuart era diarist Samuel Pepys underwent an operation to remove a large stone in 1658 at the age of approximately 25.
Pepys was the first patient of the day, and he survived. Reportedly the second patient of the day did not. Some historians speculate that Pepys was fortunate being the first patient, as the surgical instruments were likelier to have been clean then, and probably weren't cleaned for subsequent procedures on the same day.
Still, it was rough - Pepys never had any children, despite pursuing numerous ladies with great vigor. The stone removal procedure could have cut something and made him sterile.
Pepys was a bureaucrat, and transformed the management and the improved the quality of the English Navy during the reigns of Charles II and James II. For a commoner, Pepys was personally shown great favor by both those two men. Pepys appreciated the patronage of his two Royal masters, and he would not serve William III (who overthrew James) and he retired from public life.
At his death at the age of 70 in 1703, Pepys was wealthy enough that there was a pretty complete autopsy (something that many wealthy persons went through following their demise at that time). Pepys had something like seven to a dozen large stones on his liver.
Pepys diaries are excellent and contain several references to coinage and coin designs. He was one of the first persons to see the modern Britannia design, and he knew the noble lady who was the model for the Britannia. There are some shorter condensed and well illustrated versions of Pepys' diary that make it easier to take in.
Rarely located in circulated condition as no one wants to touch that.
OT, but in response to the above:
One of those TV series about 'The Young Victoria' portrays Lord Melbourne as a rather young looking man. In fact, Melbourne was relatively old old and there was a big age difference between The Queen and her favorite early Prime Minister.
Melbourne was personally very unlucky in the marriage business and would have been sensitive to any hint of impropriety between himself and the young Queen.
This post is not what it was cut out to be.
Pete
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