Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection is made up of correspondence and newspaper clippings by or related to Alexis St. Martin, a French-Canadian man who underwent medical experimentation and observation after surviving an open stomach wound.

This collection is made up of correspondence and newspaper clippings by or related to Alexis St. Martin, a French-Canadian man who underwent medical experimentation and observation after surviving an open stomach wound.

Eight letters and postcards, July-September 1879, pertain to James H. Etheridge's proposals to Alexis St. Martin, requesting that he visit Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois, for observation. Alexis St. Martin (3 items) and Henry F. Harris (4 items) wrote about St. Martin's possible involvement and financial compensation. Two newspaper clippings, written before 1880, concern St. Martin's wound, his later life, and Dr. William Beaumont's experiments on St. Martin's stomach. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for information about each individual item.

This collection is made up of 3 letters exchanged by Alicia A. Bakewell and her husband, William G. Bakewell, in and around 1845. They discussed medical remedies and Alicia's health, Alicia's time with the Audubon family in New York City, and steamboat travel on the Ohio River.

This collection is made up of 3 letters exchanged by Alicia A. Bakewell and her husband, William G. Bakewell, in and around 1845. William wrote to Alicia on August 11, 1845, expressing his concerns about her recent medical complaints and discussing various courses of treatment; he strongly advised her not to take calomel and suggested that she adopt a different diet or take numerous baths to relieve her suffering. Alicia wrote twice to William. Her letter of August 19, 1845, responds to his concern about her illness, which had improved significantly despite lingering back pain, and contains news of the Audubon family, with whom she was staying in New York City. She also reported that bathing had been suspended on account of the presence of sharks. Alicia's undated letter regards her journey on an Ohio River steamer from Ohio to Pennsylvania. She mentioned the ship's propensity for running aground, a fellow passenger who was a musician, and her fear that people in Louisville would approach her husband with unfounded claims of debts against her.

Dr. H. A. Bolles of Cortland, New York, copied medicinal recipes into this volume in or around 1876.

Dr. H. A. Bolles of Cortland, New York, copied recipes for medical treatments in this volume in or around 1876 (the volume contains 300 pages, over half of which are used). Many of the entries are arranged alphabetically by ailment, and some illnesses have multiple suggested treatments and cures. A few recipes are attributed to other doctors and outside sources such as a volume of Materia Medica. The book contains syrups and other mixtures intended to treat chronic conditions, diseases, and afflictions such as acne and baldness. The first few pages include instructions for working with cocaine, converting older medical measurements, and producing an aphrodisiac. One of these notes cautions against mixing chrome acid and glycerin on account of the risk of explosion. A recipe in the back of the volume purports to "remove all bad odors." A few late pages contain lists of medical substances and the ailments they may be used to treat, as well as notes regarding the use of oxygen gas and nitrous oxide. A clipping from The OD Quarterly concerns a method for testing the acidity of urine and recommended dietary guidelines for those suffering from uric acid, gravel, gout, or rheumatism.

The J. B. Cooke Collection consists of 29 Roosevelt Hospital (New York City) Ambulance Department tickets signed by Cooke, the ambulance surgeon, one Roosevelt Hospital Visit Slip, one blank pre-printed card to take case notes for patients, and one scrapbook piece containing four newspaper clippings about J. B. Cooke and the Utica Medical Club. The ambulance tickets record where the ambulance call originated, the location of the emergency, the time, and patient information, including name, age, nativity, marital status, occupation, residence, and diagnosis. Cooke filled out these sections, along with sections for patient history and calculations for the duration of the ambulance trip.

The J. B. Cooke Collection consists of 29 Roosevelt Hospital Ambulance Department tickets signed by Cooke, the ambulance surgeon, one Roosevelt Hospital Visit Slip, one blank pre-printed card to take case notes for patients, and one scrapbook piece containing four newspaper clippings about J. B. Cooke and the Utica Medical Club. The ambulance tickets record where the ambulance call originated, the location of the emergency, the time, and patient information, including name, age, nativity, marital status, occupation, residence, and diagnosis. Cooke filled out these sections, along with sections for patient history and calculations for the duration of the ambulance trip.

The nativity of patients includes American, German, and Irish, with one patient identified as African American. Accidental injuries predominate, such as those sustained by falling off a streetcar, being kicked by a horse, falling on a spike, or being run over by car wheels. Other conditions were caused by violent encounters, such as being clubbed by police officers or stabbed, while others were medical in nature, including a uterine prolapse, abdominal pain, and an epileptic fit. Some cases indicate when inebriation was a factor, and several suggest workplace hazards, such as when a butcher experienced traumatic amputation of his fingers, a carpenter fell off a scaffold, or a domestic worker fell out a window while hanging laundry.