62
votes
Accepted
Was it known in ancient Rome and Greece that boiling water made it safe to drink and if so, what was the theory behind this?
The Greeks and Romans did not have germ theory as we know, but they did know that boiling water purified it. The best attestation for this is found in Hippocrates, as mentioned in the Wikipedia ...
- 2,673
45
votes
Accepted
‘Avoid sleeping on your back’ & ‘breathe in toilet smells’ were seen as precautions against the Black Death. Why did doctors think these would work?
This cannot be answered comprehensively here. But a few key points might be revealed. The precautions mentioned in the question are by far not the only ones that were given, just mere examples.
At ...
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39
votes
Accepted
Where (if anywhere) were X-ray machines put on trains or trolleys to image "Everybody over 14 years old"?
It was in Glasgow in 1957, as part of the city's fight against tuberculosis. It's worth noting that the X-Ray machines weren't actually on the tram. It was simply used to advertise the campaign.
[...
- 77.2k
36
votes
Accepted
Is there a record of a rabid human attacking another human?
Using the historic term for rabies, hydrophobia, and searching 19th century documents, records of infected patients biting caregivers can be found quite readily. The 1879 edition of The Dublin Journal ...
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27
votes
Accepted
Source of quote attributed to Florence Nightingale: To understand God's thoughts we must study statistics
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations has the following citation for that quote:
(apologies for the limited quality of the scan. I'm using my hand-held scanner.)
As their source, they cite The Life, ...
- 77.2k
17
votes
Accepted
How did PHS researchers prevent Tuskegee experiment participants from obtaining treatment on their own?
It was done by the researchers asking doctors and health officials nicely not to treat the research subjects, and there appears to be some controversy over exactly how many of the participants were, ...
- 3,682
14
votes
How did the Emperor Titus die?
SHORT ANSWER
The most widely accepted view among scholars is that Titus died a natural death. He had a fever which may have been caused by malaria (note that its relationship to mosquitos was unknown ...
- 108k
14
votes
Accepted
How was body temperature checked before thermometers?
Adding to the previous answers regarding the use of the hand to assess body temperature, there have been several works which are quite suited to answer this question, which I hope to summarise here.
...
13
votes
Accepted
What was the estimated malaria death toll for US Forces during World War II?
TL/ DR
The figure of 60,000 fatalities due to malaria seems ridiculously high.
The figures published by the Medical Departments of the various United States armed services in the years after the war ...
- 77.2k
11
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of Verte! at the end of Sisi’s autopsy report?
Comparing both autopsies archived officially at (AT-OeStA/HHStA UR FUK 2790, 2791 Title: Zwei nach dem Ableben der Kaiserin und Königin Elisabeth aufgenommene legalisierte Protokolle über die ...
- 80.8k
11
votes
Accepted
Why did physicians recommend curing the "dancing plague" with more dancing?
Theories about the causes and cures of dancing mania
John Waller, Dancing Plague: The Strange, True Story of an Extraordinary Illness (2009) argues that the Strasbourg dancers were exhibiting extreme ...
- 456
11
votes
Accepted
What oath did medical students take in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945?
tl;dr
In fact, it appears that doctors in Germany during the Third Reich did take the Hippocratic Oath (or something equivalent to it). However, that Oath had been drastically re-interpreted in line ...
- 77.2k
11
votes
Accepted
How were concussions treated in late 19th-century America?
Merck's 1899 Manual of the Materia Medica, described as a "ready reference pocket book for the practicing physician" has the following:
Cerebral Concussion.
Rest: absolute to be enjoined. ...
- 108k
11
votes
Accepted
Did healers in medieval Europe use moldy bread in poultices for wounds?
Not made up from 'whole cloth' but copied from ancient papyrii?
Many ancient cultures used molds, soil, and plants to treat bacterial infections. In Ancient Serbia, China and Greece, old moldy ...
- 80.8k
10
votes
Accepted
When was it considered fact that rats caused the Black Death?
I am not entirely sure of what you're question is but maybe this answer will clarify from a French Wiki page:
Researchers working in Asia during the "Third Pandemic" identified plague vectors and the ...
- 411
10
votes
Accepted
Were blue-tinted glasses prevalent in Victorian England and, if so, why?
'How common' is a difficult question to answer because I doubt there were any consumer surveys in those days and 'common' is a bit subjective. Judging by the number of references, tinted glasses (also ...
- 1,334
9
votes
What did people die of in 1665 London?
King's evil was an archaic term for scrofula, or Tuberculous
cervical lymphadenitis
Rupture was usually a hernia, but could also be a burst blood vessel.
Livergrowne was just an enlarged liver.
There ...
- 77.2k
9
votes
How was body temperature checked before thermometers?
Avicenna (980–1037) said that fever was the increased temperature of the heart (Canon I, part 4), so he checked the temperature by touching the chest over the heart with the hand.
This system was ...
- 1,870
9
votes
Why did slave dealers and buyers in the Antebellum South especially value enslaved persons with "good teeth" and "good front teeth"?
The suggestion by @MCW in comments -- that veterinarians check the teeth of livestock -- is unfortunately probably the right track to follow. Southern Slave traders and slave buyers routinely stated ...
- 319
9
votes
Accepted
How old is the idea that humans have 360 joints?
The idea that humans have 360 joints appears to derive from ancient Chinese cosmology. Notice what Dong Zongshu says more fully when he makes this statement;
Man has 360 joints which match the number ...
- 673
8
votes
What was it like to have type 1 diabetes in the early 20th century?
As a 21st Century Internist, I will add that the biggest distinction will be that most Type 1 Diabetics, as you have pointed out, will die earlier than we have see in modern medicine. They will also ...
- 345
8
votes
Accepted
Prior to 1790, before dentist chairs, did dentists put the patient's head between their knees?
Unfortunately, the source you cite doesn't give any references, but a similar description is also given in Avoiding the Tooth-Pullers: Dental Hygiene, Eighteenth-Century Style, which cites Dr. Johnson’...
- 108k
8
votes
What is the best book to learn about medicine in medieval times? (research for a novel)
If it's primary sources you're looking for, a good place to start is Medieval Medicine: A Reader by Faith Wallis (2010). According to one review by Linda Ehrsam Voigts of the University of Missouri-...
- 108k
7
votes
How did historical peoples deal with choking?
Dealing with choking would have depended in part on what the obstruction was, where one was and who one was with. As even the surgical procedure tracheotomy can be traced back to ancient Egypt, it's ...
- 108k
6
votes
Accepted
Has Nursing Always Been Female Dominated Like Today (90+%)?
Modern nursing came to being during the Crimean war, and was a 100% female thing for all practical intents at the time.
US census might have data on job occupation by sex - I haven't checked - as ...
6
votes
Accepted
Was there a time when it was easier for slaves than citizens to access state-sponsored medical facilities in Ancient Rome?
The information given in the WP article seems a bit misleading and has the occasional error. The army and navy had its special valetudinaria. Therefore a soldier would have been treated there and as ...
- 80.8k
6
votes
Was smoking ever considered a throat cure?
As many smokers might know, this herb will sooth the need to cough. A need that it itself contributes to. Short time effects in a habituated individual are the opposite of its long term effects. ...
- 80.8k
6
votes
Did nutmeg really prevent infections during the Bubonic Plague?
Is there any truth to this, from a biological and historical perspective?
Historic truth of the custom, yes, definitely:
(Copper engraving of Doctor Schnabel (i.e., Dr. Beak), a plague doctor in ...
- 14.2k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible