The Einhorn story

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My first contact with Professor Max Einhorn was in 1920 when I was privileged to serve a residency under his aegis at the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City after my return to civilian status following the First World War. He was one of the Founder Members of the American Gastroenterological Association in 1897 and served as its third president in 1899 and 1900, following the presidencies of Dr. Chales Stockton (Buffalo) and Dr. William H. Steward (New York City). I first became acquainted with the name Einhorn during my second year in Medical School (1914) when I was endeavoring to learn something of clinical medicine, and Einhorn’s “Diseases of the Stomach” was perused. The first edition of this work appeared in 1896, the year before the founding of the American Gastroenterological Association. It went to a six edition (1917). Einhorn’s book was one of the earliest publications on Gastroenterology to appear in the English language. It served as “lead book” for many years. The book was dedicated to Einhorn’s former teacher, the internationally known C. A. Ewald, Professor of Medicine in the University of Berlin. At the time of publication of his book, Dr. Einhorn was Professor of Medicine at the New York Post-Graduate Medical School and visiting physician to the German (subsequently the Lenox Hill) Hospital. Einhorn was a master gudgeteer, the ingenious developer of innumerable tools to be used in diagnosis. He developed one of the earliest duodenal tubes. He originated the “golden bucket.” It was attached to a string and allowed to enter the duodenum for the recovery of duodenal and pancreatic juices. He graciously presented me with one of his golden buckets at the completion of my residency with him. Einhorn originated the string test for the diagnosis of peptic ulcer. This was an important tool in diagnosis before X-ray techniques were refined. Also before the availability of the X-ray, in order to ascertain the position and size of the stomach and to detect tumors therein, he developed an apparatus called the gastric diaphane, a gadget for illuminating the lumen of the stomach. Utilizing radium bromide, he illuminated the stomach with his Radio diaphane. A digestive test capsule, or bead test was employed to