Nautical Medicine Research Articles

Robin Haines, Doctors at sea: emigrant voyages to colonial Australia, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. x, 248, illus., £45.00 (hardback 1-4039-8685-1).

Through my daily journey along Liverpool's Dock Road, I have become the maritime equivalent of a train-spotter. I can recognize familiar ships and I know roughly how often they are in port. There have been some mornings when hitching a ride on one has seemed infinitely preferable to arriving at work. Yet I have realized, through reading Robin Haines's excellent study of oceanic voyages, how little I actually know about what happens in that long interval between ports. This latest book by Haines continues a series of publications on nineteenth-century emigration to Australia. Whereas the focus has previously been on the experiences of the emigrants, especially their morbidity and mortality, this aims at understanding the role and contribution of the doctors, who accompanied every oceanic voyage after 1849. Haines uses a selection of case studies from the 323 emigration voyages made between 1848 and 1885 from Britain to Australia. Most of these were unremarkable, resulting in a mortality of less than 2 per cent. Yet there were several notorious voyages, especially in the 1850s when outbreaks of infectious diseases killed large numbers of passengers, often children. Surgeon superintendents were hired to ensure the implementation of sanitary regimes and to provide medical care during the average 100-day voyages. They appear to have been remarkably successful, particularly given the fact that most voyages started out with a number of emigrants already harbouring infectious diseases such as typhus, whooping-cough and measles. The surgeon superintendents, Haines suggests, need to be seen as early pioneers in preventive medicine. At a time when British sanitary reformers were struggling to impose similar regimes, the complete authority given to these medical men on ships could have served as a useful pilot study. Haines does not seek to examine why the British authorities failed to capitalize on this. The partial nature of archive sources has determined the selection of case studies. Whilst the mortality data can be pieced together from materials in Australia and London, very few of the mandatory surgeons’ journals for each voyage have survived. Haines is well aware of the potential pitfalls, and is confident that the sources used are representative. There is a good balance between describing the normal routines on board ships, and discussing how exceptional circumstances were handled. The inclusion of diary-style case studies, using anecdotes from the handful of surgeons who also left personal journals, makes for gripping reading. Through these personal accounts we learn how surgeon superintendents worked to maintain not only sanitary order, but also the appropriate moral behaviour of the emigrants. Their success in both of these areas was required if Australia was to thrive as a colony, and they were conscious that their supervisory skills were in turn being monitored by the authorities. This book provides an insight into nineteenth-century society, exposing class and sectarian issues. At times the surgeons’ perspective is subsumed by accounts of how “barely civilized” emigrants from Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland struggled to cope with the protein-heavy diet and alien concepts of personal hygiene. Indeed, the emphasis on the experiences of the emigrants has squeezed the space devoted to the history of nautical medicine, apart from a brief acknowledgement of some “great men” such as James Lind, Gilbert Blane and Thomas Trotter. I had hoped to find more discussion of the backgrounds of surgeon superintendents, and some elaboration of Haines's views on ships as floating medical laboratories. This is a slim, beautifully-written volume. One hopes that there is yet more to be gained from such carefully detailed studies.

Nautical Medicine

Nautical Medicine

Handbook of Nautical Medicine

The<i>Handbook of Nautical Medicine</i>is written for two groups of physicians: those who specialize in occupational health and those who serve as physicians aboard ships. Thirty-six contributors have provided information on a wide variety of subjects, including the history of nautical medicine, the role of a ship's physician aboard many different kinds of vessels, health examinations for seamen, environmental hazards aboard ships, diseases and accidents to which seamen are prone, nutritional needs at sea, psychological problems in seafaring, the construction of different kinds of ships, the design of the ship's medical center, and the content of the ship's medicine chest. Nautical medicine is a highly specialized subject that holds little interest for most physicians, so this book will not appeal to a large audience. Nevertheless, those physicians to whom it is specifically directed will find it to be a valuable reference. It describes in great detail the environments in

Nautical Medicine

Medical Director Lykes Brothers Steamship Co., Inc. 300 Poydras Street New Orleans, LA 70130 Phone number: (504) 523-6611

James Lind: Founder of Nautical Medicine

No one is likely to question seriously the fact that the development of the British Empire overseas, as it progressed during a long period of British history, depended upon the character and qualities of the British Navy and the British Merchant Fleet. From the time of the destruction of the Armada until the developments of the last 20 years the British Empire was dependent upon the British Navy to keep the sea lanes open and to command and control the freedom of the high seas against foreign attack, privateers, and pirates. Less well known is the fact that an important contribution to British control of the high seas was the very simple but essential step taken to control or prevent the development of scurvy, namely, the employment of citrus fruits. Casually stupid critics thought this was another instance of British folly. The term "lime juicer" or "limey" came to be

James Lind: Founder of Nautical Medicine

James Lind: Founder of Nautical Medicine

Book Reviews

Book Reviews A Soldier'S Story. By General Omar N. Bradley. New York. Henry Holt and Co. 1951. Price $5.00.James Lind, Founder of Nautical Medicine. By Louis H. Roddis, Captain, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy. New York, 1950. Henry Schuman. Price $3.00.Our National Capital and its Unamericanized Americans. By Theodore W. Noyes. Washington: Press of Judd and Detweiler. Price $3.00.Patterns of Disease on a Basis of Physiologic Pathology. By Frank L. Apperly M.A., M.D. (Oxford), D.Sc. (Melbourne), F.R.C.P. (London), Professor of Pathology, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. 50 Figures and 37 Charts. J. B. Lippincott Company. Philadelphia. London. Montreal. Price $8.00.Handbook of Nutrition. Symposium prepared under the auspices of the Council on Foods and Nutrition of the American Medical Association. Second Edition. Published for American Medical Association. New York, The Blakiston Company, Toronto, Philadelphia. 1951. Price $4.50.Skull Fractures and Brain Injuries. By Harry E. Mock, M.D., Consulting Surgeon, St. Luke's Hospital, Chicago; Associate Professor Emeritus of Surgery, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois. Published by The Williams and Wilkins Company, Baltimore, Maryland. Year: 1950. Price $13.50.Diagnostic Roentgenology. Edited by Ross Golden, M.D., Professor of Radiology, The College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, Director of the Department of Radiologic Service, The Presbyterian Hospital, New York. Replacement pages pertaining to Volume I originally printed in 1936. Thomas Nelson and Sons, New York City, 1950. Price for 2-Vol. set $40.00.Audiology—The Science of Hearing. By Norton Canfield, M.D., Springfield, III. Chas. C Thomas. 1949. Price $1.75.Proceedings of the Second Clinical Acth Conference. Vol. I, Research: Vol. II, Therapeutics. By John R. Mote, M.D., editor. Philadelphia, Blakiston, 1951. Vol. I, 531 pages; Vol. II, 716 pages.Pain and its Problems Edited by Sir Heneage Ogilvie K.B.E., D.M., M.CH., F.R.C.S. and William A. R. Thomson, M.D. The Blakiston Company, Philadelphia—Toronto, 1950. Price $3.00. James M. Phalen, U. S. Army, Ret., James M. Phalen, U. S. Army, Ret. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Charles R. Mueller, Medical Corps, Charles R. Mueller, Medical Corps Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Robert E. Jessen, Medical Corps, Robert E. Jessen, Medical Corps Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar George J. Hays, Medical Corps, George J. Hays, Medical Corps Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar A. A. De Lorimier, M.C., Ret., A. A. De Lorimier, M.C., Ret. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar H. P. Marvin, U. S. Army, Ret., H. P. Marvin, U. S. Army, Ret. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Webb Haymaker, Webb Haymaker Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Charles R. Mueller Charles R. Mueller Colonel, Medical Corps Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Military Surgeon, Volume 110, Issue 2, February 1952, Pages 160–163, https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/110.2.160 Published: 01 February 1952

James Lind: Founder of Nautical Medicine. Paracelsus: Magic into Science.

James Lind: Founder of Nautical Medicine. Paracelsus: Magic into Science.

James Luid: Founder of Nautical Medicine

James Luid: Founder of Nautical Medicine

Book Review A Short History of Nautical Medicine . By Captain Louis H. Roddis, Medical Corps, United States Navy. 12°, cloth, 359 pp., with 12 illustrations. New York: Paul B. Hoeber, Incorporated, 1941. $3.00.

Book Review A Short History of Nautical Medicine . By Captain Louis H. Roddis, Medical Corps, United States Navy. 12°, cloth, 359 pp., with 12 illustrations. New York: Paul B. Hoeber, Incorporated, 1941. $3.00.

A Short History of Nautical Medicine

A Short History of Nautical Medicine

A Short History of Nautical Medicine

A Short History of Nautical Medicine

Book Reviews

Book Reviews The New International Clinics. Volume IV. New Series Four, 1941. Edited by George Morris Piersol, M.D. Professor of Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 314 Pages., J. B. Lippincott Company.Surgery of Modern Warfare: Edited by Hamilton Bailey, F.R.C.S., Surgeon Royal Northern Hospital, London, etc. Compiled by 65 contributors. The Williams and Wilkins Company, Baltimore, 1941. Volume II, pp. 418, Price $10.00.Epilepsy and Cerebral Localization. By Wilder Penfield, Litt. B.M.D. (Johns Hopkins) D.Sc. (Oxon, Princeton) Prof. of Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill University, Director of the Montreal Neurological Institute and Theodore C. Erick-son, M.A., M.Sc., M.D. (Minnesota) Ph.D. (McGill) Formerly Lecturer in Neurosurgery, McGill University, Assistant Surgeon, Montreal Neurological Institute, Now Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Wisconsin. Springfield, Illinois. Baltimore, Maryland. Charles C Thomas, Price $8.00.Physical Therapy for Nurses. By Richard Kovacs, M.D.; Clinical Professor and Director of Physical Therapy, New York Polyclinic Medical School and Hospital; Attending Physical Therapist, Manhattan State, Harlem Valley State and West Side Hospitals; visiting Physical Therapist, New York City Department of Correction Hospitals; Consulting Physical Therapist, New York Infirmary for Women and Children; Mary Immaculate Hospital, Jamacia, New York, Haskensack Hospital, Hackensack, New Jersey. Second Edition. Cloth, 335 pages. Price $3.25. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger. 1940.Essentials of Electrocardiography. By Richard Ashman, Ph.D. and Edgar Hull, M.D. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1941. Price $5.00.The Detection and Identification of War Gases. Ministry of Home Security, Air Raid Precautions Department. First American Edition, 1940. Chemical Publishing Co., Inc., New York. 53 pages. Price $1.50.Officers Manual. By the late Colonel James A. Moss, U. S. A. Ret., Eighth Edition, Revised 1941. George Banta Publishing Company, Menasha, Wisconsin. (Obtainable through the MILITARY SURGEON.) Price $2.50.Exercises in Electrocardiographic Interpretation. By Louis N. Katz, A.B., M.D. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger. 1941. Price $5.00.The Pathology of Diabetes Mellitus. By Shields Warren, M.D., Pathologist to the New England Deaconess Hospital, The New England Baptist Hospital, The Huntington Memorial Hospital, and the Pondville State Hospital; Director of Massachusetts State Tumor Diagnosis Service; Assistant Professor of Pathology in the Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, Price $4.75.The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. A Textbook of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutics, for Physicians and Medical Students. By Louis Goodman, M.A., M.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Alfred Gilman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Yale University School of Medicine. 1,383 pages and 126 figures. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1941. Price $12.50.The Treatment of Burns. By A. B. Wallace, published by The Oxford University Press, London, 1941.A Short History of Nautical Medicine. By Louis H. Roddis, Captain, Medical Corps, United States Navy. 359 Pages. Cloth. Paul B. Hoeber, Inc., New York. Copyrighted, 1941. Price $3.00.The Soldier and the Law. By John A. McComsey and Morris O. Edwards. 401 pages. The Military Service Publishing Company. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 1941. Price $1.50. James H. Forsee, James H. Forsee Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Wm. Seaman Bainbridge, Wm. Seaman Bainbridge Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar C. L. Neale, C. L. Neale Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar B. A. Strickland, Jr., B. A. Strickland, Jr. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar H. P. Marvin, H. P. Marvin Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar James C. Munch, James C. Munch Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar John B. Klopp, John B. Klopp Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Loren D. Moore, Loren D. Moore Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar J. C. Kimbrough, J. C. Kimbrough Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar William L. Mann William L. Mann Capt. (MC), U. S. Navy Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Military Surgeon, Volume 90, Issue 6, June 1942, Pages 723–728, https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/90.6.723 Published: 01 June 1942