1854 Early Medical Book on Auscultation, The Practice of Listening to the Lungs and Heart

Barth and Roger

Book

Barth and Roger. Traite Pratique D'Ausculation ou Expose Methodique Des Diverses Applications De Ce Mode D'Examen a L'etat Physiologique et Mordbide De L'Economie Suive D'un Precis De Percussion. Paris: Labé, Editeur, Libraire de la Faculté de Médecine, 1854. In French. Hardcover. 712 pages. Signed by both authors on colophon, which states that copies found without these signatures will be deemed counterfeit, and the publishers will prosecute those distributing them. This "Practical Treatise on Auscultation" is a French methodological manual that instructs fledgling doctors on the practice of auscultation, the action of listening to sounds from the heart, lungs, or other organs, typically with a stethoscope, as a part of medical diagnosis. Rene Laennec had invented the stethoscope nearly 40 years earlier in France in 1816. French physicians were among the first to see the value in examining the sounds and rhythm of the body to better gauge cardiovascular and respiratory health. The stethoscopes used at this time were not binary, meaning they were only listened through one ear and resembled a tube. Medical historian Jacalyn Duffin has argued that the invention of the stethoscope and the field of auscultation marked a major step in the redefinition of disease from being a bundle of symptoms, to the current sense of a disease as a problem with an anatomical system even if there are no observable symptoms. Work adopted by the Council of Public Instruction for faculties and preparatory schools of medicine. Reinforced spine with black tape and library marking. Marbled covers with slight chipping at bottom and lower right edge. Minor browning throughout. In good condition overall.

Item #17566

Price: $225.00