glitch in the system
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Fig. 1 (mangled scan, detail)
William L. Rodman (1858-1916 *). “Cancer and Precancerous Conditions.” Annals of Surgery 59 (January-June 1914) : 47-64
image from University of Chicago copy, digitized March 29, 2013
Toronto copy (same page opening, but undistorted) at archive.org
The text is the annual oration at the Academy of Surgery of Philadelphia, delivered October 6, 1913. Rodman expresses frustration in poor progress in curative operations, and concludes by wondering if better results might be found in prevention.
Why am I drawn to these sets of scans, of the Annals of Surgery? They recall a visit several years ago to the Mütter Museum of the Philadelphia College of Physicians. I was nearly two hours there — unusual for me, where one hour is my normal museum limit. It was an education in humility, that these glitches in the program can — and do — turn up in all of us. Inevitable system failure.
The google scan of the Chicago copy is full of such glitches, in front and back pages.
pdf of the page spread in question.
aside —
The idea of prophylactic surgery appears to have taken root in these years. See Ilana Löwy, Preventive Strikes: Women, Precancer, and Prophylactic Surgery (2010)
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tags:
cancer; disorder; failure; failures; prophylactic surgery
W. L. Rodman