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OUR JOURNAL COVER

Universities of the 17^th century, with few exceptions, were arid deserts of Galenic doctrine. Physicians emerged with a certificate and heads full of antique theories; most of them had never seen a patient.

Faced with sickness, the typical professional of the 17^th century counted on pompous attitude and fragmented Latin to impress the patient, violent purgation (especially through enemas) and radical venesection. Generally, the fashionable doctor was a dandy using the square professional hat over a huge periwig, with their red shoe heels appearing under long tunics.

Medical honoraria were half a guinea (English gold coin used in relation to professional salaries), what expressed eight times today's value, around U$12. A medicine professor in Cambridge, in 1626, earned 40 pounds per year; a popular physician earned 2,560 pounds as a rule. The most well paid posts were those of the court, where a physician frequently earned huge honoraria for a prince's or a rich noble's cure.

During that period, general physicians were occasionally hired for deliveries, previously monopolized by midwives. An important innovation was the invention, in 1647, by a member of the Chamberlen family, of a curved and fenestrated obstetrician forceps, a jealously protected secret. A renowned obstetrician of that epoch was François Mauriceau (1637-1709), whose treaty about the theme was considered a classic for many years. The act of delivering made by men in France increased considerably when one of Louis XIV's lovers was attended, in her parturition, by a man-doctor.

During this century the bases of medicine in America were set, firstly in Virginia, that attracted competent European physicians, and later in New England. A distinct characteristic of American medicine was that learner physicians did not have their heads full of theories, but learned medicine observing their professor at patients' bedside. Moreover, because of the hard conditions of colonial life, rough antagonisms between physicians and surgeons had no conditions to thrive. Medical honoraria were, during several years, paid frequently in corn, tobacco or shell beads.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  08 Jan 2007
• Date of issue
  Oct 2006