Stella Fatović-Ferenčić

The Sacred Disease and Its Patron Saint

Although the Hippocratic natural theory of epilepsy as a brain disorder originated around 400 bc , it did not begin to take root until the 18th and 19th centuries, leaving the intervening centuries dominated by mostly supernatural concepts. This article provides historical insight into human behavior when afflicted with disease: supplication to a patron saint, Saint Valentine, a cult that spread throughout Europe.

The Balkan beam - Florschütz frame and its use during the Great War.

We remember the military medical practice of Croatian surgeon, Vatroslav Florschütz (1879–1967), known for his invention of the traction frame for repositioning bone fracture fragments of the upper and lower extremities. The method, known as the Balkan frame / beam or Balkan splint, was introduced and published in 1911 and used in war medicine thereafter. The memory of this invention adds to our orthopaedic heritage and sheds light on its creator working under the most demanding war circumstances. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, reminiscence of Florschützs war experience, his orthopaedic innovation and other innovations contributes to our understanding of human efforts to save lives and restore bodily function of the wounded during wars.

The image of a leper (?): a paradigm of hidden fears of contagious diseases (exemplified in a wall painting of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary).

This is a brief study on the popular ideas about leprosy based on an 18th century wall painting in north‐western Croatia portraying Saint Elisabeth healing a sick man, possibly a leper. The analysis uses examples from the history of medicine, semantics, toponymy and iconography.

Austria and Japan: Early Relations in Dermatology An “Imperial” Connection in Historical Perspective

Summary

Carl Heitzmann's painting: early evidence of Kaposi's sarcoma

474 www.thelancet.com Vol 365 February 5, 2005 why two of these painters are named in the authorship line of the book. This gesture indicates how important Hebra believed their input was to the publication, and is an act not repeated in other similar works—eg, Kaposi’s. The identity of the painter is, however, not indicated in the figure legend or in Kaposi’s article. The author of the painting of sarcoma Kaposi was in fact Carl Heitzmann (1836–94; figure), the most diligent of the painterphysicians in Hebra’s atlas and one who was later recruited together with his younger brother Julius by Kaposi to work on his hand atlas. Carl Heitzmann was born on Oct 2, 1836, in Vinkovci, a small town in the eastern part of what is today known as Croatia. He studied in Budapest then Vienna, and graduated as a doctor in 1859. Heitzmann obtained his medical degree in surgery in 1861, and received his postgraduate medical education in Vienna, working with Franz Schuh (surgery), Ferdinand Hebra (dermatology), Salomon Stricker (experimental pathology), and Carl Rokitansky (pathology). In 1873 he became associate professor of pathological anatomy and a contender for Rokitansky’s chair. There is no record of any education in drawing or painting, but he was famous as an illustrator and a physician. His work as an Carl Heitzmann’s painting: early evidence of Kaposi’s sarcoma

Carl Egyd Ritter v. Rzehaczek (1816-1897): painter, sculptor and surgeon.

SummaryCarl von Rzehaczek was a classmate and contemporary of Ferdinand von Hebra, who founded the tradition of painter-physicians at the Vienna School of Dermatology. The following reminiscence shall bring him to the attention of the reader.ZusammenfassungCarl von Rzehaczek war ein Zeit- und Studiengenosse Ferdinand von Hebras, der die Tradition der Maler-Ärzte der Wiener Dermatologenschule begründete. Im Folgenden wird er dem Vergessen entrissen.

Beauty: soul or surface?

It is proposed that beauty can be external or internal or both. External or physical beauty is immediately visible. Internal or inner beauty is not always immediately visible. Ideally both types of beauty are connected and spring from one another.