DC -- Natl Museum of Health and Medicine (Walter Reed):
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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.
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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
NMHM_110327_006.JPG: Psychiatric Patients at Forest Glen
Jack McMillen, 1944
During World War II, the Forest Glen annex of Walter Reed General Hospital was used for treating patients with psychiatric conditions. Located near Washington DC, the former girls' school had been purchased by the Army to provide additional space for the hospital's activities. The picture accurately depicts the eclectic architecture while showing maroon-suited patients enjoying the grounds.
McMillen had painted government-sponsored murals during the Depression as part of the Works Projects Administration (WPA). When the war began, many of the WPA's responsibilities were transferred to the military, leading to the commissioning of this painting.
The painting hung at Forest Glen until 1994 when it was transferred to the National Museum of Health and Medicine. It was restored at the request of the Textbook of Military Medicine Project, Office of the Surgeon General, US Army, for use as the frontispiece of "Military Psychiatry: Preparing in Peace for War."
NMHM_110327_027.JPG: Lateral view of dissected head and neck:
This dissection highlights the muscles of the head and neck. The sternocleidomastoid rotates and flexes the head. It is the long strip of muscle obliquely oriented along the neck. The temporalis, masseter, and the orbicularis oris are important muscles of mastication. The temporalis is the flat wide muscle on the side of the head. The masseter is the thick muscle of the mandible and the orbicularis oris surrounds the mouth.
NMHM_110327_033.JPG: Human Skull:
This skull was prepared using the Beauchene method of anatomical preparation. Named after the 18th century French doctor, the technique separates the bones at their joint surfaces so they can be viewed in anatomical relation to one another. This skull shows the 22 bones separated and held in anatomical position. Not shown are the six ear ossicles (three per side).
NMHM_110327_041.JPG: Trichobezoar:
This is a trichobezoar that was removed from the stomach of a 12-year-old girl who ate her hair for six years. The hair took the shape of her stomach. Trichotillomania is defined as the self-pulling of body hair. Hair is resistant to human digestion and when eaten excessively it can form a bezoar (undigested mass) in the stomach.
NMHM_110327_050.JPG: Infected lung with bronchopneumonia as a result of effects from influenza virus.
Camp Pike, Arkansas, 1918.
The patient was admitted on October 10, 1918 with general aching, chills, fever, cough, and a diagnosis of acute bronchitis and infection with influenza virus. Death occurred on October 25 due to bronchopneumonia. Bronchopneumonia often developed after infection with the influenza virus during the pandemic of 1918. This section of right lung shows multiple tan-colored nodules of consolidated inflammatory cells centered on the small airways called bronchioles. The body's reaction to the influenza virus damaged the linings of the airways, making them vulnerable to bacterial infection. Today this could be effectively treated with antibiotics which were not available in 1918.
NMHM_110327_057.JPG: Elephantiasis of the scrotum:
The parasitic roundworm, Onchocerca volvulus, transmitted by black flies of the genus Simulium, can live in human skin, connective tissue and the lymphatic system. The worm can block the lymphatic vessels affecting the body's normal ability to drain excess extracellular fluid from the tissues. Elephantiasis is the result of a combination of inflammation, scar tissue and overall enlargement of surrounding tissues in response to the parasite. The patient from which this specimen originated underwent surgery in 1968. He recovered without complication. At the time of the surgery the specimen weighed 40 pounds.
NMHM_110327_065.JPG: Scrofula:
Scrofula refers to tuberculosis of the skin. Tuberculosis is most commonly found in the lungs, but the organism responsible, mycobacterium tuberculosis, is capable of causing infections throughout the body. Infection with mycobacteria is usually caused by breathing in air that is contaminated by these organisms. The disease spreads to the skin from the underlying lymph nodes, bone or the lungs. Scrofula is manifested by the development of painful swelling that evolves into cold abscesses, ulcers, and draining sinus tracts. It is treated with anti-tuberculosis medications and sometimes surgery. This wax model showing scrofula was made by Jules Talrich in Paris, circa 1890.
NMHM_110327_074.JPG: Rhinophyma:
This model depicts a French sailor with rhinophyma, a complication of acne rosacea, a severe skin disorder of the nose and cheeks. The tissue of the nose thickens, small blood vessels enlarge and the sebaceous glands become overactive, making the nose excessively oily. Rhinophyma usually occurs only in elderly men. This model was sculpted by Jules Talrich.
NMHM_110327_083.JPG: 6 months, fetus
NMHM_110327_101.JPG: The Army Prosthesis Research Laboratory developed this improved version of the artificial hand after World War II.
NMHM_110327_126.JPG: Facial Reconstruction:
As firepower on the battlefield has increased, so have the challenges facing combat surgeons. Modern weapons such as high-velocity rifles, artillery shells, phosphorus and improvised explosive devices increase the chances that service members could sustain complex wounds on the battlefield. Exhibited here are cases of service members who have survived serious combat wounds.
These models document surgical treatments of severe facial wounds. Some models were also used as guides to assist the surgeon in planning surgical procedures.
NMHM_110327_136.JPG: Civil War (1861-1865)
Plaster model
On March 25, 1865, a shell fragment tore into the cheek, leaving the right angle of the mouth hanging loose, and shattering the jaw of a 20-year-old private of Company F, 14th New York Heavy Artillery during the Battle of Petersburg. The soldier was evacuated to the field hospital of the 9th Corps, then sent to the Armory Square Hospital in Washington DC, and then transferred to the DeCamp Hospital in New York. After discharge from the Army on October 21, 1865, he was admitted to New York Hospital where he was treated by pioneering plastic surgeon Dr Gurdon Buck.
When admitted to New York Hospital, the patient's face was extensively disfigured by scarring. The chin receded due to the absence of the jaw. A scar had formed along the opening of the lower portion of the mouth since [the] patient's lower lip remained partially detached. His tongue adhered to the right side of the mouth, making it almost impossible to speak. Since he was missing most of his teeth with the loss of with his jaw, he was restricted to a liquid and soft solid diet.
NMHM_110327_144.JPG: World War I (1914-1918)
Plaster model:
This model depicts a patient with a splinting apparatus to fix a fractured upper jaw in position within the face to ensure that it healed in the proper position.
NMHM_110327_150.JPG: World War I (1914-1918)
Plaster model:
Trench warfare ensured that the face was frequently the only exposed part of the body. Over 6,000 American soldiers sustained wounds to the face and head during World War I. This model depicts a patient with a nasal splint after the surgeon re-created the nose with a flap of skin from the forehead.
NMHM_110327_158.JPG: World War II (1939-1945)
On March 18, 1945, a bazooka shell exploded on the deck of a tank in Germany, destroying the middle of the face of 23-year-old sergeant with the 11th Tank Battalion, 10th Armored Division. He was evacuated to the 192nd General Hospital, United Kingdom and then sent to the Valley Forge General Hospital, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He was discharged on May 6, 1949.
NMHM_110403_08.JPG: Gallstones:
Gallstones form when fat particles, particularly cholesterol, crystallize and accumulate in the gallbladder. Passage of these hard "stones" through the bile duct, which connects the gallbladder with the intestine, can be extremely painful. Sometimes, stones completely block the duct, obstructing the passage of bile. Gallstones are often diagnosed after a high fat meal. Meals high in fat stimulate the release of intestinal hormones that cause the muscle in the walls of the gallbladder to vigorously contract, emptying the bile into the small intestine near its attachment to the stomach. The strong contraction may force a gallstone into the opening. Gallstones are most common in obese, middle-aged women. These gallstones illustrate the variation in size and shape these formations can take.
NMHM_110403_38.JPG: Anatomical preparation showing the heart and circulatory system of the head and neck. Veins carry deoxygenated blood back to the heart and are colored blue. Arteries carry oxygenated blood to tissue and are colored red.
NMHM_110403_47.JPG: Hypertension (cardiomegaly):
This plastinated heart is enlarged due to hypertension. As a result of increased pressure, the heart muscle must work harder to pump blood in a person with hypertension. Like any muscle, the heart enlarges with increased work.
NMHM_110403_53.JPG: Healthy heart, plastinated:
The human heart is a fist-sized, hollow, muscular pump which beats continuously, moving blood through the body. The human heart has four chambers. The two smaller, upper chambers are the atria (singular, atrium). The two larger, lower chambers are the ventricles. Both the atria and the ventricles have strong, thick walls primarily made up of myocardium: heart muscle. The chambers are separated from one another by one-way valves which allow the blood to flow in one direction only. The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs maintaining pulmonary circulation (Latin pulmo = lung). The left side of the heart moves blood throughout the remainder of the body, maintaining systemic circulation. This plastinated heart has been injected with dyes to show arteries and veins. Arteries are red. Veins are blue.
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2011 photos: Equipment this year: I mostly used the Fuji S100fs camera as well as two Nikon models -- the D90 and the new D7000. Mostly a toy, I also purchased a Fuji Real 3-D W3 camera, to try out 3-D photographs. I found it interesting although I don't see any real use for 3-D stills now. Given that many of the photos from the 1860s were in 3-D (including some of the more famous Civil War shots), it's odd to see it coming back.
Trips this year:
Civil War Trust conferences (Savannah, GA, Chattanooga, TN),
New Jersey over Memorial Day for my birthday (people never seem to visit New Jersey -- it's always just a pit stop on the way to New York. I thought I might as well spend a few days there. Despite some nice places, it still ended up a pit stop for me -- New York City was infinitely more interesting),
my 6th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco).
Ego strokes: Author photos that I took were used on two book jackets this year: Jason Emerson's book "The Dark Days of Abraham Lincoln's Widow As Revealed by Her Own Letters" and Dennis L. Noble's "The U.S. Coast Guard's War on Human Smuggling." I also had a photo of Jason Stelter published in the Washington Examiner and a picture of Miss DC, Ashley Boalch, published in the Washington Post.
Number of photos taken this year: just over 390,000.
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