Description

This fine work features richly illustrated articles that provide a valuable overview of the latest Ottoman medical achievements. They describe the most modern Ottoman medical institutions, such as the main hospitals of Istanbul, including the special facilities for children and Muslim women. There is also report on the newly imported rabies vaccine written by A. Zoéros Pasha (see item no 11). This includes a discussion of the bacteriological institute and the preparation of the Diphtheria antitoxin with an image of a white horse, which was responsible for producing 1800 bottles of serum. Also covered are the preparation of the rinderpest vaccine, dozens of portraits of famous Ottoman medical doctors, as well as articles on the benefit of sports, women’s health, problems with corsets, hypnosis and swaddling.

The publication also contains an illustrated report on the first use of X-rays in the field in the world, showcasing the improvised equipment used for photographing the wounded hand of a soldier showing the clear marks of shrapnel under the skin surface.

The author, Besim Ömer Akalın (1862 – 1940) was an Ottoman Turkish medical doctor who was responsible for introducing modern obstetrics and gynecology to the country. He was schooled in Priština and at the Kuleli Military Medicine High School in Istanbul. After publishing a yearbook which contained exceedingly valuable information on contemporary Ottoman medicine, Besim Ömer continued his studies in Paris.

He later authored several medical books on gynecology and other fields of medicine, as well as on hypnosis.

We could only trace electronic copies of the book on Worldcat.