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Period: to
What is Europe? Lessons from the past: 1648-1948
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Compilation on Herbal Properties Published
English physician and botanist Nicholas Culpeper publishes a comperehensive anthology of herbs, their properties, and methods of increasing the efficacy of their use. This popular book provided vast and detailed knowledge in an easily-accessible format, which allowed for more precise treatment of ailments. The English Physician; Nicholas Culpeper, 1652 -
Tourniquets Invented and Used in Amputation Surgeries
Jean Louis Petit, a French doctor, creates and popularizes the use of tourniquets in amputations, one of the most widely performed surgeries of his time. The use of his tourniquet was vastly effective in reducing patient pain and mortality in Europe. Petit Tourniquet; Christie's auction house, 1720s -
Smallpox Vaccination Discovered and Documented
English scientist and doctor Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccine to eight year old James Phipps. He later publishes his findings on more than 20 patients given the vaccination in a 1798 paper. This was instrumental as it was the first universally successful method of protecting citizens from smallpox, a previously fatal disease which was catastrophic for Europe, Jenner Vaccinating Edward Phipps; painting by Ernest Board, 1920s -
Maggots Used In Military Campaigns
Napoleon's surgeon general, Dominique Jean Larrey, writes of his observations of soldiers with maggot-infested wounds healing more quickly and having a lower mortality rate than those without. He then incorporated maggots into the battlefield medicinal repertoire, which helped save many lives in military hospitals. Clinique Chirurgicale; Dominique Jean Larrey, 1829 -
Hand-washing Discovered to Reduce Instances of Childbed Fever
In a time of greater scientific exploration, cadavers were being increasingly studied in hospitals. Accordingly, mortality rates for mothers in maternity wards rose as well, up to 30% due to childbed fever. Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis implemented hand washing procedures after several studies, and succeeded in lowering mortality rates to less than 5% in maternity wards. The Etiology, Concept, and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever; Ignaz Semmelweis, 1861 -
Blood Types Distinguished
Austro-Hungarian scientist Karl Landsteiner discovers the concept of blood types. Later, he names the four blood types: A, B, O, and AB. His work allowed for doctors to transfuse blood successfully, and to reduce mortalities in patients who have lost blood. On Agglutination Phenomena of Normal Human Blood; paper by Karl Landsteiner, 1901
