SHORT COMMUNICATION Autopsy Practises for Brain Dissections and Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deyman

Illustrations, previous to the 19th century, provide evidence that brain dissections were executed on an isolated head, contrary to Rembrandt's anatomy lesson of Dr. Deyman. This paradox seems to be explained by clever biased composition.     

孙中山函电拾遗

今年11月12日是中国民主革命先驱孙中山先生诞辰140周年纪念日。1912年1月1日在南京创建的中华民国临时政府是孙中山为中国民主革命事业建立的伟大功勋。中国第二历史档案馆所藏招商局档案全宗内孙中山关于抵押借款情形致招商局的5件函电,反映了南京临时政府建立后,因财政困难,费用孔亟的情形,在1982年中华书局出版的《孙中山全集》第2卷(1912年)中均未收入。     

Singultus foetalis and Dr. Alfons Mermann

During intrauterine life, hiccups are universally present, their incidence peaking in the third trimester. Alfons Mermann (1852–1908), a gynecologist from Mannheim, Germany, best known for having established the Luisenheim Woechnerinnenasyl [lying-in asylum] there in 1887, is viewed as the first physician to name and describe singultus foetalis [fetal hiccups] in a modern peer-reviewed scientific publication. This short report attempts to shed some light on the work of Dr. Mermann and to explore whether or not he was indeed the first to recognize this phenomenon.     

爱好由来下笔难一诗千改始心安——谢答谢国先博士对《民俗解析》的批评

近日读到谢国先博士对拙译《民俗解析》中《民俗的精神分析学研究》译文的中肯批评（载《民俗研究》2008年第2期）,我一直处于深度震惊、自责和羞愧难当的情绪之中,我的震惊不是来自谢国先博士指出的那些词义选择方面的问题（因为这些或有可商,不一定构成实质性的误译）,而是来自他指出的那些被我妄断出来的低级错误。     

Dr.Xiong Wenbin and His Tibetan Fresco Art

ＺＨＯＵＹＩＮＧｓｌｉｍ,ｓｈｒｅｗｄ,ｐｌａｉｎｌｙｄｒｅｓｅｄｙｏｕｎｇｍａｎｉｓｏｆｔｅｎｓｅｅｎｅｎｔｅｒｉｎｇａｎｄｌｅａｖｉｎｇｔｈｅＣｈｉｎａＴｉｂｅｔａｎＳｔｕｄｉｅｓＣｅｎｔｅｒｉｎｔｈｅＡｓｉａｎＧａｍｅｓＶｉｌａｇｅｉｎＢｅ...     

Dr. Gottlieb Burckhardt the Pioneer of Psychosurgery

The first attempt at psychosurgeryintentional damage to the intact brain for the relief of mental illness–was undertaken in 1888 by the Swiss psychiatrist Gottlieb Burckhardt. Six chronic schizophrenic patients underwent localized cerebral cortical excisions. Most patients showed improvement and became easier to manage, although one died from the procedure and several had aphasia or seizures. Burckhardt, a learned neuropsychiatrist, presented his results in 1890 and in 1891 published his scientific rationale and detailed clinical outcome in a scholarly paper. Nevertheless his approach had shocked the medical community as reckless and irresponsible. Burckhardt was ridiculed, his academic endeavors ceased and his surgical endeavor largely ignored. Nevertheless he continued practice as a fine psychiatrist and mental hospital director. Burckhardts career and interesting ideas on higher cerebral functions are reviewed and placed in perspective regarding the development of “modern” psychosurgery almost one-half century later.