A Possible Case of Hydrocephalus in a Medieval Child from Doonbought Fort,Co. Antrim,Northern Ireland

Hydrocephalus is a condition that is rarely found in the palaeopathological record. It has been demonstrated in a modern study of untreated cases of hydrocephalus that 50 per cent of children suffering from the disease die within the first 18 months of life. It is probable that the situation was the same in archaeological populations and that the delicate nature of neonatal and infant crania accounts for the paucity of palaeopathological evidence. As far as the author is aware there are approximately 30 possible cases of hydrocephalus known in the archaeological record throughout the world and only two of these cases originated in the British Isles. The following report presents evidence of a case of possible hydrocephalus in a 6–7-year-old juvenile from Northern Ireland. The skeleton was recovered from a post-thirteenth century context during excavations at the secular medieval fort of Doonbought, Co. Antrim. The diagnosis of hydrocephalus has been made on the basis of the abnormal and enlarged morphology and increased cranial capacity of the cranium. The only other palaeopathological lesion present in the remains was cribra orbitalia.     

Next Emperor,Please! No End to Retrospective Diagnostics

Abstract

The beginning of the seventeenth century marked the start of a scientific revolution, which had consequences for medicine. Vesalius in anatomy, and Harvey in physiology, were important figures who gave the Hippocratic and Galenic traditions new impulses. In this period of change in medical thought, Nicolaas Tulp (1593–1674) wrote his ‘Observationes Medicae’ (Tulp, 1641). A controversy existed in The Netherlands, concerning the circulation, with many doctors still adhering to the Galenic tradition. The following analysis discusses some of the neurologic cases from Tulp's book, seen in the light of modern medical thought.     

About Medicine and the Arts Charcot and French Literature at the fin-de-siècle

The relationship between medicine and the arts, literature in particular, has many aspects. One of the most obvious relations is the use of literature as a source for historical studies. Jean-Martin Charcot and his school often appear in French literature at the end of the 19th century. Several aspects will be highlighted in this study, including (1) the ideas about degenerative diseases in the work of Emile Zola, the main author of the naturalistic movement; (2) decadence and spiritism in two transitional novels by Joris Karl Huysmans, who, once supporter of the naturalistic movement, changed his ideas following observations of disease and cure that could not be explained in a scientific way. Charcots work on hysteria and hypnosis, as well as Brown-Séquards rejuvenation experiments with testicular extracts played an important role with this respect; (3) Charcots relationship with the Daudets, in particular his treatment of Alphonses tabes dorsalis and the ambivalent attitude of his son Léon Daudet towards Charcot; (4) the influence of the lectures at the Salptrire on the work of Guy de Maupassant, who attended the lessons in the mid-1880s. The reading of novels and biographies of these authors provides a part of the social context and the cultural atmosphere in Paris at the “fin-de-siècle” when Charcot and his school played an important role in medicine. Moreover, it shows the influence of medicine and science on society as recorded by writers.