Minute book

Minute book

Boston Society for Medical Improvement

Minute books

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894

Puerperal septicemia

During the summer of 1842, the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, a scientific organization of which Holmes and many of his friends from his European sojourn were members, began to consider the question of puerperal fever. Following reports of an outbreak of cases in Salem, Walter Channing’s presentation of thirteen fatal cases in Boston in June, and news of the illness and deaths of some physicians and students, J. B. S. Jackson “asked the opinion of the Society as to the contagion of puerperal fever and the probability of physicians communicating it from one patient to another.” Holmes proceeded to research the matter through case reports and medical literature at the Boston Athenaeum and delivered his findings at this meeting of the Society.

Note from the Minute Book of the Boston Society for Medical Improvement about the presentation of a paper on puerperal fever by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

Boston Society for Medical Improvement

1843 February 13

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Boston Medical Library Rare Books Collection (B MS b92.2, v. 4)

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excerpt (1 page)

English

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DigID0002183

From the collections of the Boston Medical Library