Medical Science in the 19th Century
Mental Institutions in the 19th century
Before the 1800s mental illness was not an issue in American society due to the fact that societies were sparse and scattered in rural communities. The members of society that were mentally ill were usually taken care of by their family or other local official who took responsibility for their well being. The mentally ill finally started to become a threat to society when the mentally ill did not have their basic needs taken care of and their violence affected the community around them. When insanity became a social problem, the government was forced to intervene. As a result the 19th century became known for the rise of institutions that could house the mentally ill.
In this era psychiatrists believed that mental disease was the result of psychological and environmental factors, and insanity violated the natural laws that was characteristic of most normal human behavior. Thus, the mentally ill were linked with “immorality, improper living conditions, or other stresses that upset the natural balance” (Leavitt, 335). The first institution was created by Dr. Thomas Kirkbridge, a Pennsylvania born-Quaker. His idea of institution included separation by “severity of illness, ease of treatment and surveillance, and ventilation”. After the civil war, American architects created this designed institution. As opposed to the 20th century view on the mentally ill which was that early intervention could be effective in treating mental diseases, scientist in the 19th century didn’t think that the time period of intervention mattered. The purpose of the new mental institutions was to treat the mentally ill patients with medical and moral treatment. The medical treatment was intended to improve the mind and to calm violence through the use of narcotics. The moral aspect of the treatment involved occupational therapy and religious exercises, amusements, and games. In this model of treatment, the psychiatrists seem to believe that most mental disease could be completely cured. However psychiatrists realized that there were a group of mental patients that had a mental chronic disorder, and usually these patients were excluded from these mental institutions, sent to state hospitals instead.
Because many local communities were funding these mental institutions, the local officials preferred to put the mentally ill in almhouses, and the officials of the mental institutions were pressured to release the patients as fast as possible in order to save money. However during the mid-19th century, psychiatrists realized that placing the mentally ill, especially the chronically ill, in almshouses or in separate institutions was damaging to their health. Kirkbridge, one of the founders of mental institutions also rejected this practice, however as the number of chronic patients increased, several states such as Massachusets and New York began reconsidering. Soon the responsibility of the mental institutions turned from the community to level to the state level in hopes that the quality of care would improve. However this just caused the communities to begin transferring all of the old and senile patients that were living in the almshouses to the mental institutions causing a dramatic change in the dynamic of the institutions in the turn of the 20th century.
Before the 1800s mental illness was not an issue in American society due to the fact that societies were sparse and scattered in rural communities. The members of society that were mentally ill were usually taken care of by their family or other local official who took responsibility for their well being. The mentally ill finally started to become a threat to society when the mentally ill did not have their basic needs taken care of and their violence affected the community around them. When insanity became a social problem, the government was forced to intervene. As a result the 19th century became known for the rise of institutions that could house the mentally ill.
In this era psychiatrists believed that mental disease was the result of psychological and environmental factors, and insanity violated the natural laws that was characteristic of most normal human behavior. Thus, the mentally ill were linked with “immorality, improper living conditions, or other stresses that upset the natural balance” (Leavitt, 335). The first institution was created by Dr. Thomas Kirkbridge, a Pennsylvania born-Quaker. His idea of institution included separation by “severity of illness, ease of treatment and surveillance, and ventilation”. After the civil war, American architects created this designed institution. As opposed to the 20th century view on the mentally ill which was that early intervention could be effective in treating mental diseases, scientist in the 19th century didn’t think that the time period of intervention mattered. The purpose of the new mental institutions was to treat the mentally ill patients with medical and moral treatment. The medical treatment was intended to improve the mind and to calm violence through the use of narcotics. The moral aspect of the treatment involved occupational therapy and religious exercises, amusements, and games. In this model of treatment, the psychiatrists seem to believe that most mental disease could be completely cured. However psychiatrists realized that there were a group of mental patients that had a mental chronic disorder, and usually these patients were excluded from these mental institutions, sent to state hospitals instead.
Because many local communities were funding these mental institutions, the local officials preferred to put the mentally ill in almhouses, and the officials of the mental institutions were pressured to release the patients as fast as possible in order to save money. However during the mid-19th century, psychiatrists realized that placing the mentally ill, especially the chronically ill, in almshouses or in separate institutions was damaging to their health. Kirkbridge, one of the founders of mental institutions also rejected this practice, however as the number of chronic patients increased, several states such as Massachusets and New York began reconsidering. Soon the responsibility of the mental institutions turned from the community to level to the state level in hopes that the quality of care would improve. However this just caused the communities to begin transferring all of the old and senile patients that were living in the almshouses to the mental institutions causing a dramatic change in the dynamic of the institutions in the turn of the 20th century.
Tarr and
Feather and Insane Asylums
The story Dr. Tarr and Prof. Feather is set in an insane asylum right in the middle of the time that mental institutions were becoming popular in America. In the story, Poe pokes fun at these mental institutions because he creates a plot in which the mental patients are able to take over the hospital forcing the employees to become the patients. In the new model that the mental patients create, no one is placed in confinement and the new patients are allowed to roam the institution freely. In this aspect of the story, Poe is commenting on the mental institutions of the time, which in many instances imprisoned their patients and comes up with a whimsical story that idealizes what a mental institution should be like in his mind.
The story Dr. Tarr and Prof. Feather is set in an insane asylum right in the middle of the time that mental institutions were becoming popular in America. In the story, Poe pokes fun at these mental institutions because he creates a plot in which the mental patients are able to take over the hospital forcing the employees to become the patients. In the new model that the mental patients create, no one is placed in confinement and the new patients are allowed to roam the institution freely. In this aspect of the story, Poe is commenting on the mental institutions of the time, which in many instances imprisoned their patients and comes up with a whimsical story that idealizes what a mental institution should be like in his mind.
Prosthetics and precursors to Biomedical Engineering
Up until quite recently, the use and development of prosthetic limbs for amputees was not a very major topic of study or research in the field of medicine or engineering. This is not to say that prosthetics had no place in medicine during Edgar Allan Poe's lifetime. In fact, the first known use of a prosthetic was a prosthetic leg made of wood and copper used in 300BCE, a device named the "Capua Leg." Though it is unknown whether this was the very first use of a prosthetic to aid an amputee, it is the earliest known instance and as such is currently considered the first. After 300BCE, use of artificial limbs continued, but it appeared that their development was quite slow. Should one have lost an arm or a leg, the most common result was death due to infection or blood loss from the loss of the limb as medical science had not yet advanced enough for the development of anti-coagulants or decent anit-bacterial/microbial medicines to prevent infection. Should a person survive the amputation, the prosthesis often was simply a rudimentary "peg-leg" for leg amputations, and for the loss of an arm, the sleeve was simply pinned to their shirt as there was not much that could be done.
In the 16th century, some progress was made to make a better artificial leg. But, yet again, as no effective methods of controlling pain or blood loss, most patients receiving an amputation succumbed to severe hemorrhaging or the resulting infections.
In Poe's lifetime in the 19th century, little had been made in advances to prosthetic limb technology. The documentation on any advances or notable achievements is incredible scarce, but judging from the way that amputations were handled during the Civil War, only a few decades after Poe's death, the methods of treating an amputation had not changed much over the centuries. However, there was on man who made a major step forward, a man by the name of Benjamin Franklin Palmer. Palmer invented and patented a wooden prosthetic leg. This artificial limb was patented in 1846, within Edgar Allan Poe's lifetime and would see use in the medical wards of soldiers in the Civil War.
Up until quite recently, the use and development of prosthetic limbs for amputees was not a very major topic of study or research in the field of medicine or engineering. This is not to say that prosthetics had no place in medicine during Edgar Allan Poe's lifetime. In fact, the first known use of a prosthetic was a prosthetic leg made of wood and copper used in 300BCE, a device named the "Capua Leg." Though it is unknown whether this was the very first use of a prosthetic to aid an amputee, it is the earliest known instance and as such is currently considered the first. After 300BCE, use of artificial limbs continued, but it appeared that their development was quite slow. Should one have lost an arm or a leg, the most common result was death due to infection or blood loss from the loss of the limb as medical science had not yet advanced enough for the development of anti-coagulants or decent anit-bacterial/microbial medicines to prevent infection. Should a person survive the amputation, the prosthesis often was simply a rudimentary "peg-leg" for leg amputations, and for the loss of an arm, the sleeve was simply pinned to their shirt as there was not much that could be done.
In the 16th century, some progress was made to make a better artificial leg. But, yet again, as no effective methods of controlling pain or blood loss, most patients receiving an amputation succumbed to severe hemorrhaging or the resulting infections.
In Poe's lifetime in the 19th century, little had been made in advances to prosthetic limb technology. The documentation on any advances or notable achievements is incredible scarce, but judging from the way that amputations were handled during the Civil War, only a few decades after Poe's death, the methods of treating an amputation had not changed much over the centuries. However, there was on man who made a major step forward, a man by the name of Benjamin Franklin Palmer. Palmer invented and patented a wooden prosthetic leg. This artificial limb was patented in 1846, within Edgar Allan Poe's lifetime and would see use in the medical wards of soldiers in the Civil War.
The Man that was Used Up
The events of Poe's story The Man that was Used Up, can summarized quite easily: a humorous, inventive science fiction work that was way ahead of its time. In the story, the narrator is at some public meeting of persons of influence and affluence when he encounters one Brevet General John A.B.C. Smith. During the bulk of the work, the narrator overhears little bit of information about the great general, but is unable to piece together the truth about his actions in a war between two fictional indian tribes, the Bugaboo and the Kickapoo. After lengthy questioning of many of the guests leads to not further information on the general, the narrator requests an urgent meeting with said general. Upon entering the general's quarters, an unbelievable sight unfolds. The general is pieced together by a personal servant, all the while informing the narrator as to how he lost each body part and where to buy the best replacement parts. In short, General John A.B.C. Smith is almost entirely made of mechanical parts.
A tale such as this would be regarded with absolute ridicule in Poe's time, as there was no conceivable way to achieve such a level of bio-augmentation. However, what is truly remarkable, is that Poe was foretelling future advancements in Biomedical Engineering and Bio-Augmentation. In this day and age, researchers have already developed prosthetics that can be controlled by the electrical signals in ones brain, thus almost fully restoring an amputees mobility and independence. In Poe's story, the entirety of the body has been replaced with machine, possibly all of the major organs as well, save for the brain. This fact is yet another instance of Poe foreshadowing major medical advances of the late 20th and early 21st century. Currently, artificial organs such as the Jarvick Artificial Heart, and other organs, are used as substitutes for the real thing, but only for as long as it takes to get an acceptable replacement. The research is currently underway to develop permanent artificial organs as well as bio-modifications that could potentially turn one into a very real version of Poe's "man that was used up."
The events of Poe's story The Man that was Used Up, can summarized quite easily: a humorous, inventive science fiction work that was way ahead of its time. In the story, the narrator is at some public meeting of persons of influence and affluence when he encounters one Brevet General John A.B.C. Smith. During the bulk of the work, the narrator overhears little bit of information about the great general, but is unable to piece together the truth about his actions in a war between two fictional indian tribes, the Bugaboo and the Kickapoo. After lengthy questioning of many of the guests leads to not further information on the general, the narrator requests an urgent meeting with said general. Upon entering the general's quarters, an unbelievable sight unfolds. The general is pieced together by a personal servant, all the while informing the narrator as to how he lost each body part and where to buy the best replacement parts. In short, General John A.B.C. Smith is almost entirely made of mechanical parts.
A tale such as this would be regarded with absolute ridicule in Poe's time, as there was no conceivable way to achieve such a level of bio-augmentation. However, what is truly remarkable, is that Poe was foretelling future advancements in Biomedical Engineering and Bio-Augmentation. In this day and age, researchers have already developed prosthetics that can be controlled by the electrical signals in ones brain, thus almost fully restoring an amputees mobility and independence. In Poe's story, the entirety of the body has been replaced with machine, possibly all of the major organs as well, save for the brain. This fact is yet another instance of Poe foreshadowing major medical advances of the late 20th and early 21st century. Currently, artificial organs such as the Jarvick Artificial Heart, and other organs, are used as substitutes for the real thing, but only for as long as it takes to get an acceptable replacement. The research is currently underway to develop permanent artificial organs as well as bio-modifications that could potentially turn one into a very real version of Poe's "man that was used up."
