Dr. Ephraim McDowell, 'father of ovariotomy' : his life and his work / by August Schachner.
- August Schachner
- Date:
- [1913]
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Dr. Ephraim McDowell, 'father of ovariotomy' : his life and his work / by August Schachner. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
7/26 page 5
![dell, Sr., suggests that this came through John P. Davidge, [155] one of the founders of the University of Maryland, for Davidge was a friend and contemporary of McDowell at the University of Edinburgh. Situated as he was, in a frontier city, favorably known and extensively connected, and with what was at that time unusual, a training in one of the best, if not the very best of the foreign universities, it is needless to say that an extensive practice covering what was then the entire southwest rapidly sprang up. I-Iardly any anecdotes of his childhood or personal recollec- tions of his manhood are known. He is described as erect and tall, nearly 6 feet, and inclined to corpulency, with a florid complexion and lustrous black eyes. He was a ready wit and fine conversationalist. In an unpretentious way, he was fond of music; he would sing English and Scotch songs with comic effect, accompanying himself with his violin upon which he performed with ordinary ability. He mingled freely with all classes of his townspeople, displaying the modesty and sim- plicity of a great man. He is said not to have used tobacco in any form, and to have been temperate in his habits. He was neat in person and invariably dressed in black, wearing a silk stock and ruffled linen. He inclined to surgery; the medical side of his work he transferred as much as possible to his partner, and in his in- structions to his pupils, he urged them not to rely too much upon drugs. His foreign training and Scotch origin explain his preference for Cullen and Sydenham in medicine, and Burns and Scott in literature. He was no writer; his only contributions to medical literature are said to be two reports in the Eclectic Repertory and Analytical Review upon his ovarian operations. At the age of 31, he married Miss Sarah Hart Shelby, who was then in her eighteenth year. She was the daughter of Governor Isaac Shelby, Kentucky’s first governor. Six chil- dren were born to them, two sons and four daughters. Three of the children survived him. Through the influence of his wife, he became a member of the Episcopal Church. Several years before his death, he retired to his country home called](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22440951_0009.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
