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.
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![however, by the greater part of his people to be easily the fore- [155] most man in medicine, and also considered a leading citizen in his community. Mrs. Crawford’s evident entire willingness to undergo the operation is emphasized especially by the distance and difficulties under which she made the journey. No doubt the proposed operation was known to every one beforehand and in all likelihood, as is customary in small places, even to-day, where news is at a premium and where the tedium of the lives of the people is broken by their interest in their neigh- bors’ affairs, there were comments of all kinds. In fact it is said that his nephew, Dr. James McDowell, whom he brought up and who was his partner, made several attempts to dissuade [156] him from operating and agreed only at the last moment to be present, and assist for fear of the damage he would sustain in his practice in the event of failure of the operation.* There does not appear, however, enough ground upon which to base the story of an organized effort to do him bodily harm in the event of failure. After the lapse of seven years following the first ovariotomy and at the repeated urgings of another nephew, William, and others, he was prevailed upon to prepare a report of the first three cases. This was forwarded in 1816 to his old teacher, John Bell, to whom it is believed he was indebted for the idea, but fell into the hands of John Lizars, owing to Bell’s absence in Italy in quest of health. Another copy was sent in the autumn of 1816 to Philip Syng Physic of Philadelphia, with a request that it be published if found worthy and this, like the first, received no attention. His nephew, William, who was the bearer of the report to Physic then turned to Dr. Thomas C. James, who has passed into history as the modest, amiable and benevolent professor of midwifery in the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the editors of the Eclectic Repertory. Professor James, who placed confidence in McDowell and his nephew, took the time to study and then communicate the report to his pupils, amid their applause, and later publish it in the Eclectic Repertory and Analytical Review (Vol. VII, * In McDowell’s own account of the operation he says, that his nephew, James McDowell, did assist him.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22440951_0011.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
