Title
Manual of the Practice of Medicine (Twelfth Edition, 1928)
Author
Arthur A. Stevens, A.M., M.D.
Professor of Applied Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania; Visiting Physician to the Philadelphia General Hospital
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Description
This is the twelfth revised edition (1928) of A Manual of the Practice of Medicine, written by Dr. Arthur A. Stevens and published by W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia and London. Designed primarily for medical students, this compact 658-page manual distilled practical bedside medicine into an accessible reference.
The text covers a wide range of internal medicine topics, including diseases of the blood, infectious diseases, the nervous system, metabolism, and the cardiovascular system. It emphasizes clinical signs, diagnostic approaches, and therapeutic regimens as practiced in the early 20th century.
Condition
The book is bound in dark cloth with gilt lettering on the spine. Some fading and shelf wear are present, particularly along the spine edges. The interior remains clean and legible, with only light age toning. Structurally, the binding is intact and the book is in overall very good condition for its age.
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Historical context
Arthur A. Stevens was widely regarded for his ability to condense dense medical information into clear and practical manuals. At a time when tuberculosis, pneumonia, and typhoid were common killers, texts like this helped train generations of physicians to recognize patterns of disease at the bedside.
This edition was published just before the great shift in medicine brought on by antibiotics. Physicians of 1928 relied heavily on physical examination, clinical reasoning, and older therapeutic measures like arsenicals, salicylates, and supportive care.
Curious Facts, Ephemera, and Trivia
The section on fever stresses thermometry in the mouth, axilla, or rectum—at a time when the modern oral thermometer was still being standardized.
Blood counts are presented with normal values ranging from 5–10,000 white cells per cubic millimeter—close to modern ranges, though methods of measurement were rudimentary.
Dr. Stevens authored several widely circulated texts, including A Text-Book of Therapeutics and larger reference volumes, but this Manual was the most student-friendly.
W.B. Saunders Company would go on to become one of the largest and most enduring medical publishers of the 20th century.
Excerpt
From the section on Infectious Diseases – Fever:
“Fever is an abnormal condition, characterized by elevated temperature, quickened respiration and circulation, faulty secretions, and increased tissue-waste… There is only one reliable way of detecting fever, and that is by means of the clinical thermometer.”
Why it is in the Cabinet
This book preserves the voice of pre-antibiotic medicine, when bedside skill and clinical judgment were the physician’s chief tools. It represents the bridge between 19th-century empiricism and the rapid scientific advances that would soon transform medical practice.
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