Title
International Medical Digest: Practice of Medicine, Vol. IV
Author
Editorial Abstract Board, W. F. Prior Company, Inc. (Publisher)
Compilation includes articles by E.C. Rosenow and others
Image
Description
This 1923 volume of the International Medical Digest offers a sweeping monthly roundup of contemporary medical knowledge. Published by W. F. Prior Company, Inc., this bound issue includes content on general medicine, psychiatry, and research—most notably a study by Dr. E.C. Rosenow on the “Production of Spasms of the Diaphragm” using dead streptococcal cultures, linking them to epidemic hiccup. The volume was previously held by the IU School of Medicine Library and officially withdrawn in 1993.
Condition
Black leather binding with gold stamped lettering
Moderate wear to spine, some scuffing to title text
Internally clean; pages fully intact
Library withdrawal stamp from IU School of Medicine dated July 29, 1993
Pencil notation on title page bottom corner
Gallery
Historical context
The 1920s were a vibrant decade for medical publishing, and digests like this one served as a professional lifeline—offering abstracts and commentary on current studies. The inclusion of a bizarre study on diaphragmatic spasms induced by streptococcus reflects both the curiosity and limitations of early 20th-century medical science.
Curious Facts, Ephemera, and Trivia
Epidemic hiccup? Yes, that was apparently a thing.
The author, Dr. Rosenow, was a real researcher with a taste for vivisection and filtrates.
The book sold for $3.00 annually in 1923.
Withdrawn from IU School of Medicine’s library exactly 70 years later.
Excerpt
“The streptococcus of epidemic hiccup has been found to produce a substance… which on inoculation into animals produces spasms of the diaphragm sometimes associated with tremor and twitchings of the masseters and other muscles.”
Why it is in the Cabinet
It’s not just a medical digest—it’s a time capsule of speculative diagnosis, procedural enthusiasm, and academic thoroughness. Also: they genuinely investigated dead bacteria causing hiccups. You just don’t leave that off your shelf.