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D.L. GARDNER
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, UK
The pioneer American ovariotomist McDowell studied anatomy in Edinburgh under John Bell. McDowell returned to Kentucky in 1793 with a set of porcelain. One saucer from his set was donated to the College in 1994.
Keywords: ovarian resection, surgical history
J.R.Coll.Surg.Edinb., 46, October 2001, 277-278
Figure 1: Commemorative stamp showing Ephraim McDowell
This saucer provides a remarkable link between the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and a pioneer surgeon, Ephraim McDowell (1771-1830). McDowell was not the first to perform pre-listerian ovariotomy but he publicised this hazardous operation dramatically.
According to Guthrie (1945), McDowell’s patient, Mrs Jane Todd Crawford, was the wife of a farmer.1 In 1809, she travelled 60 miles on horseback to McDowell’s home in Danville, Kentucky for the operation, which was accomplished 37 years before the introduction of ether anaesthesia. So successful was the removal of her large ovarian tumour that she was able to make her own bed on the 5th post-operative day. She returned home 3 weeks later and survived for a further 35 years. McDowell reported his success some years later (1817).2 His achievements were commemorated in 1959 by the printing of a United States postage stamp bearing his portrait (Figure 2).
McDowell had studied in Edinburgh in the years 1790-1793, a period following closely upon the American War of Independence, the French Revolution and the onset of the wars that marked the rise of Napoleon Buonoparte. At that time, many enthusiastic non-Conformist, Protestant American students were anxious to follow in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin. They wished to take advantage of European experience in the fields of medicine and surgery. They chose Edinburgh as their destination, not only because of its pre-eminent scholarship, but also because the Anglican Colleges of Oxford, Cambridge and Trinity College, Dublin were closed to them.
Finishing his apprenticeship with John Bell, the eldest brother of Charles Bell, McDowell returned to Kentucky, taking with him a set of porcelain ware that may have been made in the Netherlands but was for sale in Edinburgh.
In 1994, an unexpected visitor to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Reverend John Richardson, presented to the Museum the saucer shown in Figure 2. It is one of the few pieces surviving from the set taken to Kentucky in 1793. The saucer serves as a poignant reminder not only of McDowell’s bold achievements but also of the international character of surgery and of the close ties that have bound Scottish and American learning over the past 300 years.
Figure 2: McDowell's Saucer
Copyright date: 25th May 2001
Correspondence: D.L. Gardner, The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Nicolson
Street, Edinburgh EH8 9DW, UK
1. Guthrie, D. A History of Medicine. London, Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson, 1945:
300-1
2. McDowell, E. Three cases of extirpation of diseased ovaria. Eclect Repert Analyt Rev
1817; 7: 242-4
Grants are available to Fellows/Members of the College in good standing towards expenses which will be incurred during travelling overseas to obtain further training or experience. Travel for the sole purpose of attending a scientific meeting will not be supported.
The closing date for receipt of applications is: Friday 23 November 2001
GENERAL RESEARCH (PUMP-PRIMING) GRANTS
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Applications are invited for research grants (up to £6,000) from surgical trainees and recently appointed consultants. The principal applicant must be a Fellow/Member of the College in good standing.
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