Early concepts on the mechanism of peritonitis with special regard to the experimental work of Karol Klecki.

The term peritonitis is relatively new in medical language, however some of its symptoms were observed and noted even in antiquity. The proper recognition of peritonitis as a distinct pathological entity was made possible when progress in the clinical and experimental sciences give birth to the methodology needed for the investigation of the etiology and mechanism of peritoneal inflammation. Research concerning this clinical topic began to yield significant results in the second half of 19th century. This paper aims to give some insight into this pioneering period of scientific investigation focused on the etiology and pathology of peritonitis. From the work of von Recklinghausen in the 1860s, through the later research of Wegner and Gravitz, the next major step in this field was made by the Polish experimental pathologist and pathophysiologist Karol Klecki.

Salmonella Typhi - historical perspective of discovery and forgotten contribution of Polish anatomopathology.

Outbreaks of typhoid fever for centuries decimated armies, cities and large hosts of people. Discovery of an agent causing such a grave disease became one of the most important achievements of bacteriology - science, which had experienced rapid development in the last quarter of the 19th century and changed the course of our civilization.The article deals with the discovery of Tadeusz Browicz, Polish anatomopathologist, who in 1874 reported about rod-shaped "parasites" in viscera of typhoid fever victim. His achievement became shaded by the later discoveries of Eberth, Klebs and Gaffky, but as authors stated below, Browicz should be recognized with mentioned scientists as a co-discoverer of the typhoid fever bacillus.

Roots of modern cardiology in Poland.

The aim of the paper was to present the achievements of Polish physicians in the field of heart diseases in the times when cardiology was still not established as a separate branch of medicine, i.e. in the last decades of the 19th and the opening decades of the 20th centuries. The article is based on results previously delivered in historical works of other researchers and on original texts coming from the era which is the subject of the present report. The review focuses on the main topics of scientific investigation related to heart diseases - the subject of interest for physicians who are depicted herein. It should be stressed that only part of their intellectual heritage could be presented, with only a limited selection of names, articles, or books. Nevertheless, even when narrowed in scope, it shows innovativeness in many aspects of practical and scientific approaches to clinical problems. It also brings to our mind times when the dreams of many have wandered around the independence of one's homeland, dreams which finally came true in 1918. From Adam Raciborski, who was fighting in the November Uprising and then was forced to leave Polish soil, to Andrzej Klisiecki, a soldier of the resurrected Polish army, defending his country against the Bolshevik invasion in 1920, the majority of researchers would take a strong patriotic attitude and work for the benefit of society. When Poland was back on the maps of Europe, they were able to open a new chapter in their scientific research, valuing the treasure of independence.

Ludwik Bierkowski and the early days of general anaesthesia in the Polish soil in February 1847.

Ludwik Bierkowski belonged to the elite of surgeons of the first half of the 19th century. Educated in an excellent German university, Bierkowski had in-depth and comprehensive knowledge, a wide range of practical skills and was continuously eager to search for new solutions. He introduced cotton wool for wound dressings, experimentally determined the conditions of blood transfusions and published two outstanding anatomo-surgical atlases, which ranks him among the leading physicians of those days. Moreover, he was the first to use ether for effective general anaesthesia in the Polish lands, the procedure that changed the course of the history of medicine. Bierkowski performed ether anaesthesia in less than four months after the first world and in less than two months after the first European demonstration, which rates him among the most modern surgeons of those times. This year we celebrate the 170th anniversary of this event.

Ludwik Karol Teichmann (1823-1895).

Ludwik Karol Teichmann was the last of gross anatomists. His magnificent work on the lymphatic system gained him appreciation of the whole current scientific world. Based on the unpublished materials authors wanted to commemorate one of the greatest Polish and world anatomists with special regard to coming soon 150th anniversary of Theatrum Anatomicum of Jagiellonian University Medical College.

[Anatomy in the perspective of Kazimierz Kostanecki]. / Anatomia w ujeciu Kazimierza Kostaneckiego.

Kazimierz Telesfor Kostanecki (1863-1940) remains one of the most important figures in the history of Polish medicine and natural science. He was the creator of one of the biggest scientific schools on Polish soil, a researcher versatile, working in parallel on many fields of natural science exploration. In his view, anatomy has become a dynamic and comprehensive science, that combines what today belongs to histology, cytology and embryology. Kostanecki has created an universal model of research, referring to comparative methods and based on planned series of experimental studies, especially when it came to issues related to developmental anatomy and mechanics of fertilization. This model was used and developed by his students and followers. It is not surprising, therefore, that the name Kostanecki has been repeatedly reported in the world literature, and a number of phenomena and facts established by him has kept its value, which comes obviouswhen we still can find citations of Polish scholar works in the contemporary monographs and articles.

[The history of Odo Bujwid's research concerning hygienic assessment of water].

The present paper is dedicated to the work of Polish hygienist and bacteriologist Odo Bujwid (1857-1942), which referred to the problem of water quality assessment from the perspective of medicine, with particular emphasis given on the bacteriological, chemical and physical analysis of its quality, as well on the system and construct designs concerned with water supply and filtering adjustments, with particular emphasis on the experience coming from practical observations gained from cities of Krakow and Warsaw. The work focuses on the postulates formulated by Bujwid over several decades, from the 1880s onwards and in the interwar period ending, which were rooted in his own field research and laboratory observations combined with results of other researchers and constructs in that field.

Formalin use in anatomical and histological science in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The introduction of formalin, a formaldehyde solution, as a disinfectant and fixative was an essential improvement in anatomical and histological science. This paper is an outline of the historical use of formalin based on primary source texts and historical studies. We describe how the discovery of acetaldehyde in the 18th century led to the development of formalin as the most common ingredient in embalming fluids in the 20th century and is still used today. Particularly important contributions to this process were made by Justus von Liebig, Alexander Butlerow and August Wilhelm Hofmann in the development of anatomical and histological preparation techniques, and by Ferdinand Blum, Ferdinand Julius Cohn, Frederick C. Kenyon and Victor Wehr in the practical uses of formaldehyde solutions in preservation and fixation of soft tissues. However, formalin is not without its drawbacks and as its toxicity became more understood, method to mitigate its effects were demanded. Eventually safer preparation techniques were developed, including Hagens' plastination and Thiel Embalming Method. These techniques may someday largely replace high-concentration formalin solutions but they both still require at least small quantities of formaldehyde to preserve tissues for study.

[JUBILEE OF "MEDYCYNA NOWOZYTNA" ["MODERN MEDICINE MAGAZINE"]. / JUBILEUSZ "MEDYCYNY NOWOZYTNEJ".

In 1922 appeared the first, proof copy of a magazine which two years later was titled "Modern Medicine. Studies on the history of medicine". The idea to create a new periodical was born among the historians of science, who focused their scientific interest on the topics of medicine's past. The major purpose was to make a thorough revision of methodological views that usually did not go beyond the positivist or Marxist model. They aspired to some kind of "opening up" to the content present in philosophy and the history of science, including in particular epistemological theories of Ludwik Fleck, Thomas Kuhn or Michael Foucault. Consistent references were made to the experiences and findings of cultural anthropology, psychology, sociology and history of arts, highlighting the problems which in national medical historiography had been previously rarely, if ever, present. "Classical" form and content of works published in the magazine was not excluded, though, since the purpose of the editorial staff was not so much to fight against the traditional model of the history of medicine as its enrichment and gradual transformation in the spirit of contemporary needs. The aim of this article is to present as completely as possible--both the content of "Modern Medicine" and the achievements of people contributing to the magazine for the past twenty years of its existence. It is also an attempt to evaluate to what extent the guidelines set two decades ago have been realized in practice.

The origins of electrocardiography in Poland.

The progress of science and technology in the 19(th) century enabled better understanding of the electrical activity that occurs during a heartbeat. However, it was only the construction and introduction of the galvanometer that cleared the way for appropriate experimental and clinical studies. Marey, Waller, Wenckebach, Einthoven, and Pardee are just examples of the world's pioneers of electrocardiography. Polish researchers, including Cybulski, Eiger, Rzetkowski, Surzycki, and Latkowski, also contributed to the development of this area of study. The following article is a review aiming to reconstruct the origins of electrocardiography in Poland, both as a measurement method used in experiments and as a diagnostic tool in clinical studies conducted in the years preceding the outbreak of World War I.

[Sigismund Laskowski and his anatomical preparations technique]. / Zygmunt Laskowski i jego technika tworzenia preparatów anatomicznych.

Fixation of the entire bodies or individual organs, and later as well tissues and cellular structures, was and still is often a challenge for anatomists and histologists. Technique that combines extensive knowledge of natural sciences, as well as technical skills, was by those best researchers as Frederik Ruysch, brought to perfection. Preparations, if done with care and talent, are really propelling progress in anatomical studies and determining the quality of education for medical students and young physicians. And as it is true for many of today's medical disciplines and natural sciences, the nineteenth century was in many ways a breaking point for preparatory techniques in the realm of anatomy and histology. Among those who have achieved success, earning notoriety during their lifetime and often going into the annals of European most distinguished scholars were some Polish names: Louis Maurice Hirschfeld, whose preparations of the nervous system earned him well-deserved, international fame, Louis Charles Teichmann, who was the very first so precisely describing the lymphatic system and a creator of unique injection mass, Henry Kadyi, known for his outstanding preparations, especially of vascular system. Henry Frederick Hoyer sen., who was one of the first to use formalin regularly for accurate microscopic preparations, is seen by many as the founder of the Polish histology. In this group of innovators and precursors of modern preparation techniques place should be reserved for Zygmunt (Sigismund) Laskowski, Polish patriot, fighting in January Uprising, later an immigrant, a professor at the university sequentially Paris and Geneva. Acclaimed author of anatomical tables and certainly creator of one of the groundbreaking techniques in anatomical preparations. Based after many years of research on the simple glycerine-phenol mixture achieved excellent results both in fixation of entire bodies and organs or tissues. Quality of those preparations was as high and sometimes even higher than later formalin using techniques, and was finally surpassed only by plastination.

[Notes from the medical clinic of professor Józef Dietl]. / Notatki z kliniki lekarskiej prof. Józefa Dietla.

Jozef Dietl was one of the most eminent physicians of 19th century. His influence on the development of medical clinic in Krakow was decisive. Educated in Vienna, Dietl became familiar to the patterns of the s. c. Younger School, becoming one of the major proponents of its ideas. Writen by him Praktische Wahrnehmungen nach den Ergebnissen them Wiedner --Bezirkskrankenhaus (1845) became a kind of "manifesto" of the new, based on close pathological study medicine. How much these ideas were practically implemented in the academic teaching is the subject of comparative studies, which preliminary results are presented in this article. This text refers the manuscript collection of the Department of the History of Medicine of Jagiellonian University, including the recently known lecture notes by written down by then medical student Hippolytus Rychlicki. In light of the documents related directly to clinical teaching should go research to what extent Dietl's official declarations given in Praktische Wahrnehmungen (1845) and Aphorisms on the strict clinical study (1862-4).

[History of medicine by prof. Sebastian Girtlera]. / Historia medycyny prof. Sebastiana Girtlera.

Sebastian Girtler (1767-1833), who later became rector of the Jagiellonian University is known primarily as a lecturer and author of several works of forensic medicine, police attention and veterinary medicine. Not so often we hear of him as a historian of medicine, subject of Girtler's interests, which had a lot of his attention and work. This text, to a significant extent based on archival materials, seeks to reconstruct the teaching program and analyses the content and methodology of the two works directly related to past of medical sciences, which had been written by Girtler himself.

[Ludwik Karol Teichmann--a preparator]. / Ludwik Karol Teichmann jako preparator.

Ludwik Karol Teichmann significantly contributed to the creation of modern techniques in the anatomical preparations. He was, next to Joseph Hyrtl, the most versatile among the anatomical preparators in the second half of the 19th century, successfully introducing modifications to existing methods, as well as striving for independent solutions in this field. His precision in performance, transparency and sustainability of the whole brain preparations, excellent osteological preparations, including small bones and cartilage, evoked and still evoke high admiration. He made his name, however, with preparations obtained by means of injection and corrosion techniques. The application of these techniques inthe lymphatic system's study, both the physiologically proper and the pathologically changed, earned Teichmann a permanent position in the history of anatomy. The developed by Teichmann mass for cold injections (the so-called Teichmann's cold mass) revolutionized the macro-and microscopic preparatory of that time, thus opening great new research perspectives still widely used during the interwar period.

[Evelopment of Krakow's pathological collection in 19th century]. / Rozwój krakowskiej kolekcji anatomopatologicznej w XIX stuleciu.

With the evolution of pathological anatomy in the nineteenth century arose the need to create separate collection of preparations, which were used for teaching and studying important anatomical changes. Collections were built on wet preparations (mainly preserved in alcohol), dry, wax models and plaster casts usually taking form of the permanent sets. In this paper are shown, based on the analysis of the preserved documentation and reports, ways of the development of such collections which lead to the formation of the Pathological Museum of the Jagiellonian University. At the same time research is made to clarify a number of doubts and confusion which accompanied this process, which lasted a total of a few decades.

Vane's blood-bathed organ technique adapted to examine the endothelial effects of cardiovascular drugs in vivo.

This study describes a modification of Vane's blood-bathed organ technique (BBOT). This new technique consisted of replacing the cascade of contractile smooth muscle organs within the traditional BBOT by a single collagen strip cut from a rabbit's hind leg tendon. Utilizing the extracorporeal circulation of an anesthetized heparinized mongrel cat or Wistar rat, arterial blood was dripped (1-3 ml min(-1)) over a collagen strip. This resulted in a gain in weight of the strip, which was due to the deposition of platelet aggregates and a few blood cells trapped over the strip. Arterial blood that had been used for the superfusion was pumped back into the animal's venous system. However, when this technique is adapted to human volunteers, the superfusing blood should be discarded. In animal experiments, intravenous injections of a variety of classic fibrinolytic agents (e.g., streptokinase) promoted the formation of platelet thrombi. Nitric oxide donors (e.g., SIN-1) at non-hypotensive doses hardly affected the mass of platelet thrombi deposited over the collagen strip, whereas endogenous prostacyclin (e.g., released from vascular endothelium by bradykinin) or exogenous prostacyclin and its stable analogues (e.g., iloprost) dissipated platelet thrombi as measured by a loss in the weight of the blood superfused collagen strip. This model allowed us to assay numerous drugs for their releasing properties of endogenous prostacyclin from vascular endothelium. These drugs included lipophilic angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is), which act in vivo as bradykinin potentiating factors (BPF). Other PGI(2)-releasers included statins (e.g., atorvastatin and simvastatin), thienopyridines (e.g., ticlopidine and clopidogrel), a number of thromboxane synthase inhibitors, flavonoids, bradykinin itself, cholinergic M receptor agonists and nicotinic acid derivatives. The thrombolytic actions of lipophilic ACE-Is (e.g., quinapril and perindopril) were prevented by pretreatment with either bradykinin B(2) receptor antagonists (e.g., icatibant) or with endothelial COX-2 inhibitors (e.g., rofecoxib, celecoxib and high dose aspirin). The inhibition of endothelial nitric oxide synthetase (eNOS) by L-NAME hardly blunted the thrombolytic response to ACE-Is. Hence, it can be concluded that many recognized cardiovascular drugs apart from their known basic mechanisms of action, may also behave as releasers of endogenous endothelial prostacyclin. Furthermore, in many instances, this effect may be the primary mechanism of their therapeutic efficacy.

[Definition of the history of medicine in the interpretation of Wladyslaw Szumowski]. / Historia medycyny w ujeciu Wladyslawa Szumowskiego.

Wladyslaw Szumowski is said to be one of the most eminent Polish historians of medicine. The present text is an attempt of describing Szumowski's ideas of the essence of the history of medicine, its place among sciences and a role it should play in education of future doctors. The paper presents both the definition and the methodology, which in Szumowski's opinion should result from the philosophy, and particularly from the logic. Szumowski is referring to these research inspirations, scientists and conceptions that had a significant influence on him. At the same time the author of the article is willing to extract an original thought of Szumowski and divide it from adopted ideas of other people's conceptions.