Diseased, maimed, mutilated: categorizations of disability and an ugly law in late nineteenth-century Chicago.

The article places Chicago's "ugly" law­an 1881 municipal ordinance that fined "any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object" for appearing in public­within the context of late nineteenth-century imaginings of disability. Drawing on the framework of disability studies, this paper demonstrates that nineteenth-century understandings of disability had little to do with the impairments of individuals but instead were tied to the status of the person with the disability. Examining the role of disabled people as workers, as bodies and as charity recipients reveals the hierarchies of disability in late nineteenth-century Chicago and demonstrates who the ugly law intended to restrict and, just as importantly, who it did not. While the law appears to be a blanket indictment of all physically disabled people, multiple sources indicate that the public expected disabled veterans, workers, and freak show performers to occupy the public realm; they therefore cannot be the intended objects of the ordinance. Instead, Chicago's ugly law was one of many pieces of legislation enacted in the wake of the panic of 1873 that attempted to eradicate street begging in general by specifically targeting beggars with disabilities.

Augusta Déjerine-Klumpke, M.D. (1859-1927): a historical perspective on Klumpke's palsy.

Although the lower trunk brachial plexus palsy known as Klumpke's palsy is a familiar and challenging entity to the medical community, relatively little is known about Dr. Augusta Déjerine-Klumpke. Dr. Déjerine-Klumpke influenced generations of physicians with her contributions to the description and treatment of neurological diseases. We review the legacy of Dr. Déjerine-Klumpke by focusing on the life, career, and medical contributions of this remarkable woman, using translations of the French manuscripts composed at various times in her career. These publications, combined with the existing English-language literature that provides a tribute to her contributions as both a scientist and physician, give an insight into the condition that carries her name.

[Kristeller's procedure--Expressio fetus, its genesis and contemporary application]. / Zabieg Kristellera--Expressio fetus, jego geneza i wspólczesne zastosowanie.

The aim of the article is to introduce the original version of Kristeller's procedure - Expressio fetus. The author of the procedure, Samuel Kristeller, was bom in 1820 in Ksiaz Wielkopolski. He worked as a physician in Gniezno, then in Berlin. He is known as the creator of the described procedure - pushing out the foetus. He had also specified the meaning of the cervical plug (Kristeller's plug), and modified obstetrical forceps. He died in Berlin in 1900. In 1867, Kristeller published a study in which he described a procedure, of which he was the author, of pushing out the foetus (manual assistance), its technique, conditions and recommendations for its application. The main idea of the procedure meant strengthening uterine contractions during labour by massaging the uterus and pressing it many times shortly, towards the long axis of the birth canal. Nowadays this procedure has become warped in its form; there remains also the controversy whether or not to use external force directed on the uterine fundus during labour, due to the risk of intrauterine foetal anoxia and other complications.

Hector Landouzy on facial paralysis in newborn children: the case studies of a 19th-century French hospital physician.

Marc-Hector Landouzy (1812-1864) was one of the first to describe facial paralysis in newborn, through a series of case studies. By examining these four cases in the context of Landouzy's life, publications and professional circumstances, this study shows how case studies were an important part of the scientific revolution within medicine in the 19th century. Landouzy, soon followed by others, used the growing clinical populations of Parisian hospitals, patho-anatomy and cutting-edge physiologic techniques to help describe a previously ignored disease among newborns. His case studies, in particular, are a valuable example of the emerging interest in children as a clinical population and of early interest in child neurology.

The redemption of thalidomide: standardizing the risk of birth defects.

In this paper we examine how a standardized drug distribution system contributed to a therapeutic and symbolic make-over of thalidomide. In the 1960s, thalidomide was seen as a horror drug that caused severe birth defects among over 10,000 babies who were exposed to it in utero. Currently, thalidomide is viewed as a potentially life-saving drug which is being distributed in the USA. We discuss this transformation from a social worlds perspective, showing how the standardized drug distribution system normalized the risk of foetal birth defects, while preserving the autonomy of health care professionals. The distribution system accomplished this transformation by focusing on the risk associated with female reproductive behavior, and by providing close reproductive surveillance of female patients. This standardized system solidified social inequalities and professional power relationships, revealing assumptions about trust, responsibility and risk.