In a newly released article, The Mosquito of High Crimes, Alexandra Freeman discusses the characterization of Yellow Fever and the control programs developed by the US government during the construction of the Panama canal, during 1904-1905.  This work explores the origins of the vector theory which emerged from this research. 

When tourists visit an exciting, fascinating locale, they inevitably take home postcards as memories of the places visited and people seen. One cannot help but notice how much more enamoring the destination appears on a glossy printed card than it did in person, no matter how illustrious the site. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine using postcards as a historical tool to discover the history of medicine in tribal cultures, but this feat is what Peter A.G.M. De Smet sets out to do in his bookDifferent Truths: Ethnomedicine in Early Postcards.

After amassing a collection of postcards from across the globe through everything from historical collections to online auctions, De Smet set out to analyze the content of the postcard and glean the elements of truth regarding what he terms ethnomedicine underlying the stereotyped postcards. He goes beyond mere rote cataloging and organizing of postcards to expound their significance and extricate the truth beyond the manipulation of photographers and postcard companies. The industry and the practice of tourists buying and collecting these postcards is an interesting topic aside from the main thrust of this interpreted collection and is a subject that the author devotes just enough effort to provide the reader with a fascinating understanding of where these postcards originated and who held onto them.

In this newly released article, Christopher Dibble, an MD/PhD student at UNC explores a little discussed topic - the fear of premature burial - that even persists to this day. Although we no longer use safety coffins with escape mechanisms or have bells attached by strings to the fingers of the dead, this article reminds us of the insidious fear of being declared dead, yet not quite so.  This article explores the reasonable explanation for the fear of premature burial, particularly during the time of Edgar Allen Poe.

We welcome all students in the health professions and history to submit innovative articles on topics related to the history of medicine.  We hope to put out new submissions over the course of August and September.  All submissions go through peer-review and two rounds of revision so be sure to submit articles early.  If you have any questions, please e-mail editor@medicinae.org.  We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Historia medicinae is now listed on the IndexCopernicus site.  We are currently in the process of adding abstracts to the listing to allow greater exposure to our authors' works.  In addition, we are in the process of getting articles indexed with Google Scholar.  With all of these steps we anticipate heightened awareness of the journal's presence and greater promulgation of our content.

One often hears about the Greek and Latin origins of medical terminology, but what came before these classical languages?  Dr. Elliott Martin, a recent medical school graduate, utilizes his unique background in classical studies to explore the earliest origins of the Greek 'iatros' for physician.  Follow this path all the way back to the earliest recorded language in this most unique article available in the second issue of Historia medicinae. Read it here.