Spinal disease and spinal curvature : their treatment by suspension and the use of the plaster of Paris bandage / by Lewis A. Sayre.

London : Smith, Elder & Co., 1877 (London : Spottiswoode)

ix, 121 pages, 8 unnumbered leaves of plates : photographic prints, woodcuts. ; 21 cm

Includes bibliographic footnotes

Jeremy Norman, Morton's medical bibliography (Garrison-Morton), 5th ed., Aldershot 1991, no. 4344.1

Photograph IV (Figs. 1-2) is credited to "Mr O'Neil"

Also published: Philadelphia : Lippincott, 1877

The volume contains text, woodcuts, and 21 photographs. The photographs are grouped together and numbered as follows: Frontispiece (four photographs); Photograph I and Photograph II (two photographs); Plate I (four photographs); Plate II (four photographs); Photograph III (two photographs); Photograph IV (two photographs); Plate III (3 photographs)

Frontispiece Fig. 1. See p.107. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4". On p. 107 the subject is identified as Case III: John W. White, aged 16 from 130 East 32nd Street, New York, whose visit on 16 March 1877 was for lateral curvature of the spine. The four figures are presented in sequence "in order to show the entire plan of treatment at a glance"

Frontispiece Fig. 1 : full body image of John W. White taken from behind so as to show his back. He is standing in front of a dark curtain, underneath a tripod from which a harness is suspended. He is not attached to the harness but is holding down his trousers which are resting below his buttocks

Frontispiece Fig. 2 : full body image of John W. White as before, but his head is now supported by the harness as seen in Fig. 1 and he is extending both his arms upwards holding onto a rope. Also shown is Lewis Sayre, who is now holding the boy's trousers in the same position as in Fig. 1. Sayre is wearing a dark suit

Frontispiece Fig. 3 : full body image of John W. White as before. Lewis Sayre is now facing John W. White and holding on to his arm. Two additional men are also shown with their shirt sleeves rolled up as they applying plaster to the torso of the White, while Lewis Sayre looks on

Frontispiece Fig. 4 : full body image of John W. White as before. He is now in a plaster cast that covers his torso leaving his arms and below the waist free. Lewis Sayre is facing the patient,and one of the men formerly applying the plaster, now with his suit jacket on, surveys his work

Photograph I To face p. 82. Photograph II To face p.86 : These photographs represent Case XXVIII: the 10 ½ year-old daughter of Dr. Gooding of Cheltenham. Dr Gooding after reading about a previous case in the Lancet on 21 July 1877, had appealed to Sayre to help his daughter "who had been suffering from Pott's disease of the cervical and upper dorsal vertebrae since she was 19 months old, as a result of a fall." She could only stand when supported by her hands, as demonstrated in the photographs. Photograph I before treatment; Photograph II after treatment

Photograph I To face p. 82 : full body image of Miss Gooding from the side, wearing a skirt but with nothing on her upper torso and leaning on a stool with the support of her arms

Photograph II To face p. 86 : full body image of Miss Gooding from the side, wearing a skirt and leaning on a chair with the support of her left arms. Her upper torso is wrapped and on her head is a harness that is linked to the wrappings on her upper torso

Plate I. Fig. 1. To face p.87. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4 : These photographs and the descriptions represent Case XXIX from Mr Balkwill of the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, [London]. The patient was a young man described as "George Moody, of Bath, aged 20 years. He had suffered from an acute pain for over three years, in the back and loins. A considerable curve, the result of Pott’s disease, occurred 2 years ago, and nothing gave relief until he was suspended, and the plaster jacket applied by Dr. Sayre on July 26, 1877."

Plate I. Fig. 1. To face p.87 : George Moody seen from the side, wearing trousers with nothing on his upper torso; leaning on a book that is placed on a table

Fig. 2 : George Moody as in Fig. 1, still wearing trousers with nothing on his upper torso. His head is being held in a harness which is suspended from a tripod. His arms have been put into another part of the harness which is being pulled straight by another man. Lewis Sayre is also in the photograph

Fig. 3 : George Moody as in Fig. 1, still wearing trousers with nothing on his upper torso. His head is being held in a harness which is suspended from a tripod. His arms have now been manoeuvred by the tripod so that they are suspended above his head. The same man as in the previous photograph is still holding on to the rope. Lewis Sayre appears to be supporting the young man's hip as he is being pulled forward, and there are two books under the young man's heels

Fig. 4 : George Moody as in Fig. 1, seen from the side, wearing trousers now with his upper torso encased in plaster. He stands in profile with his arms crossed next to a wooden sideboard in a room with a striped carpet

Plate II. Fig. 1. To face p.105. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. "Case II Dr. V., of Orange County, New York, aged 28, very pale and delicate, never had been robust, began to develop lateral curve when about 12 years of age, while attending school. Since his entrance into the medical profession, nearly every new device invented to cure lateral curvature has been brought to him, and fairly tested, but without any improvement in his case, although the instruments were applied with so much power as to excoriate the skin (Fig. 1 Plate II) He was self-suspended before the Surgical Section of the Academy of Medicine in New York on March 23 1877, (Fig 2, Plate II) with the result as seen in fig. 4, Plate II. By comparing it with (fig. 2 Plate II), it will be observed that his form has not been retained in the improved position which self-suspension gave it. By carefully examining fig. 3 the reason of this will be apparent; it will be observed that the axillary straps are not suspended evenly on the cross-bar; and also that in putting on my bandage I have not carried it up sufficiently high on the left side, and thus failed to give him the requisite support. I have therefore preserved this plate, as a most valuable lesson can be learned from it, viz. how very easy it is to be unsuccessful, by neglecting to be accurate in the details of the application. [...]"

Plate II. Fig. 1 : Full length view of Dr. V. from behind, wearing trousers with braces and a naked upper torso and the top of his buttocks showing. His arms appear to be crossed low in front of him

Fig. 2 : Full length view of Dr. V. as in Fig. 1. His head is now in a harness and his arms are suspended above his head within the tripod. Lewis Sayre stands to the right of the suspended man and holds one of the legs of the tripod while looking out towards the camera

Fig. 3: Full length view of Dr. V. as in Fig. 1., still in the harness. On the left Lewis Sayre applies the plaster. On the right another man holds the suspended man in place. A third man stands at the back of the shot (in front of the patient) creating traction on the suspended rope

Fig. 4 : Dr. V. stands in the middle with Lewis Sayre on his left and another man on his right. His upper torso is now encased in plaster

Photograph III, Fig. 1. Fig. 2. To face 106. The young man in these photographs is the same one as identified in the frontispiece: Case III – John W. White, aged 16 from 130 East 32nd Street, New York – whose visit on the 16 March 1877 was for lateral curvature of the spine. These two photographs show the curvature before and after the treatment. It is the only fully represented beginning-to-end treatment, including the application of the plaster that appears in the sequence

Fig. 1 : The back of the boy John W. White wearing trousers with braces and naked upper torso

Fig. 2. To face 106. The back of the boy John W. White with his upper torso now encased in plaster of Paris

Photograph IV, Fig. 1. Fig. 2. To face p. 115 : Case VII – "Miss Lizzie Wolfe, aged 16, No. 22 East 12th Street, New York, came to me February 20, 1877, with lateral curvature, as seen in Photograph IV. Fig 1. The deformity began to develop when she was about 13, and had increased rapidly, the mother thought, within the past year, although she had worn braces constantly night and day for three years past." "After photograph (IV Fig 1) was taken by Mr. O’Neil, she suspended herself, and the plaster bandage was applied which gave her perfect relief from pain, increased her height by ¾ of an inch and her capacity of inspiration, as tested by the spirometer, 18 cubic inches. The improvement is seen in Photograph IV Fig. 2, by O'Neil on the following day."

Fig. 1 : The back of Miss Lizzie Wolfe: upper torso and half of buttocks shown

Fig. 2. To face p. 115 : The back of Miss Lizzie Wolfe: her upper torso is now encased in the plaster of Paris

Plate III, Fig. 1. To face p. 117. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Case VIII from Mr Balkwill of the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, London: "Jessie Brown, of Glasgow, aged 20, a fairly nourished and tall woman, has been troubled with lateral curvature of the spine for some years and for which she has worn the usual spinal supporter .... On examination there was found a considerable right-dorsal curve, and another in the lumbar region -- an ordinary case of lateral curvature." "She was allowed to suspend herself, when fig. 2 was taken, which shows the change produced in her form." "The plaster of Paris bandage was then applied, which she was self-suspended; and after it has become perfectly hard, she was quite erect, as seen in fig. 3."

Fig. 1. To face p. 117 : Full length view of Jessie Brown, a young woman, from behind, wearing a skirt with her upper torso uncovered. She is standing to the side and in front of a wooden sideboard on which her clothes have been placed. She is leaning on the sideboard with her right arm. A chair can also be seen in the room in front of the sideboard

Fig. 2 : Jessie Brown as in Fig. 1 now stands with her head in a harness and her arms suspended above her head in the tripod. Lewis Sayre also appears standing to the left side of the woman and holding on to one of the tripod legs

Fig. 3 : Jessie Brown as in Figures 1 and 2: full length view from behind wearing a skirt. Her upper torso is now encased in a plaster cast. She stands in front of a small circular table which is covered in a table cloth, with her hands resting on two books