Article ID: CBB001213522

Curtis's Cephaloscope: Deafness and the Making of Surgical Authority in London, 1816--1845 (2013)

unapi

Aural surgery is a branch of nineteenth-century medicine and surgery providing specialized treatment for ear diseases. During the 1830s, faced with a popular prejudice against the curability of deafness as well as intraprofessional rivalries and continuous accusations of quackery, aurists found their surgical authority questioned and their field's value threatened. In an attempt to bolster aural surgery's reputation, in 1841, the aurist John Harrison Curtis (1778--1856) introduced his new diagnostic instrument, the cephaloscope, which could not only improve diagnosis but also provide approaches for regulating aural knowledge, thus strengthening aural surgery's authority. This article examines the motives underlying Curtis's introduction of the cephaloscope and the meanings it held for the occupational group at large.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001213522/

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Authors & Contributors
Schlich, Thomas
Fitzpatrick, Kieran
Fiona Davidson
Alessandro Riga
Tommaso Mori
Francesca Bigoni
Concepts
Surgery
Medicine
Medical instruments and apparatus
Physicians; doctors
Medical technology
Medicine and technology, relationships
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, late
20th century, early
18th century
17th century
Modern
Places
London (England)
France
Italy
Great Britain
Peru
Americas
Institutions
University College, London
Company of Barber Surgeons (London)
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