John Martyn Harlow
Encyclopedia
John Martyn Harlow was an American physician
primarily remembered for his attendance on brain-injury survivor Phineas Gage
, and for his published reports on Gage's accident and subsequent history.
Harlow was born in Whitehall, New York
on November 25, 1819. He studied at Philadelphia School of Anatomy
and graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia in 1844. His practice in Cavendish, Vermont
, near which Gage's accident occurred in 1848, brought Gage under his care. In 1857 he left Cavendish due to poor health,
and spent three years traveling and studying in Minnesota and Philadelphia before setting up a practice in Woburn, Massachusetts
and joining the Massachusetts Medical Society on December 17, 1861.
In 1866 he was still running a small practice in Woburn, and in his 1868 report on Gage (see below) he described himself as "from Woburn".
His first paper regarding Gage appeared in Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in late 1848; a short followup note appeared early the next year. Almost twenty years later, in 1868, he published a final paper recounting what he had been able to learn about the subsequent history of his patient (who died in 1860), and presenting psychological changes in Gage which, presumably, were sequelae of the accident. In one of the most memorably strange examples of dogged long-term medical followup, Harlow had even obtained Gage's skull for use in preparing the paper.
Reprinted in History of Psychiatry, Vol. 4, No. 14, 274-281 (1993)
On Wikisource at: s:Recovery from the passage of an iron bar through the head
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
primarily remembered for his attendance on brain-injury survivor Phineas Gage
Phineas Gage
Phineas P. Gage was an American railroad construction foreman now remembered for his improbablesurvival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, and for that injury's reported effects on his personality and...
, and for his published reports on Gage's accident and subsequent history.
Harlow was born in Whitehall, New York
Whitehall (town), New York
Whitehall is a town in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 4,035 at the 2000 census.The Town of Whitehall contains a village also named Whitehall.- History :...
on November 25, 1819. He studied at Philadelphia School of Anatomy
Philadelphia School of Anatomy
The Philadelphia School of Anatomy was a medical college in Philadelphia that ran from 1820 to 1875. From 1868 to 1875 it was run by William Williams Keen....
and graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia in 1844. His practice in Cavendish, Vermont
Cavendish, Vermont
Cavendish is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The town was named after William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. The population was 1,470 at the 2000 census...
, near which Gage's accident occurred in 1848, brought Gage under his care. In 1857 he left Cavendish due to poor health,
and spent three years traveling and studying in Minnesota and Philadelphia before setting up a practice in Woburn, Massachusetts
Woburn, Massachusetts
Woburn is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 38,120 at the 2010 census. Woburn is located north of Boston, Massachusetts, and just south of the intersection of I-93 and I-95.- History :...
and joining the Massachusetts Medical Society on December 17, 1861.
In 1866 he was still running a small practice in Woburn, and in his 1868 report on Gage (see below) he described himself as "from Woburn".
His first paper regarding Gage appeared in Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in late 1848; a short followup note appeared early the next year. Almost twenty years later, in 1868, he published a final paper recounting what he had been able to learn about the subsequent history of his patient (who died in 1860), and presenting psychological changes in Gage which, presumably, were sequelae of the accident. In one of the most memorably strange examples of dogged long-term medical followup, Harlow had even obtained Gage's skull for use in preparing the paper.
Publications
(also issued as an offprint, vide Cordasco, 60-0808)- Recovery from the Passage of an Iron Bar Through the Head (1868) in Publications of the Massachusetts Medical Society 2:327–347.
Reprinted in History of Psychiatry, Vol. 4, No. 14, 274-281 (1993)
On Wikisource at: s:Recovery from the passage of an iron bar through the head