1868-1869 Manuscript Notes Chronicling Lectures of Trailblazing University of Michigan Medical Professors Dr. Sager and Dr. Palmer

On offer is a terrific, jam-packed manuscript journal filled with hundreds of pages of notes kept by a diligent medical student at the University of Michigan, detailing months of lectures given by two of the medical school’s renowned professors, Dr. Abram Sager (1810-1877) and Dr. Alonzo B. Palmer (1815-1887). 

In this excellent manuscript, the medical student has filled approximately 291 pages plus the front and back covers with notes from lectures they attended between November, 1868 and mid-January, 1869. More than half of the book is filled with notes from lectures given by medical school Dean and Professor of Obstetrics, Dr. Sager. The rest of the book is chock-full of notes from the lectures on general medicine and hygiene given by Dr. Alonzo B. Palmer. To learn more about Sager, Palmer and the University of Michigan Medical Department of the late 1800s, see BIO NOTES following the listing. 

While we do not know who the student note-taker is, we suspect it may be Dr. Charles Tanner Bennett who graduated from the U of Michigan medical school in 1871. There is a signature that we think could possibly be C. Bennett in the front of the book.

Our medical student has recorded about two months of lectures from obstetrics and pathology, medicine and hygiene. The lectures given by Dr. Sager are about pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum, newborn care, and obstetrical complications. The lectures given by Dr. Palmer are from his Pathology, Practice of Medicine and Hygiene course. The Hygiene course was eliminated in April, 1869 so this student would have been in the last class to receive these lectures, assuming it was a full-year course. 

A sampling of topics covered in the obstetrics lectures include signs of pregnancy, superfetation, syncope in pregnancy, Phthisis pulmonalis, apoplexy, movements of the fetus in utero, extrauterine gestation, fetal assessment, parturition, conduct of labor, dystocia, rheumatism of the uterus, fecal obstruction, deformities of the pelvis, uterine rupture, monstrosity, postmortem, and so many more. 

The medicine and hygiene lectures cover many topics including superexcitation with change of function, inflammations, healthy nutrition, tuberculosis, fevers. malaria, cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, influenza, diphtheria, and much more. 

Notes on each large topic contain sub-topics, discussion on diagnosis and intervention. Interventions include a variety of treatments from medicines to nutrition. There are a few medical recipes in the book, such as the ingredients for hydrocephaloid: “Brandy, ammonia, wine, quinia [quinine extract]”. 

There is a partially removed page at the back of the book that lists the three reasons why alcohol should be used in the treatment of ailments. An excerpt: “...Whenever the nervous system is exhausting itself by an acuity in excep[tion] of other functions... When it will enable a person to digest more food than without it…”.

This manuscript of medical notes provides exciting insight into the lecture style and topics covered by two of the University of Michigan’s pioneering medical faculty. This book would be an excellent addition to the collection of anyone interested in 19th century American medical education, obstetrics, general medicine and infectious disease. It is also a valuable piece of University of Michigan’s history. 

BIO NOTES: 

Dr. Abram Sager (1810-1877) was born in New York State. He had a background in botany and zoology, having graduated from Castleton Medical College. He began his time at the University of Michigan in 1842 teaching botany and zoology. In 1847,  Sager and his colleagues Dr. Zina Pitcher and Dr. Silas H. Douglass worked together to establish the Medical Department at the University of Michigan, The department welcomed its first students in the Fall of 1849. Dr. Sager was assigned to the school’s department of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children. He acted as both professor and Chair of the department. Dr. Sager was also the elected Dean and Secretary of the U of Michigan Medical School from 1868-1875. He resigned as Dean and became Emeritus Professor due to ill health. Dr. Sager was married to Sarah E. Dwight (1818-1893) of Detroit and together they had eight children. 

Dr. Alonzo Benjamin Palmer (1815-1887) was born in Ostego county, New York. He taught Medicine and Pathology at the University of Michigan’s Medical Department beginning in 1852. In 1864 he was appointed Professor of Pathology, Practice of Medicine and Hygiene. The course in hygiene was discontinued in April, 1869. From 1869 to 1880, Palmer’s  title was that of Professor of Pathology and Practice of Medicine. Dr. Palmer was Dean of the Medical Department beginning after Dr. Sager’s departure, from 1875-1879 and 1880-1887. Notably, Dr. Palmer was the Dean who oversaw the admission of women into the U of Michigan Medical Department in 1870. As well as his impressive career at the U of Michigan, Palmer was also president of the Michigan Medical Society and an instructor at both  Berkshire Medical College and Bowdoin. Dr. Palmer was married twice, to Caroline Wright (1821-1846) and to Love Maria Root (1837-1901). He does not appear to have had any children. 

The hardcover book 8x6 inches. It contains 141 pages of obstetrics lectures and 150 pages of medicine and hygiene lectures, plus notes on some additional endpages and on the inside covers.There are about 5 pages that have been intentionally ripped by the student (no missing content) and one page at the end of the book appears to have been torn out altogether. While showing typical signs of age and wear, the binding is loose but intact, all pages are accounted for and the covers are fading but intact. The spine is chipping significantly but is holding up. Overall Fair to Good.