Roberts Bartholow

Robert Bartholow
Robert Bartholow
Born	(1831-11-28)November 28, 1831 New Windsor, Maryland
Died	May 10, 1904(1904-05-10) (aged 72) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality	United States
Alma mater	University of Maryland
Known for	Faradic electric currents to the exposed dura mater of a patient
Scientific career
Institutions	Medical College of Ohio

Robert Bartholow or Roberts Bartholow (November 28, 1831 – May 10, 1904) was an American physician from New Windsor, Maryland. He earned his degree in medicine from the University of Maryland in 1852. From 1855 to 1864 he was a surgeon in the U.S. Army. From 1864 to 1879 he was a professor at the Medical College of Ohio in Cincinnati. Afterwards he was a professor at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.

Career

He is known for his application of Faradic electric currents to the exposed dura of a patient. In 1874, Bartholow was presented with a 30-year-old patient named Mary Rafferty who had a 2-inch-diameter (51 mm) hole in her skull caused by a cancerous ulcer. Inspired by the localized testing of animals' brains done by neurologist David Ferrier, Bartholow applied a small electric current to different sections of Ms. Rafferty's exposed brain and noticed that it caused movements in various parts of her body. The low electric current he applied to the brain did not seem to cause her any pain. However, when Bartholow applied a larger amount of current, Mary Rafferty became distressed, experienced convulsions and went into a coma. She revived from the coma three days later, but the following day she had a major seizure and died.

He described the experiment as follows:

When the needle entered the brain substance, she complained of acute pain in the neck. In order to develop more decided reactions, the strength of the current was increased ... her countenance exhibited great distress, and she began to cry. Very soon, the left hand was extended as if in the act of taking hold of some object in front of her; the arm presently was agitated with clonic spasm; her eyes became fixed, with pupils widely dilated; lips were blue, and she frothed at the mouth; her breathing became stertorous; she lost consciousness and was violently convulsed on the left side. The convulsion lasted five minutes, and was succeeded by a coma. She returned to consciousness in twenty minutes from the beginning of the attack, and complained of some weakness and vertigo.

— Dr. Bartholow's research report

Although Bartholow was criticized for his experimentation by the American Medical Association, he did not suffer professionally; in 1893 he attained the title of Professor Emeritus at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.

He died at his home in Philadelphia in 1904.

Bibliography

• Hypodermic Medication
• Treatise on Therapeutics and Materia Medica
• Practice of Medicine
• Experimental Investigations into the Functions of the Human Brain
• Observations, pathological and experimental, on cholera

See also

• Unethical human experimentation in the United States

Sources

• The Concept of Bioelectromagnetism
• Mind as Mosaic {The Robot in the Machine} pp. 113–114; Bruce H. Hinrichs
• Cambiaghi Marco; Sandrone Stefano (2013). "Robert Bartholow (1831-1904)". Journal of Neurology. 261: 7–8. doi:10.1007/s00415-013-7075-z.
• Lederer, Susan (1995). "Subjected To Science: Human Experimentation In America Before The Second World War". United States: Johns Hopkins University Press: 7–8. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |laysummary=, and |laysource= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Harris, Lauren Julius; Almerigi Jason B (Jun 2009). "Probing the human brain with stimulating electrodes: the story of Roberts Bartholow's (1874) experiment on Mary Rafferty". Brain and cognition. 70 (1). United States: 92–115. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2009.01.008. PMID 19286295. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |laysummary=, and |laysource= (help)
• Zago, Stefano; Ferrucci Roberta; Fregni Felipe; Priori Alberto (Oct 2008). "Bartholow, Sciamanna, Alberti: pioneers in the electrical stimulation of the exposed human cerebral cortex". The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry. 14 (5). United States: 521–8. doi:10.1177/1073858407311101. ISSN 1073-8584. PMID 18219054. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |laysource=, and |laysummary= (help)
• Holmes, G L (Feb 1982). "Roberts Bartholow. In search of anatomic localization". New York state journal of medicine. 82 (2). UNITED STATES: 238–41. ISSN 0028-7628. PMID 7043330. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |laysummary=, and |laysource= (help)
• Morgan, J P (Jan 1982). "The first reported case of electrical stimulation of the human brain". Journal of the history of medicine and allied sciences. 37 (1). UNITED STATES: 51–64. doi:10.1093/jhmas/xxxvii.1.51. ISSN 0022-5045. PMID 7042809. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |laysummary=, and |laysource= (help)