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Medical Terminology Daily (MTD) is a blog sponsored by Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. as a service to the medical community, medical students, and the medical industry. We post anatomical, medical or surgical terms, their meaning and usage, as well as biographical notes on anatomists, surgeons, and researchers through the ages. Be warned that some of the images used depict human anatomical specimens. Click on the link below to subscribe to the MTD newsletter. If you think an article could be interesting to somebody else, feel free to forward the link of the article. Should you want to use the information on the article, please follow the CAA, Inc Privacy and Security Statement found at the bottom of this page. You are welcome to submit questions and suggestions using our "Contact Us" form. The information on this blog follows the terms on our "Privacy and Security Statement" and cannot be construed as medical guidance or instructions for treatment. |
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Self-portrait, Henry Vandyke Carter, MD (Public Domain)
Henry Vandyke Carter, MD
(1831 – 1897)
English physician, surgeon, medical artist, and a pioneer in leprosy and mycetoma studies. HV Carter was born in Yorkshire in 1831. He was the son of Henry Barlow Carter, a well-known artist and it is possible that he honed his natural talents with his father. His mother picked his middle name after a famous painter, Anthony Van Dyck. This is probably why his name is sometimes shown as Henry Van Dyke Carter, although the most common presentation of his middle name is Vandyke.
Having problems to finance his medical studies, HV Carter trained as an apothecary and later as an anatomical demonstrator at St. George’s Hospital in London, where he met Henry Gray (1872-1861), who was at the time the anatomical lecturer. Having seen the quality of HV Carter’s drawings, Henry Gray teamed with him to produce one of the most popular and longer-lived anatomy books in history: “Gray’s Anatomy”, which was first published in late 1857. The book itself, about which many papers have been written, was immediately accepted and praised because of the clarity of the text as well as the incredible drawings of Henry Vandyke Carter.
While working on the book’s drawings, HV Carter continued his studies and received his MD in 1856.
In spite of initially being offered a co-authorship of the book, Dr. Carter was relegated to the position of illustrator by Henry Gray and never saw the royalties that the book could have generated for him. For all his work and dedication, Dr. Carter only received a one-time payment of 150 pounds. Dr. Carter never worked again with Gray, who died of smallpox only a few years later.
Frustrated, Dr. Carter took the exams for the India Medical Service. In 1858 he joined as an Assistant Surgeon and later became a professor of anatomy and physiology. Even later he served as a Civil Surgeon. During his tenure with the India Medical Service he attained the ranks of Surgeon, Surgeon-Major, Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel, and Brigade-Surgeon.
Dr. Carter dedicated the rest of his life to the study of leprosy, and other ailments typical of India at that time. He held several important offices, including that of Dean of the Medical School of the University of Bombay. In 1890, after his retirement, he was appointed Honorary Physician to the Queen.
Dr. Henry Vandyke Carter died of tuberculosis in 1897.
Personal note: Had history been different, this famous book would have been called “Gray and Carter’s Anatomy” and Dr. Carter never gone to India. His legacy is still seen in the images of the thousands of copies of “Gray’s Anatomy” throughout the world and the many reproductions of his work available on the Internet. We are proud to use some of his images in this blog. The image accompanying this article is a self-portrait of Dr. Carter. Click on the image for a larger depiction. Dr. Miranda
Sources:
1. “Obituary: Henry Vandyke Carter” Br Med J (1897);1:1256-7
2. “The Anatomist: A True Story of ‘Gray’s Anatomy” Hayes W. (2007) USA: Ballantine
3. “A Glimpse of Our Past: Henry Gray’s Anatomy” Pearce, JMS. J Clin Anat (2009) 22:291–295
4. “Henry Gray and Henry Vandyke Carter: Creators of a famous textbook” Roberts S. J Med Biogr (2000) 8:206–212.
5. “Henry Vandyke Carter and his meritorious works in India” Tappa, DM et al. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol (2011) 77:101-3
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The Quest for the Lost Grave of Vesalius: an adventure of life and death
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It is a truism that commemorations generate more attention for those being celebrated: since the quincentenary of 2014, the bibliography of the Flemish anatomist Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) exceeds 3000 entries, and counting(1). Has the moment also come when hoaxes in his biography, some that were refuted over fifty or a hundred years ago, finally cease to circulate? (2) The Quest for his Lost Grave is entering a second crucial phase, but will we ever find his remains and learn the cause of his death? There is a consensus of opinion that his early work "De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem" marks the transition to empiric research. His academic career and his advancement to the position of family physician at the court of Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and at that of his successor Philip II, are well documented. His last months, days and moments become clearer too but obstinate pranks survive. Indeed, there is absolutely no proof that he ever ran into the otherwise so well documented Inquisition (3). |
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| Recently rediscovered letters are evidence that Vesalius left Spain as a pious pilgrim: a laissez-passer by Philip II, notes from the Spanish Embassy in Venice and even the letter of thanks written by the Custodian of the Holy Places in Jerusalem, which Vesalius was to hand over to Philip II (4) The latter unequivocally refutes the other prank that a shipwreck during his return was the cause of his death.
In the running up to the quincentenary, medical artist, artisan and curator, Pascale Pollier has launched a romantic quest for his grave. Keen to make his facial reconstruction, she went looking for his cranium. When the Embassy of Belgium in Athens incorporated her project in its public diplomacy, the Quest had become cross-disciplinary. First some contradictions about his final resting place had to be cleared up. Prominent Vesalius biographers, Omer Steeno, Maurits Biesbrouck and Theodoor Goddeeris have provided the research that convincingly points to the catholic church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Zakynthos. Unfortunately the church, constructed in 1488, disappeared under the rubble of a major earthquake in 1953. The trio also documented the fact that several eyewitnesses had visited his sepulchre and copied the epitaph, Christoph Fürer von Haimendorf being the first in August 1565. In May 1566 Reiner Solenander quotes a merchant from Nuremberg who had been travelling with Vesalius. Is he the goldsmith or jeweller, mentioned in other literature? The grave was also seen in 1586 by Jean Zuallart and Filippo Pigafetta. As early as 1574 Johannes Sambucus states that Vesalius was buried in Zakynthos and in 1603 he added the name of the church: “D.[omus] Mariae” (5). Once the spot had been defined, the research team, now calling itself Vesalius Continuum (6), turned to archaeologists: Prof. Jan Driessen, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and Director of the Belgian School in Athens, EBSA, and Apostolos Sarris, Deputy Director of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies - Foundation for Research and Technology, Hellas (IMS-FORTH). In 2014, Dr. Sylviane Déderix (UCL/IMS-FORTH) checked the presumed location of the church through the spatial analysis of a Geographical Information System (GIS). Her comparison of historical maps with modern cartographic data shows that the ruins are to be found on the northwest corner of the intersection of Kolyva Street and Kolokotroni Street, partly below the asphalt and partly under private property. During construction works on that exact spot, funerary slabs have already been excavated, and provide yet further proof that there was a cemetery at this location. A geophysical approach to the further examination of anomalies under the surface is imperative. With the necessary official permission and funding, a team of researchers could collect and process data through non-destructive methods such as ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT). If this was to prove conclusive, a third phase of small-scale excavations in search of remains may follow. One of the unearthed funerary slabs dates from the sixteenth century: it belonged to a certain Bevilaqua who was given the position of Public Physician in 1593. Vesalius is not the only traveller who has been buried there. Other high profile guests may be Bishop Balthassar, Maria Remondini (1698-1777) and the French philhellene and author of acclaimed travel books, Pierre-Augustin Guys who was buried in the church on 27 September 1799. It is obvious that if human remains were exhumed genetic identification is a must. Vesalius Continuum turned to Dr. Maarten Larmuseau of the Laboratory of Forensic Genetics and Molecular Archaeology of the KULeuven. He is a Specialist in the genetic identification of old-DNA and will compare potential mitochondrial DNA and/or Y-chromosomes of remains in the Santa Maria delle Grazie with those of living relatives who are in direct maternal or pattern line. In the case of Vesalius, his direct descendants, and those of his wife, cannot contribute to the identification, but maternal relatives of his mother, Elisabeth Crabbé, can. This romantic quest for the lost bones of the father of modern anatomy, which has turned into a cross-disciplinary search, ostensibly does not end in death, but rather in curiosity, understanding, beauty, love, passion, life (7). You too can join in the adventure by contributing to the crowd funding campaign to sponsor the next step in the archaeological campaign: www.gofundme.com/VesaliusContinuum Note: This article was originally published in Theo Dirix's blog. Published here with his permission. Theo Dirix is a Vesaliana contributor to Medical Terminology Daily. Sources: |
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