Albert Buck

January 20, 1842 (age 79)

Manhattan, New York County (Manhattan), New York, United States

In 1872 he was made aural surgeon at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, with which institution he remained associated until his death. From 1888 to 1904 he held the post of clinical professor of diseases of the ear in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Smaller works were his editions of Salomon Stricker's Manual of Histology (1872) and of the two-volume Treatise on Hygiene and Public Health (1879). His most important contribution was his Diagnosis and Treatment of Ear Diseases (1880), which passed through three editions. This last work represented the results of his own observation and study and was for many years the vade-mecum of students and otologists. Buck's studies on the physiology of the ear were also important. His first published paper (1870) was entitled "An Essay on the Mechanism of the Ossicles of the Ear, " and three years later he edited the New York edition of Helmholtz's classic work bearing the same title. After Buck resigned his professorship in 1904 he gradually withdrew from private practise, and about 1910 began an intensive study of the history of medicine. His first contribution in this field, The Growth of Medicine from the Earliest Times to about 1800 was published in 1917 under the auspices of the Williams Memorial Publication Fund of Yale University. The book is admittedly a compilation chiefly from secondary sources, but Buck's gift for writing and his energetic style made the volume attractive and stimulating. His second historical work, The Dawn of Modern Medicine, was published in 1920 and was intended as a sequel to the first. For it the sources were thoroughly studied and advantage was taken of the rich collection of early nineteenth century medical works in the library of Transylvania College at Lexington, Kentucky. The chapters on Bichat and Laennec are particularly attractive.

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Diagnosis and Treatment of Ear Diseases

(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

Cyclopædia of the Practice of Medicine Volume 2

(This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

A Treatise On Diseases of the Ear: Together With a Brief Sketch of the Anatomy and Physiology of This Organ

( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

A Contribution to the Anatomy of the Elephant's Ear (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from A Contribution to the Anatomy of the Elephan...)

Diseases of the Mastoid Process: Their Diagnosis, Pathology, and Treatment (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from Diseases of the Mastoid Process: Their Diagn...)

An Essay on the Mechanism of the Ossicles of the Ear (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from An Essay on the Mechanism of the Ossicles of...)

A Treatise on Hygiene and Public Health, Vol. 2 (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from A Treatise on Hygiene and Public Health, Vol...)

A Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 1: Embracing the Entire Range of Scientific and Practical Medicine and Allied Science; Illustrated ... Fine Half-Tone and Wood Engravings

(Excerpt from A Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences...)

Excerpt from A Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 1: Embracing the Entire Range of Scientific and Practical Medicine and Allied Science; Illustrated by Numerous Chromolithographs and Four Hundred and Ninety-Eight Fine Half-Tone and Wood Engravings The first edition of the reference handbook was begun in 1884 and was completed in 1887. In 1894 it was believed that the work might be brought up to date by the publication of a supple mentary volume, and accordingly such a volume was issued. During the past year the same need for alterations and additions again made itself felt, and the question then 'arose, Shall we issue a second supplementary volume? This question was considered very carefully in all its bearings, and the conclusion was soon reached that the publication of a second supplementary volume would be unwise owing to the fact that every new St scriber to the work would be obliged to purchase the original volumes, in which the proportion of useless text would be constantly increasing with the lapse of time. Accordingly measures were taken with a view to the complete reconstruction of the handbook. The plan of procedure which we adopted was the following: All the articles of the existing nine volumes were collected together in groups, each of which represented a special depart ment of medical knowledge. Each such group of articles was then intrusted to acompetent specialist in that particular branch, with instructions to determine which among these numerous articles were worthy of being republished (with or without revision on the part of the authors), which should be fused together and published under a single title, and which should be discarded altogether. By this process it was hoped and believed that we should learn what portions of the original edition were still valuable, and what therefore might be utilized in the reconstruction of the new. When this preliminary part of the work had been completed it was found that we could not possibly hope to retain more than one-half of the actual text of the first edition. This discovery illustrates well how many and how great are the changes which have taken place in medical knowledge during the past fifteen years. After our expert advisers had determined to what extent we could advantageously utilize the material contained in the' older edition, they undertook the further task of furnishing lists of the different topics upon which, if the entire field of medical knowledge were to be covered with some degree of completeness, articles would have to be written. The names of the men who have per formed this double task and who have made it possible for me to bring the rebuilding of this great structure to a successful issue, are mentioned in the accompanying list. To one and all of them I desire to express my grateful thanks, for I recognize fully that without their efficient aid I should not be able to cope successfully with the task of deciding what shall be the contents of the new series of volumes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

A Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 6: Embracing the Entire Range of Scientific and Practical Medicine and Allied Science (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from A Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences...)

A Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences: Embracing the Entire Range of Scientific and Practical Medicine and Allied Sciences; Volume 1

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Albert Henry Buck

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historian otologist

Background

Albert Henry Buck was born on October 20, 1842 and was one of five children of Gurdon Buck, surgeon of New York, by his wife, Henriette Elisabeth Wolff of Geneva, Switzerland.

Education

Albert Buck received a part of his early education near his mother's native haunts in Switzerland and there laid the foundation of the linguistic powers for which he became subsequently distinguished. He was graduated from Yale in 1864 and obtained his M. D. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia in 1867.

After an internship in the New York Hospital he spent several years in Germany and Austria studying the physiology and diseases of the ear.

Career

In 1872 he was made aural surgeon at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, with which institution he remained associated until his death. From 1888 to 1904 he held the post of clinical professor of diseases of the ear in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University.

Smaller works were his editions of Salomon Stricker's Manual of Histology (1872) and of the two-volume Treatise on Hygiene and Public Health (1879). His most important contribution was his Diagnosis and Treatment of Ear Diseases (1880), which passed through three editions.

This last work represented the results of his own observation and study and was for many years the vade-mecum of students and otologists. Buck's studies on the physiology of the ear were also important. His first published paper (1870) was entitled "An Essay on the Mechanism of the Ossicles of the Ear, " and three years later he edited the New York edition of Helmholtz's classic work bearing the same title.

After Buck resigned his professorship in 1904 he gradually withdrew from private practise, and about 1910 began an intensive study of the history of medicine. His first contribution in this field, The Growth of Medicine from the Earliest Times to about 1800 was published in 1917 under the auspices of the Williams Memorial Publication Fund of Yale University. The book is admittedly a compilation chiefly from secondary sources, but Buck's gift for writing and his energetic style made the volume attractive and stimulating.

His second historical work, The Dawn of Modern Medicine, was published in 1920 and was intended as a sequel to the first. For it the sources were thoroughly studied and advantage was taken of the rich collection of early nineteenth century medical works in the library of Transylvania College at Lexington, Kentucky. The chapters on Bichat and Laennec are particularly attractive.

Achievements

One of Albert Buck's early literary accomplishments was the editing of the American edition of H. W. Ziemssen's Cyclopedia of the Practice of Medicine in fifteen volumes, published between 1874 and 1880; a second edition appeared in 1890. Throughout his life he was a prolific writer and made numerous contributions to otological journals.

Works

Diagnosis and Treatment of Ear Diseases Diagnosis and Treatment of Ear Diseases

$Cyclop\u00E6dia of the Practice of Medicine Volume 2 Cyclop\u00E6dia of the Practice of Medicine Volume 2$ A Treatise On Diseases of the Ear: Together With a Brief Sketch of the Anatomy and Physiology of This Organ A Treatise On Diseases of the Ear: Together With a Brief Sketch of the Anatomy and Physiology of This Organ

A Treatise On Diseases of the Ear: Together With a Brief Sketch of the Anatomy and Physiology of This Organ A Treatise On Diseases of the Ear: Together With a Brief Sketch of the Anatomy and Physiology of This Organ

$A Contribution to the Anatomy of the Elephant\'s Ear (Classic Reprint) A Contribution to the Anatomy of the Elephant\'s Ear (Classic Reprint)$ Diseases of the Mastoid Process: Their Diagnosis, Pathology, and Treatment (Classic Reprint) Diseases of the Mastoid Process: Their Diagnosis, Pathology, and Treatment (Classic Reprint)