Leçons Sur Les Maladies Du Système Nerveux: Faites a la Salpétrière

by Jean-Martin Charcot, D. M. Bourneville (Editor)

Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–93) was a professor of anatomical pathology at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, and one of the founders of modern neurology. Numerous disorders are named after him, and he was one of the best known doctors in nineteenth-century France. He was the first to describe and name multiple sclerosis, and undertook crucial research into what became known as Parkinson's Disease. He also worked on hysteria, and was one of Freud's teachers. These two volumes of lectures on neurological illnesses, first published in Paris in 1872–3 and 1877, were based on extensive clinical studies at the Salpêtrière, and edited by Désiré Magloire Bourneville. Detailed analysis of symptoms, sometimes using photography, combined with post-mortem analyses, allowed Charcot to produce classic descriptions of different neurological disorders. Volume 2 includes methods of clinical observation, and notes on spinal compression, infantile paralysis, Ménière's Disease, and epilepsy caused by syphilis.

Genres: Psychology, Medicine, History

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1885

About the author

Jean-Martin Charcot was a neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise Augustine Gleizes. Charcot is known as "the founder of modern neurology", and his name has been associated with at least 15 medical eponyms, including various conditions sometimes referred to as Charcot diseases.

Alternative spelling of his name:
Sharko, Zh. M., 1825-1893

Reviews

[Ashley Thijssing]

A must read when studying Hysteria and understanding its medical context within the 19th century discours. Although it does not talk about the “emotional” norms connected to female hysteria, which charcot is known for through his photography, it looks at it through a neurological context. It is a primary biological texts so keep in mind that you would have to delve deeper in different diagnosis and medical symptoms; such as enuresis, epilectic seizures and Neuromuscular Hyperexcitability.

[Hildegart]

Definitely worth a read if you can find a copy. It's enlightening to see what was happening in the medical field of the late 1800s.

[Hildegart]

if you are interested in medical history, I would encourage you to pick up a book by charcot.