Page 141
“…another radical jaw surgery…”
“Osteo-Sarcoma of the Lower Jaw. Removal of the Body of the Bone Without External Mutilation,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 14, October 1847, pp. 370-71.
“…a dispensary…”
I have advanced this offer a couple years forward in Sims’s biography. It’s known that the drugstore was opened around 1849, but it’s not known when it was conceived of, exactly. Notably, Sims makes no mention of it in his autobiography—perhaps because the store eventually landed him in court, pitted against his own brother-in-law, as will be described in a later chapter.
Harris, S. (1950). Woman's surgeon: The life story of J. Marion Sims. New York: Macmillan, pp. 103-04.
“…his resolve to see the experiments through…”
SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 243.
“…November 13, 1848…”
For the odd confluence of dates, I have taken the liberty of suggesting that rather than the 14th, Sims experienced his odd state of mind on the night of the 13th.
Sims, J. M., & New York Academy of Medicine. (1858). Silver sutures in surgery. New York: S.S. & W. Wood, p. 57.
“The passing was merciful…”
Sims does not overtly state this, but he is remarkably understated in describing the death of his son. Indeed, a number of Sims’s children are never mentioned in his autobiography at all.
“…a groggy state of semi-awareness.”
Sims, J. M., & New York Academy of Medicine. (1858). Silver sutures in surgery. New York: S.S. & W. Wood, p. 57.