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“…the dead house…”
The details of this incident in Sims’s life are recounted briefly in his autobiography. Sims does not indicate where exactly his candle would have been situated, but it’s hard to imagine it positioned in any other location if the goal is to provide illumination for the tracheal artery.
SIMS, J. Marion (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 128.
“It was 1834…”
Sims’s presence in Charleston during the 1833-34 term is established by the Catalogue of the Trustees, Faculty and Students of Medical College of the State of Carolina to which are Added the Charter and By-laws of the college, p. 4. Sims’s description of the dead house incident suggests he was already well-acquainted with the school and its staff, so I have made the assumption that the episode occurred in early 1834.
The Catalogue is held at the Waring Historical Library in Charleston, South Carolina.
“The dissection chamber…”
The description of the dissection chamber is inferred from original copies of the Annual Announcement of the Trustees and Faculty of the Medical College of the State of South Carolina for the Session ’40-’41, p. 4. I have assumed that lighting from the top would indicate a row of louvres near the roof. Early images of the school suggest that the dissection chamber must have been to the rear of the building.
The Annual Announcement is held at the Waring Historical Library in Charleston, South Carolina.
“…a museum collection…”
The museum is described in the Annual Announcement of the Trustees and Faculty of the Medical College of the State of South Carolina for the Session ’40-’41, p. 4. The Annual Announcement is held at the Waring Historical Library in Charleston, South Carolina.
“…French doctor Louis Auzoux’s…”
See “…a museum collection…,” above.
For additional descriptions of Auzoux, see “BDA’s Anatomical Model Takes a Trip to Cambridge,” British Dental Journal, 2014, p. 555.
“The Mannequins of Dr. Auzoux, An Industrial Success In The Service of Veterinary Medicine,” The Journal of Plastination 27(1), 205, pp. 18-28.
