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“Far more promising…”
Given the fact that Sims wrote multiple articles about lockjaw, and later counted it as his first great discovery in medicine—even though he was completely wrong about it—it’s fair to say (though Sims doesn’t) that his initial interest in infant lockjaw might have been rooted in what it could do for his surgical career.
“…not long after he arrived in Alabama.”
Eight years prior to publication in 1845 puts the case at 1837, a year or two after he arrived in Mount Meigs.
“Trismus Nascentium—Its Pathology and Treatment,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, April 1845, p. 378.
“…an agonized clench…”
Sims did not describe the 1837 case in detail—I’ve borrowed details from a similar case from 1844.
SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 223.
“…high incidence of babies…”
Sims is quoting from another doctor, Boswell—one of many he canvassed to produce his first paper on the subject.
“Trismus Nascentium—Its Pathology and Treatment,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, April 1845, p. 378.
“Further Observations on Trismus Nascentium,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 16, July 1848, p. 74.
“…his own daughter…”
“Further Observations on Trismus Nascentium,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 16, July 1848, p. 74.
Harris, S. (1950). Woman's surgeon: The life story of J. Marion Sims. New York: Macmillan, p. 90.
“…slovenly pauper communities.”
“Trismus Nascentium—Its Pathology and Treatment,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, April 1845, p. 363.
“In July 1845…”
Sims once again gives disparate accounts of the dates of an event. I have preferred the earlier account. Sims claimed that he first saw Anarcha in June 1845, and Betsey a month after that. Presumably, the trip to the Stickney plantation came after that, though it’s possible that it was before as well.
“Trismus Nascentium—Its Pathology and Treatment,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, April 1845, p. 363.
SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 222.
“…an examination of Betsey…”
SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 228.
“…just as hopeless.”
Sims’s earlier account of the case made no mention of him informing the plantation owner that he would study the case simply for the curiosity of it. Also, he changed the name of the doomed infant’s mother from account to account.
SIMS, J. Marion, (1885). The Story of my Life, ed. by H. Marion-Sims. D. Appleton & Co: New York, p. 222.
“Trismus Nascentium—Its Pathology and Treatment,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, April 1845, p. 364.
“He took a colleague…”
“Trismus Nascentium—Its Pathology and Treatment,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, April 1845, pp. 364-65.
“Sims felt something odd…”
“Trismus Nascentium—Its Pathology and Treatment,” J. Marion Sims, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, Vol. 11, April 1845, p. 365.
