Skip to content

Please be aware that some material may contain words, descriptions or illustrations which will not reflect current scientific understanding and may be considered in today's context inaccurate, unethical, offensive or distressing.

Description

Houston describes a woman who had had a difficult placenta delivery and had suffered significant abdominal pain for the following thirteen years, culminating in difficulty breathing and a swollen abdomen. Houston made a large incision and removed a considerable quantity of a thick substance. He then ordered the woman to drink a small dose of cinnamon water four times daily. The woman recovered and lived for 13 more years. This is the second part of the paper, with the first part located at CLP/12ii/13. An unpublished third part is located at CLP/12ii/15.

The final page is addressed to Dr [James] Jurin at Batson's Coffee House near the Royal Exchange, London.

Subject: Surgery

Published in Philosophical Transactions as 'An account of a dropsy in the left ovary of a woman, aged 58. Cured by a large incision made in the side of the abdomen'.

Read to the Royal Society on 13 February 1723.

Reference number
CLP/12ii/14
Earliest possible date
1723
Physical description
Ink on paper
Page extent
5 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

Robert Houston

View page for Robert Houston

Use this record

Citation

Robert Houston, Paper, 'An account of a dropsie of the left ovarium cur'd by a large incision made in the side of the abdomen' by [Robert Houston], 1723, CLP/12ii/14, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/clp_12ii_14/paper-an-account-of-a-dropsie-of-the-left-ovarium-curd-by-a-large-incision-made-in-the-side-of-the-abdomen-by-robert-houston, accessed on 14 December 2024

Link to this record

Embed this record

<iframe src="https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/embed/items/clp_12ii_14/paper-an-account-of-a-dropsie-of-the-left-ovarium-curd-by-a-large-incision-made-in-the-side-of-the-abdomen-by-robert-houston" title="Paper, 'An account of a dropsie of the left ovarium cur'd by a large incision made in the side of the abdomen' by [Robert Houston]" allow="fullscreen" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="500px"></iframe>

Hierarchy

This item is part of:

Related Fellows

Explore the collection

  • Classified Papers

    Dates: 1592-1741

    The 'Classified Papers' of the Royal Society are papers from British and international natural philosophers and scholars categorised according to subject areas.

    View collection