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Medical Terminology Daily (MTD) is a blog sponsored by Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. as a service to the medical community, medical students, and the medical industry. We post anatomical, medical or surgical terms, their meaning and usage, as well as biographical notes on anatomists, surgeons, and researchers through the ages. Be warned that some of the images used depict human anatomical specimens. Click on the link below to subscribe to the MTD newsletter. If you think an article could be interesting to somebody else, feel free to forward the link of the article. Should you want to use the information on the article, please follow the CAA, Inc Privacy and Security Statement found at the bottom of this page. You are welcome to submit questions and suggestions using our "Contact Us" form. The information on this blog follows the terms on our "Privacy and Security Statement" and cannot be construed as medical guidance or instructions for treatment. |
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Self-portrait, Henry Vandyke Carter, MD (Public Domain)
Henry Vandyke Carter, MD
(1831 – 1897)
English physician, surgeon, medical artist, and a pioneer in leprosy and mycetoma studies. HV Carter was born in Yorkshire in 1831. He was the son of Henry Barlow Carter, a well-known artist and it is possible that he honed his natural talents with his father. His mother picked his middle name after a famous painter, Anthony Van Dyck. This is probably why his name is sometimes shown as Henry Van Dyke Carter, although the most common presentation of his middle name is Vandyke.
Having problems to finance his medical studies, HV Carter trained as an apothecary and later as an anatomical demonstrator at St. George’s Hospital in London, where he met Henry Gray (1872-1861), who was at the time the anatomical lecturer. Having seen the quality of HV Carter’s drawings, Henry Gray teamed with him to produce one of the most popular and longer-lived anatomy books in history: “Gray’s Anatomy”, which was first published in late 1857. The book itself, about which many papers have been written, was immediately accepted and praised because of the clarity of the text as well as the incredible drawings of Henry Vandyke Carter.
While working on the book’s drawings, HV Carter continued his studies and received his MD in 1856.
In spite of initially being offered a co-authorship of the book, Dr. Carter was relegated to the position of illustrator by Henry Gray and never saw the royalties that the book could have generated for him. For all his work and dedication, Dr. Carter only received a one-time payment of 150 pounds. Dr. Carter never worked again with Gray, who died of smallpox only a few years later.
Frustrated, Dr. Carter took the exams for the India Medical Service. In 1858 he joined as an Assistant Surgeon and later became a professor of anatomy and physiology. Even later he served as a Civil Surgeon. During his tenure with the India Medical Service he attained the ranks of Surgeon, Surgeon-Major, Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel, and Brigade-Surgeon.
Dr. Carter dedicated the rest of his life to the study of leprosy, and other ailments typical of India at that time. He held several important offices, including that of Dean of the Medical School of the University of Bombay. In 1890, after his retirement, he was appointed Honorary Physician to the Queen.
Dr. Henry Vandyke Carter died of tuberculosis in 1897.
Personal note: Had history been different, this famous book would have been called “Gray and Carter’s Anatomy” and Dr. Carter never gone to India. His legacy is still seen in the images of the thousands of copies of “Gray’s Anatomy” throughout the world and the many reproductions of his work available on the Internet. We are proud to use some of his images in this blog. The image accompanying this article is a self-portrait of Dr. Carter. Click on the image for a larger depiction. Dr. Miranda
Sources:
1. “Obituary: Henry Vandyke Carter” Br Med J (1897);1:1256-7
2. “The Anatomist: A True Story of ‘Gray’s Anatomy” Hayes W. (2007) USA: Ballantine
3. “A Glimpse of Our Past: Henry Gray’s Anatomy” Pearce, JMS. J Clin Anat (2009) 22:291–295
4. “Henry Gray and Henry Vandyke Carter: Creators of a famous textbook” Roberts S. J Med Biogr (2000) 8:206–212.
5. “Henry Vandyke Carter and his meritorious works in India” Tappa, DM et al. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol (2011) 77:101-3
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The presence of Andreas Vesalius in Zakynthos (2)
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Continued from “The presence of Andreas Vesalius in Zakynthos (1)” |
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The second reminder of the presence of Andreas Vesalius in the Zakynthos Island is a street in the west side of the city of Laganas, “ΟΔΟΣ ΑΝΔΡΕΑ ΒΕΖΑΛ” or” Andrea Vesalius Street”. It is relatively short, narrow and windy, and it has several restaurants and hotels as you get closer to the sea where it ends at the beach. At this point there is a monument that honors Andrea Vesalius. This monument was erected in 1965. It has inscriptions in Greek, and Latin. This is the third memento to Vesalius in Zakynthos. This monument was erected in Laganas following a legend that Vesalius had shipwrecked and he was found at the beach. Another legend says that Vesalius was left at the beach at Laganas to die as he was very sick. One of the presentations at the 2014 Vesalius Continuum meeting by Dr. Mauritz Biesbrouck disputed these legends with recently found letters by George Boucher to Johanes Metellus. George Boucher was a German jeweler that traveled with Vesalius back from Jerusalem and paid for Vesalius’ burial and monument at the church of Santa Maria della Grazie. These letters were authenticated and analyzed, bringing light to Vesalius’ place of disembarkment in Zakynthos. The Laganas monument, although correct in content, should be moved to the port of Zakynthos, to the point where the old city walls were found, the place where Vesalius collapsed and died. The monument has a legend in both Greek and Latin. It reads as follows: ΕΙΣ ΜΝΗΜΗΝ ΤΟΥ IN MEMORIAM ANDREAE VESALII BRUXELLENSIS Vesalii cineres venerandaque gentibus ossa The first part is in Greek and reads: ”Here died the great Belgian humanist Andre Vesal. This stone was erected in 1965 by the union of Greeks who gained their qualifications in Belgian Universities” (Dirix, 2014) The second part is Latin and is a copy of the original epitaph found on Vesalius’ grave as recorded in several manuscripts. It reads: IN MEMORY |
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| The rest is a poem in Latin that is translated as:
“The ashes and bones of Vesalius, sacred to the world When I visited this spot it was raining very hard and while I waited to take these pictures I looked out at the dark sea almost believing that maybe this was the spot where Vesalius came to land in Zakynthos. Now we know that it is not, but the moment was poignant and made me feel closer to the great anatomist. On a more mundane note, in this area of Laganas because of the street name there are several businesses named "Vezal", a hotel, a supermarket and a taverna! I could not bring myself to post images of those places. Continued in "The presence of Andreas Vesalius in Zakynthos (3)" |
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