Medicine development in Russia in the XVIII century

Anatomy In Russia the beginning of

anatomic openings is connected with Peter's I board which showed a great interest to medicine and development of medical business. Being in Amsterdam (in 1698 and 1717), Peter I attended Frederik Ruysch’s lectures and anatomic museum, operations and anatomic dissections.

Anatomy In 1717 Peter I got Ruysh's anatomic collection (about 2

thousand exhibits) for 30 thousand Dutch guldens. It began funds of the first Russian museum — Kunstkamera — the Peter’s museum of rarities (nowadays the Museum of anthropology and ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg). Under the decree of the tsar (1718) this collection began to extend and replenish with works of the Russian scientists.

Having come back to Russia after the first travel on countries of Western Europe (1697-1698), Peter I founded for boyars in Moscow in 1699 a course of lectures on anatomy with demonstrations on corpses.

In based under Peter's decree medical school at General hospital in Moscow (1707) dissections also were made at which he often was present.

Anatomy teaching in Russia was conducted with the first steps on a natural-science basis. In the beginning when training students textbooks of foreign authors in Latin and German languages were used. Then best of them began to translate into Russian.

The first translation of the anatomic treatise on Slavic language was made in 1658: monk Epifany Slavinetsky translated A.Vezaly's book "Epitoma", published in Amsterdam in 1642, and called it «Vrachevskaya anatomy».

At the beginning of the XVIII century specially for Peter I the anatomic atlas of Gottfried Bidloo well-known at that time «Anatomy of a human body in 105 tables» («was translated to Russian to Anatomia humani corporis...»), published in 1685 in Amsterdam. In 1729 this translation was made repeatedly, but, as well as the first, it was not published in Russian and existed only in hand-written option.

Nephew of G. Bidloo — Nikolay Lambertovich Bidloo who was invited to Russia in 1702 and has based the first doctor school in Moscow, made the hand-written management «Manual for studying surgery in dissecting room» on which the first Russian doctors studied.

The first domestic atlas of anatomy «Syllabus, seu index omnium partium corporis humani figuris illustratus» in Latin was made in 1744 by Martyn Ivanovich Sheyin whose activity was important for development of domestic anatomy and surgery. M.I.Shein himself executed the majority of illustrations to the edition of the first anatomic atlas in Russia.

In 1757 he for the first time translated into Russian «The reduced anatomy, all business anatomic is short in itself concluding» of Lavrenti Geyster which became the first guide to anatomy in Russian.

Despite the hostile relation which was tested by a young Russian science in the formation from some scientists-foreigners, Russia in a short space of time became the homeland of outstanding scientists-anatomists. Among them K.I.Shchepin — the first Russian the professor of the anatomy which has begun teaching of medicine in Russian, and A.P.Protasov — the first Russian anatomist academician (1771), pupil of Lomonosov.

The anatomic school first in Russia was created in the Petersburg medico-surgical academy by academician Peter Andriyovych Zagorski.

Here it is important to note that the anatomy as a science and a subject of teaching wasn't allocated in independent discipline up to the beginning of the XIX century It united with physiology, pathology, and later and by pathological physiology and was studied in close connection with surgery. Thus, outstanding anatomists of that time were at the same time and brilliant surgeons, therapists, physiologists.

Embryology Great value for embriology

formation as sciences about development had researches of anatomist Caspar Friedrich Wolf.

Wolf stated the views in the dissertation «The origin theory» («Theoria Generations», 1759) and the work published in Russia «About formation of intestines at a chicken» («De Formatione Intestinorum», 1768-1769).

Smallpox vaccination In the XVIII century the wife of the English

ambassador in Turkey Mary Wartley Montague transferred an inoculation method from the East to England. Doctors conducted wide polemic about positive and negative sides of an inoculation which nevertheless widely extended in the countries of Europe and America.

In Russia Ekaterina II and her son Pavel in 1768 subjected itself to an inoculation for what from England doctor T.Dimsdale was invited.

Medical education in Russia in the XVIII century.

Before the times of Peter I in Russia there was no highest medical educational institutions. Education of doctors (mainly for army) began in the second half of the XVII century when at the Aptekarskiy prikaz first doctor school (1654) was opened. It functioned not for long and let out some tens of doctors. The need for doctors was felt and some Russian people went for receiving the higher medical education to the advanced universities of Western Europe.

In 1692 Peter I sent Peter Vasilyevich Posnikov to Padua. In two years P. V. Posnikov excellently defended the doctoral thesis «The signs indicating emergence of putrefactive fevers» («Significant febres putridinus adventus causarum») and received «dokhtursky gradus» in philosophy and medicine «with a great praise».

Then within a year it improved the knowledge in the field of medicine in Venice, Paris, Brussels and Leiden; mastered several foreign languages.

In 1698 it accompanied Peter 1 as a part of Great embassy in Holland and England then it was left in France «for acquaintance with local behavior», and then in England for acquaintance with activity of the Oxford university.

P.V.Posnikov was the first Russian doctor enlisted in the Pharmaceutical order (1701).

Formation of the higher medical education in Russia is connected with Nikolay Lambertovich Bidloo's name. In 1702 N. Bidloo was invited to Russia and became «the near doctor» Peter I. In 1707 he headed the hospital school first in Russia opened in Moscow at the initiative of Peter I at the first military overland hospital behind the Yauza River.

The program of training included anatomy, surgery, a desmurgiya, internally diseases with pathoanatomical openings, a pharmaceutical science, Latin and drawing. Teaching of anatomy was conducted on corpses. A pharmaceutical science studied in a pharmaceutical kitchen garden. Textbooks wasn't, and N.L.Bidloo trained students according to the hand-written books.

The great influence on development of medical education in Russia was rendered by opening of Academy of Sciences and activity of Lomonosov.

The academy of Sciences in Petersburg was founded by Peter's I decree in 1724 and is open in 1725. Its first president (1725-1733) was Peter’s I physician Lavrentius Blyumentrost. The academy was not only scientific, but also educational institution into which tasks entered «sciences to make and it to extend».

At academy the gymnasium, the academic university (developing three direction were created: mathematical, physical, humanitarian), library, Kunstkamera (1728), astronomical observatory, dissecting room and botanical garden. In the beginning as a part of academy the invited foreign scientists among whom there were outstanding figures of the time prevailed: D. Bernulli, L.Euler and others.

The project of the first Russian university was written by Lomonosov in 1754. And in 1755 in the Moscow university teaching began on three faculties: philosophical, legal and medical.

Studies at medical faculty began in 1765 on three chairs: anatomy (with applied medicine), physical and pharmaceutical chemistry, natural history.

Simeon Gerasimovich Zybelin was the first Russian professor of medical department of the Moscow university. In 1758 it finished philosophical department of the Moscow university, some months studied at the academic university at Academy of Sciences which was directed by Lomonosov. In 1759 he was sent to Leiden for receiving degree of the doctor of medicine.

In 1764 Zybelin successfully defended the doctoral dissertation and, having returned to Russia in 1765, began teaching of theoretical medicine (physiology and pathology with the general therapy and dietetics). He was the first professor of the Moscow university who started to give lectures in Russian (1768), instead of in Latin as it then was accepted.

Some time at medical faculty wasn't neither laboratories nor clinics. The first clinical chamber on 10 patients was open in 1797 at the Moscow military hospital. It E.O.Mukhin — the outstanding Russian physiologist and the surgeon managed.

In 1791 Moscow university acquired the right of assignment of a scientific degree of the doctor of medicine. Before since 1754 only Medical board (founded in 1763 instead of existing earlier Medical office) had such right.

Plague and fight against it In Russia active participation in fight

against plague epidemics in the various cities of the country was accepted by Daniel Samoylovich Samoylovich. Having got medical education in Petersburg, it continued it in Strasbourg and Leiden where in 1780 g, defended the doctoral dissertation. After that within three years it got acquainted with the organization of medical business in England, France, Germany and Austria.

D.S.Samoylovich recognized live nature of the causative agent of diseases, was the supporter of the contagious theory of distribution of an infection and for the first time put forward idea about specificity of plague. Using one of the first microscopes (system of Dellebar), he undertook attempts to find in discharges of the patient and dead bodies tissues the causative agent of plague.

In time «pestilence in the capital city of Moscow» in 1770-1772 D. S. Samoylovich worked with in «The commission for protection and doctoring from pestilence», tested on himself disinfectant action of the means offered by the commission, and burned thus hands so that «signs as though ruts and gaps remained on them till his death». Samoylovich repeatedly dressed himself into the clothes taken off from patients with plague and fumigated with a smoke, proving that efficiency of proposed measures of protection against infection.

In 1803 he made the first attempt of an inoculation against plague, using for this purpose contents of the ripened bubo of the patient with plague. Thus he tried to find a way of an inoculation of the weakened infectious beginning: «... my expectation will come true... all of us also will see that the lethal pestilence, … plague so in the people any more won't be dangerous, as well as smallpox».

Being the main doctor of the South of Russia, D. S. Samoylovich actively participated and in fight against plague epidemics in the Crimea, the Kherson and Ekaterinoslav provinces. For the first time in Russia it gave the detailed description of a clinical picture of plague, studied conditions of its distribution and pathological anatomy of plague.

D.S.Samoylovich's long-term researches are generalized in his fundamental work «The description of microscopic researches about a being of pest poison» (1792-1794), published in Petersburg, and also in work «Memoire sur la peste, qui, en 1771, ravagea l'empire de Russie, surtout Moscow, la capitale» (Paris, 1783), etc.

The international recognition of merits of D. S. Samoylovich in fight against plague was election him as honorary member of 12 foreign academies.

Questions 1. Who wrote the first Russian anatomical

treaties?2. When did smallpox inoculations in Russia

begin?3. Who was the first president of Russian

Academy of Sciences?4. When was Moscow University founded?5. Who was the first Russian professor of

medical department?6. Which works, concerning plague epidemics,

were written by Dr.Samoylovich?