BOOK REVIEW
DR. MÜTTER’S
MARVELS—A TRUE
TALE OF INTRIGUE
AND INNOVATION
AT THE DAWN OF
MODERN MEDICINE
Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
Avery (Penguin Random House), New York, 2014
Reviewed by
M. Saleem Seyal, MD, FACC, FACP
“The short life of Doctor Mütter illustrated the most remarkable mental abilities, and the gentlest qualities of heart. For years, we have
viewed him at what seemed the zenith of professional eminence, and yet he continued struggling under the oppression of the severest bodily
infirmities, to elevate the science to which he was devoted and to relieve the miseries of others. (Mütter’s name will, in the future be) “a
deathless name… forever blended with the history of American Surgery.”
Dr. Richard J. Levis in the eulogy on his teacher published in “The Medical and Surgical Reporter,” Philadelphia, 1859
D
r. Thomas Dent Mütter (1811-1859)
was a surgeon from Philadelphia
(called then “The Medical Athens
of America”) who was a committed teacher,
an unusually compassionate physician and
was at the forefront of devising innovative
surgical techniques pioneering the new field
of plastic/reconstructive surgery. He was an
early proponent of ether anesthesia despite strong opposition from
other members of the medical community. He led a very colorful
life and made lasting contributions to the emerging field of plastic
surgery. He amassed a large collection of unusual pathological
material that included all sorts of medical oddities, some of them
grisly and grotesque but all of them quite intriguing. This large cache
is permanently on display at th Hp