POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Binaural stethoscope by Eschmann

Object No. 2001/3/8

Although a binaural stethoscope (for use with both ears) was proposed as early as 1829, doctors had to wait until 1851 to buy one. The monaural type was still popular after 1900 and is used in some countries today, but the binaural stethoscope predominates. This one was made in England between 1945 and 1960. In our era of high-tech medicine, the low-tech stethoscope symbolises the knowledge and authority of physicians, who can diagnose illness and prescribe treatment after listening to the body's burbles and murmurs. Debbie Rudder The doctor who donated this collection was a consultant with a long career specialising in respiratory disorders in Australia and the United Kingdom before his retirement around 1999. He has an interest in the history of his own profession and it is only natural that he would be interested in the development of the stethoscope because, beginning with Laennec's important clinical work on tuberculosis (phthisis or consumption), the stethoscope has played a significant role in the diagnosis of chest disorders for nearly two centuries. The donor obtained most of his collection of stethoscopes (some of which he has donated to another institution) from second-hand shops, mainly in Sydney, in the 1950s. References: Conversations between Dr Bryan Gandevia and curator, Megan Hicks, 1997. Gandevia, Bryan, 'The evolution of the stethoscope and the techniques of auscultation and percussion Medical Journal of Australia, May 14, 1960, pp. 782-787. Porter, Roy, The greatest benefit to mankind: a medical history of humanity from antiquity to the present, HarperCollins, 1997, pp.610-612. Arnold & Sons, Catalogue of surgical instruments and appliances, London, 1895. Concise Medical Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 1989. http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.antiquemed.com/tableofcon.htm