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The monaural stethoscope
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY © 2000 by Am. Coll. of Gastroenterology Published by Elsevier Science Inc.
Vol. 95, No. 10, 2000 ISSN 0002-9270/00/$20.00 PII S0002-9270(00)02067-0
A LOOK BACK
The Monaural Stethoscope
The saga of Rene` Laennec, the astute French physician who invented the stethoscope in 1816, is well known. He was an expert in the field of percussion who correlated his direct ear to chest findings with subsequent autopsies. His classic paper entitled “On Mediate Auscultation—A Classification of All Cardiac and Respiratory Sounds—With Signification, Condition, Doctrines, and Interpretations” was published in 1819, but the first English translation did not appear until 1825. Laennec’s first monaural stethoscope was a 30-cm long, 3-cm in diameter wood cylinder, which was subsequently replaced by the ideal model pictured here. The rounded edges at the narrow end were for patient comfort; the large flat ear piece covered the entire ear. The straight hollowed tube stethoscope allowed air and wood to vibrate for enhanced auscultation. Oliver Wendell Holmes returned from Paris in 1837 and pleaded with the American physicians for direct auscultation of the chest. By 1850, it was widely used in this country and it became the main item of physical examination. In the late 1850s, the binaural stethoscope was introduced, but the demise of the monaural instrument was not until the early part of the last century. This classic ebony instrument was purchased in Paris and is an excellent example of the monaural type. The starting price of similar instruments is $300 and higher. With today’s technology, physicians have distanced themselves from patients much farther than the five inches pictured here. Robert E. Kravetz, M.D. Chairman, Archives Committee American College of Gastroenterology
Vol. 95, No. 10, 2000 ISSN 0002-9270/00/$20.00 PII S0002-9270(00)02067-0
A LOOK BACK
The Monaural Stethoscope
The saga of Rene` Laennec, the astute French physician who invented the stethoscope in 1816, is well known. He was an expert in the field of percussion who correlated his direct ear to chest findings with subsequent autopsies. His classic paper entitled “On Mediate Auscultation—A Classification of All Cardiac and Respiratory Sounds—With Signification, Condition, Doctrines, and Interpretations” was published in 1819, but the first English translation did not appear until 1825. Laennec’s first monaural stethoscope was a 30-cm long, 3-cm in diameter wood cylinder, which was subsequently replaced by the ideal model pictured here. The rounded edges at the narrow end were for patient comfort; the large flat ear piece covered the entire ear. The straight hollowed tube stethoscope allowed air and wood to vibrate for enhanced auscultation. Oliver Wendell Holmes returned from Paris in 1837 and pleaded with the American physicians for direct auscultation of the chest. By 1850, it was widely used in this country and it became the main item of physical examination. In the late 1850s, the binaural stethoscope was introduced, but the demise of the monaural instrument was not until the early part of the last century. This classic ebony instrument was purchased in Paris and is an excellent example of the monaural type. The starting price of similar instruments is $300 and higher. With today’s technology, physicians have distanced themselves from patients much farther than the five inches pictured here. Robert E. Kravetz, M.D. Chairman, Archives Committee American College of Gastroenterology