Main content

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dispensary Notebooks for Neurological Disorders

Notifications

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center [Contact Us]3401 Market Street, Suite 210, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

When the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania opened in 1875, the Dispensary for Nervous Diseases was one of seven dispensaries at the Hospital. Located in the basement, the dispensaries provided clinical care for patients who were not sick enough to be admitted to the hospital, or were unwilling to be admitted. The Dispensary was open every day but Sunday and holidays, with the neurological dispensary starting at 12:30. Dr. Charles Karsner Mills (M1869, PhD 1871) was appointed the first Chief of the Dispensary for Nervous Diseases, reporting to Dr. Horatio C. Wood, Jr. (M1862) who oversaw all neurological cases at the Hospital as Clinical Lecturer of Nervous Diseases on the Medical Staff. In the first year of operation, the Dispensary handled 282 nervous diseases; by 1889 that number would grow to 449. In that fifteen year period, the Dispensary handled on average 377 neurological cases. To meet the growing demand of the Dispensary assistants were added – including George J. Clunas (M1877), William B. Christine (M1877), Dowling Benjamin (M1877), James H. Lloyd (M1878), Isaac Pearson Willits (M1880), and Charles S. Potts (M1885). In 1883 Francis Xavier Dercum (M1877) was appointed Chief of the Dispensary for Nervous Diseases, also becoming assistant neurologist to the Medical Staff the following year.

The Dispensary Notebooks for Neurological Disorders consists of three sets of volumes arranged into three series. The first series, Dispensary Notebooks, contains the daily log of neurological cases treated in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's Dispensary. Each notebook contains an index of patients, followed by pages detailing the diagnosis, patient information, symptoms given by the patient, and and treatment along with any follow up visits. The second series, Case Study Notebooks, contains information based on patient treatment grouped by specific diagnosis. The majority of notebooks were numbered on the outside at some point in the late twentieth century, which is reflected in the numbering system. A few of the dispensary notebooks were numbered during their creation. At the time of acquisition it was unknown why the numbering was out of sequence or if additional notebooks existed at some point.

The third series, William G. Spiller Reprints, includes two compilations of papers authored by William G. Spiller during his career and a publication of papers by physicians including Spiller associated with the William Pepper Laboratory. Dr. William G. Spiller (M1892) was a noted clinical neurologist and professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine during the early twentieth century. The Spiller Reprints came with the Dispensary Notebooks from the Department of Neurology. Dr. Spiller was not associated with the Dispensary during the period covered by the notebooks.

The Dispensary Notebooks are organized into three series: Dispensary Notebooks, Case Study Notebooks, and William G. Spiller Reprints. The Dispensary Notebooks and Reprints series are arranged chronologically, while the Case Study Notebooks Series is arranged by the book letter.

The Dispensary Notebooks for Neurological Disorders were transferred from the Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Neurology to the University Archives in February 2017 (Accession No. 2017:05).

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania: University Archives and Records Center
Finding Aid Author
Joseph-James Ahern
Finding Aid Date
March 2017
Access Restrictions

Access to collections is granted in accordance with the Protocols for the University Archives and Records Center.

Collection Inventory

Request to View Materials

Materials can be requested by first logging in to Aeon. Then, click on the ADD button next to any containers you wish to request. When complete, click the Request button.

Request item to view

No. 2, 1878 January 5 to 1879 January 2.
Box 1
No. 4, 1879 January 6 to 1880 January 23.
Box 1
No. 8 , 1881 September 3 to 1882 March 24.
Box 1
No. 9 , 1882 May 30 to November 24.
Box 2
No. 10 [Book 3], 1883 January 3 to July 12.
Box 2
No. 11 [Book 4], 1883 July 12 to December 31.
Box 2
No. 12 [Book 5], 1884 January 4 to June 25.
Box 3
No. 13 [Book 6], 1884 June 28 to December 31.
Box 3
No. 14 [Book 7], 1885 January 2 to July 3.
Box 3
No. 15 [Book 8], 1885 July 7 to 1886 September 16.
Box 4
No. 16 , 1887 November 30 to 1888 September 28.
Box 4
No. 17 [Book 13], 1888 September 29 to 1889 August 3.
Box 5

No. 7 "Book A Miscellaneous Cases 1880-1881." , 1880 January 3 to 1881 August 21.
Box 5
No. 5 "Book B Cases of Paralysis over 15 Years" , 1878 January 10 to 1881 July 1.
Box 5
No. 6 "Book C. Cases of Paralysis under 15 years, and Miscellaneous Cases." , 1878 January 9 to 1882 May 30.
Box 6
"Book D Cases of Spasm." , 1878 January 10 to 1881 August 29.
Box 6
No. 3 "Book E Headaches and Neurology (sp?). , 1878 January 17 to 1881 August 13.
Box 6

Contributions from the William Pepper Laboratory of Clinical Medicine published work with articles by William G. Spiller, D.J. McCarthy, Alfred Stengel, and others. , 1895-1899.
Box 7
Reprints of W. G. Spiller, M.D., 1895-1901.
Box 7
Reprints of W. G. Spiller, M.D., 1900-1907.
Box 7

Print, Suggest