NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
PIONEERS OF THE MEDICAL MOTION PICTURE

                  IN TEE

               UNITED STATES
       An Exhibit
         at the
National Library of Medicine
     March - April I960
Washington, D.C,
      I960'
£a 
 
     The history of the medical motion picture has been curiously



neglected by both scholars and collectors in the United States0  There



are very few retrospective articles,  no published definitive history or



bibliography,  and few of the  e arly medical films are known to have



survived the hazards of fire, projection and neglect.  Unsuspected



medical prints which would illuminate medical motion picture history



may be hidden in attics, desk drawers  or other hiding places.



      The NLM has established an archival collection of medical films



for the purpose of preservation and research.  The new NLM building,



now under construction, will provide facilities for the viewing of



motion pictures by individuals using the Library just as books and



journals are now used.  The Library is now in process of acquiring all



published material in this field and is furnishing reference service con-



cerning films.  The Library would welcome  any information on the



location of prints of historical importance or published or  unpublished



information on the  early history of the field.   It is earnestly hoped that



further loss of irreplaceable medical material can be prevented by the




establishment of this central repository.



      The current exhibit presents some of the highlights in the careers



of the pioneers in this area, ending approximately with the year 1919,  I*



does not claim to be definitive; in fact,  it is hoped that omissions or errors



will be drawn to the attention of the Library.  Important contributors to the



medical film may have been overlooked here, either because no biography




has been printed or because no bibliographical lead  was found. 
 
The following are represented in the exhibit-




     Julius Mount Bleyer (1859-1915) Outlined medical applications of



           the motion picture when it was still in^the experimertai



           stage,  1895,



     Daniel LeRay Borden (1887 -  ) Pioneered in the filming of



            surgical operative technique,  1917.



     William J.  BrownloWc  Early worker in animated drawing films,



            1916.



     Alexis Carrel (1873-1944)  Recorded vascular suture operation, 1912,



     Walter Greenough Chase (1859-1919) Personally filmed motion



            pictures  of epileptic seizures, 1905.



     Charles Henry Duncan (1866-1942)  Suggested filming of operations,



            utilizing  mirror projection to adjoining room,  1908.



     Allan McLane Hamilton  (1848-1919) Produced motion pictures of



             pathological gaits,  circa 1900.



     Julius H. Jacobson (1879-1918) Demonstrated abdominal surgery



            teaching film, 1913.



     Charles Hubbard Judd (1873-1946)  Psychologist who recorded and



             measured eye movements from motion pictures,  1903-1904,



     John English McWhorter and Frederick Prime, Jr.  Microeinema-



             tography of chick embryos and tissues,  1913.



     Rudolph Matas (1860-1957)  Supported use of cinematography in



             medical education and research, 1911.



     Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904)  English-born pioneer in chrono-



             photography, which preceded and contributed to the



             development of motion pictures, 1884-1887. 
 
 Robert Lincoln Watkins (1863-1934)  Microcinematography of blood



        corpuscles and microscopic life,  1897.



Theodore Herman Weisenburg (1876-1934)  Films of nervous and



        mental diseases,  1908?-1912.



Clinical Film Company, New York City.  Produced about 200 motion



        pictures between  1915 and 1917, most of them depicting



        operative surgery.



Instruction Laboratory,  U, S.  Army Medical Museum.  The un-



        precedented wartime urgency, together with progressive



        administrators, caused a considerable acceleration in



        the production of  medical films.