LIBRARY

St Thomas's Hospital — Postcard sent on July 23, 1914: the day of the ultimatum to Serbia

England, 1914

Nightingale, Florence

Black-and-white photographic postcard showing the historic riverside buildings of St. Thomas’s Hospital in London, viewed across the River Thames from the Westminster side, c. 1910–1914; postally used 23 July 1914. Publisher: W. Straker Ltd., London. The British postal cancellation on the front is dated 23 JUL 14. The card was addressed to Bessines in the French département of Haute-Vienne and bears a French receiving postmark apparently dated 24 July 1914. The object is particularly interesting because the postal date places an ordinary tourist postcard within an extraordinary historical moment. 23 July 1914 was the day on which Austria-Hungary delivered its ultimatum to Serbia, one of the decisive events of the July Crisis that led to the First World War. 

 

FIRM

Columbia Dentoform Training Teeth
Columbia Dental and X-Ray—Dentoform, New York

USA, New York

Columbia Dentoform, established in 1917 by Ben Spitzer, a Columbia University Engineering School graduate, began as the Columbia Dental and X-Ray Company in Manhattan, New York. Initially, the company provided x-ray equipment for dental offices and sold articulators and attachments to dental laboratories. Ben Spritzer In 1917, it introduced metal typodonts—his first phantoms for dental teaching and practice. Today, as part of the DentalEZ family of brands, Columbia Dentoform continues to develop and provide high-quality simulation products, maintaining its commitment to improving the instructional process and learning experience for dental students globally.

MUSEUM

Entrance to the St Bartholomew's Hospital Museum
St Barts — St Bartholomew's Hospital Museum

England, London

Barts Museum in the City of London is Britain's oldest working hospital on its original site, founded in 1123 by Rahere. Housed in the Grade I listed North Wing, it reopened in October 2025 after a £5.3m restoration. Entry is free. Highlights include the Great Hall, Hogarth's murals, and the Henry VIII Gatehouse with London's only public statue of the king. Famous names: Florence Nightingale, Elizabeth Blackwell, James Paget. Literary link: Sherlock Holmes met Dr Watson here. Nearby: St Bartholomew-the-Great church and Smithfield Market. 

The Building of the Museum of Medicine, Campus Erasme of the Free University of Brussels
Museum of Medicine of Brussels

Belgium, Anderlecht

The Museum of Medicine in Brussels is located on the campus of the ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles / Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Free University of Brussels) founded in 1994 is located in Anderlecht (Brussels-Capital Region). The exhibits are logically grouped into the following sections on four floors: Medicine in Egyptian Art; General History of Medicine (from Antiquity until the 20th Century); Pharmacy; Anatomical Waxes I (Anatomy, Obstetrics, Venereal Diseases); Medicine in Pre-Columbian Art.

Articles

The frontpiece of Purmann's book
Origin of Blood Transfusion — Chirurgia Infusoria

Despite extensive research into the history of blood transfusion, the earliest steps in the field of haemotransfusion are sometimes interpreted differently and historical priorities are assessed differently. This article summarizes the main milestones and the most influenced inventors (William Harvey, Richard Lower, Jean-Baptiste Denis, Guglielmo Riva, Matthaeus Purmann, James Blundell, Karl Landsteiner) of the so-called Chirurgia Infusoria and provides references to primary sources.