DERMATOLOGIC ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENTS DOWN TO EARLY 20TH-CENTURY

[摘要] The 1st scientific treatise of history is the Edwin Smith Papyrus of the 17th century B.C. In Egypt it was believed that diseases were due to evil spirits; accordingly, the 1st physicians were magicians. In Greece medicine remained grounded in superstition and mythologic magic. Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.) listed cutaneous afflictions and wrote a short catalog of modern skin diseases. The years between 1500 and 1800 were of great importance to dermatology, with many of the clinical and gross pathological facts of diseases, especially of syphilis, being worked out. Robert Willan (1757-1812) of London is recognized as the founder of modern dermatology. He devised a classification built on morphology which is accepted universally. J.L.B. Alibert (1768-1837) and L.T. Biette (1781-1840) were important as founders of French dermatology. Two events were important in the history of American dermatology. The 1st was the founding of the 1st institution for the care and teaching of the skin in New York (USA) on June 22, 1836, under the direction of Henry D. Bulkley (1804-1872). The 2nd was the appearance of the 1st American book on dermatology by Noah Worcester (1812-1847). Improvements in histopathologic and bacteriologic techniques in the late 19th century were of great importance.