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From the Middle Ages to the 20th century, talented artists have created illustrations of signs of human diseases. Since the birth of photography in 1840, artists and physicians have used photographic techniques to illustrate the diseases of the skin; dermatology especially relies on these visual signs. In dermatology today, photography is still very important because of the need for adequate illustrations in medical textbooks and journals. From the early days of daguerreotypes to modern times, medical photography was developed in different stages and many physicians have taken part in the development of photographic techniques and chemistry. This historical survey describes the milestones in the development of medical photographic illustration from its beginning to the 20th century.

Now, almost a century ago since Mendel's work was rediscovered, is a propitious time to review the appearance of mendelian concepts in American dermatology. In our world of instantaneous and sometimes overwhelming dissemination of new information and the apparent rapid incorporation of new knowledge into our specialty, it is useful to examine how heredity was incorporated in the dermatologic literature in the first 25 years of the 20th century. The dermatologic literature serves as a surrogate for the thought of the era.

1. Beta dimethylaminoethyl benzhydryl ether hydrochloride (Benadryl) is a member of a new group of pharmacologically active antihistamine drugs. 2. Its use in amounts of 50 to 100 mg. given orally one to five times daily to a diverse group of 18 patients with both acute and chronic urticaria is reported. 3. Eleven patients experienced prompt relief of symptoms as long as the drug was taken. Three had definite and real improvement, and many of the wheals which did appear were not pruritic. Four patients were not benefited. 4. The drug has a wide margin of safety, and the only toxic manifestations noted were drowsiness and muscular aching (2 cases) and dizziness, weakness and vertigo (1 case). No cumulative toxic symptoms were noted in patients who ingested the drug as long as six or seven months. All toxic symptoms promptly disappeared when the drug was discontinued. 5. The effect is palliative, and in many patients the urticaria recurred when the administration of the drug was discontinued. 6. Since an antihistamine drug seems to be effective in controlling urticaria, it may be assumed that this is further indirect evidence that histamine is a factor in the production of urticaria.

Although there were relatively few dermatologists in the United States in the years 1870 to 1920, San Francisco was well represented by the nine dermatologists who were active in the city during that time. These included George J. Bucknall, Alfred E. Regensburger, Douglass W. Montgomery, Howard Morrow, Harry E. Alderson, George D. Culver, Ernest D. Chipman, Hiram E. Miller, and Lawrence R. Tuassig. Seven were members of the American Dermatological Association, all but one were active academically, and several rose to great heights in their profession, community, and nation.