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Hemodialysis, which now provides life-saving therapy to millions of individuals, began as an exploratory attempt to sustain the lives of selected patients in the 1950s. That was a century after the formulation of the concept and determination of the laws governing dialysis. The first step in the translation of the laboratory principles of dialysis to living animals was the "vividiffusion" apparatus developed by John Jacob Abel (1859-1938), dubbed the "artificial kidney" in the August 11, 1913 issue of The Times of London reporting the demonstration of vividiffusion by Abel at University College. The detailed article in the January 18, 1914 of the New York Times, reproduced here, is based on the subsequent medical reports published by Abel et al. Tentative attempts of human dialysis in the decade that followed based on the vividiffusion apparatus of Abel and his materials (collodion, hirudin, and glass) met with failure and had to be abandoned. Practical dialysis became possible in the 1940s and thereafter after cellophane, heparin, and teflon became available. Abel worked in an age of great progress and experimental work in the basic sciences that laid the foundations of science-driven medicine. It was a "Heroic Age of Medicine," when medical discoveries and communicating them to the public were assuming increasing importance. This article provides the cultural, social, scientific, and medical background in which Abel worked, developed and reported his wonderful apparatus called the "artificial kidney."

The cystoscope used today is the product of centuries of development. The desire to view the cavities of the body was first described several centuries ago. The earliest true prototype was Bozinni's 1805 urethral viewing tube, on which many others were based. These primitive instruments were challenging to use for the operator, uncomfortable for the patient, and dangerous for both. Patient positioning was based on the method of bladder distension and the goal of the operation, rather than comfort. Images visualized by early models were inverted and backwards, and required the operator to be skilled in correcting this image. Reflected candlelight was used for illumination, and objects appeared small and distant. With the advent of lenses, prisms and the incandescent light, cystoscopy advanced to Nitze's prototype, a forerunner of the current cystoscope. Once the image quality was improved, instrumentation through the cystoscope was introduced, broadening the scope of urology, from the management of venereal disease to a premier surgical speciality. Finally, the invention of fibre optics and digital imaging provided the cystoscope used by urologists worldwide, giving unparalleled image quality, allowing for educational opportunities and a quality of patient care unimaginable to the early pioneers. An understanding of this past brings not only an appreciation of the technology currently available, but also a glimpse into what the cystoscope has the potential to become. From this past, it is clear that today's cystoscope is merely a forerunner of that which the future will bring.