The John Brown’s doktrine is not considered as important theoretical and practical concept in Polish historiography of medicine. It was not wildly accepted in Polish clinical medicine at the end of 18th century and during fi rst three decades of 19th century, when it was at the height of popularity in Europe. It was also critized in Polish handbooks for the history of medicine (Oettinger, Szumowski, Zembrzuski, Seyda, Brzeziński) as well as in translated ones (Petersen, Haeser). Majority of young historians of medicine use the English literature where the so called ‘brownism’ is usually not mentioned at all or there is merely one phrase that it was an over-interpretation of William Cullen concepts who was one of the founders of English medicine. This paper which is composed of two parts shows real infl uence of ‘brownism’ on European medicine at the end of 18th century and at the fi rst decades of 19th century. The doctrine actually met wide reception an many German universities, both in its original form and in the more indirect way, becoming the base for original local medical doktrines. In the fi rst part, I will show the place of ‘brownism’ among other clinical doctrines of its times created as answer for problematic situation in medical science at the end of 18th century. In the second part, I will analyze the reception of ‘brownism’ in European medicine showing the factors conducive spreading its ideas in some European countries and the others, stopping its reception in the other countries. The paper was based on my source studies on Brown’s doctrine reception in European medicine. It also contains references to literature which is not wildly known for Polish scholars but it shows the debates over medicine modernization process which was present among German historians. 

This paper presents a history of the emergence and development of the antipsychiatry movement in Great Britain in the 1960s. It contains a brief history of the origins and main ideas of anti-psychiatry, its reforming concepts and initiatives that sought to achieve reformed approaches to therapy and its theoretical and practical consequences. The anti-psychiatry is presented here as a revolutionary idea seeking to change the system of care extended to those with mental disorders. The British anti-psychiatry was founded by representatives of the medical science, a group formed around R.D. Laing and David Cooper, and it was supposed to be an opposition against institutionalised, coercive psychiatry and psychiatric diagnosis. Although it remained a part of psychiatry, it was also a phenomenon linked closely to changes ongoing in its era, especially with the emerging counter-culture. Its signifi cance lies in the way it inspired new refl ections on the conceptualisation of mental illness, as well as changes in diagnostic model and therapeutic practice of its time.  

This article was created in order to characterize diseases and ailments that the magnates` children were struggling in the XVIII c. From this angle were analyzed the complaints which occurred in children of one of the most important representatives of the Lithuanian magnate – Michał Kazimierz Radzivill „Rybeńka” and his second wife Anna from Mycielski Radzivill. So far, in the Polish and Lithuanian historiography, issues related to the health of the most the richest were analyzed only in the context of adults. The basis of these considerations is the correspondence of the „other Lady of Nieśwież”, kept in the Central Archives of Historical Records. It has a special meaning because the letters of „Rybeńka” to Anna have not been preserved. In addition, was used the diocese of the hetman of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which is in the same archive. On the basis of the collected  matter, were analyzed the source mentions informing us about: symptoms of diseases and occurring infections, their course, type and treatment applied.

The aim of this article is to present a problem of social welfare in the diocese of Żmudź at the beginning of the XIXth century. In the article a source – as a fundamental material needed to write this publication, the condition of the diocese of Żmudź on the turn of the XVIIIth and XIXth centuries, the condition of hospital management on Polish and Lithuanian lands on the turn of the centuries will be presented. In the article a system of hospitals of the diocese of Żmudź, allowance and funds of hospitals, hospital buildings, and fi nally the poor without which the hospitals would not have existed will also be presented. By Żmudź hospitals we understand all hospital shelters which worked at parish, branch – and monastic churches at that time. The appendix which presents a system of parish  hospitals in the diocese of Żmudź based on dean inspections coming from 1805–1806 is a  supplement to the whole article. 

Activity of social societies, whose main purpose was to combat tuberculosis in the city of Wroclaw during Weimar Republic period, has not been elaborated so far. This is a particularly important issue as it concerns peoples’ health and the consequences of untreated tuberculosis diseases. The authorities of Wroclaw city had put much effort to mitigate risk of tuberculosis proliferation. They had an impact on improving the living conditions, creating new hospitals or even special organizations, which main purpose was to fi ght and control the disease. It is important to mentioned that these organizations made a huge contribution to enlighten society. Also they established new treatment centers, which focused on curing diseased and improving the quality of life through creating new places to live such as Pracze Odrzańskie estate.

The objective of the article was to present the history of medicine in Poland based on the opinions published in “The Health Service” magazine keeping in mind the infl uence of political transition happening in period of 1949–1956. In the press of the period in question, the principle of the boundless subordination of the ruling party was fully applied. It was characterized by great amount of ideological content and propaganda both of which were ubiquitous at that time. It was so-called propaganda of success and cult of personality. The analysed articles included only those, which were in any way related to the subject of the history of medicine in Poland during the period considered. The study proved that in the discussed period there were no large-volume press articles on the history of medicine. A total of 174 articles were published on the history of medicine, of which 31 articles representing 18% contained propaganda and ideological content. The remaining ones were directly related to the history of medicine and were respectively biographies representing the highest number of 36% as well as cyclic articles (25%) and a single topic articles (21%). The highest number of literary articles was published between 1950 and 1951 (respectively: 8 and 11), which – as one might suspect – was the period of the most intense ideological struggle.

Anita Napierała, Higiena prywatna w polskich publikacjach popularnych i popularnonaukowych w drugiej połowie XIX i na początku XX wieku. Koncepcje i porady, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Poznań 2018, ss. 482

Maria J. Turos, Dominique Jean Larrey (1766–1842) chirurg  wielkiej armii, Wydawnictwo Napoleon V, Oświęcim 2017, ss. 295 (rec. Bożena Urbanek)

Raimonda Ragauskienė, Mirties nugalėti nepavyko: Biržų  ir Dubingių kunigaikščių Radvilų biologinė istorija (XV a. pabaiga – XVII a.) [Nikt nie może wygrać ze śmiercią: historia biologiczna birżańsko-dubińskiej linii książęcej rodziny Radziwiłłów (koniec XV w. – XVII w.)], Lietuvos edukologijos universiteto leidykla, Vilnius 2017, ss. 735 + 1 (rec. Tadeusz Srogosz)

Jan Bohdan Gliński, Słownik biograficzny lekarzy i farmaceutów  ofiar drugiej wojny światowej, t. 6, Wydawnictwo Dwa Światy, Warszawa 2018, ss. 233 (rec. Bożena Urbanek)