George Riddoch and Ludwig Guttmann: Wartime correspondence 1940-1947.

Recently discovered primary sources in the form of letters, memoranda and private communications between George Riddoch and Ludwig Guttmann provide much information on the setting up of spinal units in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. The two men developed a close relationship and in Guttmann, Riddoch found a man who had the knowledge, the ability and the energy to implement this shared vision.

Nerve-stretching in the 19th century.

Operative nerve-stretching was first described in 1872 to relieve incurable pain from sciatica and tabes dorsalis. It became popular for 20 years and numerous articles were published on the subject. It had many complications but relief was only transient and, consequently, it fell into disuse.

The doctor as an artist.

Charles Bell, Francis Seymour Haden, Jean-Martin Charcot, Paul Richer, Henry Tonks and Harry Lamb were gifted draughtsmen. Some used their skills to illustrate their work, a few abandoned medicine altogether to become artists in their own right. With the exception of Haden few were able to combine an artistic and a medical career.

Merlin's 'invalid or gouty chair' and the origin of the self-propelled wheelchair.

Wheelchairs are a major advance in enabling independence for people with walking difficulties. The first self-propelled wheelchair has been attributed to John Joseph Merlin, the 'ingenious mechanick', in the early 19th century and his 'gouty chair' is exhibited at Kenwood House. Research would suggest that comparable chairs existed in France as early as 1751 and the French Revolutionary, Georges Couthon, used one to get around Paris.

The origins of the treatment of traumatic spinal injuries.

Background: It is widely acknowledged that Donald Munro in the United States (1936) and Ludwig Guttmann in the United Kingdom (1944) are the founders of the modern treatment of spinal injuries. However, Germany was the birthplace of neuropathology and led the field in neurology and psychiatry. The first effective spinal injury units were established by Wilhelm Wagner in Königshütte, Silesia and Emil Kocher in Bern, Switzerland at the end of the 19th century.

Historical review: suspension therapy for the treatment of tabes dorsalis.

Background: Suspension therapy was developed by a Russian doctor, A. Motschutkovsky and at the end of the 19th century it was a popular treatment for tabes dorsalis. It was endorsed by Jean-Martin Charcot in France and Weir Mitchell in the United States; but after 10 years, it was abandoned because it proved to be useless and some patients developed paralysis.

The role of Edward Harrison's (1766-1838) disciples, Thomas Engall, John and George Epps, Charles Hoyland, John Evans Riadore, John Robinson and John Baptiste de Serney in the treatment of spinal deformity in the Victorian medical world.

Edward Harrison was a distinguished and innovative physician, an educationalist who had a profound influence on the treatment of spinal deformities. He founded the first infirmary for the treatment of spinal diseases in London in 1837. Little is known of this institution but much of Harrison's legacy rests with his disciples who followed Harrison's principles of treatment to treat spinal deformity.