East Central Scotland



Stethoscope owned by René Laennec

The stethoscope was invented in 1816 by Paris physician René Laennec. The story goes that a rather plump young lady came to see him with a suspected heart disorder. Not wishing to seem indelicate by putting his ear against her chest, he rolled some paper into a hollow tube and "was delighted to perceive how distinctly he could hear the beatings of the heart". This two-part wooden cylinder was one of Laennec’s original models (by 1819 he had adapted the design into three parts). He gave it to William Sharpey (1802-1880), who visited him in Paris, and Sharpey passed it on to his half brother James Arrott (1808-1883), physician at Dundee Royal Infirmary 1833-55.

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