The Gold-Headed Cane

A series of linked biographical sketches follows a gold-headed cane as it moves among prominent physicians, using the object to connect lives, medical practices, collections, and public benefactions. The author profiles successive owners, recounting their careers, personalities, travel, libraries, and the dispersal or donation of their collections, while noting institutional gifts and professional networks. The narrative combines anecdote and historical detail to illuminate changing medical culture, the social world of practitioners, and how personal legacies shaped hospitals, observatories, and learned institutions.