Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-06-30
DR.. FRED B. ROBINSON

DR.. Robinson, and at the same time
publish the editorial article that ap-
peared in the Northwestern Medical
Journal some time ago. The article
appears in another part of this issue,
and we take great delight in thus doing
honor to one who has by his own efforts
risen from poverty and an unknown
station in life, to a position that many
older men in the profession may justly
envy Had he had the support of
wealthy and influential friends, this
rapid rise would not be surprising. but
on the contrary it has been accomplish
ed by his own exertions, and is there
fore all the more meritorious.
1t is in the literary department of
medicine that he gained notoriety, and
in which he has delighted so many
readers of medical journals Less than
a score of years ago he wrote extensive
ly for newspapers, which greatly aided
him in gaining the reputation he so
richly deserves. His first article for a
medical journal was promptly rejected
with profound thanks. This was not
very encouraging, but may have been
beneficial. He felt SO chagrined that
his first article on which he had spent
so much time and thought, should be
rejected, that he dio. not attempt to
send another article to medical Jour
nal for over year. lis first accepted
article in a medical journal was in 1888,
on skin grating by the aid of thin sheets
of sponge. In the case reported he
grated some $50 pieces Of skin from his
own arm and leg, and applied them to a
little gi1l of five years who by burn
had lost several square feet of skin and
tissue from the lower eXtremities. By
way of diversion we will say that the
skin-sponge grating proved a success
The thin sheet of sponge greatly as
sisted the skin gratis to become fixed
and to allow granulating tissue to spring
up. The little girl made good recovery
and is still living. Although the little
girl was saved and had the good fortune
of seeing much tissue restored, the work
almost cost the doctor his life, for he
became infected in the hand, being
deliriously i'll for weeks
He is an extensive contributor to
medical literature. Within the past
few years he has written numerous
articles for medical journals; few Of
the most important are: Bacteriology; !;
Menstruation; Automatic Menstrual
Ganglia; The Corpus Luteum is No
Positive Sign of Pregnancy; Twisted
Pedicle; Tubo-ovarian Cysts; Urachal
Cysts; Uterine Appendages; Gonor-
rhma in Woman; Pderperal Peritonitis; !;
Gonorrhea in the Vesicule Seminalis;
The Cartilage Plate; The Rawhide
Plate; The Segmented Rubber Plate ;
Two New Intestinal Operations; The
Rubber Tube in Intestinal Operations;
Lawson TAFT and his Work; Spirally
Contorted Fallopian Tubes the Cause of
Premenstrual Pain; Imagination Sub
sequent to Operation; Tait's Flap Oper-
alton; Gastro-enterostomy; and two
volumes in the Physicians Leisure
Library on Practical Intestinal Surgery
All of these articles were we'll received
by the reading part of the profession.
This fact, and that they have all been
contributed within a very few years,
demonstrates his ability as a writer and
a diligent and original investigator. 1t
stamps him as a student in the best in
depreciation of the term.
DR.. Robinson is an enthusiastic anat-
omist and investigator and only writes
on subjects which he originally studies,
and then expresses himself in such style
as to interest and to captivate the
reader. By far the greater part of his
original work has been in the pelvis and
abdomen. The doctor is firm believer
that the dead house, the butchers shop
and animals constitute a vast treasure
from which the physician can acquire
innumerable new ideas of great value
in the practice of medicine, and his
writings prove beyond doubt that the
study of and experiments on animals
improves medical knowledge. The dis
secting room is the scene of much of his
work during the past. He has dissected
some thirty or forty cadavers with
special reference to the viscera and
sympathetic nervous system.
DR.. Robinson is still a young man and
has a bright future before him. We
anticipate much from him, and it re-
mains to be seen what medical school
will obtain his services. Not only will
he prove valuable acquisition to the
force of instructors of college, but
there is still an opportunity for mar
riageable young ladies to improve their
station, for the doctor is still enjoying
that which many are pleased to call
single Observation-Disclosures Medical
Compend.