STOKES, William.

Dublin: Hodges and Smith… 1854.1854

8vo, pp. xvi, 689. With the half-title. Original brown blind-stamped cloth (very nicely rebacked preserving the original backstrip), uncut. Signature of Alex C. MacRay, Melbourne, Dec. 4th 1853, on title; pencilled signature of J.A. Haran, 1893, on half-title.

FIRST EDITION. G&M 2760. Stokes’s name is associated with the phenomenon known as Cheyne-Stokes respiration. On pp. 320–327 in this book he gives a lucid account of the periodic type of breathing discussed by John Cheyne in 1818, but Cheyne did not associate any diagnostic importance with the syndrome. Stokes in this book also advocated pursuance of a system of graduated muscular exercises to aid in the removal of cardiac debility, especially among younger persons. The book is additionally famous for its accurate descriptions of pericarditis, valvular diseases, and weakening of the heart in typhus fever. It also includes the first description of paroxysmal tachycardia (p. 161). Stokes was a major figure in the Irish school. His reputation was made by his book on diseases of the chest, and he published the first systematic treatise on the use of the stethoscope. Willius & Keys, Cardiac Classics, pp. 484–489. Willius & Dry, pp. 134–135. Bedford catalogue 280.

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