AJR 2004; 182:616
© American Roentgen Ray Society
The Diagnosis
Stefan Schatzki1
1 Department of Radiology, Mount Auburn Hospital, 330 Mount Auburn St.,
Cambridge, MA 02238.
Address correspondence to S. Schatzki.
Louis Crusius was born on May 10, 1862, in Sauk City, WI. At the age of 15,
he began to work as a printer's apprentice for his father, who published the
Pioneer Press Daily. He later lived in Texas with an uncle who was a
physician and worked in his uncle's drugstore. In about 1880, Crusius went to
St. Louis and entered the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, from which he
graduated in 1882. He then became part owner of the pharmacy, Scheel and
Crusius, with his brother-in-law, Gustave Scheel. The window of their store
always displayed several of Crusius's humorous sketches. The partnership
continued until Crusius graduated from the St. Louis College of Physicians and
Surgeons in 1890. He then began to practice medicine and also became a
lecturer in anatomy and histology at the Marion Sims Medical College, the
predecessor of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Four years later
he had risen to the rank of professor. Crusius died on January 2, 1898, after
a large hypernephroma was discovered during exploratory
surgery.
Drawing was a hobby for Crusius, and he produced a vast number of humorous
works. Almost his last conscious act was the completion of an 1898 New Year's
card shortly before his death. His drawings frequently incorporated a humorous
and satiric view of the medical profession. Most of his works were given to
friends and family. A few, such as The Diagnosis, were sold to be
included in a calendar published by the Antikamnia Chemical Company of St.
Louis or to be used for other advertisements. Because Crusius was primarily an
anatomist, it is natural that skeletons figured prominently in his artistic
themes. He was able to produce an anatomically correct drawing of a human
skull that had a face expressing any emotion that suited his whimsy. In 1893,
Crusius published a book, Funny Bone (The Funny Bone Publishing
Company; Woodward and Tiernan printers), that contained about 150 of his
drawings.
The physician depicted in The Diagnosis is elegantly dressed as he
takes the pulse of the otherwise unseen patient. It is interesting to compare
this physician with Winthrop Chandler's portrait of Dr. William Glysson
(AJR 1997;168:638), who is also taking the pulse of a hidden patient.
Crusius's figure clearly shows a deep professional concern for the patient but
presumably more for the patient's demise than for his or her recovery. This
macabre though humorous view of the medical profession and the morbid
sentiment of the image are somewhat ironic in view of Crusius's premature
death.
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