Download or read book S. Weir Mitchell, 1829–1914 written by Nancy Cervetti and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2015-08-21 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This modern biography provides a comprehensive and balanced view of a legendary figure in American medicine. Controversial because of his fierce fight against women’s rights, S. Weir Mitchell achieved stunning success through his experimentation with venomous snakes, treatment of Civil War soldiers with phantom limbs and burning pain, and creation of the rest cure to treat hysteria and neurasthenia. Mitchell’s life was extraordinary—interesting in its own right and as a case study in the larger inquiry into nineteenth-century medicine and culture.