Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with September 27.

Events

1726 – Mary Toft (25) of Godalming, Surrey was reported to have gone into labour and delivered various animal parts. Over the next month she delivered a rabbit’s head, the legs of a cat, and, in a single day, nine dead baby rabbits. This drew the attention of leading London physicians and King George I. Court surgeon Nathaniel St André initially endorsed the case, but obstetrician James Douglas (1675–1742) investigated, declared it a fraud, and helped bring the hoax to an end.

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Births

1850 – Léon Bouveret (1850-1929), French physician; Bouveret Syndrome (1895), and Maladie de Bouveret (1889)

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Deaths

1941 – Frank Burr Mallory (1862-1941), American pathologist; described Mallory Bodies (1911) and numerous Mallory Stains

1997 – Esther Lillian Bloomberg (1907-1997), American technical chemist; described Albright-Butler-Bloomberg disease (1937)

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Further reading

• Saint-André N. A short narrative of an extraordinary delivery of rabbets: perform’d by Mr John Howard, Surgeon at Guilford. 1726
• Steevens G. A complete collection, of all the tracts, both printed and manuscript, relating to Mary Tofts, the celebrated Rabbit Woman of Godalming. 1727