Louis Adolphus Duhring

Louis Adolphus Duhring studied at the University of Pennsylvania, and gained his medical doctorate there in 1867. He worked as a physician at the Blockley Hospital, before he went to Europe to study dermatology in Paris, London, and Vienna. He returned to the Dispensary for Skin Diseases in Philadelphia in 1870. The next year, 1871, he began teaching dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, becoming clinical professor of diseases of the skin there in 1876, in 1890 ordinary professor with a seat at the medical faculty. He renounced his chair in 1912, and that same year was conferred honorary doctor of law. He described the condition in 1884, and wrote the first American textbook of dermatology.

«The power of making a correct diagnosis is the key to all success in the treatment of skin diseases; without this faculty, the physician can never be a thorough dermatologist, and therapeutics at once cease to hold their proper position, and become empirical.»
American Journal of Syphilography and Dermatology. 1871; 2: 104.

«The skin and subcutaneous tissue, composing the integument, should be regarded as part of the body, rather than as an independent organ. The skin possesses the closest relations with the general economy, as shown by the observation that there are comparatively few so-called general diseases in which it . . . is not at some period involved in a slight or marked degree.»
Cutaneous Medicin. Pt. 1, Preface.

«The skin calls for faculty of chose observation and attention to detail.»
Valedictory address,
University of Pennsylvania Medical School, June 7, 1894.

«Science is classified knowledge, and development of any science depends upon improved methods of classification.»
Epitome of Diseases of the Skin, «Classification».

«Remember that the sufferer is entitled to every aid and suggestion that can be obtained, and that in the event of a fatal issue the blame of not seeking consultations with more experienced heads may rest upon you. Keep in mind that some one else may possess experience, skill, or knowledge that you do not happen to have.»
Valedictory address, University of Pennsylvania Medical School, June 7, 1894.

Duhring was co-publisher of the Photographic Review of Medical Art and Surgery, which appeared in Philadelphia.

• On the study of dermatology.
  6 deliveries of this appeared in New-Orleans 1871.
• Atlas of skin diseases.
  27 deliveries, Philadelphia 1876-1880.
• Practical Treatise on Skin Diseases. Philadelphia, 1877.