intramedullary Steinmann pin. Satisfied with their result, but not with the pin itself, they pursued an interest in the problem of intramedullary fixation, which led to the development of a new type of pin and a technique for using the pin in a wide variety of fractures. They pointed out the value of using straight pins in curved bones and curved pins in straight bones to obtain better fixation. They were the first surgeons in the United States to have an impact on and to make a substantial contribution to the technique of intramedullary fixation.
Their father, J.H. Rush (1868–1931), was a native Mississipian who established his surgical practice in Meridian, Mississippi, in 1910, after previously practicing there as a dentist. His sons joined him in his practice. H. Lowry Rush (1897–1965) was a medical graduate of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and while he assisted his brother Leslie with the fracture work, his main interest was in gynecological surgery. Leslie V.
Rush, was born in 1905 and obtained his medical education at Tulane University. He practiced general surgery with an emphasis on trauma and a continuing interest in the treatment of fractures for 55 years.
ing to Garrison and Morton, this is, if not the first, one of the first pathologic descriptions of osteonecrosis in medical literature. It was widely read in its day and its importance is attested to by the title page, which in itself is of some biblio- philic interest. It had been the property of the New York Hospital library (the oldest in New York City) and came from them to the then newly created New York Academy of Medicine library in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It should be called to the reader’s attention that osteonecrosis in Russell’s day was chiefly septic and the distinction between septic and aseptic necrosis was not emphasized until Axhausen’s work some more than half a century later.
292 Who’s Who in Orthopedics
James RUSSELL
1755–1836
James Russell was the first professor of clinical surgery at the University of Edinburgh. In 1794 he published a book on Necrosis of Bone. Accord-
Robert Hamilton RUSSELL
1860–1933
Robert Hamilton Russell was born in England and received his medical education at King’s College, London. There, he came under the influence of Joseph Lister, for whom he worked as a house officer. He also visited hospitals on the Continent.
After obtaining his qualifications as a surgeon, Russell practiced in London for 2 years before emigrating to Australia. As one of his associates, C.H. Fagge wrote: “He never told us why he was going to leave England, but we knew that he went to the beautiful climate of Australia to escape from a fear of tuberculosis.” Although he made occasional trips to the United States and Europe,
