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Alexander Johnston Chalmers Skene (; 17 June 1837 – 4 July 1900) was a British-American
Skene was born in
NY Park link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skene, Alexander 1837 births 1900 deaths American gynecologists University of Toronto alumni University of Michigan Medical School alumni SUNY Downstate Medical Center alumni 19th-century American inventors 19th-century American sculptors American male sculptors United States Army Medical Corps officers People of New York (state) in the American Civil War 19th-century American male artists
gynaecologist
Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with ...
from Scotland who described what became known as Skene's glands
In female human anatomy, Skene's glands or the Skene glands ( , also known as the lesser vestibular glands, paraurethral glands) are glands located around the lower end of the urethra. The glands are surrounded by tissue that swells with blood d ...
.
Biography
Skene was born in Fyvie
Fyvie is a village in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Geography
Fyvie lies alongside the River Ythan and is on the A947 road.
Architecture
What in 1990, at least, was a Clydesdale Bank was built in 1866 by James Matthews. The ...
, Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, on 17 June 1837. At the age of 19, he went to North America. He studied medicine at King's College (now the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
), then at the University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, and finally at the Long Island College Hospital
University Hospital of Brooklyn at Long Island College Hospital (or LICH) was a 506-bed teaching hospital located in the Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York. The hospital was founded in 1858 as Long Island Coll ...
(now the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (Downstate) is a public medical school and hospital in Brooklyn, New York. It is the southernmost member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and the only academic medical center for health e ...
) in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
graduating in 1863. From July 1863 until June 1864, he was acting assistant surgeon in the U. S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
, after which he entered private practice in Brooklyn and advanced to become Professor of Disease of Women at Long Island College Hospital. He was professor of gynaecology in the post-graduate Medical School of New York in 1884, and was president of the American Gynaecological Society.
Skene wrote over 100 medical articles and several textbooks. He contributed many surgical instruments and improved on surgical techniques. He performed the first successful operation of gastro-elytrotomy that is recorded, and also that of craniotomy, using Sims's speculum. Primarily, he is remembered for his description of the Skene's glands
In female human anatomy, Skene's glands or the Skene glands ( , also known as the lesser vestibular glands, paraurethral glands) are glands located around the lower end of the urethra. The glands are surrounded by tissue that swells with blood d ...
at the floor of the urethra
The urethra (from Greek οὐρήθρα – ''ourḗthrā'') is a tube that connects the urinary bladder to the urinary meatus for the removal of urine from the body of both females and males. In human females and other primates, the urethra con ...
. He also described their infection—''skenitis''. Skene collaborated with J. Marion Sims
James Marion Sims (January 25, 1813November 13, 1883) was an American physician in the field of surgery. His most famous work was the development of a surgical technique for the repair of vesicovaginal fistula, a severe complication of obstruc ...
, who performed gynecologic exams and surgeries on enslaved African-American women without anesthesia, but Skene does not appear to be part of these experiments.
As a sculptor, Skene created a bust of Sims which is on display in the lobby of the Kings County Medical Society. A bust honoring Skene is located in Prospect Park Plaza (also known as Grand Army Plaza
Grand Army Plaza, originally known as Prospect Park Plaza, is a public plaza that comprises the northern corner and the main entrance of Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. ...
). This statue was proposed to be moved in 2011 to accommodate a statue of former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, but this did not happen.
Skene died in his summerhouse in the Catskills
The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...
, New York, on 4 July 1900. He left behind a son, Jonathan Bowers. He is buried at Rockland Cemetery in Sparkill, NY.
Works
* ''Uro-Cystic and Urethral Diseases in Women'' (New York, 1877) * ''Treatise on Diseases of Women, for the Use of Students and Practitioners'' (1888)See also
*Paraurethral glands
In female human anatomy, Skene's glands or the Skene glands ( , also known as the lesser vestibular glands, paraurethral glands) are glands located around the lower end of the urethra. The glands are surrounded by tissue that swells with blood ...
* Skene's gland
In female human anatomy, Skene's glands or the Skene glands ( , also known as the lesser vestibular glands, paraurethral glands) are glands located around the lower end of the urethra. The glands are surrounded by tissue that swells with blood ...
References
*Chesley LC: The evolution of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Downstate 1860–1980. 1981. *External links
*NY Park link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skene, Alexander 1837 births 1900 deaths American gynecologists University of Toronto alumni University of Michigan Medical School alumni SUNY Downstate Medical Center alumni 19th-century American inventors 19th-century American sculptors American male sculptors United States Army Medical Corps officers People of New York (state) in the American Civil War 19th-century American male artists