1887

Morell Mackenzie called in as consultant to evaluate larynx tumor of Crown Prince Frederick of Germany (married to Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter), deemed cancerous by German physicians who were ready to perform laryngotomy (splitting of larynx from the front of throat to gain access to its interior). Mackenzie took two biopsies, which Virchow found negative. Frederick returned with Mackenzie to London where, on June 28, he removed with laryngeal forceps what appeared to be the rest of the growth, which Virchow again found negative (Stevenson[2], 65-89). New subglottic swellings and tumors below each vocal cord confirmed diagnosis of cancer in early November, though Frederick declined a laryngectomy (91-96). Following increased swelling in January, tracheotomy was performed (104-105). Death of Emperor William I on 8 March 1888; death of Emperor Frederick III on 15 June 1888 following a laryngeal fistula and terminal broncho-pneumonia (130-132); he was succeeded by his younger brother, William II. Publication of Mackenzie’s The Fatal Illness of Frederick the Noble in October, 1888, with its vicious condemnation of von Bergmann (“whose roughness was never forgotten by the Emperor” [150]) and the rest of the German consultants (146ff.). Mackenzie relied greatly on Virchow’s negative pathological findings, though Virchow “never accepted his share in this responsibility” (167). “One of the most unfortunate effects of the notoriety of the case upon medical opinion was that the value of the removal of a specimen of living tissue for microscopic examination (biopsy) was discredited for several decades” (168).