The Museum of Medicine and Health : Monaural Stethoscope

The Museum of Medicine and Health

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This instrument was owned and used by Dr David Lloyd Roberts (1835-1920) an obstetrician and gynaecologist at St. Mary's Hospital for Women and Children and the Manchester Royal Infirmary, and also lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecological disease at the University Medical School. It is not a foetal stethoscope; he would have used it for general examination of the chest and heart. When this stethoscope was made, binaural (two-ear) stethoscopes were in common use. However, many doctors still preferred the old monaural type. This model has a seven-inch cedarwood tube with a slightly cupped chest end.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Roberts was a flamboyant Victorian character who always wore a top hat in which he kept his papers and the stethoscope. Around 1890 he invented a ‘two-part’ monaural stethoscope, which had a detachable stem which fitted into a slot on the chest-piece and could be slipped into the pocket. The ‘Roberts Stethoscope’ was advertised for sale until the 1930s. Dr Lloyd Roberts had many interests outside of medicine; he collected art, antiques and had a library of over 4000 of rare books, which he bequeathed to the John Rylands Library and the Royal College of Physicians. He was a member of the Manchester Dante Society and a Fellow of the Edinburgh Royal Society.</p>