The Dercum-Muybridge collaboration for sequential photography of neurologic disorders

To analyze the contributions of American photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) and Philadelphia neurologist Francis Dercum (1856-1931) toward creating the first motion-picture sequences of patients with neurologic disorders.

In the late 1870s and 1880s, prior to the development of movie cameras or projectors, Muybridge photographed sequential images of people and animals in motion, using arrays of sequentially triggered single-image cameras and multilens cameras.

Examination of published writings and photographic sequences by Muybridge and Dercum, and primary source documents, including letters from Dercum.

In 1885, Philadelphia neurologist Francis Dercum (1856-1931) collaborated with Muybridge at the University of Pennsylvania to photograph sequential images of patients with various neurologic disorders involving abnormal movements. Subjects were recruited from the neurology services of the University Hospital and the Philadelphia Hospital. Muybridge and Dercum photographed patients with tabes dorsalis, hemiparesis, paraparesis, athetotic cerebral palsy, lead encephalopathy, congenital hydrocephalus with diparesis, poliomyelitis, pseudoseizures, psychogenic movement disorder, and other conditions.

These are the first motion-picture sequences of neurologic disorders ever filmed, and provide an important visual archive and teaching resource for neurologic disorders that were prevalent in the late 19th century.