Stethoscope

The stethoscope was invented in the nineteenth century by the French doctor René Théophile Hyacinthe Laennec (1781-1826). Just before the technique of listening to the rib cage organs had come into use. For this purpose in the beginning the ear was simply placed against the bared rib cage of the patient. For hygienic and moral reasons a handkerchief was placed between the ear and the body. Laennec came up with the idea of using a wooden pipe that looked like a hooter. After long practice and having examined many patients, he was able to diagnose the illness the patient was suffering from the sound the heart or the lungs were making. Later the single hooter was replaced by the well-known double ear-plug version.