In 1819 Laennec published his , “On Mediate Auscultation - a classification of all cardiac and respiratory sounds” that revolutionized the study of disease of the thoracic organs. The work illustrates his wooden stethoscope.  With it came an unusual bonus - a hand-turned wood stethoscope of the authors own design.  He detailed numerous stethoscopicallydiagnosed diseases, each verified by autopsy.  Many of the old guard, unable to sort out the many new sounds associated with wheezes and murmurs, continued to defend the ear-on-chest or “immediate” auscultation.  Still the stethoscope became the badge of the progressive physician by 1820. A facsimile of Laennec’s original design, turned mahogany.