Robert Ernest House
Robert Ernest House (born August 3, 1875 in Farmers Branch , Texas , † July 15, 1930 ) was an American medic. He is considered to be the discoverer of the truth serum ( trust serum ) scopolamine .
House attended Dallas High School with graduation in 1893 and studied at Washington and Lee University , the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (Texas) and from 1897 at Tulane University with a doctorate in medicine (MD) in 1899. This was followed by a one-year internship at Dallas City Hospital. In 1900 he set up a practice in Ferris (Texas) . He married Mary Alma Orr, with whom he had two sons.
He specialized in obstetrics (Florence-Roser method) and researched mental illnesses. In 1924 he discovered the effect of scopolamine as a truth serum in his obstetrics practice (in order to achieve a twilight sleep for the patients). This attracted a lot of attention in the United States, and he subsequently worked with criminologists in Texas to obtain truthful statements from suspects. He was an Assistant Physician at the time in Ellis County. He also used the drug (scopolamine hydrobromide) to make psychiatric diagnoses. House later was a doctor on the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1929 he suffered a stroke that paralyzed him.
He became an honorary member of the National Police Commission, the Internal Bureau for Identification and the Texas Sheriffs' Association for his criminological work. House was a fellow of the American Medical Association, the Southern Medical Association, the Texas Medical Association, and the International Academy of Historical Sciences.
Web links
- David Minor, Article House in Handbook of Texas Online
- Robert House, The use of Scopolamine in Criminology , 1922
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | House, Robert Ernest |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American medic |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 3, 1875 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Farmers Branch , Texas |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 15, 1930 |