Category: Physicians of Note
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John Huxham (1694–1768)
To be remembered for almost 300 years after practicing medicine in an English provincial town is no mean feat. This is particularly so considering that John Huxham made no significant advances in medicine other than describing the epidemics affecting his hometown and for supposedly introducing the term “influenza” into the English language.1-3 Huxham seems to…
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Matthew Dobson (1735?–1784)
Matthew Dobson is remembered mainly for examining in 1775 a thirty-three-year-old man and completing his evaluation by tasting his blood and his urine. He found the serum was opaque, much resembling common cheese whey, but not as sweet as the urine. On heating the urine, he found a residual granulated white cake that broke easily…
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John Fothergill (1712–1780), eminent physician, reformer, and botanist
Living at a time when physicians had wide interests in science and in particular in botany, John Fothergill collected many species of plants and was particularly interested in their medicinal properties. In 1762 he purchased thirty acres in the East End of London and built a large botanic garden with many rare species in hothouses.…
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Thomas Beddoes, MD (1760–1808)
Born in Shropshire in 1760 into a modest family, Thomas Beddoes was a precocious child, insatiable for books, and disinclined to participate in games. Through the help of a wise grandfather, he was introduced to a local surgeon who used him as a helper at his surgery and further stimulated his interests in books and…
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Matthew Baillie (1761–1823), anatomist and physician
Born in Scotland in 1761, Matthew Baillie was taught to read and write at the age of five. He studied Greek and Latin at the local school, at Glasgow University (1774), and at Balliol College in Oxford (1778). In 1780, he began to work in London with his famous uncles William and John Hunter, preparing…
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The Foundling Hospital and Dr. Richard Mead
JMS PearceHull, England [Mead] physician who lived more in the broad sunshine of life than almost any man– Dr. Samuel Johnson (Boswell’s Johnson IV. 222) The Foundling Hospital in Lamb’s Conduit Field in Bloomsbury (Fig 1) was established in 1739 to provide a safe home for children orphaned or abandoned, usually because of parental poverty.1 The…
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Fritz Mainzer and the Jewish Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt
Avi OhryTel Aviv, Israel In 1961, Dr. Fritz Mainzer (1897–1961) was invited to lecture at a medical congress in Wiesbaden, Germany. Unfortunately, a fatal myocardial infarction ended the life and impressive career of this forgotten Jewish physician and scientist.1 Mainzer studied in Heidelberg and Frankfurt-on-Main. He was an assistant to Gustav Georg Embden (1874–1933), a…
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Raynaud’s phenomenon
JMS PearceHull, England In 1862, Maurice Raynaud (1834–81) of Paris provided one of the finest descriptive accounts in clinical medicine in his doctoral dissertation on episodic digital ischemia. Yet lasting recognition came only after his death. He described twenty-five patients, twenty of whom were female, and with astonishing accuracy deduced the pathophysiology: In its simplest form,…
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Through hardship comes success—Life of Adolph Kussmaul
Hina HaqCayon, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Caribbean Adolph Kussmaul was born in Graben, Germany in 1822.1 He came from a long line of physicians and grew up in a beautiful place where miles of lush vegetation stretched out to nurture crops and create homes for pasture.2 Although he was born into privilege, he had to…
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Sir William Osler and Oxford
Göran WettrellLund, Sweden William Osler was one of the most famous physicians and medical teachers of his time. He combined a wide knowledge of clinical medicine and science with humanity and approached patients and people in a humoristic and enthusiastic way.1 Osler has been called “the Father of Modern Medicine.” He revolutionized the teaching of…