Tag: Thomas Gainsborough
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John Hunter, his wolf dogs, and the inherited smiles of Pomeranians
Stephen MartinUnited Kingdom John Hunter, 1728-1793, was a polymathic doctor. Besides being an anatomist and clinician, he was also interested in early genetics, exemplified by his “Observations tending to shew that the Wolf, Jackal, and Dog, are all of the Same Species.”1 Hunter presented this paper to the Royal Society in 1787. (Fig 1) His…
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Longitudinal lunacy: Science and madness in the eighteenth century
Richard de GrijsSydney, AustraliaDaniel VuillerminBeijing, China “A couple of young Non conformist preachers from Worksop in the North of Derbyshire came thither to have my approbation of some Method they had to propose for finding the Longitude at sea, one I shall tell you because it will make you laugh abundantly.”1 John Flamsteed, Britain’s first…
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Dr. Ralph Schomburg, a fashionable physician
This painting by Thomas Gainsborough is from the National Gallery in London. It shows the physician, Dr. Ralph Schomburg (1714–1792). While residing in Bath, Dr. Schomburg attended on Gainsborough himself as well as on his daughters. Story has it that Gainsborough painted this portrait in lieu of paying the doctor’s fee. It is reported that…