John Huxham
John Huxham(1692–1768) was an English physician, a provincial doctor notable for his study offevers.In 1750 Huxham published hisEssay on Feversand in 1755 received theCopley Medalfor his contribution tomedicine.[1]
Biography
[edit]Huxham was born close toTotnes,Devon,the son of a butcher from nearbyHarberton.[2]He was orphaned in early life and became the ward of anon-conformistminister.[3]He attendedNewton Abbotgrammar school using funds from his father's will. Huxham then attendedExeteracademy, the university ofLeydenand finishing his M.D. at the university ofRheims.(Due to his religion he would not have been able to attend Universities in Oxford or Cambridge.)[2]
He returned toTotnesand started a medical practice soon after inPlymouth.His progress to fame was slow but he eventually became the city's most respected medical practitioner.
In 1723,James Jurin,one of the secretaries of theRoyal Society,asked for volunteers to keep daily records of their observations of the weather including readings of the barometric pressure, temperature, rainfall, and direction and strength of the wind. Their observations were to be submitted annually to the secretaries of the society for collation and analysis. In 1724 Huxham began to keep such records and, from 1728 on until 1748, he noted monthly the prevalence of epidemic diseases. These records he published in two volumes. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1739.[1]
Huxham was perhaps the first inBritainto classify the diseaseinfluenza.He is also associated with diagnosis ofscurvyand for a recommended cure of drinkingcider.He is also remembered for Tinct. cort. Peruv. Huxham, a tincture ofCinchonabark used for ulcerous sore throat (possiblydiphtheria).[4]
He married Ellen Corham, and after her death Elizabeth Harris, who also died before him. He left two daughters and one son, John Corham Huxham, who graduated at Exeter College, Oxford, became F.R.S., and edited several of his father's works. He died on 11 August 1768.[1]
Works
[edit]- Medicinisch und chymische Bemerkungen vom Spießglase.J.A. Lübeck, Leipzig; Bayreuth 1759Digital editionby theUniversity and State Library Düsseldorf
References
[edit]- ^abcLee, Sidney,ed. (1891)..Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 28. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^abMcConaghey, R.M.S. (1969)."John Huxham".Medical History.13(3). Wellcome Trust: 280–287.doi:10.1017/s002572730001454x.PMC1033955.PMID4893627.
- ^JAMA Network."JOHN HUXHAM (1692-1768) DEVONSHIRE PHYSICIAN".Retrieved5 April2018.
- ^Rowley, William. (1788). An Essay on the malignant, ulcerated sore throats; containing reflections on its causes and fatal effects in 1787. With a remarkable case... To which are added, animadversions on the present defects in treating the disorder, etc. London. 1788.[1]Accessed 2017-09-07
External links
[edit]
Media related toJohn Huxhamat Wikimedia Commons
