John Gamgee (1831–1894) was a British

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

and inventor. He specialised in the contagious diseases of larger animals: primarily cattle and horses.

Life

Gamgee was born in 1831 in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, the son of Joseph Gamgee (1801–1895), a Scottish

formerly living in

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

, and his wife, Mary Ann West (1799–1873). John was a sibling of

Arthur Gamgee Prof Arthur Gamgee FRS FRSE (11 October 1841 – 29 May 1909) was a British biochemist. Life Arthur Gamgee was the youngest of eight children of Joseph Gamgee, an Edinburgh-born veterinarian and pathologist and his wife Mary Ann West. He was ...

, a biochemist, and Dr

Sampson Gamgee Dr Joseph Sampson Gamgee, MRCS, FRSE (17 April 1828, Livorno, Italy – 18 September 1886) was a surgeon at the Queen's Hospital (later the General Hospital) in Birmingham, England. He pioneered aseptic surgery (having once shared lodgings with ...

, a surgeon and pioneer of

aseptic surgery Asepsis is the state of being free from disease-causing micro-organisms (such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses, pathogenic fungi, and parasites). There are two categories of asepsis: medical and surgical. The modern day notion of asepsis is deriv ...

. Gamgee was educated at a number of institutions across

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

before graduating from the

Royal Veterinary College , mottoeng = Confront disease at onset , established = (became a constituent part of University of London in 1949) , endowment = £10.5 million (2021) , budget = £106.0 million (20 ...

in London in 1852. In 1855 he returned to London from the continent to lecture in veterinary medicine and surgery at Camden Hall in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as ...

. He was then living at 16 Upper Woburn Place. Following the death of John Barlow he was invited by William Dick to come to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to lecture in animal anatomy and physiology. In 1857 he set up his own rival college: the New Edinburgh Veterinary College on Drummond Street, initially with twenty students. In 1857 he appears living at 21 Dublin Street in the New Town. In the same year his father came from Italy (via London) and set up a horse infirmary at 206 Rose Street in the

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. Appointed by the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

to study the problem of diseased meat being used for human consumption (especially in London), he identified the threat of rinderpest from imported

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

cows Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

, and other issues. In 1863, Gamgee organized the first conference of what would evolve into the

World Veterinary Association The World Veterinary Association is a federation representing more than eighty veterinary medical associations around the world. Its objective is to promote animal health and welfare and the realisation that animals and man live interconnected live ...

. During a study trip to the USA to look at

Texas fever Babesiosis or piroplasmosis is a malaria-like parasitic disease caused by infection with a eukaryotic parasite in the order Piroplasmida, typically a ''Babesia'' or ''Theileria'', in the phylum Apicomplexa. Human babesiosis transmission via tic ...

in cattle he encountered and became fascinated by refrigeration. He was the developer of the

Glaciarium The Glaciarium was the world's first mechanically frozen ice rinkMartin C. Harris, ''Homes of British Ice Hockey'' and was located in London, England. An item in the 8 June 1844 issue of Littell's Living Age headed "The Glaciarium" reported: ...

, the world's first mechanically frozen ice rink in 1876. His investigations also led to the world's first refrigerated ships. Gamgee later became involved promoting refrigeration technology. He developed what was purported to be a

perpetual motion Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, a ...

machine known as the Zeromoter. The Zeromoter was intended to use

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous ...

within a refrigeration system to power ships. The technology gained the support of

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

James Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

, before being debunked.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamgee, John 1831 births 1894 deaths British veterinarians Scottish veterinarians Physicians from Florence