David Douglas Cunningham
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David Douglas Cunningham (29 September 1843 – 31 December 1914) was a Scottish
medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...
and researcher who worked extensively in India on various aspects of public health and medicine. He studied the spread of bacteria and the spores of fungi through the air and conducted research on
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
. In his spare time he also studied the local plants and animals.


Life and career

Cunningham was born in 1843, in Prestonpans, the third son of Cecilia Margaret Douglas (1813–98), daughter of David Douglas, Lord Reston (1769–1819), the heir of
Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptised 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the field of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as the "father of economics"——— or ...
, and her husband the Rev. William Bruce Cunningham (1806–78). He attended the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and graduated with honours in medicine from the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
in 1867. His brother Robert Oliver Cunningham also became a surgeon and zoologist. He entered the Indian Medical Service in 1868, and was selected to conduct a special enquiry into
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
by the Secretaries of State for India and for War. He studied for a time in Munich, and arrived in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
in January 1869 along with another physician Timothy Richards Lewis (1841–1886). From 1874 he was appointed as a special assistant to the sanitary commissioner of India. In June 1879 he was appointed Professor of Physiology in the Medical College, Calcutta, where he was much engaged in the investigation of cholera. There were multiple competing theories on the nature of diseases in general and cholera in particular. There was a "miasma" theory that certain locations had bad air that led to disease and there was a "contagion" theory that particles of causal agents entered the body to cause disease and could be carried by a person. In addition there were questions on whether the two theories may both hold and that cholera was caused by a fungus-like organism that produced spores that would be distributed in the air. Cunningham examined many of these theories in India. He was appointed Surgeon Major of the Bengal Medical Service by 1888 and Honorary Surgeon to the Viceroy of India. He was selected as the Naturalist for the Tibet Mission of 1886.


Scientific contributions

Cunningham made pioneering studies in aerobiology. He made use of the aeroconiscope, a device with a vane that pointed a sampling cone towards the wind with a sticky slide placed behind a funnel. The sticky slide would then be examined for aerially dispersed biota. His studies on the microbes, spores and pollen in the air of Calcutta were published in 1873. Cunningham's other major and official work was in studying the nature of spread of cholera. Their official work however did not progress and the project was terminated and in 1879, Cunningham took up an academic position as Professor of Physiology at the Calcutta Medical College. He was also able to pursue his interests in botany being temporarily appointed in 1880 as a superintendent of the Calcutta Royal Botanic Garden as George King, the regular superintendent, was put in charge of the cinchona plantation in the Mungpoo Hills, Darjeeling District. In 1883, Robert Koch visited India as part of a German cholera research committee and was able to isolate the comma bacteria ''Vibrio cholerae'' from the autopsy of a cholera victim. This led to the British government being forced to investigate the matter. A committee made up of two leading pathologists, Heneage Gibbes and Emanuel Klein, was set up and they visited Calcutta in November 1884. Cunningham worked with Klein, helping obtain samples from the same water storage which Koch had declared as being the source of the contagion affecting victims. Klein was able to examine and confirm that the bacteria in the water were similar to those in the bacteria in the stools of cholera victims but he was not sure about whether it caused cholera. The results of Koch however were enough for European governments to declare a quarantine on ship-borne visitors from India. The ensuing debate on the financial losses that would be caused led to the British government's decision to increase spending on research facilities and in December 1884, the Sanitary Commissioner was granted 15,000 rupees to set up a laboratory with Cunningham being made the director. In 1887-88 Cunningham accompanied the Sikkim Expedition as Government naturalist. Cunningham was a member of the council of the Calcutta zoological garden and in 1898, a bronze medallion of him was gifted to the zoological garden. In 1876 he was elected Fellow of the Linnean Society and in June 1889
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
. In June 1893 he was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire. Cunningham published many of his notes in the ''Scientific Memoirs by medical officers of the Army of India''. Including a species of fungi ('' Rhamphospora nymphaeae'') found on the leaves of waterlilies; '' Nymphaea stellata'', '' Nymphaea lotus'' and '' Nymphaea rubra''.India. Medical department A species of ''Gymnosporangium'' fungus, ''G. cunninghamianum'' was named after him by Major A. Barclay in 1890, who found it in Simla but received illustrations matching them made by Cunningham from Almora in 1874. Cunningham also took a great interest in the mode of action of snake venom. He was interested in the fertilization mechanism in ''
Ficus ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family (biology), family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few spe ...
'', the gases released by '' Ottelia'' and a range of other topics. He was interested in the philosophy of Kant and Hegel. He could speak Punjabi, knew the scriptures of the Sikhs and in his youth was a wrestler in the Sikh tradition. Cunningham retired due to ill-health in 1898. He was appointed Honorary Physician to
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...
. He was unmarried, and died on 31 December 1914 at his home in Torre Mount, Torquay.


Publications

* Cunningham, D.D. 1873
Microscopic examination of air.
Govt. of India Publication, Calcutta.
Some Indian Friends and Acquaintances: A Study of the Ways of Birds and other Animals Frequenting India
(John Murray, 1903)
Plagues and pleasures of life in Bengal
(John Murray, 1907). * * * * Cunningham, D.D. 188
On the relation of Cholera to Schizomycete organisms
Scientific memoirs by medical officers of the Army of India. Part 1. * Cunningham, D.D. 188
On the presence of peculiar parasitic organisms in the tissue of a specimen of Delhi Boil
Scientific memoirs by medical officers of the Army of India. Part 1.


References


External links


Papers dealing with Cunningham and Lewis appointment for examining the possible fungal origin of cholera
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, David Douglas 19th-century Scottish medical doctors British people in colonial India People from Prestonpans Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian Medical Service officers Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Zoological Society of London Fellows of the Linnean Society of London 1843 births 1914 deaths