Dr John Hunter
FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...
(1754–1809) was a Scottish physician
linked to
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
.
Life
Hunter was born in
Perthshire
Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
, and studied medicine at
Edinburgh University
The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...
, where he graduated M.D. in 1775. He was admitted a licentiate of the
College of Physicians of London in 1777, and appointed physician to the army through the interest of
George Baker and
William Heberden.
From 1781 to 1783 Hunter was superintendent of the military hospitals in
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
. On returning to England he settled in practice as a physician in London, first in
Charles Street, and then in
Hill Street. Elected a fellow of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
by 1787, he was admitted a fellow of the College of Physicians ''speciali gratia'' in 1793, and was made censor the same year.
As
Gulstonian lecturer in 1796, Hunter lectured on
softening of the brain, which he is said to have been the first to treat as a distinct pathological condition; the lecture was not published. He was later physician extraordinary to the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...
.
Hunter died on 29 January 1809 at Hill Street, London.
Works
Hunter's college dissertation ''De Hominum Varietatibus et harum causis'' (1775) was in the
biological anthropology
Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a natural science discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly fro ...
tradition. It was republished in an English translation by
Thomas Bendyshe in 1865 with
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (11 May 1752 – 22 January 1840) was a German physician, naturalist, physiologist and anthropologist. He is considered to be a main founder of zoology and anthropology as comparative, scientific disciplines. He has be ...
's treatises in the same area, in the publications of the
Anthropological Society.
In 1787 Hunter contributed to the third volume of the ''Medical Transactions published by the College of Physicians'' three papers: one on the occurrence of
typhus fever in the houses of the poor in London; another on morbid anatomy, and a third on the cause of the "dry belly-ache" of the tropics. In the last of these the discovery made by Baker two years earlier, that
lead poisoning
Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertility, numbness and paresthesia, t ...
in
cider
Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...
was the cause of "Devonshire colic", was extended by Hunter to
rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced i ...
which had been distilled through a leaden worm, observations of
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
's being adduced in proof.
In 1788 appeared Hunter's major work, ''Observations on the Diseases of the Army in Jamaica'' (2nd ed. 1796; 3rd ed. 1808, with "observations on the hepatitis of the East Indies"). It gives an amplified account of the "dry belly-ache", and deals with
yellow fever and other diseases of the troops, as well as more briefly with some other Caribbean maladies. It was translated into German, Leipzig, 1792.
Hunter contributed to the ''
Philosophical Transactions
''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the second journ ...
'' in 1788 a paper on Jamaican wells and springs, a subject suggested by
Henry Cavendish
Henry Cavendish ( ; 10 October 1731 – 24 February 1810) was an English experimental and theoretical chemist and physicist. He is noted for his discovery of hydrogen, which he termed "inflammable air". He described the density of inflammable a ...
. He contributed to the first volume of ''Transactions'' of a Society for the Improvement of Medical and Chirurgical Knowledge, 1793, a memoir on
canine madness, drawn up at the society's request, and another on
hydatids.
Family
Hunter married in 1784 Elizabeth LeGrand, daughter of Robert LeGrand.
Notes
References
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Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, John
1754 births
1809 deaths
18th-century Scottish medical doctors
19th-century Scottish medical doctors
Scottish medical writers
Fellows of the Royal Society