Joseph Toynbee FRS (30 December 1815"Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22 for Joseph Toynbee: Stow - Tytler (Vol 19), p. 1065."
Ancestry.com, 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2020. – 7 July 1866) was an English otologist whose career was dedicated to pathological and

anatomical Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

studies of the ear.

Personal life

Joseph Toynbee was born in Heckington, Lincolnshire on 30 December 1815, and baptised there on 2 January 1816. He was the third son of fifteen children of the wealthy land owner and farmer George Toynbee (1783–1865). George's first wife and the mother of Joseph, was Elizabeth, (maiden surname of Cullen, 1785–1820). Joseph's parents were married at

Bracebridge, Lincolnshire Bracebridge is a suburb of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. It is situated approximately south from the city centre on the main A1434 Newark Road, stretching approximately from St Catherine's to Swallowbeck alongside the east bank of the R ...

, on 21 May 1811, by Licence. After several years of private tuition, he attended King's Lynn Grammar School in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. At the age of seventeen he studied medicine. His first experience in medicine came when he was apprenticed to William Wade of the Westminster General Dispensary in Gerrard Street in London's

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

. He studied anatomy under George Derby Dermott (1802–1847) at Hunterian Medical School at the

Great Windmill Street Great Windmill Street is a thoroughfare running north–south in Soho, London, crossed by Shaftesbury Avenue. The street has had a long association with music and entertainment, most notably the Windmill Theatre, and is now home to the Ripl ...

, and later gained a reputation as a prosector. Joseph married Harriet Holmes, a daughter of Nathaniel Reynolds Holmes, on 4 August 1846, at St John's Church, Hampstead. The couple were married by Licence. They had nine children together, including

economic historian Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of ...

Arnold Toynbee (1852–1883), the

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

scholar Paget Toynbee (1855–1932) and the bacteriologist Grace Frankland (née Toynbee, 1858–1946).Cohen, S. (23 September 2004). Frankland ée Toynbee Grace Coleridge (1858–1946), bacteriologist. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 30 Jan. 2018, se
link
/ref> Another son, Harry Valpy Toynbee (1861–1941), was the father of universal historian Arnold J. Toynbee, and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

Jocelyn Toynbee. He died on 7 July 1866, at 18, Savile Row, Mayfair, while conducting experiments with prussic acid and

chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane (often abbreviated as TCM), is an organochloride with the formula and a common solvent. It is a volatile, colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to refrigerants and po ...

as a remedy for

tinnitus Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sound when no corresponding external sound is present and other people cannot hear it. Nearly everyone experiences faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely ...

. Either one of these substances or their combination is to blame for his death. He was buried at St Mary's Church, Wimbledon, on 11 July 1866. Joseph's residence on the burial register was listed as Wimbledon. He lived at Beech Holme, Wimbledon. A drinking fountain dedicated to his memory stands near to his home.

Career

He performed studies on the functionality of the

Eustachian tube The Eustachian tube (), also called the auditory tube or pharyngotympanic tube, is a tube that links the nasopharynx to the middle ear, of which it is also a part. In adult humans, the Eustachian tube is approximately long and in diameter. It ...

and

tympanic membrane In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear. Its function is to transmit changes in pressur ...

, and developed a form of tympanoplasty to restore function to the latter when damaged. When St. Mary's Hospital was founded in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

, he a became an aural surgeon and a lecturer on ear diseaseshis course of clinical lectures being published in 1855 and 1866. During this time period he composed two major works: "A Descriptive Catalogue of Preparations Illustrative of the Diseases of the Ear" (1857), and "The Diseases of the Ear: Their Nature, Diagnosis and Treatment" (1860). From his many dissections of "deaf ears", he studied

ankylosis Ankylosis () is a stiffness of a joint due to abnormal adhesion and rigidity of the bones of the joint, which may be the result of injury or disease. The rigidity may be complete or partial and may be due to inflammation of the Tendon, tendinous ...

of the

stapes The ''stapes'' or stirrup is a bone in the middle ear of humans and other tetrapods which is involved in the conduction of sound vibrations to the inner ear. This bone is connected to the oval window by its annular ligament, which allows the f ...

. He was elected a

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 March 1842. Austrian otologist Adam Politzer (1835–1920) penned biographies in French (1905) and German (1914) honoring Toynbee, whom Politzer regarded as a major influence.

Works

* ''On the structure of the membrana tympani in the human ear.'' Richard Taylor, London 1851 * ''On the use of an artificial membrana tympani in cases of deafness : dependent upon perforation or destruction of the natural organ.'' J. Churchill, London 1857 * ''A Descriptive Catalogue of Preparations illustrative of the Diseases of the Ear in the Museum of Joseph Toynbee.'' J. Churchill, London 1857 * ''The Diseases of the Ear: Their Nature, Diagnosis, and Treatment.'' Blanchard and Lea, 1860 * ''Hints on the Formation of Local Museums.'' Robert Hardwicke, 1863

References

External links

''Sketches of Otohistory; Origins of Otology in the British Isles: Wilde and Toynbee''
by Joseph E Hawkins

by Dr. Albert Mudry *

Toynbee genealogy