The ''Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta'' was a society of British officials, mostly physicians, formed on March 1, 1823. The society published a quarterly journal and met at the

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research" (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions). It was founded by the philologist Will ...

. The journal published articles on diseases prevailing in India and their links with environment and sanitation. Prominent members included Sir

James Ranald Martin Sir James Ranald Martin (12 May 1796 – 27 November 1874) was a British military surgeon in Colonial India who worked in the service of the Honourable East India Company and was instrumental in publicising the effects of deforestation, and find ...

who was instrumental in publishing medico-topographical reports of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

and establishing links between environment and health, and

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and

William Brooke O'Shaughnessy Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy (from 1861 as William O'Shaughnessy Brooke) (October 1809 – 8 January 1889) was an Irish physician famous for his wide-ranging scientific work in pharmacology, chemistry, and inventions related to telegraphy an ...

, who published one of the first medical uses of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

in the journal of the society. There are few records of the journal after 1857. The society was also referred to as ''Medical and Physical Society of Bengal'' and ''Calcutta Medical and Physical Society''.

Notable members

* James Atkinson *

Henry John Carter Henry John Carter, FRS (18 August 1813 – 4 May 1895) was a surgeon working in Bombay, India, who carried out work in geology, paleontology, and zoology. He worked as an army surgeon in Bombay from 1859 on Her Majesty's Indian Service, Bom ...

Horace Hayman Wilson Horace Hayman Wilson (26 September 1786 – 8 May 1860) was an English orientalist who was elected the first Boden Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University. Life He studied medicine at St Thomas's Hospital, and went out to India in 1808 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medical And Physical Society Of Calcutta Scientific societies based in India Organizations established in 1823 Medical associations based in India