Michael Ryan (1800–1840) was a British physician and author,

Life

The ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'' states that Ryan was probably born in Ireland. His medical training took place in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He then went into practice in

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

for some years, moving to London in 1829. Ryan was a member of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

in London, where he practised, and was a physician to the

Metropolitan Free Hospital The Metropolitan Free Hospital was a London hospital, founded in 1836 and based for most of its existence in Kingsland Road, Hackney. It became part of the NHS in 1948, and closed in 1977, with its residual functions transferring to Barts Hospit ...

. He also took on a number of lecturing posts. He died in London on 11 December 1840, leaving a young family.

Works

In 1831, Ryan published part of a course of lectures on

medical jurisprudence Medical jurisprudence or legal medicine is the branch of science and medicine involving the study and application of scientific and medical knowledge to legal problems, such as inquests, and in the field of law. As modern medicine is a legal ...

under the title ''Lectures on Population, Marriage, and Divorce as Questions of State Medicine, comprising an Account of the Causes and Treatment of Impotence and Sterility''. These lectures were delivered at the medical theatre

Hatton Garden Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favourit ...

. In the same year appeared the completed form of his ''Manual of Medical Jurisprudence, being an Analysis of a Course of Lectures on Forensic Medicine''. A second and enlarged edition was issued in 1836, an edition with notes by R. E. Griffith, M.D., having been published in Philadelphia in 1832. In 1831 also appeared the third edition, of Ryan's ''Manual of Midwifery … comprising a new Nomenclature of Obstetric Medicine, with a concise Account of the Symptoms and Treatment of the most important Diseases of Women and Children.'' An enlarged edition was issued in 1841, rewritten, and containing 120 figures. The ''Atlas of Obstetricity'' had been issued separately in 1840. An American edition of the ''Manual'' appeared at Burlington, Vermont, in 1835. In editing from 1832 to 1838 the original ''London Medical and Surgical Journal'', Ryan had some assistance from

James Fernandez Clarke James Fernandez Clarke (1812–1876) was an English surgeon and medical writer. Life Clarke was born at Olney, Buckinghamshire; his father and grandfather were prosperous lace merchants. After one or two brief apprenticeships, in 1828 he was pl ...

. His later publications included ''The Philosophy of Marriage in its Social, Moral, and Physical Relations; with an Account of the Diseases of the Genito-Urinary Organs and the Physiology of Generation in the Vegetable and Animal Kingdom'', 1837; this formed part of a course of obstetric lectures delivered at the North London School of Medicine. Twelve editions in all, the last in 1867, were issued. This work contained an attack on extreme proponents of

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

. It was followed in 1839 by ''Prostitution in London, with a Comparative View of that of Paris and New York … with an Account of the Nature and Treatment of the various Diseases''. The historian

Peter Gay Peter Joachim Gay ( né Fröhlich ; June 20, 1923 – May 12, 2015) was a German-American historian, educator, and author. He was a Sterling Professor of History at Yale University and former director of the New York Public Library's Center for ...

classifies it as an "alarmist" work on prostitution, comparable to James Beard Talbot's ''Miseries of Prostitution'', which appeared five years later. Ryan also published ''The Medico-Chirurgical Pharmacopœia'', 1837, 2nd ed. 1839; and Thomas Denman's ''Obstetrician's Vade-Mecum, edited and augmented'', 1836. He translated and added to ''Le Nouveau Formulaire pratique des Hôpitaux'' by

Henri Milne-Edwards Henri Milne-Edwards (23 October 1800 – 29 July 1885) was a French zoologist. Biography Henri Milne-Edwards was the 27th child of William Edwards, an English planter and colonel of the militia in Jamaica and Elisabeth Vaux, a Frenchwoman. Hen ...

and Pierre Vavasseur.

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Michael 1800 births 1840 deaths 19th-century Irish medical doctors British medical writers