- John Huxham
John Huxham was born 1672 close to
Totnes ,Devon . He was a provincial doctor and surgeon notable for his study offever s. In 1750 Huxham published his Essay on Fevers and in 1755 received theCopley Medal for his contribution tomedicine .He was educated at
Newton Abbot grammar school, moving on toExeter academy, the university ofLeyden and finishing his M.D. at the university ofRheims .He returned to
Totnes and started a medical practice soon after inPlymouth . His progress to fame was slow but he eventually became the city's most respected medical practitioner.In 1723,
James Jurin , one of the secretaries of theRoyal Society , asked for those equipped to keep daily records of their observations of the weather including readings of the barometric pressure, temperature, rainfall, and direction and strength of the wind. Their observations were to be submitted annually to the secretaries of the society for collation and analysis. In 1724 Huxham began to keep such records and, from 1728 on until 1748, he noted monthly the prevalence of epidemic diseases. These records he published in two volumes.Huxham was perhaps the first in
England to classify the diseaseInfluenza . He is also associated with diagnosis ofscurvy and for a recommended cure of drinkingcider .Huxham died
August 10 ,1768 .References
* http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1033955
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