GB 0114 MS0073 - Whytt, Robert (1714-1766)

1 volume

GB 0114 MS0073 c 1765 Collection (fonds) 1 volume Unknown

Robert Whytt was born in Edinburgh in 1714. He studied in St Andrews, where he was awarded Master of Arts in 1730, and also in Edinburgh, Paris and Leiden. He was awarded Doctor of Medicine at the University of Rheims in 1736. He began to practice as a doctor in 1738. He was appointed Professor of Medicine, at the University of Edinburgh in 1747, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1752. Whytt's important work concerned unconscious reflexes, tubercular meningitis, and the treatment of urinary bladder stones. His experiments indirectly led to the discovery of carbon dioxide by Joseph Black in 1754. His studies of reflexology and tubercular meningitis had a greater impact on the science of medicine. Whytt was the first to ascribe a reflex - Whytt's reflex, a dilation of the pupil brought on by pressure on the optic thalamus - to a specific part of the body. He also demonstrated that the spinal cord, rather than the brain, could be the source of involuntary action. His description of 'dropsy of the brain' (tubercular meningitis) was the first methodical and accurate definition of the disease, and it would have been impossible to define to a more accurate extent with the instruments available in at that time. He was physician to King George III in Scotland from 1761. He was elected President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1763. He died in 1766.

The provenance of this volume is not known.

Papers relating to Robert Whytt, c 1765, comprising a volume containing notes of lectures given by Robert Whytt (1714-1766), William Cullen (1710-1790) and Alexander Monro (1733-1817), written by an unknown hand.

As outlined in Scope and Content.

By written appointment only.

No photocopying permitted.

English

Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1928) by Victor G Plarr.

See collection descriptions for William Cullen - MS0054, and Alexander Monro.

Compiled by Anya Turner.

Source: Navigational Aids for the History of Science, Technology and the Environment (NAHSTE) website at http://www.nahste.ac.uk/isaar/GB_0237_NAHSTE_P0256.html

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Aug 2008 Clinical medicine Cullen , William , 1710-1790 , chemist and physician Europe Lectures (teaching method) Medical sciences Monro , Alexander , 1733-1817 , anatomist x Monro secundus Observation Royal Infirmary , Edinburgh Scotland Teaching methods UK Western Europe Whytt , Robert , 1714-1766 , physician and natural philosopher Scientific methods London England

The provenance of this volume is not known.

Papers relating to Robert Whytt, c 1765, comprising a volume containing notes of lectures given by Robert Whytt (1714-1766), William Cullen (1710-1790) and Alexander Monro (1733-1817), written by an unknown hand.

As outlined in Scope and Content.

By written appointment only.

No photocopying permitted.

• inglês

• latim

English

See collection descriptions for William Cullen - MS0054, and Alexander Monro.

Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1928) by Victor G Plarr.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• inglês