281:
ingenious and accomplished Mr. Charles Darwin, informed him of its being used by his father and myself, in cases of
Hydrothorax, and that he has ever since mentioned it in his lectures, and sometimes employed it in his practice." Though there is no indication as to the author of the case descriptions, implying that they were part of Charles Darwin's dissertation, in later publications Erasmus Darwin said he had appended case notes, and it seems clear that these were his own. In a paper, dated 14 January 1785 and read on 16 March of that year, Erasmus Darwin published a more detailed "account of the successful use of foxglove", but this gained little attention. Withering's "account" has a preface dated 1 July 1885, and its publication later that year convinced physicians of the use of digitalis as treatment. While Darwin had priority of publication, Withering is rightly given credit for finding and developing this treatment, and was understandably annoyed at Erasmus Darwin. The book of dissertations also had a note of "other ingenious works of the late Mr Darwin in the Hands of the Editor, which may at some distant time be given to the public". The only one discovered was Charles Darwin's unpublished manuscript on the
324:, Charles wrote home "What an extraordinary old man he is, now being past 80, & continuing to lecture", though Dr. Hawley, who had shown them round the city, thought Duncan was now failing. In an 1879 biographical sketch of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin, he outlined his uncle's life, and said that "Professor Andrew Duncan, in whose family vault Charles was buried, cut a lock of hair from the corpse, and took it to a jeweller, whose apprentice, afterwards the famous
180:
192:
present in the
Medical Society, where he mentioned to Dr. Duncan the dissection he had made, and promised the next day to furnish him with an account of all the circumstances in writing. But the next day, to his headach there supervened other febrile symptoms. And, in a short time, from the hemorrhagies, petechial eruption, and foetid loose stools which occurred, his disease manifested a very putrescent tendency.
243:
The author's name was shown as
Charles Darwin, and Erasmus wrote a short memoir as an appendix, including the description of his son's childhood shown above. It also includes the only description Erasmus published of the boy's mother, Mary Howard, praising her for having brought their son up to have
126:
in the Autumn of 1775 or early in 1776, and was well settled in by April. At that time the university had a Europe wide reputation for its invigorating emphasis on experimental methods and intellectual stimulus. Soon after joining the university Darwin became friends with the up-and-coming clinical
49:
He had frequent opportunities in his early years of observing the various fossile productions in their native beds; and descended the mines of
Derbyshire, and of some other counties, with uncommon pleasure and observation. He collected with care the products of these countries; and examined them by
46:
accustomed to examine all natural objects with more attention than is usual: first by his senses simply; then by tools, which were his playthings – By this early use of his hands, he gained accurate ideas of many of the qualities of bodies; and was thence afterwards enabled to acquire the knowledge
263:
68", and the words "The fox-glove has been given to dropsical patients in this country with considerable success: the following cases are related with design to ascertain the particular kinds of dropsy, in which this drug is preferable to squill, or other evacuants." The case notes given on these
191:
About the end of April, Mr. Darwin had employed the greatest part of a day in accurately dissecting the brain of a child which had died of hydrocephalus, and which he had attended during its life. That very evening he was seized with severe head-ach. This, however, did not prevent him from being
280:
book as 25 July 1776, and it appears that he learnt of the use of digitalis when both he and
Withering saw this patient in consultation. Withering's description suggests he is annoyed at Darwin's incomplete account, and Page 8 of his book says that "Dr. Duncan also tells me that the late very
86:. His mother suffered from a long illness, and died on 30 July 1770. Erasmus showed deep distress, but was resilient and after about a year found another partner. Charles continued to show impressive abilities as he grew up. He made friends with some of his father's fellow members of the
50:
such experiments, as he had been taught,or had discovered: hence he obtained not only distinct but indelible ideas of the properties of bodies, at the very time when he learnt the names of them; and thus the complicate science of chemistry became not only easy, but delightful to him.
275:
The book of Darwin's dissertations does not mention
Withering, but the first case described in its appendix is a "Miss Hill of Aston near Newport" who is given a more detailed description as case IV in Withering's book. Erasmus Darwin noted the date in his
78:. Darwin was only allowed to converse in French, and by their return in or possibly after March 1767 he was able to speak fluent French without a stammer, but the problem persisted when he spoke English. He went on to study at
113:
there on 30 March 1775. He studied at Oxford for less than a year, as he disliked the curriculum as pursuing "classical elegance" and "sigh'd to be removed to the robuster exercises of the medical schools of
Edinburgh."
790:
328:, set it in a locket for a memorial. The venerable professor spoke to me about him with the warmest affection forty-seven years after his death, when I was a young medical student in Edinburgh."
533:
143:
appears to have been one of
Charles Darwin's earliest works, showing his abilities in observations of variations due to age or exercise, and a good grasp of the current literature on
47:
of mechanics with ease and with accuracy; and the invention and improvement of machines was one of the first efforts of his ingenuity, and one of the first sources of his amusement.
244:"sympathy with the pains and pleasures of others", and "as she had wisely sown no seeds of superstition in his mind, there was nothing to overshade the virtues she had implanted."
241:
Experiments establishing a criterion between mucaginous and purulent matter. And an account of the retrograde motion from the absorbent vessels of animal bodies in some diseases.
135:. He discussed his interests in letters to his father, commenting on new ideas and therapies in use. In April 1776 Erasmus wrote mentioning studies of the human
317:. While he was a child they called him "Bobby", but he became known simply as Charles Darwin, eclipsing the memory of the short life of his uncle of that name.
171:. As well as following the teachings on this subject in Edinburgh at that time, it showed his independent ideas and evidence from well considered experiments.
235:
Erasmus translated his son's graduating dissertation from Latin into
English, and had it together with the gold medal winning dissertation published in
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321:
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534:"Site Record for Edinburgh, 33 Chapel Street, Buccleuch Parish Church Buccleuch Street And Chapel Street, Buccleuch Parish Church Prints"
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who was known to the family as Eras. When their second boy was born they named him after his uncle and father, both medical men,
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pages are the first published account of the treatment, predating the description published in 1785 by its discoverer
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A memoir by his father recalled young
Charles Darwin as having a precocious interest in science, from infancy being:
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at Edinburgh, and won this medal in March 1778. His graduating dissertation, written as a conventional thesis in
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Charles Darwin's younger brother Erasmus Darwin II became a rich solicitor, but in 1799 drowned himself in the
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In October 1825 the brothers Eras and Charles went to Edinburgh University, and in January they visited
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30:(though dying before his nephew's birth). He showed considerable promise while studying medicine at the
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Erasmus Darwin. Translated from the German by W. S. Dallas, with a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin
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310:
106:
305:, followed his father and eldest brother into medicine, becoming a successful physician. He married
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Charles Darwin: A companion. 2d online edition, compiled by Sue Asscher and edited by John van Wyhe
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223:), sited on the south side of Edinburgh at 33 Chapel Street, not far from the Old College of the
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700:(2d online edition, compiled by Sue Asscher and edited by John van Wyhe ed.). Darwin Online
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Charles Darwin. A paper contributed to the Transactions of the Shropshire Archæological Society
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580:"Darwin Correspondence Project – Letter 22 – Darwin, C. R. to Susan Darwin, 29 January (1826)"
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309:, and in the family tradition they named their first boy after his grandfather and uncle,
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59:
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513:"The Rough Guide to Evolution: Charles Darwin senior: cause of death and place of burial"
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131:, staying in his house and getting personal guidance as well as access to the wards of
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He died on 15 May 1778, apparently from a cut sustained while performing an autopsy.
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What are the established varieties of the pulse, their causes & uses in medicine
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26:(1731–1802) and Mary Howard (1740–70), and was the uncle of the famous naturalist
718:"Charles Darwin (1758-1778) and the history of the early use of digitalis. 1934"
71:
62:, around the end of October 1766 the eight-year-old Charles Darwin was sent to
536:. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. 2011
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Charles Darwin was buried in the family vault of his professor and mentor,
394:"Charles Darwin (1758–1778) and the history of the early use of digitalis"
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83:
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Medical and Philosophical Commentaries (Edinburgh, 1778, 5, 329–336)
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The Works of Charles Darwin: An Annotated Bibliographical Handlist
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63:
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Memorial tablet above Darwin's grave, Buccleuch Church, Edinburgh
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which had, in his father's view, an excessive emphasis on the
247:
Pages 103–112 describe the use of "decoction of foxglove" (
70:. They travelled, and brought back many aromatic plants of
147:. He submitted a dissertation on the distinction between
270:
An account of the foxglove and some of its medical uses
58:
as a child. In an attempt to cure this by learning the
22:(3 September 1758 – 15 May 1778) was the eldest son of
196:
The clinical picture described here, particularly the
791:
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School
442:"Erasmus Darwin's Life at Lichfield: Fresh Evidence"
285:, which was found in the Medical Society of London.
446:Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London
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255:), under the heading "A note belonging to
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679:. London: Michael Joseph, Penguin Group.
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163:, discussed the relationship between the
492:', Simpkin and Marshall, 1830, pp. cxi.
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155:for the first annual gold medal of the
655:. Folkestone: Wm Dawson & Sons Ltd
641:. London: John Murray. pp. 80–82.
7:
637:; Krause, E. "Preliminary notice".
200:, strongly supports a diagnosis of
66:with a private tutor, the Reverend
34:, but died while still a student.
14:
211:MD, in the Burying Ground of the
101:In September 1774 Darwin entered
38:Childhood and classical education
16:Son of Erasmus Darwin (1758–1778)
440:King-Hele, Desmond (July 1995).
139:, and an unpublished manuscript
133:The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
796:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
392:Fulton, John F. (August 1934).
1:
801:Accidental deaths in Scotland
511:Pallen, Mark (20 July 2011).
213:Parish Church of St Cuthbert
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54:Like his father, he had a
603:. London: Trubner. p. 18.
109:at the age of 16, and he
619:. J. Murray. p. 82.
599:Woodall, Edward (1884) "
567:Desmond & Moore 1991
555:Desmond & Moore 1991
239:in book form in 1780 as
694:Freeman, R. B. (2007).
225:University of Edinburgh
221:Buccleuch Parish Church
124:University of Edinburgh
118:University of Edinburgh
32:University of Edinburgh
771:Darwin–Wedgwood family
635:Darwin, Charles Robert
490:Botanical Commentaries
459:10.1098/rsnr.1995.0025
198:petechial haemorrhages
194:
184:
122:Darwin arrived at the
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776:People from Lichfield
613:Ernst Krause (1879).
315:Charles Robert Darwin
251:) to treat "dropsy" (
202:meningococcal disease
189:
182:
322:"the old Dr. Duncan"
311:Erasmus Alvey Darwin
303:Robert Waring Darwin
107:University of Oxford
231:Publication of work
157:Aesculapian Society
736:10.1007/bf02351508
297:. The youngest of
185:
716:(December 1999).
398:Bull N Y Acad Med
307:Susannah Wedgwood
266:William Withering
175:Illness and death
145:blood circulation
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301:'s three sons,
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161:classical Latin
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60:French language
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723:J Urban Health
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647:Freeman, R. B.
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616:Erasmus Darwin
605:
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452:(2): 231–243.
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404:(8): 496–506.
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326:Sir H. Raeburn
299:Erasmus Darwin
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217:chapel of ease
176:
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167:and "dropsy",
119:
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39:
36:
28:Charles Darwin
24:Erasmus Darwin
20:Charles Darwin
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730:(4): 533–41.
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88:Lunar Society
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702:. Retrieved
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673:Moore, James
657:. Retrieved
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583:. Retrieved
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361:Freeman 2007
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786:1778 deaths
781:1758 births
278:Commonplace
72:Montpellier
765:Categories
628:References
363:, p.
347:, p.
289:Relatives
249:digitalis
237:Lichfield
754:10609600
675:(1991).
659:18 April
649:(1977).
585:13 March
476:11615281
420:19311925
127:teacher
84:Classics
745:3456699
704:17 July
540:17 July
518:27 July
411:1965666
56:stammer
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677:Darwin
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468:532012
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464:JSTOR
332:Notes
283:pulse
149:mucus
137:pulse
76:Gouan
74:from
64:Paris
750:PMID
706:2011
681:ISBN
661:2009
587:2021
542:2011
520:2011
472:PMID
416:PMID
259:65,
257:page
151:and
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
