Essay on Dr. James Lind: From Grammar School to Medical Pioneer

Dr. James Lind was born on the 4th of October in the year 1716 at a place called Edinburgh. A son to James Lind, his father was a merchant while the mother Margaret Smelholme had connections within the field of medicine (Baron, 2013). Dr. Lind was lucky enough to study grammar at a school located in Edinburgh. In 1731, Lind became an apprentice of a surgeon by the name George Langlands (Baron, 2013). Two years later, Lind enrolled at a local university to study anatomy under the tutorship of Alexander Monro (Baron, 2013). Later on, after four years, Dr. Lind became a member of the royal navy whereby he was a surgeon aboard a ship under the control of Nicholas Haddock without having any officially recognized qualifications (Baron, 2013).

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In the year 1740, he joined another war vessel under the command of George Edgcumbe, whereby he similarly served as a surgeon (Baron, 2013). During his time at sea in which a significant portion of it was spent within the English Channel, Dr. Lind carried out experiments on the scurvy disease using his fellow navy men as the specimen (Baron, 2013). In his experiments, as he mildly understood the disease, Lind defined the patients who quickly recovered from the ailment as oranges or lemons to differentiate them from the others (Baron, 2013).

In 1748, the year which marked his exit from the royal navy, Dr. Lind also graduated with a Doctor in Medicine degree from his hometown university with a thesis solely focused on venereal diseases and motivated by his experience as a navy man (Milne, 2012). Moreover, he became a husband to a woman by the name Isabel Dickie. Two years later, after officially graduating as a medical practitioner, Lind acquired recognition as he was elected as a member of the Royal College of physicians in which he also became its treasurer some six years later (Milne, 2012). Moreover, Dr. Lind was also part of the Philosophical and Medical Society within his hometown.

While working in Edinburgh, Dr. Lind became famous for writing a book known as "A treatise of the scurvy" in the year 1753 which was specifically dedicated to one Lord Anson (Milne, 2012). In this particular book, Lind discussed the theories he had developed regarding the causes as well as the cures to the scurvy disease (Milne, 2012). His book claimed that the scurvy disease was caused by dietary issues as well as problems with the digestive tract (Milne, 2012). Moreover, the write-up proposed that a warm and dry environment combined with a digestible meal would work towards curing the disease in question (Milne, 2012).

In 1754, Dr. Lind was responsible for publishing a paper within a local magazine whereby he addressed issues concerning the harmful effects of lead salts used in different ships (Milne, 2012). Shortly afterward, it was followed by an essay write-up in the year 1757 which he dedicated to his former ship captain George Edgcumbe (Milne, 2012). The essay focused on the life of seamen whereby it claimed that a significant percentage of soldiers died from diseases and climatic conditions rather than injuries as a result of shipwrecks, being captured by the enemy or even starvation (Milne, 2012). As of the year 1758, Dr. Lind had acquired a role as the physician-in-charge at a local hospital in Edinburgh where he served for twenty-five years (Milne, 2012).

While still working at the local hospital, Dr. Lind continued carrying out experiments, publishing different medical related write-ups as well as advocating and campaigning for better hygienic conditions aboard ships (Milne, 2012). In the year 1962, he proposed distillation as a simple and effective way of supplying seamen with fresh water (Milne, 2012). Although it was not the first time such a suggestion had been made, Dr. Lind's method of distillation was suitable for use as the addition of chemicals was unnecessary (Milne, 2012).

Moreover, he proposed that men at sea should shower regularly and that ships should be well ventilated in addition to undergoing fumigation continually (Baron, 2013). Furthermore, Dr. Lind also suggested that seamen should be subjected to an improved dietary as well as a constant supply of fresh vegetable foods (Baron, 2013). While not at sea, Lind proposed that settlements should not be built in areas with low-lying swamps as the environment was a significant component of public health (Baron, 2013). As a result of his experience as a medical practitioner, Dr. Lind published another write-up namely "Diseases Incidental to Europeans in Hot Climates" as of the year 1771 which was focused explicitly on travelers using sea transport as well as emigrants to tropical areas (Baron, 2013).

However, in the year 1783, Dr. Lind had reached the tail end of his career as a medical practitioner. He retired from his post as the physician-in-charge whereby he was replaced by his son who had previously worked as his deputy (Baron, 2013). Some 11 years after officially retiring from his professional career, Dr. Lind died at a place called Gosport (Baron, 2013). By the time of death, Dr. Lind had significantly impacted the world of medicine as he was highly willing to conduct experiments which substantially deviated from the customary medical norms and practices.

References

Baron, J. H. (2013). Who was James Lind, and what exactly did he achieve. Journal of the Royal

Society of Medicine, 106(4), 118-118. doi:10.1177/0141076813483090

Milne, I. (2012). Who was James Lind, and what exactly did he achieve. Journal of the Royal

Society of Medicine, 105(12), 503-508.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1258/jrsm.2012.12k090