Charles Murchison (physician) facts for kids
Charles Murchison (born 26 July 1830 – died 23 April 1879) was a famous British doctor. He was known for being an expert on fevers and illnesses of the liver.
Early Life and Education
Charles Murchison was born in Jamaica on 26 July 1830. When he was three years old, his family moved to Scotland, where he grew up.
He started studying at the University of Aberdeen when he was just fifteen. Two years later, he began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Charles was a brilliant student and won many awards and medals. He was especially good at surgery. By the age of twenty, he had already passed his exams to become a surgeon. In 1851, he earned his medical degree (M.D.) with a special paper on diseases, which won him a gold medal.
After finishing his studies, he worked briefly as a doctor for the British embassy in Turin, Italy. He then returned to Edinburgh to work at the Royal Infirmary.
A Career in Medicine
After more studies in Dublin and Paris, Charles Murchison joined the Bengal Army in India in 1853. He quickly became a professor of chemistry at the Medical College in Calcutta. He also served during an expedition to Burma in 1854. His experiences there helped him write important articles about the climate and diseases in Burma.
In 1855, Murchison left India and moved to London to work as a doctor. He started working at the Westminster General Dispensary. Soon after, he joined St. Mary's Hospital, where he taught botany and helped organize the museum.
He also worked at other hospitals, including Middlesex Hospital and the London Fever Hospital. His time at the London Fever Hospital was very important because it made him focus his research on fevers. He became a well-respected expert in this area.
In 1871, Charles Murchison became a doctor and lecturer at St. Thomas's Hospital. In 1873, he famously discovered that a typhoid fever outbreak was caused by contaminated milk. For this important work, people in West London thanked him with a special award.
His dedication to medicine earned him many honors. In 1866, he was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a very prestigious group for scientists. He also became a member of the Royal College of Physicians and gave important lectures there.
Family and Lasting Impact
In 1859, Charles Murchison married Clara Elizabeth. They had nine children together.
On 23 April 1879, while seeing patients, he suddenly died from heart disease. He had known about his heart condition for nine years but chose to keep working. He was buried in Norwood Cemetery.
To honor his memory, the Charles Murchison Scholarship in Clinical Medicine was created. This scholarship helps medical students in London and Edinburgh. A marble statue of him was also placed in St. Thomas's Hospital.
His collection of plant specimens is kept in Edinburgh, and his Indian plant samples are at Kew Gardens.
Key Medical Works
Charles Murchison made very important contributions to medical science. His most famous book was "A Treatise on the Continued Fevers of Great Britain," published in 1862. This book quickly became a standard guide for doctors studying fevers. It was even translated into German and French.
He also focused a lot on diseases of the liver. He wrote "Clinical Lectures on Diseases of the Liver, Jaundice, and Abdominal Dropsy" in 1868. Later, in 1874, he gave lectures on "Functional Derangements of the Liver," which were also translated into French.
Murchison was very active in scientific groups, especially the Pathological Society of London. He contributed 143 papers and reports to this society. He also wrote for many medical journals, including the Edinburgh Medical Journal and the British Medical Journal. In total, he published 311 works, including articles, lectures, and reports.
