Patronage and Enlightened Medicine in the Eighteenth-century British Military: The Rise and Fall of Dr John Pringle, 1707-1782

In 1752, the Scottish-born physician John Pringle (1707–1782) published his Observations on the Diseases of the Army in Camp and Garrison based on his experiences as an army physician during the War of the Austrian Succession. The work was to propel him to the position of personal physician to King George III and President of the Royal Society. This paper examines Pringle's contribution in the light of his Scottish origins and the interests of his Hanoverian patrons. It explores his effort to apply his physician's expertise to the protection of groups subject to outbreaks of epidemic fever and traces his approach from the locally-oriented investigations of the Edinburgh medical community towards an experimental study of putrefaction that was embraced by the Royal Society. Finally, it explores Pringle's resignation as President when his contribution became associated with an emerging radical natural philosophy incompatible with the desires of his patron.
Source: Social History of Medicine - Category: History of Medicine Authors: Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research