Golding Bird

Golding Bird

Golding Bird (* 1815 ; † October 27, 1854 in London ) was a general practitioner who was the first to run a hospital ward in which galvanic direct current was used in the treatment of diseases in humans.

Bird was born in England in 1815 and died in London in 1854, presumably as a result of rheumatic heart disease. Bird was a student at Guy's Hospital in London and was hired there in 1836 as a philosophy teacher . As part of this work Bird wrote a work on natural sciences , which appeared in four editions during his lifetime. Bird began working as a general practitioner in London, but was not very successful economically. In 1838 Bird was employed as a doctor at Finsbury Hospital, London, where he remained until 1843, when he was appointed resident at Guy's Hospital in 1843. Bird began his teaching and research in the field of galvanotherapy in 1847. In 1849 he published for the first time on this topic ( Bird, G., 1849, Lectures on Electricity and Galvanism in Their Physiological and Therapeutic Relations, London) . On the basis of his experience, Bird compiled a list of indications for the therapeutic use of galvanic current, which was later expanded by other doctors such as Robert Remak in 1858.

source

JH Balfour: Biographical sketch of the late Dr Golding Bird. London 1855.