Thomas Trotter (doctor)

Thomas Trotter (* 1760 in Melrose , Roxburghshire , † September 5, 1832 in Newcastle upon Tyne ) was a Scottish naval doctor and author .

He was best known as a leading medical reformer in the Royal Navy and as a committed critic of the slave trade . Trotter studied medicine with Alexander Monro II in Edinburgh . He is considered to be the main founder of Medicina Nautica .

Life

Trotter was born in Roxburghshire in 1760 and studied medicine in Edinburgh. As a surgical assistant he served on the HMS Berwick (1775) during the clashes in the English Channel in 1779 as well as at the Battle of the Dogger Bank (1781) , and (probably) the Siege of Gibraltar in 1782. He later received a doctorate as a surgeon. After the peace treaty in 1783 and the downsizing of the Royal Navy, however, he was no longer employed and hired as a surgeon on a Guineaman (slave trader) in Liverpool. Here he took over the medical care of the slaves on the way to the West Indies . An outbreak of scurvy on board focused his attention on this disease.

Daniel Orme (1766-circa 1832): Portrait of Thomas Trotter 1796

Trotter devoted himself to medical studies in Edinburgh and graduated in 1788 with the title Dr. med. from. During the Spanish attack of 1790 he was hired by Vice General Robert Roddam (1719-1808) as a surgeon for his flagship HMS Royal William . Then in 1793 he was a surgeon for HMS Vengeance on a trip to the West Indies and back. In December of that year he got a job as a second doctor at the Royal Hospital in Haslar near Portsmouth, which had only a few doctors. Lord Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe then nominated him in April 1794 as a doctor for the English Channel Fleet. In this capacity he took part in the campaigns of 1794 and 1795, as well as in the battle of June 1, 1794 and appears to be on Cornwalli's side on 16-17. June 1795 to have fought together. He also joined the squadron under Lord Bridport ( Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport ) shortly after the events of June 23, 1795.

When he went on a visit on board one of the ships, he suffered an unspecified rupture , which from then on made it impossible for him to continue his service at sea. Trotter then received a pension and took over a private practice in Newcastle, which he later gave up. However, he was still active as a writer, mostly on specialist topics. He died in Newcastle on September 5, 1832. He was married twice.

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At the age of 16, Trotter wrote lyrical verses, which were published in Walter Ruddiman's Edinburgh Magazine in 1777 and 1778 . His dissertation on Dr. med. (De Ebrietate ejusque effectibus in corpus humanum) was published under the English title An Essay, medical, philosophical, and chemical, on Drunkenness, and its Effects in the Human Body (1804; 4th ed. 1812). After opening a private medical practice in Wooler , Northumberland , he wrote his notes on scurvy. These were published under the title Observations in the Scurvy (1786; 2nd expanded edition 1792). Treatment options for scurvy were already listed by James Lind in his Treatise of 1754. Trotter, however, confirmed Lind's theses through extensive observations. In 1795 Sir Gilbert Blane enforced the general use of lemon juice at the British Navy Department.

Fonts

• A Review of the Medical Department in the British Navy, with a Method of Reform proposed , 1790.
• Medical and Chemical Essays, containing additional Observations on Scurvy… 1795; 2nd edition 1796.
• Medicina Nautica: an Essay on the Diseases of Seamen , Vol. 1, 1797; Vol. 2, 1799; Vol. 3, 1803.
• Suspiria Oceani: a Monody on the death of Richard, Earl Howe , 1800.
• A Proposal for Destroying the Fire and Choak Damps of Coal Mines… 1805. This work yielded two controversial replies from Henry Dewar and “A Friend to Rational Schemes of Improvement”.
• A Second Address to the Owners and Agents of Coal Mines on destroying the Fire and Choak Damp , 1806.
• A View of the Nervous Temperament; being a Practical Treatise on Nervous, Bilious, Stomach, and Liver Complaints , 1807; 2nd edition 1808.
• The Noble Foundling, or the Hermit of the Tweed: a Tragedy , 1812.
• A practicable Plan for Manning the Royal Navy ... without Impressment. Addressed to Admiral Lord Viscount Exmouth , 1819.
• Sea Weeds: Poems written on various occasions, chiefly during a naval life , 1829.

Trotter has also contributed to the European Magazine , Medical Journal and other periodicals.