William Cumberland Cruikshank

Sketch for Cruikshank's experiments 1776 (1795)

William Cumberland Cruikshank (* 1745 in Edinburgh ; † June 27, 1800 ) was a British anatomist .

Life

William Cumberland Cruikshank was born in Edinburgh. He first studied theology in Glasgow, then medicine. From 1771 he worked in London as a prosector for the anatomist and surgeon John Hunter . After Hunter's death in 1793, Cruikshank continued to run Hunter's Institute with Matthew Baillie .

In June 1776 Cruikshank reported to the London Royal Society on the results of animal experiments he had carried out under Hunter's guidance. He had severed the vagus nerve in dogs' cervical spine. A few weeks later, he found newly grown tissue in these dogs in the area of the injuries, which filled the gap. He interpreted this as regeneration of the severed nerve. His report was initially not published because it was doubted that the newly grown tissue was nerve tissue. It was not until 1795, when John Haighton (1755-1823) also presented a work on the regeneration of nerve tissue, that Cruikshank's work from 1776 was published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society .

William Cumberland Cruikshank is often confused with the chemist and military doctor William Cruickshank († around 1810).

Works (selection)

Experiments on the Nerves, particularly on their Reproduction; and on the Spinal Marrow of Living Animals. By William Cruikshank, Esq. Communicated by the late John Hunter, Esq. FRS - Read June 13, 1776 . In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. For the Year MDCCXCV (1795), pp. 177-189 (digitized version )

Experiments on the insensible perspiration of the human body, shewing its affinity to respiration. Published originally in 1779, and now republished with additions and corrections. G. Nicol, London 1795 (digitized version)

Christian Friedrich Michaelis (translator). William Cruikschank's treatise on imperceptible exhalation and its relationship with breathing. Reinicke and Hinrichs, Leipzig 1798 (digitized version)

The anatomy of the absorbing vessels. G. Nicol, London 1786 (digitized version) , 2nd edition 1790 (digitized version)

Petit-Radel (translator). Anatomy of the vaisseaux absorbans du corps humain . Froullé, Paris 1787 (digitized version )

Christian Friedrich Ludwig (translator). William Cruikshank's and Paul Mascagni's history and description of the human body's suction vessels . Weidmann, Leipzig 1789, part I (digitized) , part II (digitized) , part III (digitized)

literature

A New General Biographical Dictionary . Volume VI, London 1857, p. 506 (digitized version)

Sidney Ochs. The early history of nerve regeneration beginning with Cruikshank's observations in 1776. In: Medical History, 1977, 21: 261-74 (digitized version )

Georg W. Kreutzberg: Brief history of regeneration in the nervous system. In: NeuroForum , 1/2004, pp. 163–168, mdc-berlin.de (PDF; 2.68 MB).

Web links

Works by and about William Cumberland Cruikshank in the German Digital Library

Individual evidence

↑ Experiments on the Nerves, particularly on their Reproduction; and on the Spinal Marrow of Living Animals. By William Cruikshank, Esq. Communicated by the late John Hunter, Esq. FRSS Read June 13, 1776 . In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. For the Year MDCCXCV (1795), pp. 177-189 (digitized version )

↑ An experimental Inquiry concerning the Reproduction of Nerves. By John Haighton, MD Communicated by Maxwell Garthshore, MDFRS Read Fevruary 26, 179 5. In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. For the Year MDCCXCV (1795), pp. 190–201 (digitized version )

↑ Note in: Experiments on the insensible perspiration of the human body, shewing its affinity to respiration. Published originally in 1779, and now republished with additions and corrections. G. Nicol, London 1795, pp. 88–89 (digitized version )

personal data
SURNAME	Cruikshank, William Cumberland
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British anatomist
DATE OF BIRTH	1745
PLACE OF BIRTH	Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH	June 27, 1800

[1] Experiments on the Nerves, particularly on their Reproduction; and on the Spinal Marrow of Living Animals. By William Cruikshank, Esq. Communicated by the late John Hunter, Esq. FRSS Read June 13, 1776 . In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. For the Year MDCCXCV (1795), pp. 177-189 (digitized version )

[2] An experimental Inquiry concerning the Reproduction of Nerves. By John Haighton, MD Communicated by Maxwell Garthshore, MDFRS Read Fevruary 26, 179 5. In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. For the Year MDCCXCV (1795), pp. 190–201 (digitized version )

[3] Note in: Experiments on the insensible perspiration of the human body, shewing its affinity to respiration. Published originally in 1779, and now republished with additions and corrections. G. Nicol, London 1795, pp. 88–89 (digitized version )