Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1118

JAMES GREGORY (1753-1821) A dissertation on the influence of a change of climate in curing diseases. T. Dobson 1815 Translated from the original Latin, and enlarged with occasional notes, by William P. C. Barton. 212 pp. 23.3 cm.

Controversial, irritable, and sometimes vindictive, Gregory was nevertheless a brilliant lecturer and scholar, well-versed in language and art as well as medicine. He did little original investigation but his Conspectus (1788), his best work, was widely read for its clarity and style. In 1800 Gregory touched off a famous scandal by accusing John Bell of incompetence and excluding him from the Royal Infirmary. Bell, in his rebuttal to the scathing attack (see No. 1190), assesses the Gregory character: "I have one great consolation. . . . I am not wounding the reputation of a good nor the peace of an innocent man" (John Bell, Letters on professional character . . . addressed to James Gregory, M.D. Edinburgh, 1810. p. v). Gregory's work on the influence of climate on disease received considerable attention during the first part of the nineteenth century and went through several editions.

See Related Record(s): 1190

Cited references: Austin 841