Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1338

THOMAS BATEMAN (1778-1821) A succinct account of the contagious fever of this country. Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown 1818 x [2] 177 pp. 20.8 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 1334

Early in the nineteenth century fevers were still a large class of diseases and little was known about the specific entities of the diseases that caused them. In this work, Bateman describes what he calls typhus fever. Although many of the symptoms described could be those of typhus, they could also be the result of any number of other diseases in which debilitation and fever are chief signs. Bateman could not have been aware of the various forms of typhus, its many vectors, or the Rickettsiaceae. Nevertheless, he correctly surmised that the disease was linked to poor and unclean living conditions, and substandard nutrition. Treatment was largely symptomatic but emphasis was on bloodletting, blistering, cold applications to the head, avoidance of opiates, fresh air, and clean surroundings.

Cited references: Wellcome II, p. 114