Austin George Meldon (26 August 1844 – 28 April 1904)

F.R.C.S. Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...

, D.L. was an Irish

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

and writer.

Career

Meldon became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland in 1864. He became a Licentiate of the

King and Queen's College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), ( ga, Coláiste Ríoga Lianna na hÉireann) is an Irish professional body dedicated to improving the practice of general medicine and related medical specialty, medical specialities, chiefly thr ...

in 1865. Meldon authored medical papers on

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

, diseases of the skin and

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intensit ...

. He was a member of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

and attended the annual meeting in Dublin in 1887. Meldon married twice. He had two sons and one daughter. His sons were George Edward Pugin Meldon and James Austin Meldon. Meldon rejected the uric acid theory as a full explanatory for gout. He promoted his own "neuro-humoral theory" which held that gout and rheumatism were caused by a depressed condition of the nervous system. Meldon was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery.

Selected publications

''A Treatise on Diseases of the Skin and its Appendages''
(1872)
''Intravenous Injection of Milk''
(''The British Medical Journal'', 1881)
''Pathology And Treatment Of Gout''
(''The British Medical Journal'', 1881)
''A Treatise on Gout and Rheumatic Gout''
(1886)

Awards and recognition

Meldon was a double gold medallist in surgery and midwifery and first prizeman in anatomy at the Catholic University Medical School. He was appointed surgeon to Jervis Street Hospital, a position he held until his retirement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meldon, Austin 1844 births 1904 deaths Alumni of University College Dublin Gout researchers Irish medical writers Irish surgeons