Edward Hare (27 December 1812 – 13 February 1897) was a British

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 former Director-General of Hospitals in Bengal, India. Hare is best known for his medical work in using

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...

for treatment of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

fevers. He was also a

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

activist.

Biography

Hare was born in

Stanhoe Stanhoe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, 6.4 miles (10.2 km) from the North Sea. It covers an area of and had a population of 196 in 97 households at the 2001 census. The population including Bagthorpe with ...

. He was educated at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

and

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

.Crawford, Dirom Grey. (1914)
''A History of the Indian Medical Service: 1600-1913, Volume 2''
London: W. Thacker & Co. pp. 368-369 He took the M.R.C.S in 1837. He became a member of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

in 1938.''Reviewed Work: Memoirs Of Edward Hare, C.S.I., Late Inspector-General Of Hospitals, Bengal by E. C. Hare''. (1901). ''

The British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origina ...

'' 1 (1901): 217. He was commissioned as Assistant Surgeon in

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

in 1839. In March 1853, he became Surgeon and Surgeon Major in 1859. He served during the

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking si ...

(1840-1842) at

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

and under General

Robert Sale Major-General Sir Robert Henry Sale (19 September 1782 – 21 December 1845) was a British Army officer who commanded the garrison of Jalalabad during the First Afghan War and was killed in action during the First Anglo-Sikh War. Biography ...

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

. He received Afghan and Jalalabad medals. In 1852, during the

Second Anglo-Burmese War The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( my, ဒုတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ စစ် ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the Anglo-Burmese Wars, three wars fought between the Konbaung dy ...

he was in medical charge of the First European Bengal Fusiliers. He was present at the recapture of

Pegu Bago (formerly spelt Pegu; , ), formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located north-east of Yangon. Etymology The Burmese name Bago (ပဲခူး) is likely derived from the Mon lang ...

and received the medal. He also served in medical charge of the Second European Bengal Fusiliers during the

siege of Delhi The siege of Delhi was one of the decisive conflicts of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The rebellion against the authority of the East India Company was widespread through much of Northern India, but essentially it was sparked by the mass up ...

and received the medal. Hare was Inspector-General of Hospitals, Bengal in the

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

until 1865.Munk, William. (1982). ''The Roll of the Royal College of Physicians of London: Continued to 1975''. The Royal College. p. 220 He married Mary Ann Wood in 1863. Hare's daughter, Dorothy Christian Hare was a physician. His letters and notes were edited into ''Memoirs of Edward Hare'' by his son and published in 1900.Riddick, John F. (1989). ''Glimpses of India: An Annotated Bibliography of Published Personal Writings by Englishmen, 1583-1947''. Greenwood Press. p. 38. Hare died in Bath on 13 February 1897.

Quinine

Hare experimented with

for treatment of

fevers. Hare who had observed military action with the British forces in Afghanistan in 1839, used quinine to treat soldiers near the Nepal border. In 1847, Hare published his findings in a pamphlet which caused a great sensation throughout the medical community in India.''Annual Address''
''

Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

'', 1916. The Calcutta Medical Board obtained a sanction from

Lord Dalhousie James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie (22 April 1812 – 19 December 1860), also known as Lord Dalhousie, styled Lord Ramsay until 1838 and known as The Earl of Dalhousie between 1838 and 1849, was a Scottish statesman and co ...

to bring Hare to Calcutta and place him in charge of a wing at the General Hospital. In a year, Hare had reduced the death-rate from fevers to one-twelfth of its average rate for the previous twenty years. Hare's system of using quinine to treat fever in malaria was supported by the Medical Board and was used throughout India. Over a period of nine years, he treated 7,000 European soldiers with quinine and recorded a mortality rate of less than 0.5 percent.

Vegetarianism

Hare was a vegetarian, not a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

. He was a Vice-President of the

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is a British registered charity which was established on 30 September 1847 to promote vegetarianism. History In the 19th century a number of groups in Britain actively promoted and followed meat ...

.Forward, Charles W. (1898)
''Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England''
London: The Ideal Publishing Union. p. 181 Historian James Gregory has noted that Hare's diet consisted of "two daily meals of toasted or unleavened bread, weak tea, vegetables cooked in butter, farinaceous puddings and fruit." In 1873, Hare authored a biography of vegetarian physician William Lambe.''Vegetable Diet''
(1874). ''The Medical Times and Gazette'' 2: 263–264.

Selected publications

''Hints for an Improved Treatment of Remittent Fever and Dysentery''
(1847)
''Malarious Fever''
(1864) *''The Life of William Lambe, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians'' (1873)
''Memoirs of Edward Hare, C.S.I., Late Inspector-General of Hospitals, Bengal''
(1900)

Biography

Quinine

Vegetarianism

Selected publications

References

Further reading