Henry Charlton Bastian (26 April 1837 in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

– 17 November 1915 in

Chesham Bois Chesham Bois (traditionally , but now more commonly ) is a village in the Chiltern Hills, in Buckinghamshire, England, adjacent to both Amersham and Chesham. History Initially a hamlet in the parish of Chesham, the manor was assessed at 1½ ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

) was an English

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

and

neurologist Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

Biography

Bastian was born at Truro, Cornwall and graduated from

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1861.Pearce, J. M. S. (2010)
''Henry Charlton Bastian (1837–1915): Neglected Neurologist and Scientist''
''

European Neurology ''European Neurology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering neurology. It was established in 1968 and is published by Karger Publishers. The editor-in-chief is Julien Bogousslavsky. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ...

'' 63: 73-78. He obtained his

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

in 1866. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1868 and a

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

in 1870. In 1867, Bastian was elected Professor of Pathology and Assistant Physician at

UCL Medical School UCL Medical School is the medical school of University College London (UCL) and is located in London, United Kingdom. The School provides a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education programmes and also has a medical educatio ...

and successively became Professor of Clinical Medicine at UCL Medical School. In 1868, he became assistant physician to the

National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (informally the National Hospital or Queen Square) is a neurological hospital in Queen Square, London. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It was the f ...

, then full physician in 1887. He served at the National Hospital until he retired in 1912. He was an advocate of the doctrine of archebiosis. He believed he witnessed the

spontaneous generation Spontaneous generation is a superseded scientific theory that held that living creatures could arise from nonliving matter and that such processes were commonplace and regular. It was hypothesized that certain forms, such as fleas, could arise fr ...

of living organisms out of non living matter under his microscope and therefore argued against the concept of

Germ Theory The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can lead to disease. These small organisms, too small to be seen without magnification, invade ...

. Bastian's criticism of the germ theory of disease has been linked to the theory's initially slow impact in the UK.

Works

* ''Monograph of the Anguillulidae'' (1865)
''The Modes of Origin of Lowest Organisms''
(1871) * ''The Beginnings of Life: Being Some Account of the Nature, Modes of Origin and Transformation of Lower Organisms, I–II'' (1872)
''Evolution and the Origin of Life''
(1874)
''The Brain as an Organ of Mind''
(1880) * ''The "muscular sense" its nature and cortical localisation'' (1887) * ''A Treatise on Aphasia and Other Speech Defects'' (1898)
''The Nature and Origin of Living Matter''
(1905)
''The Evolution of Life''
(1907)
''The Origin of Life''
(1911)

Biography

Works

See also

References

Further reading