John Houston (1802 – 30 July 1845) was an Irish doctor and anatomist.
[Creighton, Charles . "Houston, John (1802–1845)." Rev. Michael Bevan. In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by David Cannadine, 2004. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/13874]
Early life
Houston was born in 1802 in what is now
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. He was the eldest son of a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
but was adopted by his maternal uncle, Joseph Taylor, who was an army doctor. Taylor offered to fund Houston's education and on 13 January 1819 Houston moved to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
as apprentice to
John Shekleton, a surgeon and curator at the Museum of the
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ireland's first private university. It was established in 1784 ...
(RCSI). Houston completed his apprenticeship in 1824, passing his final examinations and receiving his ''letters testimonial''. On 19 June 1826, he was elected a
member of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland days after the sudden death of his mentor Shekleton. Houston graduated from
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
with a
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, 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 profes ...
degree in 1826.
Career
Houston succeeded Shekleton as conservator (curator) at the RCSI museum. In 1830, Houston discovered the
transverse folds of the rectum, eponymously known as Houston's valves.
In 1834, he published a catalogue of the Museum's normal specimens, followed by a catalogue of pathology specimens in 1840. In 1843, he published a catalogue of the museum specimens at the
Park Street School of Medicine
Park Street School of Medicine was a private medical school in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded on Park Street (now Lincoln Place), Dublin, in 1824 by a group of renowned physicians, including Robert James Graves and Arthur Jacob. In 1849, Professo ...
. In 1844, Houston published an illustrated scientific paper in the
Dublin Medical Press entitled "On the Microscopic Pathology of Cancer (with a Woodcut)" and is credited with introducing the microscope to Irish medicine.
RCSI paid him £150 for his preparation of anatomical specimens. During his 17-year tenure as curator, Houston expanded and catalogued the RCSI museum's extensive specimen collection, described as "one of the most valuable in Europe" by renowned anatomists
Friedrich Tiedemann
Friedrich Tiedemann Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE (23 August 178122 January 1861) was a German anatomist and physiologist. He was an expert on the anatomy of the brain.
Tiedemann spent most of his life as professor of anatomy and physi ...
and
Jules Germain Cloquet
Jules Germain Cloquet (18 December 1790 – 23 February 1883) was a French physician and surgeon who was born and practiced medicine in Paris. His older brother, Hippolyte Cloquet (1787-1840) and his younger nephew Ernest Cloquet (1818-1855) w ...
.
Houston had a keen interest in teaching, working as an anatomy demonstrator at RCSI in 1824 and in 1837 taking a position as lecturer in surgery at the Park Street School of Medicine.
[The Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science August 1846, Volume 2, Issue 1, p 294.] He was known for his punctuality and was popular among his students. Houston was involved in the construction of the
Baggot Street Hospital and was appointed as a surgeon there in 1832.
He was also appointed consultant surgeon at St. Peter's Dispensary, a corresponding member of the Institute of Washington, and a member of the Society of Naturalists and Physicians of Heidelberg. He held private practice on York Street near RCSI. Houston was a member of the
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...
.
Selected papers
* "On the Structure and Mechanism of the Tongue of the Chameleon" - Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, 1828
* "Dropsy" - 1842
* "The mode of Treatment in Fever" - 1844
Death
Houston collapsed suddenly in April 1845 while lecturing at Baggot Street Hospital. He had suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died 30 July 1845. An obituary appeared in the ''
Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science'' the following year.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, John
1802 births
19th-century Irish medical doctors
1845 deaths
Irish anatomists
Alumni of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Members of the Royal Irish Academy