Thomas Alcock (1784 – 21 August 1833) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

. He was born at

Rothbury Rothbury is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the River Coquet. It is northwest of Morpeth, Northumberland, Morpeth and of Newcastle upon Tyne. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2001 Ce ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. After an apprenticeship to a surgeon in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, he became, in 1805, resident medical officer at the Sunderland Dispensary. In 1806 or 1807 he moved to London and became a general practitioner. From 1825 he devoted himself to surgery alone. From 1813 to 1828 he was surgeon to St. James's Workhouse. A visit to Paris in 1823 led him to publish in 1827 an essay upon the use of the chlorides of

soda Soda or SODA may refer to: Chemistry * Some chemical compounds containing sodium ** Sodium carbonate, washing soda or soda ash ** Sodium bicarbonate, baking soda ** Sodium hydroxide, caustic soda ** Sodium oxide, an alkali metal oxide * Sod ...

and

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

in cases of hospital

gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...

, the practice having been extensively applied in France by

Antoine Germain Labarraque Antoine Germain Labarraque (28 March 1777 – 9 December 1850)Maurice Bouvet. Les grands pharmaciens: Labarraque (1777-1850)' (Revue d'histoire de la pharmacie, 1950, Volume 38, no. 128, pp. 97-107). was a French chemist and pharmacist, notable ...

. A course of ‘Lectures on Practical and Medical Surgery,’ delivered to the students of the Borough Dispensary, appeared in "

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

" in 1825–6, and was republished with additions in 1830. He contributed many papers to medical journals. Alcock met

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 15 February 1748 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_February_1747.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 4 February 1747">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.htm ...

, who was interested in having a

life mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It i ...

made for him, though there is no proof that the mask of Bentham in Edinburgh was made by Alcock.Bentham’s Life or Death Mask
( UCL Bentham project).

Works

*''An Essay on. the Education and Duties of the General Practitioner in Medicine and Surgery'' (paper reviewed in the Lancet, 23 Nov. 1823, pp. 266–272). *
An essay on the use of chlorurets of oxide of sodium and of lime, as powerful disinfecting agents etc.
' (Burgess and Hill, 1827).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcock, Thomas English surgeons 19th-century English medical doctors English medical writers People from Rothbury 1784 births 1833 deaths