William Buchan (physician)
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William Buchan (1729 – 25 February 1805) was a Scottish physician and author. He is best known for his work ''Domestic Medicine: or, a Treatise on the Prevention and Cure of Diseases by Regimen and Simple Medicines'', which provided laypeople with detailed descriptions of the causes and prevention of diseases. Buchan's goal was one of "laying medicine more open to mankind." With over 80,000 copies and 19 editions sold in Buchan's lifetime, it was one of the most popular medical texts in Europe and even in the European colonies in the Americas, and was translated into almost every major European language.


Life and career

William Buchan was born in
Ancrum Ancrum ( gd, Alan Crom) is a village in the Borders area of Scotland, 5 km north west of Jedburgh. The village — which currently has a population of around 300 — is situated just off the A68 trunk road on the B6400 which runs through A ...
, Roxburgshire,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, in 1729. During his early years he attended a local grammar school and took a keen interest in medicine. At an early age with no formal training, he acted as one of the novice village physicians. Upon entering
Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...
in 1749, he enrolled in the School of
Divinity Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine
under pressure from his family. He soon replaced his theological studies with studies in mathematics, botany, and ultimately medicine. He completed his studies in medicine in 1758 after approximately nine years at the university. After leaving the university, he started a small practice in rural Yorkshire before being appointed as a physician at the
Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...
in Ackworth,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
in 1759. At the Foundling Hospital, he worked frequently with children. In 1761 he wrote his medical dissertation, ''On the Preservation of Infant Life'', arguing that far too many infants were dying in Great Britain each year. There was little response to his work. Soon after, Buchan married a lady of the Dundas clan, one of the most noble clans of Scotland. Later that year,
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
stopped funding the Foundling Hospital, so Buchan took up a practice in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
from 1761 until 1766, when he returned to Edinburgh. While in Edinburgh, he ran his own practice and gave lectures in
Newtonianism Newtonianism is a philosophical and scientific doctrine inspired by the beliefs and methods of natural philosopher Isaac Newton. While Newton's influential contributions were primarily in physics and mathematics, his broad conception of the unive ...
and
natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...
. A son, Alexander Peter Buchan, was born in Sheffield in 1764 and later followed his father into medicine. William Buchan published his famous work ''Domestic Medicine'' in 1769. The first edition sold for only six
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s and was a great success. ''Domestic Medicine'' went on to sell over 80,000 copies, and 19 editions were printed, translated into almost every major European language. The German naturalists
Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. They constitute ...
and Martius, after travelling in Brazil in 1817–1820, wrote that people, even in isolated farms and towns in the interior of the Portuguese colony, consulted the Portuguese translation of Buchan's book in order to treat maladies. In 1772, Buchan became a fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...
. In 1778, Buchan announced his candidacy for the position as chair of the Institute of Medicine upon the death of John Gregory; however, he lost the election. He later moved to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, practicing there until his death on 25 February 1805. He is buried in the cloisters of
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.


Works


''Domestic Medicine''

Published in 1769, ''Domestic Medicine'' was printed in Britain until 1846 and in the Americas until 1913.
Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
,
Czar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the t ...
of
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, was so impressed by the work that she sent Buchan a gold medal and personal letter. It was the first text of its kind. Previous to Buchan's work, most medical texts either were theoretical and written for the more educated, or were short manuals not descriptive enough to help diagnose illnesses. A combination of these two styles, ''Domestic Medicine'' was written in lay terms in order to reach a wider audience. It described the diseases and treatments thoroughly enough to allow people to create cures themselves. Only Swiss physician
Samuel-Auguste Tissot Samuel Auguste André David Tissot (; 20 March 1728 – 13 June 1797) was a notable 18th-century Swiss physician. Life A well-reputed Calvinist Protestant neurologist, physician, professor and Vatican adviser, Tissot practiced in the Swiss city ...
’s ''Avis au peuple'' was of similar style, and Buchan acknowledged it influenced his writing. Buchan experienced wider exposure than Tissot because he addressed new health areas such as industrial diseases. The writing of ''Domestic Medicine'' took place near the start of the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
and was welcomed by the industrial workers. Generally, these industrial diseases and cures suffered from secondhand observation rather than more stringent clinical observation; however, their promise of better health garnered general support. ''Domestic Medicine'' also was one of the first texts not only to discuss potential cures to diseases, but also to emphasize prevention. The first third of the text is dedicated to how to prevent a number of diseases, including inoculation against smallpox. Buchan's emphasis on a strict regimen of hygiene and cleanliness extended into moral judgement, in that he argued that immoral people were more likely to develop illness. Even though ''Domestic Medicine'' was groundbreaking in many areas, many of its theories remained grounded in the traditional medical view of
humorism Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 1850s ...
. Buchan was a strong advocate for letting nature take its course and restoring the patient to the natural setpoint. Like a large number of physicians at the time, Buchan was a strong proponent of
bloodletting Bloodletting (or blood-letting) is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily flu ...
and purging as cures. The belief was that if the body could expel the infections, it would return to its natural point. Buchan also advocated careful tracking of non-naturals (air, meat and drink, sleeping and watching, exercise and quiet, evacuations and obstructions, and passions). Too much of one would result in an imbalance, making a person more likely to develop an illness.


Death

Buchan died on 25 February 1805, at the age of 76. He was buried in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.'The Abbey Scientists' Hall, A.R. p17: London; Roger & Robert Nicholson; 1966


Bibliography

*''Domestic Medicine; or the Family physician: being an attempt to render the medical art more generally useful, by shewing people what is in their own power both with respect to the prevention and cure of diseases; chiefly calculated to recommend a proper attention to regimen, and simple medicines''. Edinburgh : Balfour ; Auld ; Smellie, 1769
Digital edition
of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*''Médecine domestique, ou Traité complet des moyens de se conserver en Santé, de guérir & de prévenir des maladies, par le régime & les remèdes simples''. Tome 1. 4. éd. Paris : Desoer, 1792
Digital edition
of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

Volume 5
*''Domestic Medicine : Or, a Treatise on the Prevention and Cure of Diseases by Regimen and simple Medicines''. Fairhaven : Lyon, 1798
Digital edition
of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*''Médecine domestique. Ou, Traité complet, des moyens de se conserver en santé, de guérir & de prévenir les maladies, par le régime & les remedes simples''. Tome 4. 5. éd. Paris : Moutardier, 1802
Digital edition
of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*''Domestic Medicine : or, a Treatise on the Prevention and Cure of Diseases by Regimen and Simple Medicines''. Glasgow : Gardner, 1806
Digital edition
of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*''Domestic Medicine : or, a Treatise on the Prevention and Cure of Diseases by Regimen and Simple Medicines''. London : Oddy, 1813
Digital edition
by the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*''The new domestic Medicine : or, a Treatise on the Prevention and Cure of Diseases, by Regimen and simple Medicines ; with an Appendix, containing a Dispensatory for the Use of Private Practitioners.'' Ancillary works: To which is now first added, Memoirs of the Life of Dr. Buchan and important extracts from other works, particularly his Advice to Mothers / by William Nisbet. A new Ed., enlarged and improved. London : Kelly, 1814
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of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*''Domestic Medicine: or, the Family Physician ; a Treatise on the Prevention and Cure of Diseases, by Regimen and Simple Medicines.'' Dunbar : Miller, 1818
Digital edition
of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*''Domestic Medicine: or, a Treatise on the Prevention and Cure of Diseases by Regimen and Simple Medicines''. London : Lewis, 1830
Digital edition
of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*''The Life of Lewis Cornaro, and his Methods of attaining a long and healthful Life''. London : Kelly, 1840
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of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*''The new domestic medicine : or, a treatise on the prevention and cure of diseases, by regimen and simple medicines; with an appendix, containing a dispensatory for the use of private practitioners; with a supplement, containing the life of Lewis Cornaro and his methods of attaining a long and healthful life.'' London : Kelly, 1840
Digital edition
of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*''Buchan's domestic medicine, or, The family physician: designed to render the medical art more generally useful, by showing people what is in their own power, both with respect to the prevention and cure of diseases : chiefly calculated to recommend a proper attention to regimen, and simple medicines''. Hartford : Andrus, 1840
Digital edition
of the
University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (german: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of th ...
*Buchan, W. (1761) "On the Preservation of Infant Life." Doctoral dissertation, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland.


See also

*
Domestic medicine Domestic medicine or domestic health care is the behavioral, nutritional and health care practices, hygiene included, performed in the household and transmitted from one generation to the other. Such knowledge is complementary to the specialized ...


References


Further reading

*Moore, Adam G.N. (2006)
'How many people today would recognize the name and face of Dr. William Buchan?
How many people today would recognize the name and face of Dr. William Buchan?' Countway Library. Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Buchan, William 1729 births 1805 deaths 18th-century Scottish medical doctors People from the Scottish Borders Scottish medical writers Burials at Westminster Abbey Alumni of the University of Edinburgh