William Gregory FRCPE
FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...
FCS (25 December 1803 – 24 April 1858) was a Scottish physician and
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
. He studied under and translated some of the works of
Justus von Liebig
Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at th ...
, the German chemist. Gregory also had interests in
mesmerism
Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all livi ...
and
phrenology
Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...
.
Life
Gregory was the fourth son of Isabella MacLeod and
James Gregory, and was born at 2 St Andrew Square in
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 ...
, (since demolished).
After a medical education he graduated at the
University of Edinburgh
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 1 ...
in 1828, and moved into chemistry, studying at the
University of Geissen.
In 1831 he introduced a process for making the "muriate of morphia", which came into general use.
"Gregory's salt" in terms of modern chemistry was a mixture of
morphine hydrochloride and
codeine hydrochloride, obtained from
opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy '' Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which ...
by use of
calcium chloride
Calcium chloride is an inorganic compound, a salt with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline solid at room temperature, and it is highly soluble in water. It can be created by neutralising hydrochloric acid with calcium hydroxide.
Ca ...
.
In the 1830s he is recorded as living in his father's townhouse with his brothers at 10 Ainslie Place on the Moray Estate in the western
New Town of Edinburgh.
In 1832 he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
, his proposer being
Robert Christison, and served as the Society's Secretary from 1844 to 1858.
After studying for some time on the continent he established himself as an extra-academical lecturer on chemistry at Edinburgh. He was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the
Andersonian University, Glasgow, and then at the
Dublin Medical School, and in 1839 was appointed professor of medicine and chemistry in
King's College, Aberdeen
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Univer ...
. In 1844 he was elected to the chair of chemistry at Edinburgh in succession to his old teacher
Thomas Charles Hope
Thomas Charles Hope (21 July 1766 – 13 June 1844) was a British physician, chemist and lecturer. He proved the existence of the element strontium, and gave his name to Hope's Experiment, which shows that water reaches its maximum density at ...
.
Andrew Fyfe filled his post in Aberdeen having unsuccessfully also contested the Edinburgh chair.
[ODNB: Andew Fyfe] He was a successful expository lecturer, but in his later years suffered much from a disabling disease.
[
Gregory was interested in ]animal magnetism
Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all livi ...
and mesmerism.
He died at his home on Princes Street
Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (thr ...
on 24 April 1858, leaving a widow and one son.[ He is buried in ]Canongate Kirkyard
The Canongate Kirkyard ( en, Churchyard) stands around Canongate Kirk on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland. The churchyard was used for burials from the late 1680s until the mid-20th century.
The most celebrated burials at the kirkyard are ...
on the Royal Mile
The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), de ...
. He shares the grave with his siblings, adjacent to his parents. It lies in the south-west corner of the graveyard, to the right hand side of Adam Smith
Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——� ...
's grave.
Works
Gregory was a pupil of Justus von Liebig
Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at th ...
at Giessen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 unive ...
, and translated and edited several of his works. His own chemical works gave prominence to organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J ...
. A list of forty chemical papers by him was given in the Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
's ''Catalogue of Scientific Papers''. Restricted to a sedentary life, he wrote a number of papers on diatom
A diatom ( Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising se ...
s. His books were:[
* ''Outlines of Chemistry'', 1845; 2nd edition, 1847; divided subsequently into two volumes, ''The Handbook of Inorganic'' and ''Organic Chemistry'' respectively, 1853; the latter was issued in Germany, edited by Theodor Gerding, Brunswick, 1854.
* ''Letters to a Candid Inquirer on Animal Magnetism'', 1851.
Besides editing English editions of Liebig's ''Animal Chemistry'', ''Chemistry in its Applications to Agriculture and Physiology'', ''Familiar Letters on Chemistry'', ''Instructions for Chemical Analysis of Organic Bodies'', ''Agricultural Chemistry'', ''Chemistry of Food'', and ''Researches on the Motion of the Juices in the Animal Body'', Gregory translated and edited Karl Reichenbach's ''Researches on Magnetism, Electricity, Heat, &c., in their relation to Vital Force'', 1850. He also, with Liebig, edited Edward Turner's ''Elements of Chemistry''.][
]
References
Attribution:
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Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, William
1803 births
1858 deaths
Scottish chemists
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
19th-century Scottish medical doctors
Scottish translators
German–English translators
19th-century British translators
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Fellows of the Chemical Society
Burials at the Canongate Kirkyard
Scientists from Edinburgh