''A Letter to a Friend'' (written 1656; published posthumously in 1690), by Sir Thomas Browne, the 17th century philosopher and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, is a medical

treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions." Tre ...

of case-histories and witty speculations upon the

human condition The human condition is all of the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed f ...

Morgellons

It is believed to be the source of a term Mary Leitao found in 2001 to describe her son's skin condition. She chose the name " Morgellons disease" from a skin condition described by Browne in ''Letter to a Friend'', thus: There is, however, no suggestion that the symptoms described by Browne are linked to the alleged modern cases of Morgellons. In 1935, Charles Ernest Kellett MD FRCP (1903-1978), who lectured in the history of medicine at the

University of Newcastle medical school The University of Newcastle School of Medicine, located at the University of Newcastle, is one of only eight medical schools in Australia that offers an undergraduate medical degree, and is the shortest undergraduate medical degree offered at ...

, wrote a detailed criticism of Browne's Morgellons reference.

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1656 books 1690 books Works by Thomas Browne Books published posthumously Treatises Medical books Delusional parasitosis {{med-book-stub