John Cheyne

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 ...

FKQCPI (3 February 1777 – 31 January 1836) was a British physician,

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 ...

, Professor of Medicine in the Royal College of Surgery in Ireland (RCSI) and author of monographs on a number of medical topics. He was one of the people to identify

Cheyne–Stokes respiration Cheyne–Stokes respiration is an abnormal pattern of breathing characterized by progressively deeper, and sometimes faster, breathing followed by a gradual decrease that results in a temporary stop in breathing called an apnea. The pattern repe ...

Life

He was born in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

, the son of Dr John Cheyne, a surgeon. The family lived at New Key (Quay) in the middle of the Shore. He was educated at Leith Grammar School and then the High School 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 ...

. Having grown up around medical practice, he was able to enter

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

at the age of 15, graduating as a doctor at 18 years of age. He joined the army, worked as a surgeon with an artillery corps, and was present at the

Battle of Vinegar Hill The Battle of Vinegar Hill ('' Irish'': ''Cath Chnoc Fhíodh na gCaor'') was a military engagement during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 on 21 June 1798 between a force of approximately 13,000 government troops under the command of Gerard Lake an ...

. Cheyne rejoined his father's practice four years later in 1799. Ten years later, Cheyne moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and in 1811 began working at the Meath Hospital. He was appointed Professor of Medicine in the Royal College of Surgery in Ireland (RCSI) in 1813. In 1814 he was elected to 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 ...

. He also taught war medicine and was appointed Physician General to British forces in Ireland in 1820. He gained the Fellowship of the King and Queen's College of Physicians of Ireland in 1824. He retired to England in 1831 following a course of ill health, and died at his country estate at Sherington, Buckinghamshire on 31 January 1836. Cheyne wrote a number of books, including ''Essays of Diseases of Children'' in 1801. He was also the author of an early treatise on the

larynx The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal inlet is about ...

in 1809, ''Pathology of the Membrane of the Larynx and Bronchia''. With Francis Barker, he published a two-volume work on fever epidemics in Ireland, in 1821.

Publications

''Essays on the Diseases of Children: With Cases and Dissections''
(1802)
''The Pathology of the Membrane of the Larynx and Bronchia''
(1809)
''Cases of Apoplexy and Lethargy: With Observations Upon the Comatose Diseases''
(1812)
''Essays on Partial Derangement of the Mind in Supposed Connexion with Religion''
(1843)

References

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Notes

External links

- at ''Who named it?'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheyne, John 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 1777 births 1836 deaths People from Leith

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Physicians of the Meath Hospital Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Medical doctors from Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland