Thomas Wharton Jones
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Thomas Wharton Jones (9 January 1808 – 7 November 1891) was an eminent
ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...
and
physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...
of the 19th century.


Biography

Jones's father was Richard Jones, a native of London. Richard Jones had moved north to St. Andrews and was working with Her Majesty's Customs for Scotland when Thomas Wharton Jones was born in January 1808. Jones grew up in
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 ...
and studied medicine 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 15 ...
. From 1827 to 1829, he was an assistant to
Robert Knox Robert Knox (4 September 1791 – 20 December 1862) was a Scottish anatomist and ethnologist best known for his involvement in the Burke and Hare murders. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Knox eventually partnered with anatomist and former teache ...
, a lecturer on anatomy at
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 ...
. Around Christmas of 1827, while working for Knox, he purchased a body from William Hare on Knox's behalf, paying £7 10s to Hare. Jones thus became caught up in the scandal surrounding the notorious body-snatchers
Burke and Hare The Burke and Hare murders were a series of sixteen killings committed over a period of about ten months in 1828 in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were undertaken by William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses to Robert Knox for dissection ...
, but was cleared by the investigating committee.''Men of the Time: a Dictionary of Contemporaries'', rev. and ed. by Thompson Cooper, 9th ed., London: George Routledge and Sons, 1875, entry for Thomas Wharton Jones, pp. 594–595.,Obituary, Thomas Wharton Jones, F.R.S.
''The Lancet'' 138 (#3561), 28 November 1891, pp. 1256–1258.
After this, he went to Glasgow, where he worked with William Mackenzie. Jones contributed the anatomical drawings of sections of the eye that appeared in Mackenzie's classic treatise.Babbage the unfortunate
C. R. Keeler, ''British Journal of Ophthalmology'' 88 (2004), pp. 730–732, at p. 731.
Jones travelled to Cork in 1835, and for a time he engaged in medical practice there, devoting himself chiefly to diseases of the eye and ear. In 1835, he made the discovery of the germinal vesicle in the mammalian
ovum The egg cell, or ovum (plural ova), is the female reproductive cell, or gamete, in most anisogamous organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually with a larger, female gamete and a smaller, male one). The term is used when the female gamete is ...
, and in 1837, described the origin of the
chorion The chorion is the outermost fetal membrane around the embryo in mammals, birds and reptiles (amniotes). It develops from an outer fold on the surface of the yolk sac, which lies outside the zona pellucida (in mammals), known as the vitelline ...
. In 1837 he visited the principal universities of the Continent, and settled in London in the following year, where he set up practice as an oculist. In 1847, Jones examined a primitive
ophthalmoscope Ophthalmoscopy, also called funduscopy, is a test that allows a health professional to see inside the fundus of the eye and other structures using an ophthalmoscope (or funduscope). It is done as part of an eye examination and may be done as part ...
devised by
Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 â€“ 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...
, but found it of little value. In 1851, Jones was appointed Professor of Ophthalmic Medicine and Surgery at
University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget =  ...
. He occupied this post for 30 years until the beginning of 1881, when medical problems forced him to retire to
Ventnor Ventnor () is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the sea. ...
. He stayed in Ventnor until his death in 1891. Jones was a Lecturer on Physiology at
Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital is an acute general teaching hospital located in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approximately five miles east, in central Lond ...
, Fullerian Professor of Physiology in the
Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...
(1851–55), and Ophthalmic Surgeon to the Hospital. In 1872, on behalf of the
Camden Society The Camden Society was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books. It was named after the 16th-century antiquary an ...
, Jones edited an account of the life and death of Bishop Bedell of Kilmore, who was an ancestral kinsman who died in the
Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantatio ...
. Jones disagreed with the
Darwinian Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations tha ...
theory of
evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
, regarding it as a "mere conceit unsanctioned by science," and published a book in 1876 propounding this view.


Awards

*1850: Astley Cooper Prize Essay on ''State of the Blood and Bloodvessels in Inflammation'' *1851:
Actonian Prize The Actonian Prize was established by the Royal Institution as a septennial award for the "person who in the judgement of the committee of managers for the time being of the Institution, should have been the author of the best essay illustrative of ...
Essay on ''The Wisdom and Beneficence of the Almighty as displayed in the Sense of Vision''; prize of 100
guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...
(£105), awarded by the
Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...
.


Selected publications

* ''The principles and practice of ophthalmic medicine and surgery'', London: John Churchill, 1847; American ed., ed. by Isaac Hays, Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1847; 2nd ed., London: John Churchill, 1855; 2nd American ed., ed. by Edward Hartshorne, Philadelphia, Blanchard & Lea, 1856; 3rd and rev. American ed., based on 2nd British ed., ed. Walter F. Atlee, Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea, 1863; 3rd ed., London: John Churchill, 1865. * ''A catechism of the medicine and surgery of the eye and ear, for the clinical use of hospital students'', London: John Churchill, 1857. * ''A catechism of the physiology and philosophy of body, sense, and mind: For use in schools and colleges, and in private study'', London: John Churchill, 1858. * ''Failure of sight from railway and other injuries of the spine and head; its nature and treatment, with a physiological and pathological disquisition into the influence of the vaso-motor nerves on the circulation of the blood in the extreme vessels'', London: Walton, 1869. * ''A true relation of the life and death of the Right Reverend father in God William Bedell, lord bishop of Kilmore in Ireland; edited from a ms. in the Bodleian library, Oxford, and amplified with genealogical and historical chapters, compiled from original sources'', with William Bedell, Westminster: Camden Society, 1872. * ''Evolution of the human race from apes, and of apes from lower animals, a doctrine unsanctioned by science'', London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1876. Jones also wrote various papers on
physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
, published in the ''Philosophical Transactions'' and elsewhere.


Society Affiliations

*
Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...
*Foreign Member, Medical Society of Vienna *Foreign Member, Medical Society of Copenhagen *Foreign Member, Société de Biologie of Paris


References

:''This article uses text from the Lancet of 28 November 1891. This publication is now in the public domain.''
  1. ''Men of the Time: a Dictionary of Contemporaries'',
    Thompson Cooper Thompson Cooper (8 January 1837, Cambridge – 5 March 1904, London) was an English journalist, man of letters, and compiler of reference works. He became a specialist in biographical information, and is noted as the most prolific contributor to t ...
    , 10th ed., George Routledge and Sons, 1879, entry for Thomas Wharton Jones, p. 576.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Thomas Wharton 1808 births 1891 deaths 19th-century British people British ophthalmologists British physiologists Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons Fellows of the Royal Society Fullerian Professors of Physiology People from St Andrews Alumni of the University of Edinburgh