Edmund Stone
Encyclopedia
Reverend Edward Stone was a Church of England
Rector
who discovered the active ingredient of Aspirin
.
, Buckinghamshire
, England
in 1702 into a family that had been farming in Princes Risborough
since 1580. His parents were Edward Stone (Gentleman Farmer) and Elizabeth Reynolds.
He went to Wadham College, Oxford University in 1720 where he later became a Fellow. From 1738 he held livings at Horsenden
, Buckinghamshire
and Drayton near Banbury
, Oxfordshire
. He married Elizabeth Grubbe in Mercers Hall Chapel, Cheapside
Non-Parochial, London
on 7 Jul 1741. In 1745 he became chaplain
to Sir Jonathan Cope at Bruern Abbey and served various curacies around Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. He was also a Justice of the Peace
(JP) for Oxfordshire, actively enforcing the Poor Law
.
He once lived on the site of the Hitchman Brewery in West Street, Chipping Norton, where an Oxfordshire
Blue Plaque
has now been erected, and was buried at Horsenden in 1768.
and its derivatives dates back at least to 400 BC when Hippocrates
(440-377 B.C.) prescribed the bark and leaves of the willow
tree (rich in salicin) to reduce pain and fever. In 100 AD Dioscorides mentioned willow
leaves and a hundred years later Pliny the Elder
and Galen
also mentioned them. It was forgotten by doctors in the middle ages
but lived on in folk medicine. The pain-relieving effects of Salix (willow
) and Spiraea (meadow sweet) species was known in many cultures.
Walking one day through a meadow near Chipping Norton, while suffering from various ‘agues’, Stone was prompted to detach and nibble at a small piece of bark from a willow
tree and was struck by its extremely bitter taste. Knowing that the bark of the Peruvian cinchona
tree - from which quinine
(used in the treatment of malarial fevers) is derived - has a similarly bitter taste, he surmised that the willow
might also have therapeutic properties. Stone's interest in willows was due to the ancient "Doctrine of Signatures
" — whereby the cause of a disease offers a clue to its treatment.
According to Stone:
"As this tree delights in a moist or wet soil, where agues chiefly abound, the general maxim that many natural maladies carry their cures along with them or that their remedies lie not far from their causes was so very apposite to this particular case that I could not help applying it; and that this might be the intention of Providence here, I must own, had some little weight with me".
He experimented by gathering and drying a pound of willow
bark and creating a powder which he gave to about fifty persons: it was consistently found to be a ‘powerful astringent and very efficacious in curing agues and intermitting disorders.’ He had discovered salicylic acid
, the active ingredient in aspirin
. On 25 April 1763 he sent a letter announcing his discovery to Lord Macclesfield, President of the Royal Society
. The letter survives to this day.
A less corrosive compound of salicylic acid
, acetylsalicylic acid, produced by reacting sodium salicylate
with acetyl chloride
, was developed by Felix Hoffman and Arthur Eichengrun
and later marketed by Bayer
under the name Aspirin
which was registered as a trade name on 23 January 1899.
Pierpoint asserted that the Reverend was only called Edward, and that Edmund was a mistake made by a clerk of the Royal Society who made a subsequent addition to the letter.
However, it is also possible that the Reverend was formally known as Edward, but was referred to as Edmund by his close friends and family. Wills of other members of the same Princes Risborough family support this theory and it is common for people to use "pet" names this way. He appears as Edward on the title-pages of his books.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
who discovered the active ingredient of Aspirin
Aspirin
Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...
.
Biography
Edward Stone was born in Princes RisboroughPrinces Risborough
Princes Risborough is a small town in Buckinghamshire, England, about 9 miles south of Aylesbury and 8 miles north west of High Wycombe. Bledlow lies to the west and Monks Risborough to the east. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns,...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1702 into a family that had been farming in Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough is a small town in Buckinghamshire, England, about 9 miles south of Aylesbury and 8 miles north west of High Wycombe. Bledlow lies to the west and Monks Risborough to the east. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns,...
since 1580. His parents were Edward Stone (Gentleman Farmer) and Elizabeth Reynolds.
He went to Wadham College, Oxford University in 1720 where he later became a Fellow. From 1738 he held livings at Horsenden
Horsenden
Horsenden is a hamlet in Wycombe district, Buckinghamshire, England and is in the civil parish of Longwick-cum-Ilmer. It is one mile from Princes Risborough and seven miles south of Aylesbury and three miles east of Chinnor in Oxfordshire...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
and Drayton near Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. He married Elizabeth Grubbe in Mercers Hall Chapel, Cheapside
Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London that links Newgate Street with the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Mansion House Street. To the east is Mansion House, the Bank of England, and the major road junction above Bank tube station. To the west is St. Paul's Cathedral, St...
Non-Parochial, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 7 Jul 1741. In 1745 he became chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
to Sir Jonathan Cope at Bruern Abbey and served various curacies around Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. He was also a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
(JP) for Oxfordshire, actively enforcing the Poor Law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
.
He once lived on the site of the Hitchman Brewery in West Street, Chipping Norton, where an Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
Blue Plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
has now been erected, and was buried at Horsenden in 1768.
Aspirin
The use of salicylic acidSalicylic acid
Salicylic acid is a monohydroxybenzoic acid, a type of phenolic acid and a beta hydroxy acid. This colorless crystalline organic acid is widely used in organic synthesis and functions as a plant hormone. It is derived from the metabolism of salicin...
and its derivatives dates back at least to 400 BC when Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Cos or Hippokrates of Kos was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles , and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine...
(440-377 B.C.) prescribed the bark and leaves of the willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
tree (rich in salicin) to reduce pain and fever. In 100 AD Dioscorides mentioned willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
leaves and a hundred years later Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
and Galen
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...
also mentioned them. It was forgotten by doctors in the middle ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
but lived on in folk medicine. The pain-relieving effects of Salix (willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
) and Spiraea (meadow sweet) species was known in many cultures.
Walking one day through a meadow near Chipping Norton, while suffering from various ‘agues’, Stone was prompted to detach and nibble at a small piece of bark from a willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
tree and was struck by its extremely bitter taste. Knowing that the bark of the Peruvian cinchona
Cinchona
Cinchona or Quina is a genus of about 38 species in the family Rubiaceae, native to tropical South America. They are large shrubs or small trees growing 5–15 metres in height with evergreen foliage. The leaves are opposite, rounded to lanceolate and 10–40 cm long. The flowers are white, pink...
tree - from which quinine
Quinine
Quinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...
(used in the treatment of malarial fevers) is derived - has a similarly bitter taste, he surmised that the willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
might also have therapeutic properties. Stone's interest in willows was due to the ancient "Doctrine of Signatures
Doctrine of signatures
The doctrine of signatures is a philosophy shared by herbalists from the time of Dioscurides and Galen. This doctrine states that herbs that resemble various parts of the body can be used to treat ailments of that part of the body. Examples include the plants liverwort; snakeroot, an antidote for...
" — whereby the cause of a disease offers a clue to its treatment.
According to Stone:
"As this tree delights in a moist or wet soil, where agues chiefly abound, the general maxim that many natural maladies carry their cures along with them or that their remedies lie not far from their causes was so very apposite to this particular case that I could not help applying it; and that this might be the intention of Providence here, I must own, had some little weight with me".
He experimented by gathering and drying a pound of willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
bark and creating a powder which he gave to about fifty persons: it was consistently found to be a ‘powerful astringent and very efficacious in curing agues and intermitting disorders.’ He had discovered salicylic acid
Salicylic acid
Salicylic acid is a monohydroxybenzoic acid, a type of phenolic acid and a beta hydroxy acid. This colorless crystalline organic acid is widely used in organic synthesis and functions as a plant hormone. It is derived from the metabolism of salicin...
, the active ingredient in aspirin
Aspirin
Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...
. On 25 April 1763 he sent a letter announcing his discovery to Lord Macclesfield, President of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
. The letter survives to this day.
A less corrosive compound of salicylic acid
Salicylic acid
Salicylic acid is a monohydroxybenzoic acid, a type of phenolic acid and a beta hydroxy acid. This colorless crystalline organic acid is widely used in organic synthesis and functions as a plant hormone. It is derived from the metabolism of salicin...
, acetylsalicylic acid, produced by reacting sodium salicylate
Sodium salicylate
Sodium salicylate is a sodium salt of salicylic acid. It can be prepared from sodium phenolate and carbon dioxide under higher temperature and pressure...
with acetyl chloride
Acetyl chloride
Acetyl chloride, CH3COCl, also known as ethanoyl chloride or acyl chloride, is an acid chloride derived from acetic acid. It belongs to the class of organic compounds called acyl halides. It is a colorless liquid. Acetyl chloride does not exist in nature, because contact with water would hydrolyze...
, was developed by Felix Hoffman and Arthur Eichengrun
Arthur Eichengrün
Arthur Eichengrün was a German chemist, best known through a controversy about who invented aspirin.- Life :Arthur Eichengrün was born in Aachen as the son of a Jewish cloth merchant and manufacturer...
and later marketed by Bayer
Bayer
Bayer AG is a chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen , Germany in 1863. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and well known for its original brand of aspirin.-History:...
under the name Aspirin
Aspirin
Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...
which was registered as a trade name on 23 January 1899.
Astronomy
Stone was also interested in astronomy and in 1763 published The whole doctrine of parallaxes explained and illustrated by an arithmetical and geometrical construction of the transit of Venus over the sun, June 6th, 1761. Enriched with a new and general method of determining the places where any transit of this planet, and especially that which will be June 3d, 1769, may be best observed.Edward or Edmund?
Edward Stone's letter to the Royal Society was published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1763 with the heading "...from the Rev. Mr. Edmund Stone of Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire" whereas at the end of the letter his name was signed Edward Stone. This has caused some confusion as there was (at least) one other man called Edmund Stone who published scientific works.Pierpoint asserted that the Reverend was only called Edward, and that Edmund was a mistake made by a clerk of the Royal Society who made a subsequent addition to the letter.
However, it is also possible that the Reverend was formally known as Edward, but was referred to as Edmund by his close friends and family. Wills of other members of the same Princes Risborough family support this theory and it is common for people to use "pet" names this way. He appears as Edward on the title-pages of his books.