William James Erasmus Wilson
Encyclopedia
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons is a professional qualification to practise as a surgeon in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland...
FRS (25 November 1809 – 7 August 1884), generally known as Sir Erasmus Wilson, was an English surgeon and dermatologist.
Biography
Wilson was born in LondonLondon
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...
, studied at Dartford Grammar School
Dartford Grammar School
Dartford Grammar School is a selective secondary foundation school for boys in Dartford, Kent, England, which admits girls to its sixth form . All of the students joining the school are from the top 25% of the ability range...
before St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital, also known as Barts, is a hospital in Smithfield in the City of London, England.-Early history:It was founded in 1123 by Raherus or Rahere , a favourite courtier of King Henry I...
in London, and at Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, and early in life became known as a skillful surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
and dissector.
It was his sympathy with the poor of London and a suggestion from Mr. Thomas Wakley
Thomas Wakley
Thomas Wakley , was an English surgeon. He became a demagogue and social reformer who campaigned against incompetence, privilege and nepotism. He was the founding editor of The Lancet, and a radical Member of Parliament .- Life :Thomas Wakley was born in Membury, Devon to a prosperous farmer and...
of The Lancet
The Lancet
The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It is one of the world's best known, oldest, and most respected general medical journals...
, of which he acted for a time as sub-editor, which first led him to take up skin diseases
Dermatology
Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin and its diseases, a unique specialty with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist takes care of diseases, in the widest sense, and some cosmetic problems of the skin, scalp, hair, and nails....
as a special study. The cases of scrofula
Scrofula
Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis refers to a lymphadenitis of the cervical lymph nodes associated with tuberculosis. It was previously known as "scrofula".-The disease:...
, anemia
Anemia
Anemia is a decrease in number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin...
, and blood-poisoning which he saw made him set to work to alleviate the suffering of persons so afflicted, and he quickly established a reputation for treating this class of patients. It was said that he treated the rich by ordering them to give up luxuries; the poor by prescribing for them proper nourishment, which was often provided out of his own pocket. In the opinion of one of his biographers, we owe to Wilson in great measure the habit of the daily bath, and he helped very much to bring the Turkish bath into use in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, and in the process writing a number of works on spas, baths and thermo-therapy, all of which overlap in their content.
Indeed his works on spas, baths, and thermo-therapy were directly related to his work on the health of skin. His earliest such works on this topic outlined the relationship between various applications of water, vapour baths, the action of heat and cold through such media on the action of the skin, and the relationship between this and health in general. Moreover, his works had a direct impact on the hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy, involves the use of water for pain-relief and treating illness. The term hydrotherapy itself is synonymous with the term water cure as it was originally marketed by practitioners and promoters in the 19th century...
movement of the time (then known as hydropathy), and the overlapping sanitary reform movement. He applauded the establishment of Public Baths and Wash-houses, as “amongst the noblest of the institutions…as they are one of the greatest discoveries of the present age”, and dedicated his 1854 book Healthy Skin to another sanitary reform proponent, Edwin Chadwick
Edwin Chadwick
Sir Edwin Chadwick KCB was an English social reformer, noted for his work to reform the Poor Laws and improve sanitary conditions and public health...
"In admiration of his strenuous and indefatigable labors in the cause of Sanitary Reform".
Nor was Wilson shy of saying what needed to be said in the promotion of sanitary reform. In Metcalfe's (1877) work on sanitary reform and all the above-mentioned overlaps, he describes the Chines vapour baths. After describing the bathing establishments as a whole, he describes the bathing room itself, "which is about thirty feet by twenty, and is filled with hot steam or vapour":
The entire floor, except a narrow space round the sides, is occupied by a hot-water bath from one to eighteen inches deep. The furnace is outside, and the flues are carried under the centre of the bath. In the hazy light of this room may be seen the perspiring Chinamen disperting themselves in the shallow water, until, when cleansed to their satisfaction, they return to the cooling room, there to regale themselves with cups of tea and pipes of tobacco. All classes of Chinese frequent these bathing establishments. Mr Ellis, in his “Journal of the Embassy to China (1816),” says of this Chinese cleansing apparatus, that it is “disgusting,” but says Mr Erasmus Wilson, “What would Mr Ellis say of a country in which there existed no cleansing apparatus whatever? For example, his own.
Wilson wrote much upon the diseases which specially occupied his attention, and his books, A Healthy Skin and Student's Book of Diseases of the Skin, though they were not received without criticism at the time of their appearance, long remained text-books of their subject. He visited the East
Orient
The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
in order to study leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
to investigate the causes of goitre
Goitre
A goitre or goiter , is a swelling in the thyroid gland, which can lead to a swelling of the neck or larynx...
, and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
with the purpose of adding to his knowledge of the skin diseases affecting an ill-nourished peasantry.
He made a large fortune by his successful practice and by skilful investments, and since he had no family he devoted a great deal of his money to charitable and educational purposes. In 1869 he founded the chair and museum of dermatology in the Royal College of Surgeons
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body and registered charity committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients, regulating surgery, including dentistry, in England and Wales...
, of which he was chosen president in 1881, and which just before his death awarded him its honorary gold medal, which had been founded in 1800 and only awarded on six previous occasions. He also founded a professorship of pathology at the University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
.
In 1878 he earned the thanks of the nation on different grounds, by defraying the expense of bringing the Egyptian obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
inaccurately called Cleopatra's Needle
Cleopatra's Needle
Cleopatra's Needle is the popular name for each of three Ancient Egyptian obelisks re-erected in London, Paris, and New York City during the nineteenth century. The London and New York ones are a pair, while the Paris one comes from a different original site where its twin remains...
from Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
to London, where it was erected on the Thames Embankment
Thames Embankment
The Thames Embankment is a major feat of 19th century civil engineering designed to reclaim marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It consists of the Victoria and Chelsea Embankment....
. The British Government had not thought it worth the expense of transportation. He was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed by Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
in 1881, and died at Westgate-on-Sea
Westgate-on-Sea
Westgate-on-Sea is a seaside town in northeast Kent, England, with a population of 6,600. It is within the Thanet local government district and borders the larger seaside resort of Margate...
, Kent in 1884. He had married Charlotte Mary Doherty in 1841; they had no children. After the death of his wife, the bulk of his property, some £200,000, went to the Royal College of Surgeons.
Famous statements
1878: When the Paris Exhibition closes, electric light will close with it and no more be heard of.----
Text above was based on an entry from the 1902 edition of Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
, It may need some updating or revision
Published works as known
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(Reprinted from the British Medical Journal). Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org)
(Reprinted from the British Medical Journal). Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org)
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Note: Internet Archives lists more copies of some of these titles. Not all were checked. Some may be duplicates, and some may be later editions. The sample above shows that some titles had multiple subsequent editions. Also note that for books prior to 1881, Wilson did not have the title Sir, as he had not yet been knighted.