Contagionism Catches On : Medical Ideology in Britain, 1730–1800

This Book Shows How Contagionism Evolved In Eighteenth Century Britain And Describes The Consequences Of This Evolution. By The Late Eighteenth Century, The British Medical Profession Was Divided Between Traditionalists, Who Attributed Acute Diseases To The Interaction Of Internal Imbalances With External Factors Such As Weather, And Reformers, Who Blamed Contagious Pathogens. The Reformers, Who Were Often ?outsiders,? English Nonconformists Or Men Born Outside England, Emerged From Three Coincidental Transformations: Transformation In Medical Ideas, In The Nature And Content Of Medical Education, And In The Sort Of Men Who Became Physicians. Adopting Contagionism Led Them To See Acute Diseases As Separate Entities, Spurring A Process That Reoriented Medical Research, Changed Communities, Established New Medical Institutions, And Continues To The Present Day. Introduction -- Fever Theory And British Contagionism In The Mid-eighteenth Century -- Contagionism After 1750: John Pringle And James Lind -- Animate Disease After 1750: Exanthemata Viva -- Counting And Classifying Diseases: Contagion, Enumeration And Cullen's Nosology -- John Haygarth And The Campaign For Contagion -- Contagionism, Politics And The Public In Manchester, 1780-1795 -- Institutionalizing Contagionism: The Manchester House Of Recovery -- Conclusion: A New Medicine. Margaret Delacy. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "This book shows how contagionism evolved in eighteenth century Britain and describes the consequences of this evolution. By the late eighteenth century, the British medical profession was divided between traditionalists, who attributed acute diseases to the interaction of internal imbalances with external factors such as weather, and reformers, who blamed contagious pathogens. The reformers, who were often ?outsiders,? English Nonconformists or men born outside England, emerged from three coincidental transformations: transformation in medical ideas, in the nature and content of medical education, and in the sort of men who became physicians. Adopting contagionism led them to see acute diseases as separate entities, spurring a process that reoriented medical research, changed communities, established new medical institutions, and continues to the present day."-- Provided by publisher This book shows how contagionism evolved in eighteenth century Britain and describes the consequences of this evolution. By the late eighteenth century, the British medical profession was divided between traditionalists, who attributed acute diseases to the interaction of internal imbalances with external factors such as weather, and reformers, who blamed contagious pathogens. The reformers, who were often zoutsiders, y English Nonconformists or men born outside England, emerged from three coincidental transformations: transformation in medical ideas, in the nature and content of medical education, and in the sort of men who became physicians. Adopting contagionism led them to see acute diseases as separate entities, spurring a process that reoriented medical research, changed communities, established new medical institutions, and continues to the present day Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Introduction (Margaret DeLacy)....Pages 1-18 Fever Theory and British Contagionism in the Mid-Eighteenth Century (Margaret DeLacy)....Pages 19-54 Contagionism after 1750: John Pringle and James Lind (Margaret DeLacy)....Pages 55-87 Animate Disease after 1750: Exanthemata Viva (Margaret DeLacy)....Pages 89-123 Counting and Classifying Diseases: Contagion, Enumeration and Cullen’s Nosology (Margaret DeLacy)....Pages 125-164 John Haygarth and the Campaign for Contagion (Margaret DeLacy)....Pages 165-205 Contagionism, Politics and the Public in Manchester, 1780–1795 (Margaret DeLacy)....Pages 207-241 Institutionalizing Contagionism: The Manchester House of Recovery (Margaret DeLacy)....Pages 243-281 Back Matter ....Pages 283-347