Edward Nathaniel Bancroft
Encyclopedia
Edward Nathaniel Bancroft, M.D. (1772–1842) was an English physician, known for his writings on yellow fever
.
. He was born in London and received his schooling under Charles Burney
and Samuel Parr
. He entered St. John's College, Cambridge, and graduated bachelor of medicine in 1794.
In 1795 he was appointed a physician to the armed forces. He served in the Windward Islands
, in Portugal, in the Mediterranean, and with Abercromby's expedition to Egypt in 1801. On his return to England he proceeded to the degree of M.D. in 1804, and began to practise as a physician in London, retaining half-pay rank in the army.
He joined the College of Physicians in 1805, became a fellow in 1806, was appointed to give the Gulstonian lectures the same year, and was made a censor in 1808, at the comparatively early ago of thirty-six; he was a pamphleteer against the pretensions of army surgeons. In 1808 he was appointed a physician to St. George's Hospital.
In 1811 he gave up practice in London, owing to ill-health, and resumed his full-pay rank as physician to the forces, proceeding to Jamaica
. He remained there for the rest of his life (thirty-one years), his ultimate rank being that of deputy inspector-general of army hospitals. He died at Kingston
on 18 September 1842, in his seventy-first year; a mural tablet to his memory was placed in the cathedral church of Kingston 'by the physicians and surgeons of Jamaica'.
. McGrigor charged Bancroft with want of accuracy, want of candour, and partiality. Jackson accused him of being "presumptuous in his professional rank, which he conceives to be superior to actual knowledge."
Bancroft's best title to be remembered in medicine is his "Essay on the Disease called Yellow Fever, with Observations concerning Febrile Contagion, Typhus Fever, Dysentery, and the Plague, partly delivered as the Gulstonian Lectures
before the College of Phvsicians in the years 1806 and 1807", London, 1811, with a "Sequel" to the same, London, 1817. "Never," says Charles Murchison
(Continued Fevers of Great Britain, 1st ed. 1862, p. 111), "has any work effected a greater revolution in professional opinion in this country." The spontaneous, autochthonous, or de novo
origin of the contagia of pestilential diseases was then the generally accepted one, though the doctrine of the reproduction of a pathogen existing ab æterno had been stated, among others, by Alard Mauritius Eggerdes, a Prussia
n physician, for bubonic plague
in 1720. Bancroft's skill in dialectic made the ab æterno doctrine popular. He argued, "There is no chance, nor even possibility, of thus generating anything so wonderful and so immutable as contagion, which, resembling animals and vegetables in the faculty of propagating itself, must, like them, have been the original work of our common Creator. ... As well might we revive the for-ever exploded doctrine of equivocal generation" (Essay, p. 109). Bancroft explained away facts vouched for by observers such as John Pringle
, Donald Monro, and Gilbert Blane
. Yellow fever, he also argued, should be identified as a malarial fever. Murchison stated that "the doctrine of Bancroft was generally adopted, without investigation of the facts upon which it was founded."
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
.
Life
Bancroft was the son of Edward BancroftEdward Bancroft
Edward Bancroft was an American physician and double-agent spy during the American Revolution.He worked as a spy for Benjamin Franklin in Britain before the Revolution, and also while serving as secretary to the American Commission in Paris...
. He was born in London and received his schooling under Charles Burney
Charles Burney
Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...
and Samuel Parr
Samuel Parr
Samuel Parr , was an English schoolmaster, writer, minister and Doctor of Law. He was known in his time for political writing, and as "the Whig Johnson", though his reputation has lasted less well that Samuel Johnson's, and the resemblances were at a superficial level, Parr being no prose stylist,...
. He entered St. John's College, Cambridge, and graduated bachelor of medicine in 1794.
In 1795 he was appointed a physician to the armed forces. He served in the Windward Islands
Windward Islands
The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies.-Name and geography:The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds in the...
, in Portugal, in the Mediterranean, and with Abercromby's expedition to Egypt in 1801. On his return to England he proceeded to the degree of M.D. in 1804, and began to practise as a physician in London, retaining half-pay rank in the army.
He joined the College of Physicians in 1805, became a fellow in 1806, was appointed to give the Gulstonian lectures the same year, and was made a censor in 1808, at the comparatively early ago of thirty-six; he was a pamphleteer against the pretensions of army surgeons. In 1808 he was appointed a physician to St. George's Hospital.
In 1811 he gave up practice in London, owing to ill-health, and resumed his full-pay rank as physician to the forces, proceeding to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. He remained there for the rest of his life (thirty-one years), his ultimate rank being that of deputy inspector-general of army hospitals. He died at Kingston
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
on 18 September 1842, in his seventy-first year; a mural tablet to his memory was placed in the cathedral church of Kingston 'by the physicians and surgeons of Jamaica'.
Works
Bancroft's earliest writings were two polemical pamphlets—"A Letter to the Commissioners of Military Enquiry, containing Animadversions on the Fifth Report", London, 1808, and "Exposure of Misrepresentations by Dr. McGrigor and Dr. Jackson to the Commissioners of Military Enquiry", London, 1808—on proposed changes in the army medical department in which he contended for the then existing artificial distinctions between physician to the forces and regimental surgeon, and for the precedence of the former. His opponents in the controversy were two army medical officers, James McGrigor and Robert JacksonRobert Jackson (surgeon)
Robert Jackson M.D. was a Scottish physician-surgeon, reformer, and inspector-general of army hospitals.-Life:He was born at Stonebyres, near the Falls of Clyde, he was the son of a small farmer. After schooling at Wandon and Crawford he was apprenticed for three years to a surgeon at Biggar, and...
. McGrigor charged Bancroft with want of accuracy, want of candour, and partiality. Jackson accused him of being "presumptuous in his professional rank, which he conceives to be superior to actual knowledge."
Bancroft's best title to be remembered in medicine is his "Essay on the Disease called Yellow Fever, with Observations concerning Febrile Contagion, Typhus Fever, Dysentery, and the Plague, partly delivered as the Gulstonian Lectures
Goulstonian Lectures
The Goulstonian Lectures are an annual lecture series given on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians in London. They began in 1639. The 2009 Goulstonian Lecturer was Geraint Rees. The lectures are named for Theodore Goulston , who founded them with a bequest. Up to the end of the 19th century,...
before the College of Phvsicians in the years 1806 and 1807", London, 1811, with a "Sequel" to the same, London, 1817. "Never," says Charles Murchison
Charles Murchison
Sir Charles Kenneth Murchison was a British Conservative Party politician.He was elected at the 1918 general election as Member of Parliament for Hull East...
(Continued Fevers of Great Britain, 1st ed. 1862, p. 111), "has any work effected a greater revolution in professional opinion in this country." The spontaneous, autochthonous, or de novo
De novo
In general usage, de novo is a Latin expression meaning "from the beginning," "afresh," "anew," "beginning again." It is used in:* De novo transcriptome assembly, the method of creating a transcriptome without a reference genome...
origin of the contagia of pestilential diseases was then the generally accepted one, though the doctrine of the reproduction of a pathogen existing ab æterno had been stated, among others, by Alard Mauritius Eggerdes, a Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n physician, for bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
in 1720. Bancroft's skill in dialectic made the ab æterno doctrine popular. He argued, "There is no chance, nor even possibility, of thus generating anything so wonderful and so immutable as contagion, which, resembling animals and vegetables in the faculty of propagating itself, must, like them, have been the original work of our common Creator. ... As well might we revive the for-ever exploded doctrine of equivocal generation" (Essay, p. 109). Bancroft explained away facts vouched for by observers such as John Pringle
John Pringle
Sir John Pringle, 1st Baronet, FRS was a Scottish physician who has been called the "father of military medicine" ....
, Donald Monro, and Gilbert Blane
Gilbert Blane
Sir Gilbert Blane of Blanefield, 1st Baronet FRSE FRS MRCP was a Scottish physician who instituted health reform in the Royal Navy....
. Yellow fever, he also argued, should be identified as a malarial fever. Murchison stated that "the doctrine of Bancroft was generally adopted, without investigation of the facts upon which it was founded."