Whitelaw Ainslie
Encyclopedia
Whitelaw Ainslie was a British surgeon and writer on materia medica
, best known for his work in India
.
's service on 17 June 1788, and on his arrival in India was appointed garrison surgeon of Chingleput
. On 17 October 1794 he was promoted to the grade of surgeon, having been two years previously transferred to Ganjam
. In 1810 he was appointed superintending surgeon, the court of directors having approved his motives in drawing up a scheme to improve the health of the troops in India, whilst rejecting the plan proposed. He was named superintending surgeon of the southern division of the army (Madras) in 1814, and two years later the sum of six hundred guineas was awarded to him as a mark of the estimation in which his services were held by the court of directors. In 1815 he resigned, having served twenty-seven years apparently without any furlough, and returned to England in the autumn of that year. During his residence in India he seems to have published the joint report mentioned below, a ‘Treatise upon Edible Vegetables,’ and the ‘Materia Medica of Hindostan.’ After his return he occupied himself by launching out into different branches of literature, as shown by the appended list of works. In 1835 he refers to himself as being in the ‘vale of years,’ the book being dedicated to his wife.
Materia medica
Materia medica is a Latin medical term for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing . The term 'materia medica' derived from the title of a work by the Ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides in the 1st century AD, De materia medica libre...
, best known for his work in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Biography
He become assistant surgeon in the East India CompanyEast India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
's service on 17 June 1788, and on his arrival in India was appointed garrison surgeon of Chingleput
Chingleput
Chingleput or Chengalpattu or Chengalpet is a city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The name of the city is derived from the old nomenclature 'chenkazhuneer patru'...
. On 17 October 1794 he was promoted to the grade of surgeon, having been two years previously transferred to Ganjam
Ganjam
Ganjam is a town and a notified area committee in Ganjam district in the state of Orissa, India.-Geography:Ganjam is located at . It has an average elevation of 3 metres .-Demographics:...
. In 1810 he was appointed superintending surgeon, the court of directors having approved his motives in drawing up a scheme to improve the health of the troops in India, whilst rejecting the plan proposed. He was named superintending surgeon of the southern division of the army (Madras) in 1814, and two years later the sum of six hundred guineas was awarded to him as a mark of the estimation in which his services were held by the court of directors. In 1815 he resigned, having served twenty-seven years apparently without any furlough, and returned to England in the autumn of that year. During his residence in India he seems to have published the joint report mentioned below, a ‘Treatise upon Edible Vegetables,’ and the ‘Materia Medica of Hindostan.’ After his return he occupied himself by launching out into different branches of literature, as shown by the appended list of works. In 1835 he refers to himself as being in the ‘vale of years,’ the book being dedicated to his wife.
Works
He published the following works:- ‘Materia Medica of Hindostan,’ Madras, 1813, 4to,
- ‘Materia Indica; or Some Account of those Articles which are employed by the Hindoos and other Eastern Nations in their Medicine, Arts, and Agriculture,’ by Whitelaw Ainslie, M.D., M.R.A.S., London, 1826, 2 vols. 8vo. (This is an amended edition of the foregoing.) , ‘Clemenza, or the Tuscan Orphan; a tragic drama in five acts, Bath, 1822, 8vo; 2nd edition, 1823, *‘Observations on the Cholera Morbus of India.’ London, 1825, 8vo. (A rejoinder to this tract was published by James Morison, the hygeist, in the same year.)
- ‘Medical Observations,’ forming pp. 353–367 of vol. iii. of Murray's ‘Historical and Descriptive Account of British India,’ 1832, 8vo (vols. vi.–viii. Edinburgh Cabinet Library); new edition in 1844,
- ‘An Historical Sketch of the Introduction of Christianity into India,’ Edinburgh, 1835, 8vo., (In conjunction with A. Smith and M. Christy)
- ‘Report on the Causes of the Epidemical Fever which prevailed in the Provinces of Coimbatore, Madeira, Dinigal, and Tinivelly, in 1809–10–11,’ London, 1816, 8vo.