Charles Irving (surgeon)
Charles Irving (fl. 1768–1781) was a Scottish
Early life
Irving was the son of William Irving of Gribton (c. 1738–1800[1]),[2][3] at Gribton estate, Holywood, Dumfriesshire, Scotland,[4] and Katherine Menzies of Enoch. One of his brothers was civil servant Thomas Irving.[1] It is not known how Charles Irving became a surgeon, and he was not licensed by the Royal College of Physicians.[5] In 1768, while living in Pall Mall, London, he employed freedman Olaudah Equiano (also known as Gustavus Vassa) as a hairdresser from February to May. According to Equiano's autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Irving was an "excellent master" who allowed him to attend schools in the evening.[6][7]
Distillation of seawater
Irving introduced a method for distillation of seawater to the Royal Navy in 1770.[8] The following January, while Irving was junior surgeon on HMS Arrogant,[9] he demonstrated his apparatus to the Admiralty at Spithead.[10] Although Irving's device was very similar to one proposed earlier by James Lind, the latter co-signed a certificate declaring the method to be both new and efficient. Lord Sandwich, the First Lord of the Admiralty, had two bottles of this water analyzed by Richard Watson,[11] who made experiments comparing Irving's water with other fresh and distilled water and found it to be "not wholly free from saline particles; but it probably contains them in so small a portion, as to not injure its salubrity to any sensible degree."[12] The scientist Joseph Priestley tasted some of the water during a dinner hosted by Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland and reported it was "perfectly sweet, but ... wanted the briskness and spirit of fresh spring water".[13] Irving was awarded £5,000 (equivalent to £740,000 in 2021) by Parliament for his method on 11 May 1772.[14]
The distillation apparatus, which allowed sea water to be distilled while cooking food,
Expedition towards the North Pole
In 1773, on the initiative of Daines Barrington, who adhered to the belief of Samuel Engel that there was an ice-free region near the pole,[20] Sandwich initiated an expedition with the aim of reaching the North Pole. HMS Racehorse, commanded by Constantine John Phipps, and HMS Carcass, commanded by Skeffington Lutwidge, were to pass between Spitsbergen and Greenland and sail as far north as possible, while keeping away from the coasts. Should they reach the pole, they were to return home.[21] Irving, who was described by Joseph Banks as "well acquainted with the desiderata of Zoology",[22][23] was employed as surgeon on the Racehorse, and Equiano joined him, employed both as an able seaman by the Navy and as Irving's personal assistant.[24] Irving's apparatus was successfully used on board,[25][26] operated by Equiano.[24] Irving also assisted Phipps in measurements of the water temperature in different depths, using a thermometer invented by Lord Charles Cavendish, and, realising the inadequacies of their methods, devised an insulated bottle, called the Irving bottle. However, this method also did not provide accurate measurements.[26][27] Irving used a barometer to measure the heights of mountains in Spitsbergen and on Amsterdam Island. The expedition made it as far north as 80°48′N, but could not advance further due to ice.[21]
Phipps's 1774 report on the expedition, A voyage towards the North Pole, contains an appendix written by Irving about the distillation apparatus[28] that is dismissive of Lind's contribution, causing the latter to publish a response refuting some of Irving's claims.[29]
Colonial ventures and death
In 1775, Irving hosted in London a delegation of
Name and misidentification
Irving, whose name also appears in other forms, including Irvine and Irwin,[7] has sometimes been confused with Christopher Irving, who was given £500 by the Board of Longitude for his invention of the marine chair,[44][45] a device to help with astronomy at sea.[46] However, Christopher Irving died in 1764 in Barbados.[44]
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b McCusker 1997.
- ^ Lovejoy 2006, p. 341.
- ^ a b Sinclair 1791.
- ^ Anderson 1867, p. 540.
- ^ a b c Downs 2020.
- ^ Equiano 1794, pp. 241–242.
- ^ a b Carretta 2005, p. 137.
- ^ Watson 1787, p. 164.
- ^ Savours 1990, p. 363.
- ^ Watson 1787, p. 166.
- ^ Savours 1990, pp. 363–364.
- ^ Watson 1787, pp. 168–172.
- ^ Davis 1966, p. 47.
- ^ Savours 1990, p. 364.
- ^ Beaglehole 1961, p. 10.
- ^ Beaglehole 1961, p. xxvi.
- ^ Hoare 1982, pp. 48–50.
- ^ Hoare 1976, p. 85.
- ^ Hoare 1982, p. 163.
- ^ Beaglehole 1992, p. 482.
- ^ a b Savours 1984.
- ^ Banks & Chambers 2000, pp. 42, 45.
- ^ Carretta 2005, p. 145.
- ^ a b Carretta 2005, p. 148.
- ^ Phipps 1774, p. 28.
- ^ a b Savours 1984, pp. 411–412.
- ^ Mayer 2015, p. 195.
- ^ Phipps 1774, pp. 205–221.
- ^ Savours 1990, pp. 364–365.
- ^ Sorsby 1969, p. 204.
- ^ Sorsby 1969, pp. 211–212.
- ^ Sorsby 1969, p. 215.
- ^ Lovejoy 2006, pp. 332–333.
- ^ Sorsby 1969, pp. 216–219.
- ^ a b c Lovejoy 2006, p. 333.
- ^ Sorsby 1969, pp. 274–276.
- ^ Watson 1794.
- ^ Musgrave & Armytage 1899.
- ^ Hoare 1982, p. 123.
- ^ Beaglehole 1961, p. 194.
- ^ Equiano 1794, p. 332.
- ^ Equiano 2003, p. 409.
- ^ Moseley 1789, p. 159.
- ^ a b Colburn 1842, p. 151.
- ^ Lovejoy 2012, p. 179.
- ^ Burney 1830, p. 255.
Bibliography
- Anderson, William (1867). The Scottish Nation: Or, The Surnames, Families, Literature, Honours, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland. A. Fullarton & Company.
- Banks, Joseph; Chambers, Neil (2000). The Letters of Sir Joseph Banks: A Selection, 1768–1820. World Scientific. ISBN 978-1-86094-204-4.
- . Published for the Hakluyt Society at the University Press.
- ISBN 978-0-8047-2009-0.
- Burney, William (1830). A New Universal Dictionary of the Marine: Being, a Copious Explanation of the Technical Terms and Phrases ... with Such Parts of Astronomy, and Navigation, as Will be Found Useful to Practical Navigators. ... Together with Separate Views of the Masts, Yards, Sails, and Rigging. To which is Annexed a Vocabulary of French Sea-phrases and Terms of Art. T. Cadell and W. Davis.
- Carretta, Vincent (2005). Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-made Man. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-2571-2.
- Colburn, H., ed. (1842). "Hygieia's visit to the British fleet". The United Service Magazine: 145–155.
- Davis, Kenneth Sydney (1966). The cautionary scientists: Priestley, Lavoisier, and the founding of modern chemistry. New York, Putnam.
- Downs, Carly (12 June 2020). "Equiano's World". equianosworld.org. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- Equiano, Olaudah (1794). The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself.
- Equiano, Olaudah (27 May 2003). Carretta, Vincent (ed.). The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings: Revised Edition. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-09796-0.
- Hoare, Michael Edward (1976). The Tactless Philosopher: Johann Reinhold Forster (1729–98). Hawthorne Press. ISBN 9780725601218.
- Hoare, Michael Edward (1982). The Resolution journal of Johann Reinhold Forster, 1772-1775. Hakluyt Society. ISBN 978-0-904180-10-7.
- S2CID 154057620.
- S2CID 146143041.
- Mayer, Wolf (2015). "Early Attempts by François Péron and Louis Depuch to Measure the Temperature at Various Depths in the Ocean, and Their Thoughts About a Hot Versus a Cold Interior of the Earth". Earth Sciences History. 34 (2): 190–203. JSTOR 44077527.
- ISBN 978-1-134-70340-1.
- Moseley, Benjamin (1789). A treatise on tropical diseases; on military operations; and on the climate of the West-Indies. [electronic resource]. London : Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand.
- Musgrave, William; Armytage, George J. (1899). Obituary prior to 1800 : (as far as relates to England, Scotland, and Ireland). London : Harleian Society. p. 301.
Irving, Charles; medic., Jamaica; d. 1794
- ISBN 978-0-665-28500-4.
- JSTOR 40510304.
- ISSN 0025-3359.
- Sinclair, John, ed. (1791). "Holywood, Dumfries". The Statistical Account of Scotland. Vol. 1. Edinburgh. p. 35.
Holywood has produced no men of eminence in learning or science, except Mr. Charles Irvine surgeon. He was a younger son of the late William Irvine of Gribton, Esq; and the person who, several years ago, discovered the method of rendering salt water fresh, for which he was rewarded by government with a grant of five thousand pounds.
- Sorsby, William Shuman (1969). The British superintendency of the Mosquito Shore, 1749–1787 (Ph.D. thesis). University of London.
- Watson, James, ed. (1794). "Deaths". The Scots Magazine. 56. Sands, Brymer, Murray and Cochran: 373.
At Edinburgh, Dr Charles Irving, late of Jamaica.
- Watson, Richard (1787). Chemical Essays. T. Evans.