William Brooke O'Shaughnessy
William Brooke O'Shaughnessy | |
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Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata | |
Awards | Fellow of the Royal Society |
Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy (from 1861 as William O'Shaughnessy Brooke) MD FRS (October 1809, in Limerick, Ireland – 8 January 1889,[1] in Southsea, England) was an Irish physician famous for his wide-ranging scientific work in pharmacology, chemistry, and inventions related to telegraphy and its use in India. His medical research led to the development of intravenous therapy and introduced the therapeutic use of Cannabis sativa to Western medicine.
Early life
O'Shaughnessy was born at Limerick in 1809 to Daniel O'Shaughnessy and Sarah Boswell. His mother was a Protestant and many in the family were clergymen.[2][3] An uncle of his was the Dean of Ennis and a great uncle the Roman Catholic Bishop of Killaloe. William studied briefly at Trinity College, Dublin matriculating in 1825 but moved to Scotland before graduating. O'Shaughnessy studied forensic toxicology and chemistry in Scotland, and graduated in 1829 with an MD from the University of Edinburgh Medical School. In 1829 he was a clinical assistant of William Alison. In 1831, at the age of 22, as a result of his analysis of the blood of cholera victims, O'Shaughnessy laid the foundation, along with Thomas Aitchison Latta, for what was to become intravenous fluid and electrolyte-replacement therapy in the treatment of cholera.[4] O'Shaughnessy analyzed the urine and blood of cholera patients and came to the conclusion that oxygen in the blood could reverse the actions. He found the blood deficient in water, salt, and "free alkali" and suggested that injecting salts would help. The method used by O'Shaughnessy on a dog and was developed further by Latta.[5][6][7][8]
O'Shaughnessy failed to obtain a position Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in the University of London and his first marriage forced him to join the service of the
Work in India
His first stint in India was marked by work in the subjects of botanical pharmacology, chemistry,
Return to India
In 1844, O'Shaughnessy returned to India, where he worked in various government positions in the fields of pharmacology and assay. Lord Dalhousie became interested in the establishment of a telegraphic network and he learnt of the work of O'Shaugnessy and found that he could work on the scheme. Dalhousie informed the Military Board that O'Shaugnessy was to work directly under Dalhousie's supervision and report directly without any other intermediary authorities. During this period he began work on various telegraph instruments and systems.[21] After briefly returning to England in 1852, O'Shaughnessy was appointed Superintendent of Telegraphs in 1852. During the years 1853-5 3500 miles of telegraph were installed across India and he wrote numerous manuals and reports on his telegraph inventions. O'Shaughnessy was on leave in England during the mutiny year but in the same year Morse code was introduced into India and a message from Delhi to Punjab helped in moving troops in time. In 1858 a cable was laid in the Gulf of Mannar between India and Ceylon. O'Shaughnessy introduced a coil of fine wire in the circuit to protect the cables from lightning.[11][22][23] His successor in the telegraphs department, Charles Adley, became a fierce critic of O'Shaughnessy's work.[1]
Knighthood and return to England
In 1856 he was
He adopted the surname Brooke by Royal Licence in 1861 on the death of a relative. He was married three times. His second wife was the daughter of Francis O'Shaughnessy and his third was Julia Greenly, daughter of Captain Sabine.[24]
References
- ^ a b Ghose, Saroj (1994). "William O'Shaughnessy - an innovator and entrepreneur" (PDF). Indian Journal of History of Science. 29 (1): 9–22.
- ^ "Ancestral Line - Sir William O'Shaughnessy Brooke, Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, William O'Shaughnessy, William Sands, Marijuana".
- ^ "William Brooke O'Shaughnessy - from There to Now". 23 April 2019.
- PMID 5333950.
- ISBN 978-0521394956.
- ^ O'Shaughnessy, William Brooke (1832). Report on the chemical pathology of the malignant cholera : containing analyses of the blood, dejections, &c. of patients labouring under that disease in Newcastle and London, &c. &c. &c. London: S. Highley.
- ^ Cosnett, J. E. (1992). "Dr. William Brooke O'Shaughnessy" (PDF). The Old Limerick Journal. 29: 13–16.
- ^ Mikuriya, Tod H., MD, Marijuana Medical Papers, 1839-1972
- S2CID 32050016.
- ^ doi:10.1021/ed046p99.
- ^ a b c d Pollard, Albert Frederick. "O'Shaughnessy, William Brooke". Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 42. pp. 310–311.
- ISSN 0308-7298.
- ^ O'Shaughnessy, W.B. (1838–1840). "Case of Tetanus, Cured by a Preparation of Hemp (the Cannabis indica.)". Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society of Bengal. 8: 462–469.
- ^ O'Shaughnessy, W.B. (1837). "On the employment of the Electromagnet...". Journal of the Calcutta Medical and Physical Society. 1: 27–40, 108–110.
- JSTOR 3102151.
- ^ O'Shaughnessy, W.B. (1839). "Memoranda relative to experiments on the communication of telegraphic signals by induced electricity". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 8: 714–731.
- PMC 2490264.
- ^ Turner, I.M. (2011). "The contribution of Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy (1809–1889) to plant taxonomy". Phytotaxa. 15: 57–63.
- S2CID 42138710.
- ISBN 978-1439102602.
- S2CID 19070162.
- ^ Adams, M (1889). Memoir of Surgeon-Major Sir W. O'Shaughnessy Brooke in connection with the early history of the telegraph in India. Simla: Government Central Printing Office.
- JSTOR 3102572.
- PMC 2154565.