William Cullen

William Cullen ( born April 15, 1710 in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, † February 5, 1790 in Kirknewton ) was a Scottish physician and chemist.

Life and work

1751 Cullen Regius Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Glasgow, in 1755 he became professor of chemistry and medicine at the University of Edinburgh. In 1773 he was appointed President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and in 1777 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. Cullen was the successor of Robert Whytt ( 1717-1766 ). The University of Edinburgh was at that time regarded in Europe as a leader in the field of medicine. Whytt was developed based on the teachings of the "father of neurology " observed Thomas Willis (1621-1675) and derjeneigen of Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689), a nerve theory, which was made the pathogenetic basis of the whole theory of illness. The empiricism of the Scottish philosophy came to meet the successes of the natural sciences.

Cullen's work Synopsis Nosologicae Medicae is considered a precursor to the ICD.

1776, the term neurosis was introduced by Cullen. This term includes all non-inflammatory diseases of the nervous system should be designated as distinct from optic neuritis. This also mental disorders were meant. This does not mean that the concept of neurosis characterized by Cullen already a meaning of neurosis has been set in our modern sense, in the sense of " consultation psychiatry " or a small psychiatry. Rather Cullen in his illness classification placed great emphasis on neurophysiology. Their innovative for its time results have triggered a Europe-wide controversy with works by Georg Ernst Stahl (1659-1734), Friedrich Hoffmann (1660-1742) and Albrecht von Haller ( 1708-1777 ). Cullen's major works were First Lines of the Practice of Physic; Institutions of Medicine ( 1710) and Synopsis Nosologiae Methodicae ( 1785), in which he made a nosological classification of diseases into four major groups. These groups were:

  • Pyrexiae, ie febrile diseases such as typhoid
  • Neuroses, ie nervous diseases such as epilepsy
  • Cachexiae, that is, diseases with poor general physical condition (cachectic ) such as scurvy
  • Locales, ie local causes of disease such as cancer.

At that time, authorities decided not to locate mental illnesses such as hysteria in the womb or to consider them as incurable obsession. They took on more and more as nervous diseases. However, Cullen was criticized by Philippe Pinel, since he also Erasmus Darwin, even simple truck looked like a mental illness. Pinel said: " Ce serait convertir en Petites Maisons nos cités les plus floristic esting. " ( This would mean to transform our most flourishing cities in private asylums. ) Cullen represented the principle of education has a similar view, as it was even promoted by Pinel himself and was taken up in Germany especially by the group of psychics. Only Pinel was more of a pragmatic character.

Artificial cooling

In 1756, Cullen experimented with diethyl ether, which he brought by vacuum to evaporate. The environment of the reaction vessel was removed from heat and it emerged small amounts of ice. An economic importance not obtained the findings of this experiment.

Works

  • First Lines of the Practice of Physick, for the Use of Students (1777 ) German ground plan of the medical practice for students
  • Institutions of Medicine
  • Lectures on the materia medica. 2nd Ed. Dublin:. Whitestone, 1781 Digitized edition of the University and State Library Dusseldorf
  • Synopsis Nosologicae Medicae ( 1785 ), a classification of diseases
  • Cours de Matière médicale. Released: Vol 1 - 4 Paris, 1788 Digitized edition of the University and State Library Dusseldorf.
  • A treatise of the materia medica (1789 ); German: Treatise on the Materia drug / translated and annotated by Samuel Hahnemann. Leipzig, in Schwickertschen Publishers, 1790 Vol.1
  • Traité de Matière médicale. Translated by Bosquillon, Édouard François Marie. Released: Vol 1 - 3 Pavie: Sauveur, 1791 Digitized edition of the University and State Library Dusseldorf.
  • Trattato di materia medica del Signor Guglielmo Cullen. Involved person: Dalladecima, Angelo. 2nd Ed. Released: Vol 1 - 6 Padova: Bettinelli, 1798 Digitized edition of the University and State Library Dusseldorf.
Dictionary of National Biography Erwin Ackerknecht Name Authority File
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