Francis Boott
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Francis Boott (1792–1863) was an American physician and botanist who was resident in Great Britain from 1820.
[edit] Biography
Boott was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the brother of Kirk Boott, one of the founders of Lowell, Massachusetts. He entered Harvard College in 1806 and graduated in 1810 with
Aged 19 he moved to Derby in England apparently with the intention of becoming a merchant, where he spent three years, and became interested in botany, influence of Lucy Hardcastle (who may have been an illegitimate daughter of Erasmus Darwin). He returned to America in 1814 where he studied botany.
He returned to Britain in 1820 to study medicine, initially in London but later at Edinburgh University, gaining an MD in 1824. In 1820 he married Mary Hardcastle, daughter of John Hardcastle and the aforementioned Lucy Hardcastle. He practised medicine in London between 1825 and 1832. He conducted his own experiments and lectured on botany. Between 1832 and 1839 he was secretary of the [[Linnean Society].
He retained his interest in medicine and wrote to The Lancet in 1846 when he heard from his friend Jacob Bigelow about the use of ether as an anaesthetic in America. The first use of ether as an anaesthetic in Britain (for a dental procedure) was in his house at 24 Gower Street on 19th December 1846. This is commemorated by a plaque on the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine which now stands on the site. A few days later a surgical operation under ether was carried out by Robert Liston at University College Hospital nearby.
[edit] References
- Anonymous. "Francis Boott, M.D." Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 6: 305-308, 1865.
- Ellis RH. (1977) The introduction of ether anaesthesia to Great Britain. 2. A biographical sketch of Dr. Francis Boott. Anaesthesia 32:197-208.
- Gray, A. "Francis Boott, M.D." American Journal of Science and Arts, series II. 37: 288-292, 1864.
