Joseph Toynbee

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Joseph Toynbee (1815-1866) was an English otologist and father of economic historian Arnold Toynbee (1852-1883). Joseph Toynbee's career was dedicated to the pathological and anatomical studies of the ear.

A pioneer in the field of otology, In 1857 Toynbee became aural surgeon and lecturer at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington. It was during this time that he composed two important works: A Descriptive Catalogue of Preparations Illustrative of the Diseases of the Ear (1857), and The Diseases of the Ear: Their Nature, Diagnosis and Treatment (1860). Also Toynbee is credited as the first physician to discover a link between stapes fixation and hearing loss.

Famous otologist Adam Politzer wrote a biography honoring Toynbee, whom Politzer regarded as a major influence. Toynbee died in 1866 when he accidentally inhaled a lethal combination of prussic acid and chloroform; reportedly he was experimenting with these substances as a remedy for tinnitus.

External Source:

• Sketches of Otohistory; Origins of Otology in the British Isles: Wilde and Toynbee Joseph E Hawkins