occurred in London, 1747–8, and gives an historical account of the same disease in other countries. It was the first clear recognition of the disease in this country, and is a model of clinical description, though the writer did not, and perhaps could not, distinguish the disease from malignant cases of scarlatina. By advocating a supporting instead of a depletory treatment, he achieved great success and increase of reputation. The ‘Philosophical Transactions’ contain six papers by Fothergill, of which one in 1744, ‘On the Origin of Amber,’ was the first. He also contributed to the ‘Medical Observations and Inquiries by a Society of Physicians in London’ twenty-two papers, and four more were printed after his death. The most notable is that ‘Of a Painful Affection of the Face,’ 1773, in which he describes the affection now known as facial neuralgia, or ‘tic-douloureux.’ The paper ‘On the Sick Headache’ (vol. vi.) should also be mentioned, and that in the same volume ‘On the Epidemic Disease of 1775’ (influenza), which is enriched by the reports of numerous correspondents. Fothergill also wrote ‘Essays on the Weather and Diseases of London’ in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine,’ 1751–4. In observations of this kind he was following the precedent of Sydenham, to whom, for his powers of observation and practical sagacity, Fothergill may well be compared. A spurious compilation, ‘Rules for the Preservation of Health,’ was to Fothergill's great annoyance published during his lifetime, with his name generally misspelt on the title-page, and reached a fourteenth edition. His works procured him a widespread reputation on the continent and in America, as well as at home, and he will always remain an important representative of the naturalistic and anti-scholastic tendencies of English medicine in the latter half of the eighteenth century. His character might be summed up in Franklin's words, ‘I can hardly conceive that a better man has ever existed.’
[J. C. Lettsom's Memoirs of John Fothergill, M.D., 4th edit., London, 1786, 8vo; also in the Works; William Hird's An Affectionate Tribute to the Memory of Dr. Fothergill, 4to, 1781; G. Thompson's Memoirs of the late Dr. John Fothergill, 8vo, 1782; Munk's Coll. of Phys. 1878, ii. 154; Hist. of Coll. Phys. Edinb., 1882; Lives of Brit. Phys., 1830; Sketch of Life by Dr. J. Hack Tuke, 1879.]
FOTHERGILL, JOHN MILNER, M.D. (1841–1888), medical writer, son of a surgeon, was born at Morland, Westmoreland, on 11 April 1841, studied at the university of Edinburgh, and there graduated M.D. 1865. He afterwards studied at Vienna and Berlin and began professional work as a general practitioner at Morland, whence he soon after moved to Leeds, and in 1872 came to London, was admitted a member of the College of Physicians, and endeavoured to get into practice as a physician. He obtained appointments at two small hospitals, the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest and the West London Hospital; but when asked some years later how he throve, replied, ‘The private patient seems to me to be an extinct animal.’ He worked, however, with untiring energy, and wrote ‘The Heart and its Diseases,’ ‘The Practitioner's Handbook of Treatment,’ ‘The Physical Factor in Diagnosis,’ ‘Vaso renal Change versus Bright's Disease.’ In his writings his expressions about those with whom he did not agree are violent, and he often makes positive general assertions without sufficient grounds for them; but he sometimes admitted his errors, and struggled hard with numerous difficulties in life. He was a man of enormous weight, with a large head and very thick neck, and so continued till he died of diabetes, from which and from gout he had long suffered. He resided in Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square, London, and there died on 28 June 1888. A distinguished lecturer on materia medica has expressed the opinion that the most valuable of Fothergill's writings are ‘An Essay on the Action of Digitalis,’ written in his early life, and ‘The Antagonism of Therapeutic Agents, and what it teaches,’ published in 1878.
[Lancet, 14 July 1888; Works; information from Dr. Lauder Brunton.]
FOTHERGILL, SAMUEL (1715–1772), quaker, sixth son of John and Margaret Fothergill, well-to-do quakers of considerable means at Carr End, Wensleydale, Yorkshire, was born in November 1715. When three years old his mother died. He was educated at a school at Briggflats, near Sedbergh, and afterwards at a school at Sutton in Cheshire, kept by his uncle, Thomas Hough. When seventeen he was apprenticed to a quaker shopkeeper at Stockport. He was clever, bright, and popular. For some time he led a dissipated life, but became steady before he was of age. As soon as his apprenticeship was over he went to live at Sutton with his uncle, and united himself with the Society of Friends. For some years he seems to have passed through much mental trouble, and it was not till 1736 that he was accepted as a quaker minister. No certificate to travel appears to have been issued to him till 1739. Some seven months previously he married Susanna Croudson of Warrington, also a
