Elliotson

Elliotson, John (1791-1868), an English physician born at Southwark. He took the degree of M.D. at Edinburgh and at Cambridge, and then studied in London, and in 1817 became assistant physician and, later, physician of St. Thomas's Hospital. He lectured at St. Thomas's till 1831, introducing there the new practice of clinical lecturing. In 1834 he became physician to the North London Hospital, but a few years later resigned all his appointments, owing to his having adopted mesmerism as a therapeutic agent. In 1849 he became physician of a mesmeric hospital. Dr. Elliotson made many valuable discoveries in medical practice, among them being the use of acupuncture in neuralgia, the value of quinine, the importance of the stethoscope, and the employment of many substances in different diseases.