Immediately after taking his first degree he applied himself to the study of medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital, and it was in its wards, while working as the clinical clerk of Dr. John Latham, that he made the observations on albuminuria which were afterwards stated and enlarged in his treatise on dropsies. In 1797 he settled in his native city, and on 1 June in that year was chosen physician to the Devon and Exeter Hospital. At this period, however, the medical practice of Exeter was engrossed by Dr. Hugh Downman, Dr. Bartholomew Parr, and Dr. George Daniell, and in 1801 Dr. Blackall resigned his appointment at Exeter, and settled at Totnes, where he became the physician of the district.
His reputation increased, and in 1807 he returned to Exeter, where he was a second time elected physician to the Devon and Exeter Hospital, and in 1812 was appointed physician to St. Thomas's Lunatic Asylum. In 1813 he published his well-known Observations on the Nature and Cure of Dropsies, London, 8vo, of which there are four editions, and which entitles its author to a position among medical discoverers. Dropsy is the morbid effusion of the serum of the blood into the cavities of the body and into the meshes of its tissues. It had been observed from the beginning of medicine, but up to the time of Richard Lower nothing was known of its morbid anatomy. He made the first step, which was the demonstration that dropsy of a limb always follows direct obstruction of its veins. Blackall's discovery came next, and was that dropsy is often associated with the presence of albumen in the urine. His treatise states clearly the relation between albuminuria and dropsy, and shows that he suspected that the kidneys were diseased in these cases. The further discovery of Richard Bright in 1836 of the constant relation between renal disease and albuminuria is based upon the observations first made by Blackall.
Blackall also published in 1813 some observations on angina pectoris, a disease then much discussed, owing to William Heberden's writings upon it. Blackall was admitted candidate of the Royal College of Physicians on 22 December 1814, and a fellow on 22 December 1815. His progress from this period was rapid and uninterrupted, and for a long series of years he had a great practice in the west of England. He was famed for his skill in diagnosis, and it was based upon a thorough method of clinical examination. He used no complicated remedies, was patient in waiting for results, and was justly confident in the conclusions to which he had attained with so much care.
Dr. Blackall retained his strength and faculties to an advanced age, and he did not relinquish private practice till he was eighty. He died at Southernhay, Exeter, on 10 January 1860, and was followed to the grave in the burial-ground of Holy Trinity Church by a large body of relations and friends and the whole of the medical profession resident within the city.
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This article is about the Exeter doctor who was also Mayor of Exeter For his doctor son who was holder of Spitchwick manor see Thomas Blackall John Blackall M A M D FRCP 24 December 1771 10 January 1860 was an English physician Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Family 4 ReferencesEarly life editJohn Blackall was the sixth son of the Reverend Theophilus Blackall a prebendary of Exeter Cathedral by his wife Elizabeth Ley and grandson of Bishop Ofspring Blackall was born in St Paul s Street Exeter on 24 December 1771 He was educated at Exeter grammar school and then studied at Balliol College Oxford as a member of which he graduated B A in 1793 M A in 1796 M B in 1797 and M D on 2 March 1801 Career editThis section has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This section includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help improve this section by introducing more precise citations October 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed March 2024 Learn how and when to remove this message Learn how and when to remove this message Immediately after taking his first degree he applied himself to the study of medicine at St Bartholomew s Hospital and it was in its wards while working as the clinical clerk of Dr John Latham that he made the observations on albuminuria which were afterwards stated and enlarged in his treatise on dropsies In 1797 he settled in his native city and on 1 June in that year was chosen physician to the Devon and Exeter Hospital At this period however the medical practice of Exeter was engrossed by Dr Hugh Downman Dr Bartholomew Parr and Dr George Daniell and in 1801 Dr Blackall resigned his appointment at Exeter and settled at Totnes where he became the physician of the district His reputation increased and in 1807 he returned to Exeter where he was a second time elected physician to the Devon and Exeter Hospital and in 1812 was appointed physician to St Thomas s Lunatic Asylum In 1813 he published his well known Observations on the Nature and Cure of Dropsies London 8vo of which there are four editions and which entitles its author to a position among medical discoverers Dropsy is the morbid effusion of the serum of the blood into the cavities of the body and into the meshes of its tissues It had been observed from the beginning of medicine but up to the time of Richard Lower nothing was known of its morbid anatomy He made the first step which was the demonstration that dropsy of a limb always follows direct obstruction of its veins Blackall s discovery came next and was that dropsy is often associated with the presence of albumen in the urine His treatise states clearly the relation between albuminuria and dropsy and shows that he suspected that the kidneys were diseased in these cases The further discovery of Richard Bright in 1836 of the constant relation between renal disease and albuminuria is based upon the observations first made by Blackall Blackall also published in 1813 some observations on angina pectoris a disease then much discussed owing to William Heberden s writings upon it Blackall was admitted candidate of the Royal College of Physicians on 22 December 1814 and a fellow on 22 December 1815 His progress from this period was rapid and uninterrupted and for a long series of years he had a great practice in the west of England He was famed for his skill in diagnosis and it was based upon a thorough method of clinical examination He used no complicated remedies was patient in waiting for results and was justly confident in the conclusions to which he had attained with so much care Dr Blackall retained his strength and faculties to an advanced age and he did not relinquish private practice till he was eighty He died at Southernhay Exeter on 10 January 1860 and was followed to the grave in the burial ground of Holy Trinity Church by a large body of relations and friends and the whole of the medical profession resident within the city Family editDr Blackall also had a respected physician son Thomas Blackall 1 who was also notable for his stewardship of the Spitchwick estate and his building of Dr Blackall s Drive References editAttribution nbsp This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Blackall John Dictionary of National Biography London Smith Elder amp Co 1885 1900 Thomas Blackall Royal College of Physicians Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Blackall amp oldid 1213887689, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
