Biographical sketch of the late Dr. Thomas Trotter, Physician to the British Fleet / [Alexander Cockburn].

  • Alexander Cockburn
Date:
[1845]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Biographical sketch of the late Dr. Thomas Trotter, Physician to the British Fleet / [Alexander Cockburn]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    On his retirement, the surgeons of the fleet recorded the testi¬ mony of their regard by presenting him with a set of tea plate ex¬ pressive of his services, and their gratitude for his many acts of kindness to themselves. The inscription on the urn is as follows,— Doctori Thomas Trotter, Classis Regia? Medico Primario, Multa de patria bene merenti ; Hoc Munusculum, Pignus Observantiae Summae, Chirurgi Navales Lubentissime Offerunt, Kt Publicae Salutis, et Privatae Amicitia?, Testimonium Sacrum esse voluere—1802. A physician to a fleet or army has a duty to perform that can but .seldom come within the practice of the private physician. The brave man who risks his life in the service of his country is exposed to hardships, dangers, and privations, unknown anywhere else. In his sick-bed he is deprived of the affectionate attendance of nearest and dearest relatives, so that he has to look to his physician alone to compensate for the want of all these comforts. Few medi¬ cal men, we believe, ever received greater marks of regard and gra¬ titude than Dr Trotter from both officers and seamen, for his visits to the ships were always welcomed with the utmost pleasure. To conclude this notice of his public service, it may be truly said of him, that no physician ever witnessed the sick-bed under such a variety of circumstances as fell to the lot of Dr Trotter. After his retirement he practised as a physician in Newcastle. On two days in the week he gave gratuitous advice to the poor, and many thousands availed themselves of it. His infirmities increasing, he relinquished practice in 1827, and went to reside in Roxburgh¬ shire, and in 1830 to Edinburgh, where he remained for two years, and afterwards returned to Newcastle, where he died on the 5th September 1832. His professional works deservedly rank high, and are frequently quoted as authorities by medical professors and teachers. The titles of his publications are, Medical and Chemical Essays, Trea¬ tises on Scurvy, Treatise on Nervous Diseases, Essay on Drunken¬ ness, and several others, amongst which are an Address to the Proprietors of Coal Mines on the means of destroying Damp, a Practical Plan for Manning the Royal Navy, a small volume of Poems, and also many other contributions to the periodicals of the day. EDINBURGH : PRINTED BY STARK AND COMPANY, OLD ASSEMBLY CLOSE.
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