Poster 02 - Toxipedia

Philip Wexler, NLM
Industrial Revolution
Percival Pott
(1714 – 1788)
Robert Christison
(1797-1882)
Utilizing early epidemiological techniques,
Pott was a key figure in the development of
the science of occupational chemical
carcinogenesis, by associating the job of
chimney sweep with scrotal cancer. His
findings were presented in Pott, P. (1775).
“Cancer Scroti” in Chirurgical Observations,
pp. 63-68. L. Hawes, W. Clarke, and R.
Collins, London.
A professor at the University of Edinburgh and
author of A Treatise on Poisons, in relation to
medical jurisprudence, physiology, and the
practice of physic, Christison was influential in
the field of forensic toxicology. Among other
research, he investigated the detection and
treatment of oxalic acid, arsenic, lead, opium
and hemlock poisoning.
Claude Bernard
(1813-1878)
Francois Magendie
(1783-1855)
Author of Précis élémentaire de physiologie
(Elementary Treatise on Human Physiology),
Magendie was a pioneer in experimental
physiology. In the toxicology realm, he
introduced strychnine, iodine, and bromine
compounds into medicine, and established
the mechanisms of action of emetine and
strychnine.
Claude Bernard extended Magendie’s work in
experimental physiology. He investigated the
mechanisms of action of substances such as
curare, nicotine, and carbon monoxide. He
articulated the concept of homeostasis (in An
Introduction to the Study of Experimental
Medicine (New York. Macmillan. 1927
{English Edition}) and employed poisons to
help explain physiological processes.
Twentieth Century
Paul Ehrlich
Mathieu Joseph
Bonaventure Orfila
(1787-1853)
Frequently called the “Father of Toxicology,”
and the first nineteenth-century exponent of
forensic medicine, Mathieu Orfila’s first
major work was Traite des poisons (Treatise on
Poisons). Orfila went on to become a dean of
the faculty of Medicine in Paris and was called
on to act as a medical expert in cases before
the court.
(1854-1915)
Paul Ehrlich was responsible for advances in
mechanistic toxicology and pharmacology, and
proposed the concept of the receptor. He
coined the phrase “magic bullet” and
stimulated the growth of chemotherapy.
Ehrlich used Salvarsan, an organic arsenical
compound, to treat syphilis. Among his major
works is Beitrage zur experimentellen Pathologie
und Chemiotherapie (Leipzig, 1909).
Alice Hamilton
(1869-1970)
James Marsh
(1794 – 1846)
The chemist, James Marsh, developed a
highly sensitive test to detect arsenic, which
has proven valuable particularly in forensic
toxicology. See Marsh J. (1836). Account of a
method of separating small quantities of
arsenic from substances with which it may be
mixed. Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal
21: 229–236.
In 1919, physician, educator, and
bacteriologist, Alice Hamilton became the
first woman appointed to the faculty at
Harvard Medicine School in the newly
formed Department of Industrial Medicine.
She was a pioneer in the field of toxicology,
studying occupational illnesses and the
dangerous effects of industrial metals and
chemical compounds, and is the author of
Exploring the Dangerous Trades.