Bot at 15:26, 6 November 2022

2022-11-06T15:26:02Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox medical person
|name = William Brooke O'Shaughnessy
|image = William Brooke O’Shaughnessy 1.jpg
|image_size =
|alt =
|caption =
|birth_date = October 1809
|birth_place = [[Limerick]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Ireland]]
|death_date = {{d-da|January 1889|October 1809}}
|death_place = [[Southsea]], [[Hampshire]], [[England]]
|profession = [[Doctor (title)|Doctor]], [[physician]], [[inventor]]
|specialism =
|research_field =
|known_for = [[Medical cannabis]]<br>[[Intravenous therapy]]<br>[[Telegraphy]]<br>[[Forensic chemistry]]
|years_active =
|education = [[University of Edinburgh]]
|work_institutions = [[Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata]]
|prizes = [[Fellow of the Royal Society]]
|relations =
|signature =
}}

'''Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy''' (from 1861 as '''William O'Shaughnessy Brooke''') MD [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (October 1809, in [[Limerick]], Ireland – 8 January 1889,<ref name=ghose>{{cite journal| title=William O'Shaughnessy - an innovator and entrepreneur| author=Ghose, Saroj| journal=[[Indian National Science Academy|Indian Journal of History of Science]]| volume=29| issue=1| year=1994| pages= 9–22|url=http://insa.nic.in/writereaddata/UpLoadedFiles/IJHS/Vol29_1_2_SGhose.pdf}}</ref> in Southsea, England) was an Irish physician famous for his wide-ranging scientific work in pharmacology, chemistry, and inventions related to [[telegraphy]] and its use in India. His medical research led to the development of [[intravenous therapy]] and introduced the [[medical cannabis|therapeutic use]] of ''[[Cannabis sativa]]'' to Western medicine.

==Early life==
O'Shaughnessy was born at Limerick in 1809 to Daniel O'Shaughnessy and Sarah Boswell. His mother was a Protestant and many in the family were clergymen.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ancestralline.com/projects.html | title=Ancestral Line - Sir William O'Shaughnessy Brooke, Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, William O'Shaughnessy, William Sands, Marijuana }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.clear-uk.org/william-brooke-oshaughnessy-from-there-to-now/ | title=William Brooke O'Shaughnessy - from There to Now | date=23 April 2019 }}</ref> An uncle of his was the Dean of Ennis and a great uncle the Roman Catholic Bishop of Killaloe. William studied briefly at Trinity College, Dublin matriculating in 1825 but moved to Scotland before graduating. O'Shaughnessy studied [[forensic toxicology]] and [[chemistry]] in Scotland, and graduated in 1829 with an MD from the [[University of Edinburgh Medical School]]. In 1829 he was a clinical assistant of [[William Alison]]. In 1831, at the age of 22, as a result of his analysis of the blood of cholera victims, O'Shaughnessy laid the foundation, along with [[Thomas Latta|Thomas Aitchison Latta]], for what was to become [[Intravenous therapy|intravenous fluid and electrolyte-replacement therapy]] in the treatment of cholera.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Moon, J. B. |year=1967|title=Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy: The foundations of fluid therapy and the Indian telegraph service| journal=New England Journal of Medicine|volume=276|issue=5|pages=283–284|doi=10.1056/NEJM196702022760509|pmid=5333950}}</ref> O'Shaughnessy analyzed the urine and blood of cholera patients and came to the conclusion that oxygen in the blood could reverse the actions. He found the blood deficient in water, salt, and "free alkali" and suggested that injecting salts would help. The method used by O'Shaughnessy on a dog and was developed further by Latta.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rylah, Lindsey T. A. |year=1992|title=Critical Care of the Burned Patient| publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn= 978-0521394956|pages= 2–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= Report on the chemical pathology of the malignant cholera : containing analyses of the blood, dejections, &c. of patients labouring under that disease in Newcastle and London, &c. &c. &c.|author= O'Shaughnessy, William Brooke| year= 1832 | place= London| publisher=S. Highley|url=https://archive.org/details/b22334671 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Cosnett, J. E. |year=1992| title= Dr. William Brooke O'Shaughnessy| journal=The Old Limerick Journal| volume= 29| pages= 13–16| url= http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/dr%20william%20brooke%20o%27shaughnessy.pdf}}</ref><ref name="iv">[[Tod H. Mikuriya|Mikuriya, Tod H., MD]], Marijuana Medical Papers, 1839-1972</ref>

O'Shaughnessy failed to obtain a position Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in the University of London and his first marriage forced him to join the service of the [[British East India Company]] on 8 August 1833 and he moved to [[Calcutta]], remaining in [[India]] and serving initially at Gyah and Cuttack before joining the 72nd Bengal Native Infantry. He joined the 10th Regiment Bengal Light Cavalry in 1835 and was an assistant to the Opium Agent in Bihar till 5 August 1835 when he became Professor of the [[Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata|medical college]] in Calcutta. He served on the committee of the Materia Medica until 1840 and later was Chemical Examiner to the government. As chemical examiner he developed methods for forensic studies for detecting arsenic poisoning as well as botanical toxins (such as from ''[[Plumbago]]'' used as an abortifacient<ref>{{Cite journal|title= Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, F.R.S. (1809-1889), Anglo-Indian Forensic Chemist| author=Gorman, Mel| journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London| volume=39| issue= 1 |year=1984| pages=51–64| jstor=531575| doi=10.1098/rsnr.1984.0004| pmid=11615980| s2cid=32050016}}</ref>).<ref name=gorman>{{cite journal|doi=10.1021/ed046p99|title=Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy: Pioneer chemist in a colonial environment|journal=[[Journal of Chemical Education]]|volume=46|issue=2|pages=99|year=1969|last1=Gorman|first1=Mel|bibcode=1969JChEd..46...99G}}</ref> He went on furlough to England in 1841 to 1844 and returned to join as Chemical Examiner and additionally as Deputy Assay Master of the Calcutta Mint.<ref name=dnb>{{cite book| title=[[Dictionary of National Biography]], 1885-1900, Volume 42|chapter = O'Shaughnessy, William Brooke| author=Pollard, Albert Frederick |pages=310–311 |chapter-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/O%27Shaughnessy,_William_Brooke_(DNB00) }}</ref>

==Work in India==
[[File:W_B_OShaughnessy.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait by [[Colesworthey Grant]]]]
His first stint in India was marked by work in the subjects of botanical pharmacology, chemistry, [[galvanization|galvanic electricity]], and underwater [[electrical conduction|conduction]], among others. He worked on modifications to the [[Daniell cell]] and the use of tanned leather semi-permeable membranes in them. He identified the use of zinc to reduce the rusting of iron before the process of galvanizing had been established. O'Shaughnessy also analyzed the gun-cotton developed by [[Christian Friedrich Schönbein]] and recognized the role of nitrogen and correctly identified the role of sulphuric acid in removing water from the cotton. He also developed a silver chloride electrode<ref name=gorman /> and experimented on adding colour tones to the Daguerre photographic process.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thomas|first=G.|date=1 April 1986|title=O'Shaughnessy's experiments in colour photography|journal=History of Photography|volume=10|issue=2|pages=169–170|doi=10.1080/03087298.1986.10443104|issn=0308-7298}}</ref> At [[Calcutta]], he was a member of the [[Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta]], where he published one of his first papers on medical applications of [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=O'Shaughnessy, W.B. | title=Case of Tetanus, Cured by a Preparation of Hemp (the Cannabis indica.)| journal=Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society of Bengal| volume= 8|year=1838–1840|pages= 462–469}}</ref> He validated folk uses of cannabis in India, discovered new applications, and ultimately recommended cannabis for a great variety of therapeutic purposes. O'Shaughnessy established his reputation by successfully relieving the pain of rheumatism and stilling the convulsions of an infant with cannabis. He eventually popularized its use back in England. His most famous success came when he quelled the wrenching muscle spasm of tetanus and rabies with resin. While he could not cure tetanus, he observed that the cannabis mixture reduced their symptoms of [[spasticity]] and their suffering. In 1837 he published his independent design of an electric motor.<ref>{{cite journal|author= O'Shaughnessy, W.B. |title=On the employment of the Electromagnet...| journal=Journal of the Calcutta Medical and Physical Society| volume=1| year=1837| pages=27–40, 108–110}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Gorman, Mel| journal= Technology and Culture| volume=9 | issue=2| year=1968| pages= 184–190| title= An Early Electric Motor in India| jstor=3102151 | doi= 10.2307/3102151}}</ref> In 1839, O'Shaughnessy conducted experiments on an experimental telegraphy system that he set up in the Botanical Garden at Calcutta with the assistance of [[Nathaniel Wallich]]. A length of 22 miles of wire was laid by zigzagging them over bamboo posts.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://archive.org/stream/journalofasiatic08asia#page/714/mode/2up/|pages=714–731| year= 1839| title=Memoranda relative to experiments on the communication of telegraphic signals by induced electricity| author=O'Shaughnessy, W.B.|journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal| volume=8}}</ref> In 1841, he returned to England, where he introduced ''[[Cannabis indica]]'' to Western medicine and continued his scientific writings.<ref>{{cite journal| year =1843| title=On the preparations of the Indian hemp, or Gunjah, (Cannabis Indica) | author=O'Shaughnessy, W.B.| issue=123 |pages=1–7| pmc=2490264| volume=5| journal=Prov Med J Retrosp Med Sci}}</ref> He was a member of the [[London Electrical Society]] and was elected a [[fellow of the Royal Society]] on 16 March 1843. The Candidature for Election to Fellow of the Royal Society stated that he was "distinguished for his acquaintance with the science of Medicine and Chemistry, eminent as a Physician and as a promoter of education among the natives of Bengal". O'Shaughnessy was a supporter of the idea of education in native languages in medicine. He also wanted locally available sources of medicine to be utilized to provide inexpensive aid. As a teacher, he took students on field trips to the Botanical Garden to introduce them to the local medicinal plants. In 1837 he prepared a ''Manual of Chemistry'' of which a thousand copies were printed for use in Calcutta. A second edition was produced in 1842. Another major book was the ''Bengal Dispensatory and Pharmacopeia'' which included an appendix on the "improvement of Bengal pottery" (1840) since earthenware imports from Europe were proving to be expensive. The ''Bengal Dispensatory'' included descriptions of several plant species that were made or overseen by Wallich including those of ''Abelmoschus longifolius'', ''Pharbitis caerulea'', ''Hebradendron pictorium'' and ''Garcinia pictoria''.<ref>{{cite journal|title= The contribution of Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy (1809–1889) to plant taxonomy| journal=Phytotaxa| volume=15| year=2011| pages=57–63| author=Turner, I.M.}}</ref> These descriptions have often been overlooked by botanists in the past.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy, M.D., F.R.S., F.R.C.S., F.S.A.: A Biographical Appreciation by an Electrical Engineer| author=Bridge, J.A.| journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London| volume=52| issue=1| year=1998| pages=103–120| jstor=532080| doi=10.1098/rsnr.1998.0038| pmid=11619939| s2cid=42138710}}</ref><ref name=dnb /><ref name="Lee">{{cite book|authorlink=Martin A. Lee|author=Lee, Martin|year= 2012| title= Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana - Medical, Recreational and Scientific|publisher= Simon and Schuster|isbn= 978-1439102602|pages= 23–25}}</ref>

==Return to India==
In 1844, O'Shaughnessy returned to India, where he worked in various government positions in the fields of pharmacology and assay. [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]] became interested in the establishment of a telegraphic network and he learnt of the work of O'Shaugnessy and found that he could work on the scheme. Dalhousie informed the Military Board that O'Shaugnessy was to work directly under Dalhousie's supervision and report directly without any other intermediary authorities. During this period he began work on various telegraph instruments and systems.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1177/0967772015596276 |pmid= 26385975|title= Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy (1808–1889), MD, FRS, LRCS Ed: Chemical pathologist, pharmacologist and pioneer in electric telegraphy|author=MacGillivray, Neil| journal=Journal of Medical Biography |year=2015|volume=25|issue= 3|pages=186–196|s2cid= 19070162}}</ref> After briefly returning to England in 1852, O'Shaughnessy was appointed Superintendent of Telegraphs in 1852. During the years 1853-5 3500 miles of telegraph were installed across India and he wrote numerous manuals and reports on his telegraph inventions. O'Shaughnessy was on leave in England during the mutiny year but in the same year Morse code was introduced into India and a message from Delhi to Punjab helped in moving troops in time. In 1858 a cable was laid in the Gulf of Mannar between India and Ceylon. O'Shaughnessy introduced a coil of fine wire in the circuit to protect the cables from lightning.<ref>{{cite book|title= Memoir of Surgeon-Major Sir W. O'Shaughnessy Brooke in connection with the early history of the telegraph in India|author=Adams, M| year=1889| place=Simla| publisher= Government Central Printing Office|url=https://archive.org/details/memoirofsurgeonm00adamrich}}</ref><ref name=dnb /><ref>{{cite journal| title=Sir William O'Shaughnessy, Lord Dalhousie, and the Establishment of the Telegraph System in India| author=Gorman, Mel| journal=Technology and Culture| volume=12| issue=4| year= 1971| pages=581–601 | jstor=3102572| doi=10.2307/3102572}}</ref> His successor in the telegraphs department, Charles Adley, became a fierce critic of O'Shaughnessy's work.<ref name=ghose />

==Knighthood and return to England==
In 1856 he was [[knight]]ed by [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] for his work on the telegraph in India. He was appointed Director-General of Telegraphs at this time. During the following years O'Shaughnessy wrote on telegraphy-related subjects, including a book of private codes for [[encrypted]] telegraphy. In 1860, O'Shaughnessy returned to Europe for sick leave where he remained in obscurity until his death from senile asthenia at Southsea on 8 January 1889. He was buried at Highland Road Cemetery, Portsmouth.<ref name=dnb />

He adopted the surname Brooke by Royal Licence in 1861 on the death of a relative. He was married twice. His second wife was the daughter of Francis O'Shaughnessy and his third was Julia Greenly, daughter of Captain Sabine.<ref>{{cite journal| journal= The British Medical Journal|year=1889|title=Obituary. Sir William O'Shaughnessy Brooke|page=164|volume=1|issue=1464|pmc=2154565|doi=10.1136/bmj.1.1464.164}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://ancestralline.com/projects.html The Life & Work of Sir William O'Shaughnessy Brooke]
* [http://publicdomainreview.org/2017/04/19/w-b-oshaughnessy-and-the-introduction-of-cannabis-to-modern-western-medicine W. B. O’Shaughnessy and the Introduction of Cannabis to Modern Western Medicine]
* {{Librivox author |id=16992}}

{{Cannabis|state=collapsed}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshaughnessy, William Brooke}}
[[Category:1808 births]]
[[Category:1889 deaths]]
[[Category:Irish people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Cannabis researchers]]
[[Category:People from Limerick (city)]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Irish expatriates in India]]
[[Category:Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata]]
[[Category:British forensic scientists]]
[[Category:19th-century Irish medical doctors]]
[[Category:Irish cannabis activists]]
[[Category:Irish healthcare managers]]
[[Category:19th-century Irish businesspeople]]
[[Category:Scientists from County Limerick]]
[[Category:Medical doctors from County Limerick]]

William Brooke O'Shaughnessy - Revision history

Bot at 15:26, 6 November 2022