Daniel Whistler
Encyclopedia
Life
The son of William Whistler of Elvington, OxfordshireOxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, he was born at Walthamstow
Walthamstow
Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
in 1619. He was educated at the school of Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, and entered Merton College, Oxford
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
, in January 1639. He graduated B.A. in 1642. On 8 August 1642 he began the study of physic at the university of Leyden, where he graduated M.D. on 19 October 1645, having in the interval returned to Oxford to take his M.A. degree (8 February 1644). He was incorporated M.D. at Oxford on 20 May 1647, and was elected a fellow of the College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
on 13 December 1649.
On 13 June 1648 he was elected Gresham Professor of Geometry
Gresham Professor of Geometry
The Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1596 / 7, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to eight and in addition the college now has visiting professors.The...
, and was at the same time Linacre reader at Oxford. He took care of wounded seamen in the First Anglo-Dutch War
First Anglo-Dutch War
The First Anglo–Dutch War was the first of the four Anglo–Dutch Wars. It was fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Caused by disputes over trade, the war began with English attacks on Dutch merchant shipping, but...
of 1652, and in October 1653 was asked to accompany Bulstrode Whitelocke
Bulstrode Whitelocke
Sir Bulstrode Whitelocke was an English lawyer, writer, parliamentarian and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England.- Biography :...
to Sweden. His first case was a broken arm, and his next a broken leg, and he himself set both. He spoke Latin and French, and wrote Latin verses on the abdication of Queen Christina of Sweden
Christina of Sweden
Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
, which are printed in the Journal of the Swedish Embassy. In July 1654 he returned to London.
At the College of Physicians he delivered the Harveian oration
Harveian Oration
The Harveian Oration is a yearly lecture held at the Royal College of Physicians of London. It was instituted in 1656 by William Harvey, discoverer of the systemic circulation. Harvey made financial provision for the college to hold an annual feast on St...
in 1659, was twelve times censor, registrar from 1674 to 1682, treasurer in 1682, and in 1683 president. He married in 1657, and died on 11 May 1684, while president, of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, and was buried in Christ Church, Newgate Street. His house was in the college in Warwick Lane. He was thought agreeable by Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, who often dined and supped with him. They walked together to view the ravages of the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
of 1666. John Evelyn
John Evelyn
John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
also liked his conversation. He was negligent as registrar, and as president of the College of Physicians took little care of its property.
Works
His inaugural dissertation at Leyden, read 18 October 1645, De Morbo puerili Anglorum, quern patrio idiomate indigense vocant "The Rickets," is his only published work, and is the first printed book on ricketsRickets
Rickets is a softening of bones in children due to deficiency or impaired metabolism of vitamin D, magnesium , phosphorus or calcium, potentially leading to fractures and deformity. Rickets is among the most frequent childhood diseases in many developing countries...
. He reprinted it in 1684. The disease was at that time the subject of much active observation by Francis Glisson
Francis Glisson
Francis Glisson was a British physician, anatomist, and writer on medical subjects. He did important work on the anatomy of the liver, and he wrote an early pediatric text on rickets...
, and a committee, seven in number, of the College of Physicians which worked with him had made the subject well known, though Glisson's elaborate Tractatus de Rachitide did not appear till 1650. Whistler's thesis contains no original observations, but many hypotheses and reports of the views of others who are not named. It is clearly based on the current discussion, and takes nothing from the originality of Glisson's work. He proposes the name 'Paedossplanchnosteocaces' for the disease, but no subsequent writer has used the word.