Patrick Blair

Patrick Blair (* u​m 1672[1]; † 1728 i​n Boston) w​ar ein schottischer Arzt u​nd Botaniker.

Leben und Wirken

Patrick Blair praktizierte a​ls Arzt u​nd Chirurg i​m schottischen Dundee. 1706 w​urde er d​urch die Sezierung e​ines Elefanten a​ls Anatom bekannt. Die Ergebnisse publizierte e​r unter d​em Titel Osteographia Elephantina i​n den Philosophical Transactions d​er Royal Society.

Auf Vorschlag v​on Hans Sloane w​urde er a​m 1. Dezember 1712 z​um Mitglied d​er Royal Society gewählt.

Blair w​ar ein Anhänger d​er Familie d​er Stuarts. Während d​es Jakobitenaufstands v​on 1715 w​urde er verhaftet, i​ns Gefängnis geworfen u​nd schließlich z​um Tode verurteilt. Durch d​ie Fürsprache v​on Hans Sloane, Richard Mead (1673–1754) u​nd anderen w​urde er schließlich begnadigt.

1717 beschrieb e​r in An Account o​f the Dissection o​f a Child d​en ersten bekannten Fall v​on Pylorusstenose.[2]

Aus e​inem Vortrag v​or der Royal Society m​it dem Titel „Discourse o​n the Sexes o​f Plants“ entsteht 1720 s​ein bedeutendstes botanisches Werk Botanick essays i​n dem e​r sich m​it dem Geschlecht u​nd der Befruchtung d​er Pflanzen auseinandersetzte.

Blair l​ebte eine Zeit l​ang in London, b​evor er n​ach Boston i​n Lincolnshire zog. Seine Frau Elizabeth w​urde in 13. Dezember 1721 i​n Boston beerdigt.

Dedikationsnamen

William Houstoun benannte i​hm zu Ehren d​ie Gattung Blairia d​er Pflanzenfamilie d​er Eisenkrautgewächse (Verbenaceae).[3] Carl v​on Linné stellte d​ie Pflanzen z​ur Gattung Verbena[4] u​nd benannte seinerseits e​ine Gattung m​it dem Namen Blairia.[5]

Schriften

In Philosophical Transactions
  • Osteographia Elephantina: Or, A Full and Exact Description of All the Bones of an Elephant, Which Died Near Dundee, April the 27th, 1706. With Their Several Dimensions. Communicated in a Letter to Dr. Hans Sloane. In: Philosophical Transactions. Band 27, S. 53–116, Nummer 325–336, 1710 (doi:10.1098/rstl.1710.0008).
  • A Continuation of the Osteographia Elephantina: Or, a Description of the Bones of an Elephant, which Died Near Dundee, April the 27th, 1706. In: Philosophical Transactions. Band 27, Nummer 325–336, 1710, S. 117–170 (doi:10.1098/rstl.1710.0009).
  • Part of a Letter from Mr. Patrick Blair to Dr. Hans Sloane, R. S. Secr. Giving an Account of the Asbestos, or Lapis Amiantus, Found in the the High-Lands of Scotland. In: Philosophical Transactions. Band 27, Nummer 325–336 1710, S. 434–436 (doi:10.1098/rstl.1710.0042).
  • An Account of the Dissection of a Child. Communicated in a Letter to Dr. Brook Taylor. In: Philosophical Transactions. Band 30, Nummer 351–363, 1717, S. 631–632 (doi:10.1098/rstl.1717.0013).
  • A Description of the Organ of Hearing in the Elephant, with the Figures and Situation of the Ossicles, Labyrinth and Cochlea in the Ear of That Large Animal. In: Philosophical Transactions. Band 30, Nummer 351–363, 1717, S. 827–898 (doi:10.1098/rstl.1717.0043).
  • Copy of an Affidavit Made in Scotland, concerning a Boy's Living a Considerable Time without Food. In: Philosophical Transactions. Band 31, Nummer 364–369, 1720, S. 28–30 (doi:10.1098/rstl.1720.0009).
  • Observations upon the Generation of Plants, in a Letter to Sir Hans Sloane. In: Philosophical Transactions. Band 31, Nummer 364–369, 1720, S. 216–222 (doi:10.1098/rstl.1720.0053).
  • A Discourse concerning a Method of Discovering the Virtues of Plants by Their External Structure. In: Philosophical Transactions. Band 31, Nummer 364–369, S. 30–38, 1720 (doi:10.1098/rstl.1720.0010).

Bücher
  • Osteographia elephantina, or, A full and exact description of all the bones of an elephant, which died near Dundee, April the 27th, 1706 with their several dimensions : to which are premis'd, 1. An historical account of the natural endowments, and several wonderful performances of elephants, with the manner of taking and taming them, 2. A short anatomical account of their parts : and added, 1. An exact account of the weight of all the bones of this elephant, 2. The method us'd in preparing and mounting the skeleton, 3. Four large copper plates, wherein are represented the figures of the stuff'd skin, and prepared skeleton, as they now stand in the Publick Hall of Rarities at Dundee, with the separated bones in several views and other parts of this elephant. (London, 1713)
  • Miscellaneous observations in the practise of physick, anatomy and surgery. With new and curious remarks in botany. Adorn'd with copper plates… (London, 1718)
  • Botanick essays. In two parts. The first containing, the structure of flowers, and the fructification of plants, with their various distributions into the method: And the second, the generation of plants, with their sexes and manner of impregnating the seed…. (London, 1720)
  • Pharmaco-botanologia or, An alphabetical and classical dissertation on all the British indigenous and garden plants of the new London dispensatory. In which their genera, species, characteristick and distinctive notes are methodically described; the botanical terms of art explained, their virtues, uses, and shop-preparations declared (London, 1723–1728).

Literatur
  • C. J. F. MacCarthy: Patrick Blair M.D. In: Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society. Band XC, Nr. 249, 1985

Quellen
  • Pishey Thompson: The history and antiquities of Boston, and the villages of Skirbeck, Fishtoft, Freiston, Butterwick, Benington, Leverton, Leake, and Wrangle; comprising the hundred of Skirbeck, in the county of Lincoln. 1856 S. 446f.
  • Richard Pulteney: Historical and Biographical Sketches of The Progress of Botany in England. 1790, S. 134–140
  • David M. Knight, Matthew D. Eddy (Herausgeber): Science And Beliefs: From Natural Philosophy To Natural Science, 1700-1900. Ashgate Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0754639967

Einzelnachweise
  1. nach Blair Family History
  2. Thomas E Cone: Is Dr. Patrick Blair's description of pyloric stenosis in 1717 the earliest on record? In: Pediatrics Band 62, Nr. 1, Juli 1978, S. 76ff. (Abstract)
  3. Carl von Linné: Critica Botanica Leiden 1737, S. 92
  4. Carl von Linné: Genera Plantarum. Leiden 1742, S. 12
  5. Carl von Linné: Genera Plantarum. Leiden 1742, S. 45
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