Day 49
Thomas Latta, Leith's forgotten medical pioneer.
Had he lived a few more years, his place would have been secure among medical immortals. But Thomas Latta died far too young. Only thirty-three years old and ground down by the efforts of caring for his patients during the 1832 cholera pandemic, in 1833 he succumbed to the tuberculosis that stalked his family.
Clyster Apparatus:
This is similar to the type of syringe Thomas Latta would have had available to adapt and use to provide intravenous injections. It was used for all sorts of purposes including withdrawing milk from nursing mothers, providing an enema rectally, and as a stomach pump.
The first major recorded epidemic of cholera started in the Middle East around 1830 and spread West over Europe reaching Britain in 1832, the Government had tried to prepare for its arrival and set up local Boards of Health to deal with it. While the medical communities of Edinburgh and Leith worked closely together, Leith was better organised.
An image of the apparatus Latta used during his procedures.
According to the Surgeon General’s review of preparatory arrangements, those in Leith were seen as superior to those for Edinburgh. This was because the Leith doctors were prepared to go out into the community – to see what was appropriate and work with the council to put what was needed in place.
Thomas Latta was one of the Leith doctors who worked in his own community as well as at the Cholera hospital in Edinburgh.
At that time scientific medicine was developing rapidly and Edinburgh was in the vanguard of its advance. Latta and his colleagues were continuously trying to elucidate the causes of disease and treat it effectively.
Recognising that rapid losses of water and body salts were a feature of the worst disease, Latta decided to try to replace them quickly intravenously.
This had never been done before. It required exceptional technical skill, scientific know how and personal courage to do it and he succeeded.
However the passing of the epidemic and medical rivalries led to his achievement being quickly forgotten. It took seventy years after his death for the technique to be re-introduced as a standard treatment.
This post was provided by Doctor George Venters, a retired Public Health Doctor, hailing from the Bow-Tow (Newhaven) with over 40 years experience working in the health service and medical boards. He grew up in the ‘Old’ New lane, and attended Victoria Primary School. A huge thanks for writing this for Leith For Ever.
If you would like to know more about Thomas Latta his medical breakthrough and Cholera in Leith please see the links below: