Volume 67 May 1974

,ection oftheHistory of MedicinePresident W Hartston FRCP

Meeting 7 November 1973(continuedfrom April 1974 'Proceedings' p 242)

Paper

Dr Richard Russell 1687- 1759by LW Lauste MD FRCS(Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton)Richard Russell (Fig 1) was born on 26 November1687, in the parish of St Michael's, Lewes, the sonof a surgeon and apothecary, Nathaniell Russell,and Mary, his wife. Nathaniell Russell practisedin Lewes, as had his father before him.

Russell was educated at the Grammar Schoolof Southover, Lewes, a foundation dating backto 1512 but with early mention of a school inSouthover as far back as 1248. At the school heobtained considerable classical knowledge and,being destined for the practice of medicine, wasapprenticed to his father. In the course of thismedical apprenticeship he met and becameattached to the only daughter and heiress ofWilliam Kempe Esquire of Malling Deanery,near Lewes. Because of the difference in socialposition and the fierce opposition of Mr Kempe,courtship was difficult but eventually in 1719 theywere married in Lewes, at the Church of St John-sub-Castro, to Mr Kempe's great displeasure.Later, however, Mr Kempe relented because ofhis love for his daughter and the excellentqualities of his son-in-law, and he reinstated hisdaughter. Russell subsequently went to Leydento complete his medical education under Boer-haave and it seems probable his wife went withhim. He graduated as a Doctor of Medicine inLeyden on 22 December 1724, with a thesis onepilepsy in children.

Russell returned to England and continuedpractice in Lewes and on the death of his father-in-law succeeded to the property of MallingDeanery, where he lived with his wife and family

Fig 1 Portrait ofDr RichardRussell by BenjaminWilson (Brighton Art Gallery)

and where he practised. He had from early yearstaken an interest in the properties of sea waterand in sea bathing and their medical use, thoughthis was no new concept as is shown by hiswritings, but was again attracting attention inthis country.

In 1750 he published his book 'De tabeglandulari, sive de usu aqua marine in morbisglandularum dissertatio', recording his experienceover twenty-five years with the use of sea waterboth internally and externally and particularly in

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cases of glandular disease. The book was pub-lished at Oxford under the imprimatur of theVice-Chancellor, J Purnell, Warden of NewCollege, written in Latin and inscribed to theDuke of Newcastle. Russell became famousbecause of this book and his method of treatmentby sea water and he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society in 1752.

So successful was the book that an unauthor-ized translation into English by an 'Eminentphysician' was published in 1752 and anotheredition was published in Dublin in 1753. Thispirated translation continued to be published inseveral editions over many years and with addi-tions concerning the use of sea water and later ofmineral waters and the spas. The last Londonedition, the fifth, was published in 1769.

Russell was so angered by this translation,which he said was inaccurate as well as beingunauthorized, that he himself published a trans-lation into English, again at Oxford under theimprimatur of the Vice-Chancellor, now J Browne,Master of University College; the title was 'ADissertation concerning the Use of Sea Water inDiseases of the Glands', to which he added anEpistolary Dissertation to Richard Frewin mD.This was in 1753.

In 1753 because of the great increase in hispractice and the desirability of Brighthelmstonfor sea water treatment, he built a house nearthe seashore, known as Russell House, on thesite now occupied by The Royal Albion Hotel,and moved to Brighthelmston in 1754. A fewyears after his death the house was rented by theDuke of Cumberland, brother of George ILL,who invited his nephew, the Prince of Wales, tovisit him; this the Prince did first in 1783 andso begun his long connexion with Brighthelm-ston, which contributed so much to the growthand importance of the town.

In 1755 Russell published his second book,'Oeconomia natura in morbis acutis et chronicisglandularum', which he himself had translatedinto English and published under the title of'The Economy of Nature in Acute and ChronicalDiseases of the Glands'.

Richard Russell died while on a visit to Londonon 21 December 1759 and was buried in thefamily vault at South Malling Church on 24December. He had three daughters and two sons,none of whom practised medicine. His elder son,William, a lawyer, changed his name to Kempeafter his father's death, and his younger son,Richard, entered the Church.

His house, Malling Deanery, is still a privatehouse, somewhat altered over the years but withthe same lovely grounds and views, adjacent tothe Church of St Michael the Archangel or SouthMalling Church as it is usually known.

The Writings of Dr RussellThe earliest publication by Russell is in the Philo-sophical Transactions in 1713: 'An account of aSchirrhous Tumour included in a Cystis by Dr-Richard Rusel, Surgeon at Lewes in Sussex'. Inthis he describes a woman who had had a largetumour in the breast for thirty-eight yearsfollowing a fall from a horse. Then acute symp-toms supervened and Russell removed a largetumour containing hair which would appear tohave been an infected dermoid cyst, though hethought the condition the result of diseasedglands.

His next publication in 1724 was his thesis inLeyden, 'De epilepsia puerili'. Then in 1750appeared the book which made him famous andhad great influence both in this country and onthe Continent, 'De tabe glandulari'. His trans-lation into English published in 1753 followedexactly the Latin edition but Russell did nottranslate any quotations, which were left intheir original Greek or Latin form, the onlyaddition being an Epistolary to Dr RichardFrewin. The title page is beautifully executed witha vignette composed of sea shells and sea weedswith a dolphin below and the Radcliffe Cameraat Oxford inset - on one side is Poseidon with histrident and on the other Hygeia with her serpent(Fig 2). Below the title is a quotation fromEuripides:

Russell was clearly a good classical scholar-hence his apt quotation from Euripides.The Dissertation is a lengthy book of more

than 300 pages with a long dedication to ThomasHolles, Duke of Newcastle, who was clearly acldse friend of the doctor. The Preface opens:.'I offer to the Reader's perusal in the following sheetssome cases, which were cured by sea water; wherein Ihave endeavoured to explain and illustrate, as far as Iam able, by what ways it produces its good effect; insubduing diseases of the glands. But I have left what-ever else may lead to a more accurate knowledge of it(and in so great a medicine I should think the fieldlikely to be very extensive), to the ingenious experi-ments of those who come after me.'Then follow observations on the nature of sea

water and the experiments of others - Dr Hales,Dr Boerhaave ... and mention of the help he has

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