John FothergillDied 26 Dec 1780 at age 68 (born 8 Mar 1712).English physician who was first to describe coronary arteriosclerosis (hardening and thickening of the arterial wall, with a loss of elasticity and reduced blood flow) associated with angina pectoris. He began his medical practise in 1740. He was first to give a substantial description of diphtheria in England in his Account of the Sore Throat Attended With Ulcers (1748), and credited with the first accurate description of migraine. He promoted coffee as a beverage in England, and as a crop in the West Indies. As a Quaker and philanthropist, he maintained a botanical garden in Upton, supported John Howard in his penal reforms and aided Benjamin Franklin (1774) draft a scheme of reconciliation between England and the American colonies.« |