Scottish physician.

Served surgical apprenticeship and worked for several years as a navy surgeon. M.D., University of Edinburgh (1748). Published a “Treatise on the Scurvy” (1754), which was the first first-hand account of the disease by a trained physician and established conclusively the value of lemon juice as an antiscorbutic. Treasurer of the Edinburgh College of Physicians (1757-58). Physician at the naval hospital at Haslar, near Gosport (1758-94). Also wrote papers on typhus fever, malaria, and other tropical diseases, disinfection aboard ships, and the distillation of fresh water from salt water.