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}}'''Sir Samuel Wilks, 1st Baronet''' (2 June 1824 - 8 November 1911), was a British [[physician]] and [[biographer]].
}}'''Sir Samuel Wilks, 1st Baronet''' (2 June 1824 - 8 November 1911), was a British [[physician]] and [[biographer]].


Samuel Wilks was born on 2 June 1824 in Camberwell, London, the second son of Joseph Barber Wilks, a cashier at the East India House. After attending Aldenham School and [[University College School]] he was apprenticed to Richard Prior, a doctor in Newington.
Wilks studied medicine at [[Guy's Hospital]] from 1844 to 1846. After graduation he was hired as a physician to the [[Surrey Infirmary]] (1853). In 1856 he came to Guy's Hospital again, first as assistant physician and [[curator]] of its Museum (a post he held for nine years), then as physician and lecturer on [[Medicine]] (1857). From 1866 to 1870 he was Examiner in the Practice of Medicine at the [[University of London]] and from 1868 to 1875 Examiner in Medicine at the [[Royal College of Surgeons of England|Royal College of Surgeons]]. Among his many services and honors, Wilks was President of the Pathological Society (1881-1882); President of the Neurological Society (1887); member of the Senate of the University of London (1887-1900); member of the General Medicine Council (1887-1896) and President of the [[Royal College of Physicians]] (1896-1899). He was named Physician Extraordinary to [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] in 1897. The following year he was created a '''Baronet''', of Grosvenor Street in the Parish of [[St George Hanover Square|Saint George Hanover Square]] in the County of London. He died in November 1911, aged 87, when the baronetcy became extinct.

in 1842 he entered [[Guy's Hospital]] to study medicine. After graduating MB in 1848 he was hired as a physician to the [[Surrey Infirmary]] (1853). In 1856 he came to Guy's Hospital again, first as assistant physician and [[curator]] of its Museum (a post he held for nine years), then as physician and lecturer on [[Medicine]] (1857). From 1866 to 1870 he was Examiner in the Practice of Medicine at the [[University of London]] and from 1868 to 1875 Examiner in Medicine at the [[Royal College of Surgeons of England|Royal College of Surgeons]]. Among his many services and honors, Wilks was President of the Pathological Society (1881-1882); President of the Neurological Society (1887); member of the Senate of the University of London (1887-1900); member of the General Medicine Council (1887-1896) and President of the [[Royal College of Physicians]] (1896-1899). He was named Physician Extraordinary to [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] in 1897. The following year he was created a '''Baronet''', of Grosvenor Street in the Parish of [[St George Hanover Square|Saint George Hanover Square]] in the County of London. He died in November 1911, aged 87, when the baronetcy became extinct.


Among his major discoveries, Wilks recognized [[ulcerative colitis]] in 1859, differentiating it from bacterial [[dysentery]]. His work was confirmed later (1931) by Sir [[Arthur Hirst]]. Wilks [[autopsy]] of a 42 year-old woman who died after several months of [[diarrhea]] and [[fever]] demonstrated a transmural ulcerative [[inflammation]] of the [[Colon (anatomy)|colon]] and terminal [[ileum]].
Among his major discoveries, Wilks recognized [[ulcerative colitis]] in 1859, differentiating it from bacterial [[dysentery]]. His work was confirmed later (1931) by Sir [[Arthur Hirst]]. Wilks [[autopsy]] of a 42 year-old woman who died after several months of [[diarrhea]] and [[fever]] demonstrated a transmural ulcerative [[inflammation]] of the [[Colon (anatomy)|colon]] and terminal [[ileum]].
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He was a collaborator and biographer of the "Three Great", contemporary physicians who worked at Guy's Hospital, Dr. [[Thomas Addison]], the discoverer of [[Addison's disease]], Dr. [[Richard Bright (physician)|Richard Bright]], discoverer of [[Bright's disease]] and Dr. [[Thomas Hodgkin]], discoverer of [[Hodgkin's lymphoma]]. After the death of Addison in 1860, he carried out the job of examining specimens from all over the country in order to confirm the diagnosis of Addison's disease and thus was able to amass a large case archive. He also rediscovered and confirmed the existence of Hodgkin's lymphoma, at the same time recognizing Hodgkin's priority and proposing the [[eponym]].
He was a collaborator and biographer of the "Three Great", contemporary physicians who worked at Guy's Hospital, Dr. [[Thomas Addison]], the discoverer of [[Addison's disease]], Dr. [[Richard Bright (physician)|Richard Bright]], discoverer of [[Bright's disease]] and Dr. [[Thomas Hodgkin]], discoverer of [[Hodgkin's lymphoma]]. After the death of Addison in 1860, he carried out the job of examining specimens from all over the country in order to confirm the diagnosis of Addison's disease and thus was able to amass a large case archive. He also rediscovered and confirmed the existence of Hodgkin's lymphoma, at the same time recognizing Hodgkin's priority and proposing the [[eponym]].


He had married Mrs.Elizabeth Anne Prior, widow of fellow physician Richard Prioe; they had no children. In later life he suffered a stroke and was terminally paraplegic; he died aged 88 at home in Hampstead on November 8, 1911
He had married Mrs.Elizabeth Anne Prior, widow of previous employer Richard Prior; they had no children. In later life he suffered a stroke and was terminally paraplegic; he died aged 88 at home in Hampstead on November 8, 1911


==Publications==
==Publications==

Revision as of 13:51, 22 June 2010

Sir Samuel Wilks, Bt
Sir Samuel Wilks
Born1824
Died1911
NationalityUnited Kingdom
Alma materGuy's Hospital
Scientific career
Fieldsmedicine

Sir Samuel Wilks, 1st Baronet (2 June 1824 - 8 November 1911), was a British physician and biographer.

Samuel Wilks was born on 2 June 1824 in Camberwell, London, the second son of Joseph Barber Wilks, a cashier at the East India House. After attending Aldenham School and University College School he was apprenticed to Richard Prior, a doctor in Newington.

in 1842 he entered Guy's Hospital to study medicine. After graduating MB in 1848 he was hired as a physician to the Surrey Infirmary (1853). In 1856 he came to Guy's Hospital again, first as assistant physician and curator of its Museum (a post he held for nine years), then as physician and lecturer on Medicine (1857). From 1866 to 1870 he was Examiner in the Practice of Medicine at the University of London and from 1868 to 1875 Examiner in Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons. Among his many services and honors, Wilks was President of the Pathological Society (1881-1882); President of the Neurological Society (1887); member of the Senate of the University of London (1887-1900); member of the General Medicine Council (1887-1896) and President of the Royal College of Physicians (1896-1899). He was named Physician Extraordinary to Queen Victoria in 1897. The following year he was created a Baronet, of Grosvenor Street in the Parish of Saint George Hanover Square in the County of London. He died in November 1911, aged 87, when the baronetcy became extinct.

Among his major discoveries, Wilks recognized ulcerative colitis in 1859, differentiating it from bacterial dysentery. His work was confirmed later (1931) by Sir Arthur Hirst. Wilks autopsy of a 42 year-old woman who died after several months of diarrhea and fever demonstrated a transmural ulcerative inflammation of the colon and terminal ileum.

Wilks also firstly described trichorrhexis nodosa (the formation of nodes along the hair shaft), in 1852. The term was proposed in 1876 by Moritz Kaposi (1837-1902), an Hungarian dermatologist. Subsequently, in 1868, he published the characteristic mental symptoms on alcoholic paraplegia (later to be named Korsakoff's syndrome). Wilks described the first case of myasthenia gravis, in 1877 (it was named "bulbar paralysis" in Guy's Hospital Reports 22:7).

He was a collaborator and biographer of the "Three Great", contemporary physicians who worked at Guy's Hospital, Dr. Thomas Addison, the discoverer of Addison's disease, Dr. Richard Bright, discoverer of Bright's disease and Dr. Thomas Hodgkin, discoverer of Hodgkin's lymphoma. After the death of Addison in 1860, he carried out the job of examining specimens from all over the country in order to confirm the diagnosis of Addison's disease and thus was able to amass a large case archive. He also rediscovered and confirmed the existence of Hodgkin's lymphoma, at the same time recognizing Hodgkin's priority and proposing the eponym.

He had married Mrs.Elizabeth Anne Prior, widow of previous employer Richard Prior; they had no children. In later life he suffered a stroke and was terminally paraplegic; he died aged 88 at home in Hampstead on November 8, 1911

Publications

Lectures on Pathology Delivered at the London Hospital. J & A Churchill, London, 1891.

References

  • Kauntze R.: Samuel Wilks. Guy's Hosp Rep. 1970;119(4):353-5.
  • Eadie, Mervyn J (2008). "Samuel Wilks (1824-1911): neurologist and generalist of the Mid-Victorian Era". Journal of Medical Biography. 16 (4). England: 215–20. doi:10.1258/jmb.2007.007042. ISSN 0967-7720. PMID 18952992. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |laysource=, and |laysummary= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |quotes= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)