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Last Updated 25 Mar 2006 |
ORIGIN OF SOCIETY In February 1848, three and a half years after John Snow received his MD degree, an intriguing letter to the editor appeared in The Lancet. England at the time was very concerned with the possible appearance of a second cholera epidemic (the first ever occurred in 1831-32). The letter started, "Will that dreadful scourge the cholera visit our island again? If so, are medical men prepared to wage a war against it?" The letter proceeded to suggest that "meetings [to address this disease] should be held in different localities." Finally the letter concluded with the suggestion that medical journals should report "a statistical account of deaths and recoveries." The signer was mysteriously identified as "Pater" (a British term for father). In July 1849, after cholera had again appeared in England, the same Pater wrote once more to The Lancet, but this time to propose "...the formation of a new society, which might be styled the Asiatic-Cholera Medical Society, or the Epidemic Medical Society, the object of which would be to investigate epidemics..."
A second meeting was held in
Hanover Square on July 30, 1850 to create a
constitution and appoint the founding members and officers (likely
at the building site to the right; for a more detailed view, click
here).
After another four months had past, Dr. Babington held on December 2, 1850 the first professional meeting of the London Epidemiological Society, 33 months after the initial Pater letter appeared in The Lancet. About 100 members and visitors were present. Among the most famous were Thomas Addison (1793-1860), the British physician who discovered pernicious anemia (now termed Addison's anemia) and adrenal cortex deficiency (now called Addison's disease); and Richard Bright (1789 -1858), his British colleague who first described the disease characterized by edema and presence of albumin in urine, now termed Bright's disease. For others, including John Snow, fame would come later. Notable in this latter group was Dr. John Simon (later to become Sir John Simon) who in 1848 had become the first medical officer of health of London (he remained in that position until 1855); and Gavin Milroy who in 1864 on Babington's retirement, would become the second president of the London Epidemiological Society. ORIGINAL PURPOSE OF THE ORGANIZATION When the constitution of the London Epidemiological Society was created, the founders had three major purposes all related to epidemics as a broad notion, not specific to a cholera epidemic, the threat of which had stimulated the earlier letters of Pater.
The founders also recognized that having ideas without public or professional communication is a self-centered undertaking. To avoid this end they advocated:
These purposes and undertakings remain appropriate today. ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION Papers were regularly presented at the monthly
meeting of the London Epidemiological Society such as one in 1851 on the use of
statistics and statistical methodology in the study of epidemic diseases.
Between 1851 and 1853, most meetings had considerable discussion about whether
or not a specific disease was caused by a contagion, . In 1852, Dr. Benjamin W. Richardson (shown
below), In 1861, three years after the death of John Snow, Gavin Milroy presented "The Influence of Contagion on the Rise and Spread of Epidemic Diseases." In this important work he joined John Snow in dismissing the miasmatic theory of disease causation (i.e., the idea that poisonous atmosphere rises from swamps and putrid matter and cause disease) because of its inconsistency with the spread of epidemics. DEMISE AND REBIRTH At end of the century as infectious diseases continued their inevitable decline, the London Epidemiological Society came to a temporary end. Its successor was the Section on Epidemiology and State Medicine of the Royal Society of Medicine. Later still this became the Section on Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, also of the Royal Society of Medicine. In more modern times, emphasis was placed on prevention of such non-infectious conditions as accidents involving motor vehicles, heart disease, cancer and even mental illness. In addition, this new section of the Royal Society of Medicine stressed the use of quantitative epidemiological methods and principles, and held discussions on topics such as ethical questions relating to public health. Likely if John Snow had lived another 142 years, he would have approved, and enthusiastically participated in the continuing drama of epidemiology. Sources: Babington, BG. The Lancet 2, 639-642, 1850. Hunting, P. The History of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2002. Lilienfeld, D. Bulletin Hist Med 52(4), 503-28, 1978. Paul JR. Yale J Biology Med 46(1), 29-31, 1973. Pater. The Lancet 1, 242, 1848. Pater. The Lancet 2, 301-302, 1849. Tucker, JH. The Lancet 2, 592, 1849. Simon, J. English Sanitary Institutions, Cassell, London, 1890.
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John Snow was a founding member of the London Epidemiological Society, one of the first
professional organizations devoted to the field of epidemiology. The
seal of the organization (see figure) includes the
Latin phrase penned by the Roman poet Persius (34-64 AD), venienti occurrite
morbo, translated into English as confront disease at its onset. How
did this important movement get started? What were their contributions during Snow's
life, and in the years that followed? 
The identity of Pater was finally revealed
in The Lancet
as J. H. Tucker, a concerned physician practicing in London. His
stimulating words lead to a meeting on March 6, 1850 in Hanover Square, within walking
distance of the Broad Street pump in the Soho region of London.
It was here that the London
Epidemiological Society was born, perhaps in the building shown to the
right. 
The first
president was Dr. Benjamin G. Babington (shown
here), a prominent physician at Guy's Hospital
in London and member of the medical board that was expected to advise the London
government on ways to address the cholera epidemic. John Snow (shown
below) attended this organizing meeting of the London Epidemiological
Society and is considered one of the founding members. 
He
was 37 years old. 
with cholera and yellow
fever being common example cited by both opponents and proponents of the germ
theory (i.e., disease is caused by a microorganism or germ). In 1853, John
Snow (shown here) presented a paper on "The
Comparative Mortality of Large Towns and Rural Districts, and the Causes by
Which it is Influenced" which featured the application of statistics to
epidemiology. 
a close friend of Snow's, joined the London Epidemiological Society. Being
an intellectual comrade, Dr. Richardson supported Snow in his theory of water
propagation of cholera, an idea that was quickly accepted by the medical
community. Later after the death of his friend in 1858, Richardson would
write the lengthy account of Snow's life that enriches our current understanding
of the life and times of the man. Richardson founded the Journal of
Public Health in 1855, where the transactions of the London Epidemiological
Society were first published. Four years later, however, the journal was
discontinued for financial reasons. Thereafter the Society published its
own proceedings as the Transactions of the Epidemiological Society of London,
which remained until 1907.