Cullen, William
From MSHWiki
William Cullen
(1710-1790)
Scottish physician and author. 1 First Lines of the Practice of Physic Born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, William Cullen studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh under Alexander Monro, one of the foremost anatomists of the time. Cullen co-founded the Glasgow Medical School in 1744. He left Glasgow in 1755 and finished his career at the University of Edinburgh. He attracted students from all over the western world, including the American Benjamin Rush. His fame as a teacher helped make Edinburgh the leading medical school in Europe. In 1777, Cullen published the essential parts of his Edinburgh lectures in First Lines of the Practice of Physic. He suggested that disease was the result of disturbances in the nervous system. Thus he condemned the use of laxatives and purgatives and prescribed only tonics: medicines such as quinine, camphor, or wine that would either stimulate or sedate the nervous system. The book became Europe's principal text on the classification and treatment of disease. Though Cullen's reputation as a nosologist and physician has faded considerably, his ideas survive in the terms "nervous energy" and "neuroses" (a word that Cullen coined). 1 http://hsc.virginia.edu/hs-library/historical/classics/Cullen.html
