The Influence of Brunonianism
In Europe at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth a significant change was taking place in the perception, description, definition, and ordering of medical knowledge. It is during this time that "John Brown (1735-1788) founded the Brunonian system or theory of medicine. According to which, physical life consists in a peculiar excitability, the normal excitement produced by all the agents which affect the body constituting the healthy condition, while all diseases arise either from deficiency or from excess of excitement, and must be treated with stimulants or sedatives. Basically, John Brown developed a new school of therapy, which, simplified matters for the 'modern' physicians, and allowed medicine to be practiced on a whole new level. "Two of the most important sources for the life of John Brown are the accounts by Thomas Beddoes (a Bristol physician), and that by Brown's son, William Cullen Brown." John Brown was born in 1735 (or 36) in the town of Buncle in the county of Berwick in Scotland (note: Brown's early biographers give conflicting accounts of the date and village of his birth.) Born to poor parents, Brown did not have too many options, and was apprenticed to a weaver. "He so
Brown blasted all "alexipharmac" practitioners who primarily prescribed debilitating diets and evacuant remedies, which, in his opinion, only exhausted the remaining vigour of patients. I could almost safely argue that the benefit that the system served was the benefit of showing people what not to do. " Beddoes noted "as the Cullenian hypotheses were sinking into disrepute, many of the ablest students resorted to the standard of Brown, . Based on his own personal experience and perhaps some selective clinical observations of others, Brown established several of his own therapeutic principles. "Brunonianism certainly caused a stir. " After a time, educated doctors in Germany became disappointed with Brunonianism, and even Roschlaub became skeptical. In 1804, Mociņo published his own amplified and commented version, which was backed by 217 subscribers. " Despite all his successes, and to the joy of his opponents, in 1786, in debt, John Brown moved to London, where he died, after a spell of imprisonment, in 1788, at the age of about fifty-two. It is no doubt that it has influenced numerous physicians, and gave birth to new schools of thought; however, it is difficult to say how useful it was for the progression of medicinal knowledge of the time. When the gouty attacks eventually resumed, Brown sought help in opium, especially the liquid laudanum or 'wine of the Turks. " Brown was not, however, met without dislike by some, as the following account of a Brunonian evening is described by his student: ".
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