Researches anatomical and practical concerning fever, as connected with inflammation

While at Pembroke College, Oxford, studying medicine, Thomas Beddoes became interested in chemistry and also studied modern languages. He translated or edited translations of the works of Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1799), among others. Between 1784 and 1788, Beddoes visited Edinburgh and France where he met Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794). In 1788, Beddoes was appointed reader in chemistry at Oxford, attracting the largest audiences since the 13th century. In Researches Anatomical, Beddoes contended that fever and inflammation of organs and tissues are related by one causing the other. He extensively treated the subject of morbid anatomy and described the conditions of various organs in their post-mortem state. The appendix contains accounts of various ailments and their cures, including a successful treatment of rabies, "…by copious bleeding and mercury." The University of Utah copy has the inscription on the verso of the title-page: "To the Library of the Royal West London Infirmary presented by B. Golding M.D. first director of the Charity at its establishment Anno 1818."