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Home , Christopher Wren, Defoe (comics), John Denham (poet), Jonas Moore, Samuel Pepys

Sir : Compleat Philosopher Frank B. Berry, M.D., and Col. H. Stoddert Parker (MC) U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.

Doctor (Sir) Christopher Wren, was one of the most many other fields of knowledge, including medicine. extraordinary characters ever known, possessing the extreme¬ In order to assess the full impact that Wren left rare qualification of both and in ly uniting theory practice upon in and the of medi¬ a very eminent degree, being highly accomplished in the society general profession in lived should be consid¬ mathematical and philosophical sciences, as well as in the cine, the age which he theory and practice of architecture. He was born in 1632, ered briefly. It was one filled with a flood of and made great advances in at 16 years of age. treasures: the flowering of the arts and sciences, of Being an scholar, he was one of those learned men and of commerce. The who first associated together there for their mutual im¬ exploration, great migration to the New World was and there was provement in natural and experimental philosophy, and underway, which at length produced the Royal Society, of which he increased commerce and exchange of ideas from was an original, and all his life, one of the most distin¬ the Near and Far East as well. Several universities guished members. . . Soon after the great fire of had already been founded in the western hemi¬ in 1666, from his skill. in architecture, he succeeded Sir John in the 16th and mid 17th centuries. The Denham in the Office of of the sphere Surveyor-general King's Renaissance had north from and in the Works; and from this time, he had the direction of a great swept Italy, many public edifices, by which he acquired the highest mid 16th century Vesalius had opened the doors to reputation; as in the Theatre of Oxford, St. Paul's Cathedral, scientific and experimental medicine. The religious Churches London, the Monument, the of St. Stephen Wal- wars were over, and the Elizabethan with other churches age brook, St. Mary-le-bow, with upwards of 60 Ben and had which that dreadful fire had rendered necessary; also Marlowe, Johnson, Shakespeare just come an of Chelsea College, one of the wings of Hospital, to end. Shortly before the birth Wren, the modern part of Hampton Court, etc. He was one of the William Harvey, who was at the height of his commissioners who, on the motion of Sir , career in London and the European world, had Surveyor-general of the ordnance, was appointed to find out published his "De Motu Cordis" which revolution¬ a proper place for erecting the National Observatory; and ized medicine. Sir , scientist and he proposed Greenwich Park, which was approved of; . . phi¬ He became architect and commissioner of Chelsea College;. losopher, had recently died, and the whole world also principal officer or comptroller of the works in Windsor was seething with the ferment of discovery and Castle; and he sat twice in Parliament, as a representative new learning. "Galileo had imbued his listeners for two different boroughs. He died in 1723, at 91 years, from every land with an appreciation of and was interred with great solemnity in the Cathedral of experiment on exact as scientific tools."2 his St. Paul's. As to his person, Sir Christopher was of low measurement In stature, and thin frame of body; but by temperance and early years, Wren, because of his own avidity for regularity he enjoyed a good state of health, to a very un¬ mathematics (particularly geometry), must have usual age. In his manners he was modest, devout, virtuous, been influenced Descartes and the iatromathe- communicative his he by and very of knowledge, of which matical school. In his he showed the in¬ possessed an extraordinary fund. . . . Sir Christopher never maturity printed anything himself; but several of his works have been fluence of the iatrochemists. published by others. . . . His drafts and posthumous works In music, there were Vivaldi and Scarlatti in were published by his son.1 Italy; Rameau, Couperin, and Lully in France; Purcell and Locke in and in his later WREN is chief¬ ; quite naturally years, Handel and Bach were in the van¬ famous for his architectural contributions— already CHRISTOPHERly guard of a new era in music. the of St. Paul's and his sur¬ glory Cathedral, London, In literature there were , John Dry- viving churches and other edifices and his influence den, John Bunyan, Robert Burton, Sir Thomas on ecclesiastical architecture, which with its many Browne, , Daniel , and Izaak fine soon found its into the American spires way Walton as examples in his own country; and dur¬ colonies. Less appreciated are his contributions in ing the latter part of the 17th century and in the Department of Defense (Manpower\p=m-\Healthand Medical). early years of the 18th century Swift, Addison, and

Downloaded From: https://jamanetwork.com/ on 10/01/2021 Pope came upon the scene. In France were Moliere, minster School, he was chosen by Dr. ( Sir ) Charles Racine, Fontaine, and Rochefoucauld, with Voltaire Scarburgh as an assistant in demonstrating and in the ascendant during Wren's last years. making anatomical preparations. He also assisted As to statecraft in England, these were the years him with experiments and with making lectures on of the Commonwealth under and anatomy at the Surgeons Hall. During that period then of the with Charles II, James II, he translated into 's work William and Mary, and Queen Anne. Other promi¬ on geometrical dialling.3 nent figures were: Sir Henry Vane, at one time the Wren entered Wadham College in Oxford in Royal Governor of the Colony of Massachusetts; 1649 or 1650 and immediately joined the Society of George Fox, the founder of the Quaker faith; Wil¬ Philosophical Inquirers. He graduated with a bach¬ liam who recreated the and Blake, , elor degree in 1650 or 1651 and received his mas¬ Samuel Pepys, who furthered its reconstruction. ter's degree in December, 1653. He became a John Milton was prominent in politics as well as Fellow of All Souls College where he remained and Locke and and literature, Hobbes, philosophers until 1657 engaged in scientific study and ex¬ economists, were actively promulgating their periment. It was during this period that he began theories. his initial experiments with intravenous injections In France, this period fell almost entirely within in animals. Earlier (1653), he had invented a system the reign of Louis XIV with cardinals Richelieu and of double writing with 2 pens (pantographia),** Mazarin as prominent policy makers in the govern¬ and about the same time, he had illustrated Thomas ment. From the architectural side, Mansart rose Willis' book on The Anatomy of the Brain.4 to fame as an architect in the development of a From the standpoint of medicine, Wren's most of since known his name. type roof, by fruitful period extended for a period of perhaps 7 In the fine in Holland this was the of arts, age or 8 years, beginning in 1656 or 1657. His experi¬ and Van followed Rem¬ Hals, Rubens, Dyke, by ments, begun while at Oxford, were continued in brandt, van Ruisdael, and van Steen. Rembrandt London when he succeeded Lawrence Rooke in the and van Steen reflected the interchange of ideas Chair of at Gresham in 1657. between medicine and the fine in their College arts paint¬ Here his rooms became the meeting place for men ings. Spinoza was the major figure in philosophy, of science, who subsequently founded the Royal with Pascal in and Leibnitz contemporary France Society in 1663. In 1660-1661, he was elected in Germany. In Spain, under the reigns of Philip IV Savillion Professor of Astronomy at Oxford, and in and V, we find a very apogee in art with Velazquez, 1661 he was given the of D.C.L. and LL.D. and Murillo. degrees Zurbaran, Ribera, by Oxford and Cambridge. He retained this pro¬ As to the scientific world the Galileo and at time, fessorship until 1673 but turned more and more to Descartes have already been mentioned. In Hol¬ architecture. He was considered next to Sir Isaac land, van Leeuwenhoek was well known for his Newton as a scientist. studies as a naturalist and as the inventor of the To go back to his physiological and anatomi¬ . In medicine, DeGraaf was an outstand¬ cal experiments in London, this period he anatomist and in during ing and experimental physiologist, was interested in chemistry and in furthering the the latter part of the 17th century Roerhaave was dissection of animals, especially rabbits, in the fast becoming the most famous physician in Europe. study of the physiology of respiration, and in the In there were father of indus¬ Italy, Ramazzini, study of diseases of cattle. He was also interested trial a well known and medicine, Lancisi, physician in the growth of grains, in the study of seasons, in epidemiologist, and Malpighi, anatomist and the birds and insects, in , in the effect of weather first real became a member pathologist. Malpighi on diseases and wounds, in the study of mortality of the Royal Society of London, visited London, tables, and in the incubation of These ob¬ and observations before the eggs. presented Society. servations were not only made by himself, but in a During his long life, Wren was privileged to be communication to the Royal Society about 1664, he a part of that galaxy of the 17th and early 18th recommended that further studies be made in all centuries, and although his greatest contributions of these areas. He became interested in studies of was were in mathematics and architecture, he also fish and animals and in the course of his dissections a in environmental and medi¬ pioneer experimental discovered that lymph-ducts emptied into the re- cine. In his earlier years he corresponded with ceptaculum chylae.3'5 Pascal on geometrical problems, and during his In 1657 he began the injection of certain liquors youthful days at Oxford he formed an acquaint¬ into the veins of animals with and interest with the scholars and resulting purging, anceship . . leading vomiting, retching, and death. "Hence arose . scientists of that era. from his close Quite apart many new and that of trans¬ associations with the scientists and natural experiments, chiefly philos¬ fusing blood, which the Society has prosecuted in he was sensitive to the humanities and arts. ophers, sundry instances, that will probably end in extraor- At the age of 9 (1641), he could write good Latin. A few years later, shortly after he left West- *Cf., Thomas Jefferson exhibit at Monticello, Charlottesville, Va.

Downloaded From: https://jamanetwork.com/ on 10/01/2021 dinary success."4 In 1656, he wrote to a friend, good hours strainings to void divers liquors which disturbed "The most considerable I have made of his stomach, he fell asleep about ten o'clock, and slept all experiment that without waking till next morning about eight is I wine and ale into the mass night late, this; injected o'clock. When he awoke, he showed a surprising calmness, of blood in a living dog, by a vein, in good quanti¬ and great presence of mind, in expressing all the pains, and ties, till I made him extremely drunk, but soon after a general lassitude he felt in all his limbs. He made a great full of of a colour as black as if it had been he pissed it out. ... It will be too long to tell you glass urine, the effect of opium, and other mixed with the soot of chimnies. . . . scammony, things He remained sleepy all the rest of that day, spoke little, which I have this I am in of tried way. pursuit and prayed those that came to importune him with interro¬ further experiments, which I take to be of great gatories, to give him rest. And he went on to sleep well also concernment, and what will give great light to the the whole night following. Friday morning he filled another theory and practice of physick."4 wit¬ urinal with his water, almost as black as that of the day nessed these and human before. He bled at the nose very plentifully, and therefore suggested experiments. we thought it proper to take two or three small porringers One such with Crocus metallorum ( antimony ) was of blood from him. tried in a timid fashion a foreign diplomat by by is an excellent of the reaction infusing one of his servants of whom he wished to (This description to a transfusion: fol¬ be rid. After a very small amount of material had heterologous rapid hemolysis lowed within the next hours been the lost his nerve 48 by thrombocyto¬ injected, however, diplomat and marked in Follow¬ as he saw the effect that was For¬ penia increase fibrinolysin.) being produced. his from second there tunately the servant recovered!4 ing recovery the transfusion, a in his mental and he became Boyle in a letter in 1665 speaks of these experi¬ was change attitude, more calm in and was to ments, "started by Wren at Oxford six years agone, spirit relatively easy get with. this an forerunner long before others, as we know thought of such a along (Was unrecognized thing."3 Christopher Wren, Jr., in "Parentalia," of shock therapy?) On the return of his symptoms, a third transfusion was decided It however, sjoeaks of the first experiment on infusion however, upon. of a small being made in 1656. was the custom to bleed the recipient amount to transfusion. As the tubes were in¬ Following these experiments, there was consid¬ prior the had a convulsion and died be¬ erable dispute as to the originator of the idea of serted, patient transfusion of blood. The French fore any blood was given. Dr. Denys was sued by immediately the wife and dishonest advisers for the death claimed that a Benedictine friar, Robert de Gabets, legal had transfusion 10 Not of the patient as a transfusion death, although the suggested years previously. had been the to be the Italians then came forward and transfusion arranged largely upon outdone, insistence of the wife and the better stated that Andreas Libavius, a Roman, had out¬ against judg¬ of who was lined a method for blood transfusion in 1615. ment Dr. Denys completely exonerated described at the trial. The plot of the widow with the con¬ Libavius, however, transfusion of blood 9 ° was to condemn it and ridicule it as spiring lawyers completely exposed.8, only dangerous.4, the of Dr. how¬ To carry further the work with transfusion of Following experiences Denys, a law was in France which forbade blood, Dr. Edmund King reported to the Royal ever, passed transfusions of blood into humans. And so this Society in November, 1667, on 2 transfusions of valuable method of which in recent 9 and 10 oz. of arterial sheep's blood given into the therapy, years has been with over was for¬ veins of humans. These were success¬ abused transfusions, performed into at Arundel House Dr. Richard Lower and gotten and lapsed desuetude for well over 2 fully by centuries. Dr. King.7 Soon similar work was reported by M. J. Denys, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Phi¬ From the evidence at hand, however, it would losophy, at Paris. He described how he had given appear that Sir Christopher Wren undoubtedly was the first have the vision and entertain the con¬ calf's blood to a psychiatric patient twice with to to of the tremendous of transfusion and benefit. The patient was described by his wife as cept potential intravenous very irrational, a scold, constantly fault finding, therapy. and accustomed to running about the streets naked. The similarity here is identical with the initial experiences with the of wounds per As this second transfusion was larger, so were the effects healing primum as from 1266-1320 The- of it quicker and more considerable. As soon as the blood propounded by Lanfranc, began to enter into his veins, he felt the like heat along his odoric and de Mondeville, and their associates, only arm and under his arm-pits which he had felt before. His to be forgotten for over 500 years until finally pulse rose presently, and soon after we observed a plentiful firmly established Lister. sweat over all his face. His varied at this by pulse extremely It is to note that the and the instant, and he complained of great pains in his kidneys, interesting sheep and that he was not well in his stomach, and that he was calf, particularly the former, were considered the ready to choke unless they gave him his liberty. donors of choice in those days. There is no record the was taken out that the blood Presently pipe conveyed in this initial phase of transfusions wherein a hu¬ into his veins, and whilst we were the wound, he closing man was used as donor for a It was vomited much bacon and fat which he had eaten half an recipient. be¬ hour before. He found himself urged to urine, and asked to lieved that a young animal with healthy blood go to stool. He was soon made to lie down, and after two made a more suitable donor than an old animal,

Downloaded From: https://jamanetwork.com/ on 10/01/2021 and it was reported that in experiments from one to prepare some drawings of insects, enlarged dog to another that an old dog would be remarked- through the microscope. About the same time he in¬ ly rejuvenated by an exchange transfusion with a vented "(a planting apparatus) which, being drawn young dog. Here we have a glimmer of hormones by a horse over land plowed and harrowed, shall and also exchange transfusions. Why was a calf or plant corn equally and without waste, and the meth¬ a lamb preferred? One can speculate at will. Is it od of making fresh water at sea."3 During these years possible that idea might conceivably have origi¬ he also became interested in optics and invented a nated in the references in the Old Testament to method for grinding lenses.5 bullocks and sheep? The bullock was commonly Following the fire of London in 1666 which de¬ the sacrificial animal. The sheep (lamb) was a stroyed most of the city and also vast numbers of great friend of mankind in that it furnished the plague-harboring rat population, Wren's in¬ and clothing, subsisted on a relatively small amount terest turned more and more to architecture, and in countries of the scant pasturage available the he was appointed Assistant Surveyor-General un¬ of the Near East, and was a gentle creature. In the der Sir ; upon the latter's death he Bible and in the Mass, there is reference to the became Surveyor. His architectural ideas for re¬ Lamb of God—"Agnus Dei;" and "The blood of the construction of St. Paul's were too advanced for lamb." Hence, the lamb was traditionally the great that period so that his initial plans were rejected. friend and benefactor of and therefore mankind, At first he thought the building could be recon¬ its blood be beneficial. must perforce structed, but then he found that this was not prac¬ Not only were transfusions given, following tical and in order to build a new cathedral on the Wren's original experiments, but also other intra¬ same site he had to develop a method of razing the venous was A Dr. Fabricius of therapy attempted. old. At first he tried gunpowder, but this was un¬ Danzig reported the intravenous administration of successful. And then, remembering the battering laxatives with good results, although after con¬ ram of the Romans, he devised a method which we siderable initial in the arm used for the pain still use today, that of a crane and heavy ball infusion.4 swinging against the side of the building at stra¬ Robert Boyle was closely associated with Wren tegic places so that the wall finally becomes weak¬ during this j^eriod and participated in some of his ened and tumbles. In 1697, 22 years after the start animal experiments. Wren likewise safely splenec- on the plans for the new building, the choir was tomized dogs and wrote a treatise on "Motions finally opened. Wren remained at work for another of Muscles" illustrated with cardboard models.4 19 years when the cathedral was finished in its The best known physicians in London during this main essentials, but he did not live to see the full j}eriod were William Harvey (during Wren's early and final construction. years), , Charles Scarburgh(orough), Thomas Sydenham, Richard Lower, Edmund King, References and (an anatomist). Others in his 1. Hutton, C.; Shaw, G.; and Pearson, R.: Philosophical Transactions circle were Edmund Halley, an astronomer, and of Royal Society of London (abridged) Hales, who determined the blood London, 1809, vol. 1, 1665-1672, "Law of Nature in Colli- Stephen pressure sion of Bodies," Wren, C., Footnote, p. 310. in a horse by a cánula inserted into the jugular 2. Bettman, O. L.: Pictorial History of Medicine, Spring- vein. Another of this brilliant coterie was Robert sion of Bodies," Wren, C., Footnote, p. 310. Hooke, and physiologist, who demon¬ 3. Wren, C.: Dictionary of National Biography, London: Oxford strated in with the chest open that the lungs University Press, vol. 21, 1937-1938, pp. 995 ff. dogs 4. Wren, Jr.: Parentalia, published themselves had no muscles of respiration and that C., by Stephen Wren, by London, 1715, Revised edition by Enthoven, pp. 227-239. a continuous of air into a stream the lungs state of 5. Sprat, T.: History of The Royal Society, edited by apnoea could be produced with continued beating J. I. Cope and H. W. Jones, St. Louis, Mo.: Washington of the heart.10 Independently, Richard Lower had University Studies, 1958, pp. 311 ff. demonstrated that section of both nerves 6. "Of Antiquity of Transfusion of Blood from One Ani- phrenic mal to in caused "a to draw his Another," Hutton, C.; Shaw, G.; and Pearson, R.: dog breath exactly like a Transactions wind-broken horse" he had Philosophical of Royal Society of London thereby stating that (abridged) vol. 1, 1665-1672, p. 267. been induced to believe "that the diaphragm is the 7. Lower, R., and King, E.: "Account of Experiment of chief organ of respiration" and the lungs do not Transfusion Performed in London, November 23, 1667," possess any intrinsic respiratory muscles.11 ibid., p. 203. Some of Wren's other works associated 8. Denys, J.: "Cure of Inveterate Phrensy by Transfusion closely of Blood," ibid., p. 218. with medicine were his interest in the barometer, 9. Denys, J.: "Extract of Printed Letter Touching on which was invented at his suggestion by Robert Differences That Have Arisen in Transfusion of Blood," Boyle. During his second stay at Oxford, he be¬ ibid., pp. 258 ff. came interested in the variations of the barometer 10. "Account of Experiment, Made by Mr. Hook, of Animals Alive Their with and Descartes' that were caused Preserving by Blowing into Lungs theory they by Bellows," ibid., 194. lunar actions.3 p. 11. Lower, R.: "Account of Making Dog Draw His About 1661-1662, he was requested by Charles II Breath Exactly Like Wind-Broken Horse," ibid., p. 197.

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