Charles Meller and John Kirk: Medical Practitioners and Practice on Livingstone's Zambesi Expedition,1858–64

For more details on Livingstone's various journeys, see any of the major biographies, such as: Gelfand M. Livingstone the Doctor: His Life and Travels. A Study in Medical History. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1957, Jeal T. Livingstone. London: Heinemann, 1973; Ransford O. David Livingstone: The Dark Interior. London: John Murray, 1978; or any major encyclopaedia, such as Children's Encyclopaedia Britannica, 4th edn. 1988: vol. II, pp. 70–1. for the Zambesi expedition in particular, see Martelli G. Livingstone's River: A History of the Zambezi Expedition 1858–1864. London: Chatto & Windus, 1970

The spelling “Zambesi”, rather than “Zambezi”, is used throughout, this being the form in use at the time of the expedition, and likewise “Nyassa” rather than “Nyasa”

Livingstone's account of the Zambesi expedition is given in Livingstone D, Livingstone C. Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries: And the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa 1858–1864. London: John Murray, 1865 (hereinafter Narrative). Livingstone's journals also survive and have been published: Wallis JPR, Ed. The Zambesi Expedition of David Livingstone 1858–1863. London: Chatto & Windus, 1956; Shepperson G , Ed. David Livingstone and the Rovuma. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1965

See, for example, Livingstone D. On fever in the Zambesi. Lancet 1861; ii: 184–6; Cook GC . Doctor David Livingstone frs (1813–1873): “the fever” and other medical problems of mid-nineteenth century Africa. J Med Biog 1994; 2: 33–43; Larner AJ Fisher HJ . Dr Gustav Nachtigal (1834–1885): a contribution to the history of medicine in mid-nineteenth century Africa. J Med Biog 2000; 8: 43–8

For the history of malaria, see McGregor IA . Malaria. In: Cox FEG , Ed. The Wellcome Trust Illustrated History of Tropical Diseases. London: Wellcome Trust, 1996: 230–47

Livingstone D (op. cit. ref. 4): 185. In the subsequently published Narrative (op. cit. ref. 3: 73n), a slightly different recipe is given: 6–8 grains of resin of jalap, same of rhubarb, 3 grains each of calomel and quinine, made up into four pills with tincture of cardamoms

Cook GC (op. cit. ref. 4: 36) points out that this pill continued to be manufactured by Burroughs Wellcome until 1930

Narrative (op. cit. ref. 3): 72; Livingstone D (op. cit. ref. 4): 185

In his journal, Livingstone sometimes refers to him as “Mellor” (Wallis JPR, op. cit. ref. 3: 187, n2), as does Lovell J Procter, also of the mission: Bennett NR Ylvisaker M , Eds. The Central African Journal of Lovell J. Procter, 1860–1864. Boston: African Studies Center, Boston University, 1971. He is erroneously referred to as “JC Meller” in Tabler EC , ed. The Zambezi Papers of Richard Thornton, Geologist to Livingstone's Zambezi Expedition. London: Chatto & Windus, 1963: 295n

Meller is not listed in likely sources, such as the Dictionary of National Biography, or Morton LT Moore RJ . A Bibliography of Medical and Biomedical Biography, 2nd edn. Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1994. I have been unable to discover any picture of him, nor how or by whose recommendation Livingstone selected him

Meller CJ . Fever of the south-east coast of Africa. BMJ 1862; ii: 437–40. Cook GC (op. cit. ref. 4: 43) mistakenly lists this paper as being published in the Lancet for 1862

The miasmatic theory was widely held before the demonstration by Ronald Ross of the mosquito transmission of malaria in 1897;see Cook GC Webb AJ . Perceptions of malaria transmission before Ross' discovery in 1897. Postgrad Med J 2000; 76: 738–40. See also McGregor IA (op. cit. ref. 5)

Meller CJ . On the fever of the East Central Africa. Encountered by Livingstone's Zambesi expedition. Lancet 1864; ii: 459–61, 520–2

Livingstone's journal (Wallis JPR, op. cit. ref. 3: 368) contains a marginal note addressed to Thomas Maclear: “Allow me to commend Dr Mellor to you. He is a good amiable fellow. He goes down for a change of air. He has a spleen but is not splenetic.” Procter, one of the missionaries, reports a rather different prognosis: “Meller … will have to go home if he wishes to save his life” (Bennett NR, Ylvisaker M, op. cit. ref. 9: 215). Meller eventually returned to the expedition, via a long visit to Madagascar (of possible significance for his future career)

Cook GC (op. cit. ref. 4): 35

Stephens JWW . Blackwater Fever: A Historical Survey and Summary of Observations Made Over a Century. London: University Press of Liverpool/Hodder & Stoughton, 1937

King MS King E. The Story of Medicine and Disease in Malawi. The 130 Years since Livingstone. Blantyre: Montfort Press, not dated (but no earlier than 1992): 12

Foskett R , Ed. The Zambesi Doctors: David Livingstone's Letters to John Kirk, 1858–1872. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1964

Chadwick O. Mackenzie's Grave. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1959: 186

Narrative (op. cit. ref. 3): 10. Meller also collected “a large variety of flowers” according to Procter (Bennett NR, Ylvisaker M, op. cit. ref. 9: 120)

Foskett R , Ed. The Zambesi Journal and Letters of Dr John Kirk, 1858–63. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1965.To my knowledge, Kirk's only contemporaneous publications were: Kirk J. On a few fossil bones from the alluvial strata of the Zambesi delta. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 1864; 34: 199–201; Kirk J. Notes of two expeditions up the River Rovuma, East Africa. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 1865; 35: 154–67; and Kirk J. Notes on the gradient of the Zambesi, on the level of Lake Nyassa, on the Murchison Rapids, and on Lake Shirwa. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 1865; 35: 167–9. Only the second contains any medical details, and those fleeting (see ref. 26)

Coupland R. Kirk on the Zambesi: A Chapter of African History. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928

Chadwick O (op. cit. ref. 19)

Livingstone D (op. cit. ref. 4): 185. In Livingstone's journal for March 1859 (Wallis JPR, op. cit. ref. 3: 309–14), there is a “Report on the African fever to Sir James Clark. Remarks on the African fever in the Lower Zambesi by David Livingstone and Dr John Kirk”, also covering this material. What Clark (1788–1870), court physician to Queen Victoria, made of it is not known

On the treatment of fever, see Foskett R (op. cit. ref. 21): 272, 285, 323, 402–3

On quinine prophylaxis and its failure, see Foskett R (ibid.): 23, 53, 145, 431, 484. Kirk J. Notes of two expeditions up the River Rovuma, East Africa. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 1865; 35: 159, states that quinine in small daily doses was quite inert, while quinine as a cure was indispensable

Foskett R (ibid.): 279. Vaccination was known on the north coast of Africa, brought by the Turks, and had penetrated into some parts of the interior. See Larner AJ, Fisher HJ (op. cit. ref. 4): 45

On smallpox, see Foskett R (op. cit. ref. 21): 117, 327, 399–400. The failure of vaccines due to their becoming inert before they were administered was still a problem in the colonial period in Nyasaland, particularly during World War I. See Vaughan M. Curing Their Ills: Colonial Power and African Illness. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1991: 44. Meller also saw cases of smallpox (Chadwick O, op. cit. ref. 19: 71) although he did not report them in his papers

Foskett R (op. cit. ref. 21): 326. Shepperson G (op. cit. ref. 3: 26) states that Meller came out to take Kirk's place, since Kirk's three-year contract was up. Jeal T (op. cit. ref. 2: 238) describes this episode as a “slap in the face” for Kirk

Foskett R (op. cit. ref. 21): 156, 102. In Livingstone's defence, one may point out that it was more than 20 years since he had qualified; also, he may have lacked dexterity for bandaging following the injury to his left arm caused by his being mauled by a lion in 1843: it certainly impaired his ability to shoot

Wallis JPR (op. cit. ref. 3): 180

Larner AJ . Charles Meller and the medicine of the tropics in the mid-nineteenth century: pioneer or plagiarist? St Mary's Hospital Gazette 1998; 104 (2): 47–9

For Wilson, see Foskett R (op. cit. ref. 21): 502, 504; for Macleod, ibid.

Foskett R (ibid.): 502

Ibid.: 374

For the carpenter (RF), compare Meller CJ (op. cit. ref. 13: 520), with Kirk's journal for 18 December 1861, in Foskett R (op. cit. ref. 21: 401–2, 404). For Clark (RSC), compare Meller CJ (op. cit. ref. 13: 461), with Kirk's journal for 16 March 1863, in Foskett R (op. cit. ref. 21: 510–11, 513)

Reported in Kirk's journal on 4 August 1862: Foskett R (op. cit. ref. 21): 464ff

Another possible overlap relates to the categorization of the seasons in Africa. In the Narrative (op. cit. ref. 3: 68), Livingstone reports that “Kirk divides the year into three seasons: cold, hot, and rainy”, the cold lasting from May to July, the hot from August to October, and the rest of the year being rainy. Meller CJ (op. cit. ref. 11) adopts a very similar scheme

For primary sources from the expedition, see Narrative (op. cit. ref. 3); Wallis JPR (op. cit. ref. 3); Shepperson G (op. cit. ref. 3); Tabler EC (op. cit. ref. 9); Foskett R (op. cit. refs 18, 21); and Wallis JPR , Ed. The Zambesi Journals of James Stewart 1862–1863 with a Selection from his Correspondence. London: Chatto & Windus, 1952. From the mission, there is the account of Rowley H. Story of the Universities Mission to Central Africa, 1866; the journal of Waller, kept at Rhodes House in Oxford; and Bennett NR, Ylvisaker M (op. cit. ref. 9). For secondary sources, see, for example, Gelfand M (op. cit. ref. 2); Jeal T (op. cit. ref. 2); Martelli G (op. cit. ref. 2); Ransford O (op. cit. ref. 2); Chadwick O (op. cit. ref. 19); and Coupland R (op. cit. ref. 22). I am not aware that Meller kept a journal, although he did apparently leave many sketches: King MS, King E (op. cit. ref. 17): 12, 97; Bennett NR Ylvisaker M (op. cit. ref. 9): 147

Coupland R (op. cit. ref. 22): 211–12; Chadwick O (op. cit. ref. 19): 85; Bennett NR Ylvisaker M (op. cit. ref. 9)

Narrative (op. cit. ref. 3): 455. Tabler EC (op. cit. ref. 9: 303) cites a letter from Livingstone to George Thornton stating that Meller attended his brother, Richard Thornton, assiduously for the whole of the night before his death. Meller CJ (op. cit. ref. 13: 520) describes Thornton's illness at length

Coupland R (op. cit. ref. 22): 230; Foskett R (op. cit. ref. 21): 433, 493. Jeal T (op. cit. ref. 2: 238) says that, despite the difficulties of their first meeting, Kirk liked Meller; the sources for this statement are unclear

Ransford O (op. cit. ref. 2): 212–13, 235, 228, 230; the last three quotes are from the National Archives of Rhodesia, TH1/1/1,28. It is not clear whether this information prompted the recall of the expedition in 1864, but it certainly provoked caution in British government circles when Livingstone sought backing for his subsequent (and final) expedition

Narrative (op. cit. ref. 3): 463; Gelfand M (op. cit. ref. 2): 217; Tabler EC (op. cit. ref. 9): 295n

King MS King E (op. cit. ref. 17): 14

Foskett R (op. cit. ref. 21): 265. Coupland apparently planned to write an account of Kirk's later, diplomatic, career (“the most important part of Sir John Kirk's career”) to complement his account of the Zambesi expedition but this never came to fruition (Coupland R, op. cit. ref. 22: v)