This article summarizes briefly the life and work of Dr Caleb Hillier Parry (1755–1822), a friend of Dr Edward Jenner. He made original clinical observations, including the bradycardic effect of carotid artery compression, and the association of thyroid enlargement with cardiac disease. He also undertook experimental work and published extensively, including the first book devoted to angina.
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References
1.
See, for example: JennerP. Edward: The Cheltenham Years, 1795–1823. Being a Chronicle of the Vaccination Campaign. Hanover and London: University Press of New England, 1982: Vol. XVIII, pp. 5–6, 11, 13–14, 16, 18, 19, 24, 34, 65, 74, 77, 78, 199, 241, 276, 358, 369–70, 371, 384; Saunders’ index confuses Caleb with his son Charles Henry Parry at 286, 300; Fisher RB. Edward Jenner 1749–1823. London: André Deutsch, 1991: pp. 20, 44–5, 51–3, 59, 60, 61, 65, 71, 75, 89, 96, 98, 129, 225, 226, 230, 231, 233, 257–8, 289; Bazin H. The Eradication of Smallpox: Edward Jenner and the First and Only Eradication of a Human Infectious Disease. San Diego: Academic, 2000: pp. 22, 29, 30, 31, 39.
2.
Secondary sources include: RollestonH. Caleb Hillier Parry MD FRS. Annals of Medical History 1925; 7:205–15; Anderson HB. Caleb Hillier Parry and something of his contemporaries. Canadian Medical Association Journal 1926; 16:1531–4; Lewis T. Caleb Hillier Parry, M.D., F.R.S. (1755–1822). A great Welsh physician and scientist. Cardiff Medical Society Proceedings 1941; Session 1940–1941: pp. 71–89; Fitzwilliams DCL. Caleb Hillier Parry. Medical World, London 1946; 65:44–7; Bishop TH. Caleb Hillier Parry (1755–1822). Medical Press 1955; 234:401–2; Jones B. Caleb Hillier Parry. West of England Medical Journal 1991; 106:101–2; Fye WB. Caleb Hillier Parry. Clinical Cardiology 1992; 15:619–21; Volpé R. Caleb Hillier Parry 1755–1822. Endocrinologist 1994; 4:157–9; Glaser S. The Spirit of Enquiry. Caleb Hillier Parry MD, FRS. Stroud: Alan Sutton, 1995; Hull G. Caleb Hillier Parry 1755–1822: a notable provincial physician. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 1998; 91:335–8.
3.
The Concise Dictionary of National Biography. From Earliest Times to 1985. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992: p. 2308.
4.
For the Biblical Caleb, see Numbers, 13:6, 30; 14:6, 24, 30, 38; 32:12; 34:19; Deuteronomy, 1:36; Joshua, 14:6–12; 15:13; 21:12; Judges 1:12; 3:9; 1 Chronicles 4:15; 6:56. In the Apocrypha, Ecclesiasticus 46:7–9, 1 Maccabees 2:56. See also the naming of Caleb Trask in John Steinbeck's 1952 novel East of Eden (Part two, chapter 22, 4).
5.
Claims that Jenner (and Parry) attended Cirencester Grammar School have been made; see, for example, Beecham KJ. History of Cirencester and the Roman City of Corinium. Dursley: Alan Sutton, 1978: p. 214 (first published in 1887); and Ireland J. The History of Cirencester Grammar School (compiled and illustrated by E Cuss). Trowbridge: Redwoood Books, not dated (but not before 1994): p. 59. However, these claims are wrong. In fact, Dr Washbourn did not secure his patent to the mastership of the Grammar School until June 1764. Both Saunders P (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 5, and Fisher RB (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 20 have Washbourne [sic] become headmaster in 1765, and Fisher (ibid.) is in (typographical?) error when he states that Jenner left his tutelage in 1751, rather than 1761.
6.
Regulations and Transactions of the Glostershire [sic] Medical Society instituted May 1788. Royal College of Physicians of London, MS736 (viewed by the author 10 February 2004); Thornton C, Davenport G. Manuscript collections. In: Davenport G, McDonald I, Moss-Gibbons C, eds. The Royal College of Physicians and its Collections. An Illustrated History. London: James & James, 2001: pp. 87–90 (especially in p. 88, 90). Anonymous. Records of an old medical society: some unpublished manuscripts of Edward Jenner. British Medical Journal 1896;i: 1296–8; Proudfit WL. The Fleece Medical Society. British Heart Journal 1981;46:589–94.
7.
SaundersP (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 19; Fisher RB (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 59; Bazin H (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 31.
8.
SaundersP (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 24; Fisher RB (op. cit. ref. 1): pp. 61, 252.
9.
JennerE. An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae, a Disease Discovered in Some of the Western Counties of England, Particularly Gloucestershire, and Known by the Name of the Cow Pox. London: Sampson Low, 1798; Jenner E. Further Observations on the Variolae Vaccinae or Cow Pox. London: Sampson Low, 1799. In the second edition of the Inquiry, published in 1800, Parry was supplanted as dedicatee by the King (George III).
10.
O'BrienP. Warrington Academy 1757–1786: Its Predecessors and Successors. Wigan: Owl Books, 1989: pp. 74–5, 88–9, 95.
11.
FultonJF. The Warrington Academy and its influence upon medicine and science. Bulletin of the Institute of the History of Medicine1933; 1: 49–80.
12.
For a flavour of life as a medical student at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in the later 18th century, see Risse GB. Hospital Life in Enlightenment Scotland. Care and Teaching at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986, especially pp. 240–78.
13.
MonkW. The Role of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Comprising Biographical Sketches of all the Eminent Physicians, Whose Names are Recorded in the Annals from the Foundation of the College in 1518 to its Removal in 1825, from Warwick Lane to Pall Mall East. London: Royal College of Physicians/Harrison & Sons, 1878: Vol. II, pp. 385–8. Fitzwilliams DCL (op. cit. ref. 2): p. 47 errs in calling Parry a Fellow of the College. Jenner, famously, also failed to win this distinction.
14.
Anonymous (op. cit. ref. 6): p. 1296.
15.
FisherRB (op. cit. ref. 1): pp. 52–9; Le Fanu W. A Bio-Bibliography of Edward Jenner 1749–1823. London: Harvey & Blythe, 1951: pp. 16–20; Winchester: St Paul's Bibliographies (2nd edn), 1985: pp. 22–7.
16.
ParryCH. [Article VIII] On the effects of compression of the arteries in various diseases, and particularly in those of the head; with hints towards a new mode of treating nervous disorders. Memoirs of the Medical Society of London1792; 3: 77–113.
17.
ParryCH. [Article IV] On a case of nervous affection cured by pressure of the carotids; with some physiological remarks. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society1811; 101: 89–95.
18.
ParryCH. An Inquiry into the Symptoms and Causes of the Syncope Anginosa, Commonly Called Angina Pectoris. Bath: Cruttwell, 1799. Quote is from pp. 102–3; see also Elements (op. cit. ref. 23): p. 44; Collections (op. cit. ref. 27): vol. I, p. 329.
19.
AndersonHB (op. cit. ref. 2): p. 1532 states that this occurred in 1776, clearly impossible since Parry did not go to Bath until 1779. He also (at 1533) has the Gloucestershire Medical Society meeting in 1776, again impossible.
20.
Two indications of Parry's social standing may be afforded. In a letter to the novelist Fanny Burney, dated 22 July 1799, her father reports meeting ‘two sweet girls’, aged 15 to 17 years, at Herschel's house in London, ‘daughters of Dr Parry of Bath, on a visit here. More natural, obliging, charming girls I have seldom seen … they were musical, and in other respects very well educated.’ Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay, Author of ‘Evelina,’ ‘Cecilia,’ etc. Edited by Her Niece. London: Henry Colburn, 1854: vol. VI, p. 188. At the William Herschel Museum in New King Street, Bath, Caroline Herschel's Record of Visitors to Observatory House, Slough 1783–1828 has Mrs Parry and the Miss Parrys from Bath recorded in 1799, along with Dr Burney. Dr Parry is mentioned in Jane Austen's correspondence, in five letters dating from 1813–14, but not in letters dating specifically from her years of residence in Bath (1801–6). Chapman RW, ed. Jane Austen's Letters to her Sister Cassandra and Others. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1932: 2 vols, pp. 324–5, 349, 366, 372, 383; Le Faye D, ed. Jane Austen's Letters. 3rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995: pp. 221, 237–8, 248, 252, 254, 260. In Northanger Abbey, a family by the name of Parry is mentioned in absentia (vol. I, chapter 2), but this is probably nothing more than coincidence, the novel having been written originally in the 1790s, before Austen's sojourn in Bath.
21.
ParryCH. Observations on the utility of venesection in purpura. Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal1809; 5: 7. See also Elements (op. cit. ref. 23): pp. 156–7.
22.
ParryCH. Cases of Tetanus; and Rabies Contagiosa, or Canine Hydrophobia, with Remarks, Chiefly Intended to Ascertain the Characteristic Symptoms of the Latter Disease in Man and Certain Brutes, and to Point Out the Most Effectual Means of Prevention. Bath: Cruttwell, 1814.
23.
ParryCH. Elements of Pathology and Therapeutics, being the Outlines of a Work, Intended to Ascertain the Nature, Causes, and Most Efficacious Modes of Prevention and Cure, of the Greater Number of the Diseases Incidental to the Human Frame; Illustrated by Numerous Cases and Dissections. Bath: Cruttwell, 1815.
24.
ParryCH. An Experimental Inquiry into the Nature, Cause, and Varieties of the Arterial Pulse; etc. Bath: Cruttwell, 1816.
25.
SaundersP (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 369. Parry's clinical familiarity with his own ailment may be judged by reading Collections (op. cit. ref. 27): vol. I, pp. 492–510.
26.
GlaserS (op. cit. ref. 2): p. 57 points out that ‘It has been stated in a recent biography of Edward Jenner that Parry suffered from angina. A source for this claim is not given by the author. No evidence for such a claim has been found, either in Parry's own writings or those of his immediate circle.’ The biographer, unnamed by Glaser, is Saunders P (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 358. Both Saunders P (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 422 and Fisher RB (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 289 are in error in placing Parry's death and funeral, respectively, in January 1822. His monument may be seen in the south aisle of Bath Abbey.
27.
ParryCH. Collections from the Unpublished Medical Writings of the Late Caleb Hillier Parry M.D. F.R.S.London: Underwoods, 1825: 3 vols. For thyrotoxicosis, see vol. H: pp. 111–29; hemifacial atrophy, vol. I: pp. 478–80; idiopathic dilatation of the colon, vol. II: pp. 380–6.
28.
LamerAJ. Smallpox. New England Journal of Medicine1996; 335: 901.
29.
KellyEC. Encyclopedia of Medical Sources. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1948: p. 317, gives Parry's date of birth as 1756; Volpé R (op. cit. ref. 2): p. 157 gives 1775! The Concise Dictionary of National Biography (op. cit. ref. 3) p. 2307. Morton LT, Moore RJ. A Bibliography of Medical and Biomedical Biography. 2nd edn. Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1994: p. 197, where he is described as a ‘general practitioner’.
30.
LarnerAJ. Neurological contributions of Caleb Hillier Parry. Advances in Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation2004; 4: 38–9. The neurological interests of the Gloucestershire physicians are also attested to in: Larner AJ. Jenner, on the intellect. Advances in Clinical Neuroscience and Rehabilitation 2003; 3:29.
31.
GlaserS (op. cit. ref. 2): pp. 63–82.
32.
For example: LivesleyB. The resolution of the Heberden—Parry controversy. Medical History1975; 19: 158–71; Proudfit WL (op. cit. ref. 6); Snellen HA. History of Cardiology: A Brief Outline of the 350 Years’ Prelude to an Explosive Growth. Rotterdam: Donker Academic Publications, 1984: p. 20, 58, 72, 93, 141, 158–9, 162; Fye WB (op. cit. ref. 2); Acierno LJ. The History of Cardiology. London: Parthenon, 1994: pp. 144–5 (thyroid); 295, 297, 302–3 (angina); Fye WB. Edward Jenner. Clinical Cardiology 1994; 17:634–5; Fleming P. A Short History of Cardiology. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1997: pp. 55–8.
33.
LewisT (op. cit. ref. 2); Snellen HA (op. cit. ref. 32): p. 93.
34.
ParryCH (op. cit. ref. 27): p. 509. But also see Chapman RW (op. cit. ref. 20): pp. 349, 383, where Parry appears to be using the waters.
35.
ParryCH (op. cit. ref. 27): vol. III, pp. 226, 240–1; Baillie M, cited in Parry CH (op. cit. ref. 17): p. 94.
36.
SchachterSCSchmidtD. Vagal Nerve Stimulation. 2nd edn.London: Martin Dunitz, 2002. However, it must be acknowledged that Parry himself denied that the effects of carotid compression were due to an effect on the vagi — op. cit. ref. 27: vol. I, p. 322. There are preliminary data suggesting a role for vagal stimulation in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, presumably by increasing cholinergic neurotransmission: Sjogren M, Hellstrom P, Jonsson M, Runnerstam M, Silander H, Ben-Menachem E. Positive effect on cognition in Alzheimer's disease using vagus nerve stimulation — results from a 6-month pilot study. Neurobiology of Aging 2002;23:S76 (abstract 291); Merrill CA, Bunker M. Effects of vagus nerve stimulation on cognition, CSF-tau and cerebral blood flow in patients with Alzheimer's disease: results of a 1 year pilot study. Neurobiology of Aging 2004;25:S360 (abstract P3–032).
37.
LewisT (op. cit. ref. 2): p. 82.
38.
MortonLTMooreRJ (op. cit. ref. 29): p. 197; see also Glaser S (op. cit. ref. 2): p. 30.
39.
MeansJH. Diseases of the thyroid gland. In: HarveyA McGeheeMcKusickVA, eds. Osler's Textbook Revisited. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1967: pp. 319, 326.
40.
LarnerAJBennisonDP. Some observations on the aetiology of hemifacial atrophy (‘Parry-Romberg syndrome’). Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry1993; 56: 1035–6; Hensiek AE, Hawkes CH. Late presentations of Parry-Romberg syndrome. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 1999; 67:839; Barker RA, Rowe D, Scolding NJ, Larner AJ. The A-Z of Neurological Practice. A Guide to Clinical Neurology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004: pp. 654–5.
