author

Archibald Makellar

A 19th-century Scottish physician, he is remembered for a detailed early study of the lung disease suffered by coal miners. His best-known work brings together medical observation, case histories, and a sharp sense of the human cost of industrial labor.

1 Audiobook

An Investigation into the Nature of Black Phthisis or Ulceration Induced by Carbonaceous Accumulation in the Lungs of Coal Miners

An Investigation into the Nature of Black Phthisis or Ulceration Induced by Carbonaceous Accumulation in the Lungs of Coal Miners

by Archibald Makellar

About the author

Archibald Makellar was a Scottish doctor active in Edinburgh in the mid-1800s. The title page of his best-known work identifies him as an M.D., a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, a member of several medical societies, and one of the physicians to the New Town Dispensary of Edinburgh.

He is chiefly known for An Investigation into the Nature of Black Phthisis; or Ulceration Induced by Carbonaceous Accumulation in the Lungs of Coal Miners, and Other Operatives, published in 1846. In it, he examined the severe lung disease affecting miners and other workers exposed to coal dust, describing symptoms, post-mortem findings, and the conditions in which people labored.

Today, the book stands out as an early contribution to occupational medicine. Even in its technical passages, it reflects a practical doctor trying to understand how dangerous working environments damaged the body over time.