author

Archibald Makellar

A 19th-century Edinburgh physician, he is best remembered for a pioneering study of the lung disease later associated with coal dust exposure. His work brought close clinical attention to the dangers faced by miners and other industrial workers.

1 Audiobook

An Investigation into the Nature of Black Phthisis

An Investigation into the Nature of Black Phthisis

by Archibald Makellar

About the author

Archibald Makellar was a physician based 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 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 and reprinted from the Monthly Journal of Medical Science. In it, he examined the severe lung disease seen in coal miners, discussing symptoms, post-mortem findings, and the role of polluted mine air, poor ventilation, lamp smoke, and gunpowder fumes.

Although not much biographical detail was easy to confirm from reliable sources found here, Makellar's writing stands out as an early and important contribution to occupational medicine. His book remains notable for documenting the human cost of industrial labor at a time when those dangers were only beginning to be described in medical literature.