author
John Millar
1733–1805
A Scottish physician and medical writer remembered for practical works on asthma, whooping cough, and fever. His career took him from Scotland to London, where he became active in the city’s medical institutions.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Scotland in 1733, John Millar earned his MD at the University of Edinburgh and began medical practice in Kelso. In 1774 he moved to London after being appointed physician to the Westminster General Dispensary, a step that placed him in the middle of the capital’s medical world.
Millar was known as a medical writer as well as a practicing doctor. His published work included studies of asthma and whooping cough, along with writing on fever and other illnesses, reflecting the practical, case-based medicine of the eighteenth century.
He also played a part in the early Medical Society of London, where he was described as an active promoter. Millar died in London on February 25, 1805. I wasn’t able to confirm a suitable portrait image from the sources I checked, so none is included here.