John Ayrton Paris

John Ayrton Paris, FRS (1785 – 24 December 1856) was a British physician. He is most widely remembered as a possible inventor of the thaumatrope, which he published with W. Phillips in April 1825.

Paris was a medical researcher of distinction, for example making one of the earliest observations of occupational causes of cancer when, in 1822, he recognised that their exposure to arsenic fumes might be contributing to the unusually high rate of scrotal skin cancer among men working in copper-smelting in Cornwall and Wales (his conclusions on this subject are included in a book that is also a visitor's guide to West Cornwall). He also wrote about the accidents caused by the use of explosives in mines, and gave lectures to the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall on chemistry as well as serving as the society's first secretary. He was elected president of the Royal College of Physicians in 1844, an office he held until his death. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1821. He was an advocate of the use of scientifically assessed herbal preparations in medical treatment.

The exact date of Paris's birth is uncertain, as is its location: some sources list him as born in Cambridge, others as born in Edinburgh, a city with which he certainly had some links.

He wrote a number of substantial medical books, including Medical Jurisprudence (co-authored; 1823), a Pharmacologia which first appeared in 1820 and went through numerous editions, Elements of Medical Chemistry (1825) and a Treatise on Diet (1826). He also produced memoirs of other physicians for the Royal College, and the first biography of Sir Humphry Davy (1831).

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