I know that John Ellis corresponded with both Linnaeus and Solander. So if
you haven't tried already you could check in their published letters. 


Wendy Moore
Author 'The Knife Man: Blood, Body-Snatching and the Birth of Modern
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-----Original Message-----
From: History of Natural History [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Margaret DeLacy
Sent: 19 January 2007 01:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [HIST-NAT-HIST] John Ellis (1710-1776), James Badenach, and
contagium vivum

Friends:

I recently read the Oxford DNB biography of John Ellis (c. 1710-1776) by 
Paul F.S. Cornelius and Patricia A. Cornelius, and was astonished to read 
that "He and James Badenach MD concurred that micro-organisms might also 
cause disease...."

They were not the first to consider such a hypothesis; Linnaeus, for 
example, held this view and cites a long list of predecessors in the thesis 
"Exanthemata Viva." However, it was still relatively uncommon in this 
period.  Authors who believed in contagious pathogens usually characterised 
them as non-living entities such as poisons or chemicals.

I then obtained a copy of "John Ellis, Merchant, Mircoscopist, Naturalist, 
and King's Agent" which was co-authored by Paul Cornelius and Julius 
Groner, but, although it states that Ellis believed microorganisms were 
responsible for putrefaction, that is not at all the same thing as 
believing that they caused human diseases.  I have also read Roy 
Rauschenbeg's article on John Ellis in the Notes and Records of the Royal 
Society without finding any relevant information.

I would like to learn more about the circumstances and context of this 
discussion and also more about James Badenach who was previously unknown to 
me and does not appear in Wallis's "Eighteenth Century Medics".  A search 
revealed that he was the author of an article in the Philosophical 
Transactions "A Letter from James Badenach, M.D. To Mathew Maty, M.D. ... 
Containing a Technical Description of an Uncommon Bird from Malacca (1772) 
62: 1-3 but nothing more.

Can anyone provide more information on how to track down the sources behind 
this comment?  I have tried to locate Paul Cornelius but so far have not 
succeeded, so a contact address for either of the two ODNB authors would 
also be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Margaret DeLacy  

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