The Medical Maladies of Sir George Everest during the Great Trigonometric Survey of India (2014)
Mishra, Shrikant (Author)
Trikamji, Bhavesh (Author)
Indian Journal of History of Science
Volume: 49, no. 1
Issue: 1
Pages: 42-49
The discovery of Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world, was the crowning achievement of geographers, surveyors, and explorers. It was Sir George Everest, the Surveyor General of British India who led this expedition. We attempt to hypothesize the multiple medical and neurological disorders that Sir George Everest suffered and investigate the possible etio-pathogenesis. Most of the information was gathered from the biography of Everest written by J. R. Smith in EVEREST the Man and the Mountain. Other sources include Histnett, Toxnet, PubMed, Unlocking the Archives, Gobar Times, Professional Surveyor Archives, Royal Geographical Society, Survey of India, UCLA library and USC Libraries. We conducted an extensive review of medical manifestations of Sir George Everest. We believe that he suffered from a possible combination of Malaria, Typhus Fever, Hepatitis, and Kyasanur Forest Disease (a form of Japanese Encephalitis). Additionally, he suffered from a severe form of painful peripheral neuropathy and intermittent visual symptoms raising the suspicion for multiple sclerosis, cervical radiculopathy and Gullain Barre Syndrome. Everest exhibited episodes of insanity similar to Mad Hatter's Disease and symptoms of Minamata disease secondary to chronic ingestion of mercury which was prescribed in high doses to treat his Malaria and Bilious Fever. Mercury was also prescribed for the additional ailments such as peripheral neuropathy and Syphilis-like infection. His condition exemplified the incessant use of mercury and its toxicity during the pre-antibiotic era. In describing Everest's medical conditions, we also present a detailed account of the symptomatology, treatments, and outcome of his speculated multiple medical and neurological maladies
...MoreSimilar Citations
Book
Keay, John;
(2000)
The great arc: The dramatic tale of how India was mapped and Everest was named
(/isis/citation/CBB000110185/)
Article
Bhattacharya, Nandini;
(2011)
The Logic of Location: Malaria Research in Colonial India, Darjeeling and Duars, 1900--30
(/isis/citation/CBB001230155/)
Article
Cook, G. C.;
(2014)
Neil Hamilton Fairley KBE FRCP FRS (1891--1966): An Outstanding Tropical Physician in the Twentieth Century
(/isis/citation/CBB001422003/)
Article
Leviton, Alan Edward;
Aldrich, Michele L.;
(2004)
The Impact of Travels on Scientific Knowledge: William Thomas Blanford, Henry Francis Blanford, and the Geological Survey of India, 1851--1889
(/isis/citation/CBB001036115/)
Article
Lima, Carlos A. M.;
(2015)
Frontier, Sugarcane and Trafficking: Slavery, Disease and Death in Capivari, São Paulo, 1821--1869
(/isis/citation/CBB001552756/)
Book
Sheila Zurbrigg;
(2018)
Epidemic Malaria and Hunger in Colonial Punjab: Weakened by Want
(/isis/citation/CBB453593524/)
Book
Winther, Paul C.;
(2003)
Anglo-European Science and the Rhetoric of Empire: Malaria, Opium, and British Rule in India, 1756-1895
(/isis/citation/CBB000471221/)
Book
Rohan Deb Roy;
(2017)
Malarial Subjects: Empire, Medicine and Nonhumans in British India, 1820-1909
(/isis/citation/CBB894891343/)
Article
Aldo De Togni;
(2023)
The Last Century of Malaria in Ferrara: From the Unification to the Boom Years
(/isis/citation/CBB249578681/)
Article
Jeong-Ran Kim;
(2016)
Malaria and Colonialism in Korea, c. 1876– c. 1945
(/isis/citation/CBB990433561/)
Article
Yeo, Insok;
(2011)
A History of Malaria in Modern Korea 1876--1945
(/isis/citation/CBB001210632/)
Chapter
Colleen Cheverko;
Kristina Zarenko;
(2015)
Malaria Prevalence in the Seventh Cavalry
(/isis/citation/CBB327046723/)
Book
Webb, James L. A.;
(2009)
Humanity's Burden: A Global History of Malaria
(/isis/citation/CBB001230354/)
Chapter
McCrea, Heather;
(2013)
Pest to Vector: Disease, Public Health, and the Challenges of State-Building in Yucatán, Mexico, 1833--1922
(/isis/citation/CBB001422677/)
Book
Yip, Ka-che;
(2009)
Disease, Colonialism, and the State: Malaria in Modern East Asian History
(/isis/citation/CBB001210662/)
Book
Bell, Andrew McIlwaine;
(2010)
Mosquito Soldiers: Malaria, Yellow Fever, and the Course of the American Civil War
(/isis/citation/CBB001231808/)
Book
Verhave, J. P.;
(2011)
The Moses of Malaria: Nicolaas H. Swellengrebel (1885--1970) Abroad and at Home
(/isis/citation/CBB001510194/)
Article
Costa, Rui Manuel Pinto;
Vieira, Ismael Cerqueira;
(2014)
O lugar da medicina tropical nas dissertações da escola médica portuense, 1875--1923
(/isis/citation/CBB001420726/)
Article
Lacerda-Queiroz, Norinne;
Queiroz Sobrinho, Antônio;
Teixeira, Antônio Lúcio;
(2012)
As representações da malária na obra de João Guimarães Rosa
(/isis/citation/CBB001420586/)
Book
Benjamin Reilly;
(2015)
Slavery, Agriculture, and Malaria in the Arabian Peninsula
(/isis/citation/CBB928017893/)
Be the first to comment!