Francis Horne

Francis Horne was born in 1719 in Edinburgh. He commenced a medical degree at Edinburgh Medical School where he was an early member of the Royal Medical Society. 

Before graduating, he served as a surgeon in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succession but took advantage of winter breaks to study medicine at Leiden. During his service, Francis drew up orders that soldiers should only drink water that had been boiled to help prevent fevers. 

After the war ended, Francis finally graduated from Edinburgh in 1750 and was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. He set up his own private practice in 1751. 

Francis's work was diverse. He is known for being the first to attempt to vaccinate against measles, while also publishing on agricultural chemistry and the principles of plant nutrition. His 1756 essay ‘Experiments on Bleaching’ won a gold medal, while his book Principia Medicinae became a widely-used textbook until the nineteenth century.

As the first professor of materia medica at the University of Edinburgh, Francis played a key role in shaping the university's medical curriculum and was one of the professors responsible for patient care and bedside teaching in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh’s teaching ward.

Francis died in 1813 and was buried in Berwickshire.