Hugh James (456)

Hugh James (1750–February 1797) was a physician, surgeon, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1785. Born into a well-established Scottish family in Jamaica, Hugh James became well known as a physician on the island. He may have studied and practiced medicine in Edinburgh before returning to Jamaica, as one Dr. Hugh James of Edinburgh recommended future revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat for a medical degree at St. Andrews University in 1775. In 1787, back in Jamaica, he served as Physician General for Cornwall County in the Jamaican militia. James earned a name for himself testing new and innovative treatments, including the use of yellow cinchona bark as a treatment for fever. He suffered and survived a bout of yellow fever himself, a disease not uncommon in Jamaica in those days. James’ familiarity with the disease in his correspondence indicates an intimate knowledge of the sickness and its treatments and remedies. He died of a fever and dysentery not long after purchasing a plantation in Westmoreland parish, Jamaica.