A house-surgeon's observations on bronchitis in North Staffordshire pottery workers in 1864.

Charles Parsons was born on February 6, 1833, and died in his ninetieth year on March 24, 1922. In 1855 he obtained the diplomas of M.R.C.S. and L.S.A. After holding the offices of house physician and assistant house surgeon at King's College Hospital, London, in the summer of 1859 he was appointed house surgeon to the North Staffordshire Infirmary, which post he held until November, 1862. His patients were for the most part potters, colliers, and iron-workers. Respiratory diseases, acute and chronic, were prevalent among these workers. Dr. Parsons became very interested in these diseases of potters, particularly as they seemed to be caused by their occupations. He made careful observations, which he embraced in a thesis entitled On a Form of Bronchitis (simulating phthisis) which is Peculiar to Certain Branches ofthe Potting Trade. For this the University of Edinburgh in 1864, awarded him the degree of M.D. with Gold Medal. From the Dover poll books it appears that he began practice in that town about 1868 and he continued there until he retired to Tunbridge Wells in 1909. For a period of 30 years he was a consulting medical officer to the Royal Victoria Hospital at Dover. In addition to his high standing as a physician in the area, he was regarded as one of the worthies of the town. He was a fine musician and for many years he played the viola in the concerts organized by the Choral Union of which he was president from 1907 to 1909. Education was another of his interests and he played a prominent part in the founding of Dover College. Medical politics, however, were perhaps his main activity. For many years he was secretary and treasurer and later president of the South Eastern Division (Kent, Sussex, and Surrey) of the British Medical Association of which he became a member of Council and held the office of treasurer. In his family life he knew sadness and glory. He had seven sons and four daughters; two of his sons were killed in the South African War, one being awarded the Victoria Cross: three other sons were killed in the 1914-18 war. I have already mentioned that from 1859 to 1862nearly 100 years ago-Dr. Parsons served as a house Photograph of Charles Parsons, M.D., taken for the " comingof-age" souvenir published by the Dover Choral Union during the period of his Presidency from 1907 to 1909.