- A dictionary of medical eponyms

Henry Eales

Born  1852
Died  1913

Related eponyms

British ophthalmologist, Born 1852, Newton Abbot; died 1913.

Biography of Henry Eales

Henry Eales was born at Newton Abbot, the son of the vicar of Yealmpton in Devonshire. While an apprentice to the village doctor, and following an outbreak of scarlet fever which led him to test patient’s urine for the presence of protein, he incidentally examined his own and found himself to have heavy proteinuria. As a result he had a year’s convalescence before he enrolled in medicine at the University College, London.

Eales had a fine undergraduate record and graduated M.R.C.S. in 1873 and then interned at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital. He was demonstrator in anatomy and medical tutor at Queen’s College, and in 1878 was appointed honorary surgeon to the Eye Hospitals, where he remained for 35 years. He was well known for his abilities with the ophthalmoscope and built up a very big consulting practice. He wrote a number of papers, amongst which was a review of the appearance of the retina in patients with renal disease.

Apart from occasional migraine he enjoyed good health and the proteinuria did not return. Shortly before his death he developed pain in his left calf which waxed and waned for 10 days, forcing him to go to bed, and he died sometime thereafter following syncopal attack, possibly due to pulmonary embolus.

Bibliography

  • State of the retina in 100 cases of granular kidney. Obituaries:
  • Birmingham Medical Review, 1913, 73: 121.
  • British Medical Journal, London, 1913, 1: 308.
  • Lancet, London, 1913, 1: 494.
  • What is an eponym?

    An eponym is a word derived from the name of a person, whether real or fictional. A medical eponym is thus any word related to medicine, whose name is derived from a person.

    What is Whonamedit?

    Whonamedit.com is a biographical dictionary of medical eponyms. It is our ambition to present a complete survey of all medical phenomena named for a person, with a biography of that person.

    Disclaimer:

    Whonamedit? does not give medical advice.
    This survey of medical eponyms and the persons behind them is meant as a general interest site only. No information found here must under any circumstances be used for medical purposes, diagnostically, therapeutically or otherwise. If you, or anybody close to you, is affected, or believe to be affected, by any condition mentioned here: see a doctor.