Hoffman RC900 .P7 1826 
 

                 WILLIAM PROUT (1785- 1850)

     William Prout was an English physician, who practiced medicine. He also conducted research into physical chemistry. In 1827, Prout became the first scientist to classify the components of food into the three major divisions of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
     He is famous for two discoveries. In medicine, he identified that hydrochloric acid was found in the stomach juice of man and animals.
     In science, he developed Prout’s Hypothesis, in which he hypothesized that the hydrogen atom was the only truly fundamental particle, and that all other elements were only groupings of hydrogen atoms. His hypothesis remained influential in chemistry throughout the early 1800s until disproved. In 1920 Ernest Rutherford chose to name a new particle, the proton, to give credit to Prout’s work.
     This treatise on diabetes was his first and most important publication, issued in 1821. It presents his observation on urinary diseases, including a plate with various types of calculi. This is the first American edition, published in 1826.
 

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