John Floyer was born on 3 March 1649. He was the third child and second son of Elizabeth Babington and Richard Floyer, of Hints Hall, a since demolished country house.Hints is a quiet village lying a short distance fromLichfield inStaffordshire.[1] He was educated atThe Queen's College,University of Oxford.
He practised in Lichfield, and it was by his advice thatDr Johnson, when a child, was taken by his mother to be touched byQueen Anne for theking's evil on 30 March 1714. As a physician, Floyer was best known for introducing the practice of pulse rate measurement, and creating a special watch for this purpose. He was an advocate ofcold bathing, and gave an early account of the pathological changes in the lungs associated withemphysema.[2]
Pharmako-Basanos: or the Touchstone of Medicines, discovering the virtues of Vegetables, Minerals and Animals, by their Tastes and Smells (2 vols, 1687)
The praeternatural State of animal Humours described by their sensible Qualities (1696)
An Enquiry into the right Use and Abuses of the hot, cold and temperate Baths in England (1697)
A Treatise of the Asthma (1st edition, 1698)
The ancient psychrolousia revived, or an Essay to prove cold bathing both safe and useful (London, 1702; several editions 8vo; abridged, Manchester, 1844, 12mo) See online version below.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Floyer, Sir John".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 574.