ProfDavid Boswell Reid MDFRSE FRCPE (1805 – 5 April 1863) was a British physician, chemist and inventor. Through reports onpublic hygiene and ventilation projects in public buildings, he made a reputation in the field ofsanitation. He has been called the "grandfather ofair-conditioning".[1]
Reid was born in Edinburgh in June 1805, the second son ofPeter Reid (1777–1838) and his wife, Christian Arnot, eldest daughter ofHugo Arnot of Balcormo, and was the elder brother ofHugo Reid (becoming the brother-in-law ofMarion Kirkland Reid upon their marriage in 1839). When born the family appear to have lived with Peter Reid Sr., a vintner at Milne's Square (now known as Milne's Court) off theRoyal Mile.[2] His father gained his doctorate as a physician c.1810 and in 1815 the family was living independently at 7 Roxburgh Place in Edinburgh's South Side.[3]
David was educated at the High School[4] in Edinburgh then studied Medicine atEdinburgh University, obtained his medical diploma on 12 July 1830, and was admitted a fellow of theRoyal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, on 2 August 1831.[5]
In 1831 Reid began to give classes in practical chemistry. He was soon appointed assistant toThomas Charles Hope, professor of chemistry at the university.[5] The same year he was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh his sole proposer being Hope. He was living at this time at 37 Nicholson Street, described as "experimental rooms" for Edinburgh University.[6]
In 1833, however, he had a disagreement with Hope. At this point he set up a laboratory of his own.[7] Reid hoped to have a chair in Practical Chemistry set up in his favour; but he came up againstRobert Christison as Dean of the Medical Faculty who was opposed, disliking the effect on the existing chair, and regarding Reid's teaching as too mechanical. Reid complained inThe Scotsman.[8]
In 1835 at theDublin meeting of theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science Reid talked on reform of education in chemistry, and was asked to give evidence to the committee underThomas Wyse then looking into education in Ireland.[9]
One of his chemistry students wasMacquorn Rankine.[10] Reid continued to give private chemistry classes until he moved to London in 1847.[5]
Reid invited participants at the 1834 meeting of the British Association, in Edinburgh, to visit his laboratory; and among those who took up the offer were some members of parliament. Fortuitously there was a very destructive fire at theHouses of Parliament atWestminster later in 1834, and Reid was brought in as a consultant.[11] He did innovative work in the temporary accommodation onforced ventilation.[12] When the new building work started on the same site, he was in a strong position to carry out plans that were systematic as far as ventilation was concerned. He was remembered as "Dr. Reid the ventilator" in the twenty-first century in discussions ofenergy efficiency, byLord Wade of Chorlton.[13]
In January 1840 Reid was appointed by the committee for theHouse of Lords dealing with the construction of the replacement for the Houses of Parliament that had burned down six years earlier. The post was in the capacity of ventilation engineer, in effect; and with its creation there began a long series of quarrels between Reid andCharles Barry, the architect.[15] Reid's ventilation system was adopted reluctantly by Barry in this newPalace of Westminster. Reid was engaged for five years at Westminster on this work.[5]
Reid made a reputation by his work in Westminster. He was commissioned for anair quality survey in 1837 by theLeeds and Selby Railway in their tunnel.[16] The steam vessels built for theNiger expedition of 1841 were fitted with ventilation systems based on Reid's Westminster model.[17] Air was dried, filtered and passed over charcoal. The system proved a cumbersome failure.[18] A detailed account was published byJames Ormiston McWilliam.[19]
Reid's ventilation method was also applied more fully toSt. George's Hall, Liverpool, the only building, he said, in which his system was completely carried out.[5] In this case the architectHarvey Lonsdale Elmes requested in 1841 that Reid should be involved in ventilation design.[20]
In 1852 Reid was dismissed from his position at the Houses of Parliament.[21] His immediate replacement wasAlfred Meeson, who had been assistant to Barry.[22] Leading Tory politicians includingBenjamin Disraeli had had enough of his feud with Barry, andLord Derby thought him a charlatan.[23] In an extended process of settlement, Reid received substantial compensation for his dismissal.[24]
In 1843 Reid sat on the 13-manRoyal Commission to inquire into "the state of large towns and populous districts in England and Wales with reference to the causes of disease among the inhabitants, and into the best means of promoting and securing public health".[25] With the other medical menJames Ranald Martin,Richard Owen andLyon Playfair, he made up the dominant group on the committee.[26]
He wrote the 1845Report on the state of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and other towns (HMSO). His visits had included areas of great poverty and squalor, such asSandgate.[27] It had immediate effects. For example, his findings onSunderland andSouth Shields led to the setting up in 1846 of the Sunderland Water Company.[28] His observation oncholera, that there were no privies in the mines, was mentioned in the celebrated paperOn the pathology and mode of communication of cholera ofJohn Snow in 1849.[29]
In 1856 Reid moved to the United States.[5] His stature as an author on sanitation was recognised by the physician Elisha Harris writing in Reid'sVentilation in American Dwellings (1858).[30]
Reid was brought as a professor of physiology and hygiene to theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison in 1859 byHenry Barnard, and then dismissed after a year.[31] He then became government medical inspector to the sanitary commission of the United States.[5]
On the outbreak of theAmerican Civil War new military hospitals were erected throughout the country, and Reid was about to leave Washington on a tour of inspection when he came down with a fatal illness. He died at Washington on 5 April 1863.[5]
Reid was regarded as an expert on ventilation, but his views differed fromNeil Arnott, another leader in theories of air and fever. He also regarded thesusceptible individual in a different way thanSouthwood Smith, with more weight placed on predisposition.[32] In a work on public hygiene by John Bell M.D. ofPhiladelphia for the New York Board of Councilmen, Reid's views oncarbonic acid gas in old graveyards and "vitiated" air are quoted; and on "those subtle poisons calledmiasms" he is said to have reported that he "has detected their escape from graves more than twenty feet deep".[33] Reid took "moving air" to be important to health, and emphasised the health hazards of "defective ventilation".[32]
He was author of:
In 1844 he publishedIllustrations of the Theory and Practice of Ventilation.[5]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: "Reid, David Boswell".Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
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