John Brown (bap. 1735 d. 1788)

Scottish physician. Son of a weaver. Attended medical lectures in Edinburgh. Acted as a private tutor, and from 1765, ran a boarding house. MD, St Andrews, 1779. Moved to London, 1786. Developed a system of treatment, known as Brunonianism, based on equilibrium between stimulus and excitability. He classified diseases as sthenic or asthenic, the former treated with bloodletting and purging, the latter with stimulants like opium and alcohol. Published Elementa medicinae (1780).