John Mervin NOOTH (1737-1828) was an obscure British-born medical man and inventor with a Quebec connection. A distinguished physician, Nooth entered the Royal Society via Benjamin Franklin and anatomist William Hunter in 1774. He published a Royal Society paper on a method of carbonizing water. By 1775 this process revolutionized the preparation of soft drinks. His famous Nooth’s apparatus was used until the mid- 19th century, and by the mid 1840’s its inner workings of the device assisted ether and anesthetics. In addition, Dr. Nooth invented a device for insufflation used for drowning and asphyxiated people. Very clever, it allowed for insufflation by blocking the side hole of the pump body and pushing on the piston. The same for exsufflation.
He became Physician Extraordinary and Purveyor to the British army in North America in 1775. Then Superintendent General of British military hospitals from 1779 to 83). Later, he was Superintendent General of Quebec Hospitals where he lived from 1788 to 1799.
Various Royal Society letters show his interest in economic development with whale oil, maple syrup production and potash. He directed the Agricultural Society of Quebec in 1790. In 1799, he was Superintendent General to all army hospitals and then physician to the Duke of Kent until 1820 before retiring to Bath, England. Dr. John Nooth died on Great Pulteney St. Bath on May 3rd, 1828 at the age of 90.
Let us now delve into his connection to Quebec medical history.
Although Dr. Nooth is not a household name in Canada this man of science and letters was a keen inventor. He should be engrained in the collective consciousness of our nation. Fortunately for us in Quebec, he is remembered in medical circles for stemming the flow of the Malbaie Disease in the 1780‘s.
No streets are named after him, and no plaques extol his scientific innovations. There are no lakes or geographic features in our landscape to echo his memory of scientific life. In 1894 a stash of Nooth’s autographed letters from 1789 to 1799 were given to the Royal Canadian Historical Society by his grand-niece, a Mrs. Cooper of Brentford, England.
Just before Nooth arrived in Canada as Physician Extraordinaire, a bill was passed in the Quebec Legislative Council on March 3rd, 1787. This act acclaimed that it “would prevent persons from practicing medicine, surgery and midwifery without a license.” A year later, on April 3rd, 1788, the same Council adapted the Medical Act and failure to comply meant a fine of 20$ and or a three- month jail term.
In November, 1788, Dr. Mervin Nooth became chief Physician to the Forces in North America and Purveyor. Upon his arrival, he was made aware of the ravages of a hideous disease crippling Quebec’s population. Also in 1788 Quebec was first mentioned in an English language medical treatise. That year F. X. Schwediaur published Practical Observations on Venereal Complaints which included An Account of A New venereal Disease which has lately appeared in Canada and recently reported from St. Paul’s Bay. Typically, it was called Mal Anglois by the locals. The Quebec medical establishment collectively stood up and took notice of this new disease and Nooth’s actions played an important role in its identification and eradication.
The Malbaie Disease 1773-1788
The book Canadian Imprints 1751-1800 by Marie Tremaine shows an early advertisement by Dr. Robert Jones describing the “Molbay Distemper“ in 1786. The 19- page pamphlet describes its symptoms and methods to erase it. This same detail appeared in the Montreal Gazette on December 21st, 1786.
The French settlers called the disease by the names Mal de Malbaie, Maladie des Eboulements and St. Paul’s Distemper. Meanwhile at Sorel it was called Mal de Chicot. Between 1773 and 1796 more than 6000 people became affected by it. The Malbaie Disease remained in the public eye between 1773 and 1796. Dr. Nooth himself personally believed it to be a new strain of a venereal disease.
Whatever its origin several doctors were involved in its treatment over a 20 year time span. The principal doctors were: Dr. Nooth, James Bowman, Charles Blake, Robert Sym and George Selby. In September 1782 Dr. Blake was commissioned to investigate it. His 1787 report suggested a medical board be set up to examine prospective doctors and to issue licenses. This idea actually came to fruition after 1788 when Dr. Nooth was on board as a medical adjudicator in Quebec.
In 1783 the Legislative Council said that ‘The disorder had caused some anxiety and concern in the province and that measures must be taken by the Government to arrest the evil.” By 1784 the syphilis-like disease reared its ugly head in French villages. Dr. Philippe Louis Badelard’s treatment for the disease was published in the Quebec Gazette on July 29th, 1784 and again in August 19th, 1784. His treatment used zinc and hemlock (or cigue).
In 1785 Dr. Bowman examined more than 5,800 patients in tours through St. Philippe de la Tortue, Berthier, Batiscan and Lorette. He noted the disease was rife in places where the soil was “alluvial.”
In Quebec medical circles at the time, the disease was discussed and many plants and flowers and many concoctions used to alleviate symptoms. These included: patience, burdock, sasparilla and hemlock.
The Quebec government grew concerned about the plight and bore the brunt of expenses. It sent medical officers gratis throughout the countryside to investigate it. It eventually subsided, and it was Dr. Nooth who took credit for this while at the helm of the medical department in Quebec.
Collecting plants in Quebec: 1788-1790
Dr. Nooth’s love of botany and natural history coupled with the urgent need to find local medical material to combat disease, motivated his interest in domestic plants in Quebec. Harvesting and sending folle avoine—or wild rice became a botanical hobby after 1788. In his letter Nooth mentions the zizania pulustra having been placed at Kew.
In another Banks letter to James Edward Smith, Banks told him that Canadian Zizania was growing well by his pond. Another Nooth letter to Joseph Banks dated October 21, 1789 said he sent, in a box, some zizania collected with care and dried without smoke.
Dr. Nooth and his long- time colleague Thomas Davies, the painter, both collected and preserved rare plants and objects of natural history. An October 1789 letter to Joseph Banks, explains that Dr. Nooth had sent botanical specimens in a small parcel containing an “unknown fruit”. Rousseau in his collection of Nooth letters to Joseph Banks (Extrait, du Naturaliste Canadien, Vol. LVIII: 1931) has identified this “unknown fruit” as Celtis oocidentalis L. Medicinally, Nooth found that a wood extract from this tree could treat jaundice. Further to this, a decoction of its bark could treat sore throats and combat venereal disease. Later in 1789, aboard the ship “Naples” Nooth send off specimens of Cryptogams to his friend Dr. Johann David Shoepff a fellow physician residing in Germany. The two had met in New York in 1777 during the war.
A document named 'List of Plants & Seeds sent to Kew', 1789 - 1792 (Series 22.03) lists specimens received by Banks between the years 1781-1803. The file shows “folle avoine and unknown fruit” sent on December 5th, 1789.
This dated ledger is a perfect scientific artefact giving exact dates and time lines for plant specimens from Quebec. Nooth and his folle avoine appear again in 1791. Nooth’s third letter to Banks dated Nov. 24, 1790, reveals that the famous watercolorist, and bird collector, Colonel Davies was still at Quebec but on the verge of leaving his Quebec artillery post. His ship having been waylaid by contrary winds in the St. Lawrence River.
Denis Robillard is a poet and retired educator born in Ontario. Robillard was first published in 1986 and has had over 500 poems published in Canada, USA and Europe since 2000. Recent publications include Rampike (CAN), Windsor Review, Nashwaak Review (2020) and Gently Mad Magazine (2024). He is the past winner of the Ted Plantos Poetry Award in 2015 and the Cranberry Tree Press Award for his book, THE HISTORY OF WATER. His most recent poetry book is called DEEP FRIED KODAK (2024).
