ABSTRACT
THOMAS ADDISON was born near Newcastle of humble parents in 1793, and although his early life is poorly documented; it is certain that he took his M.D. at Edinburgh in 1815, entitling his inaugural thesis, De Syphilide. Soon afterwards he repaired to London where he early studied with the eminent dermatologist, Thomas Bateman. In 1819 he became associated with Guy’s Hospital as an internist, and his classic writings in this field, notably on diseases of the chest and suprarenals, are considered to be his greatest achievement; nevertheless, his early dermatologic training fitted him well for his accurate descriptions of morphea and the xanthomata, which we have included here. For years he personally supervised the preparation of the extremely effective wax models of dermatologic disease to be found at Guy’s.
