Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 239

Dr John Hunter (1728-1793)

The Scotsman John Hunter is one of the greatest anatomists in history, he brought science to the art of surgery, is remembered as the most infamous of the resurrection men, and once described semen held in the mouth as “having a warmth similar to spices”.

Hunter suffered from angina pectoris and was not known for his ability to suffer fools well. As usual, he was right… Hunter died of a heart attack while attending a board meeting, during which he became irate at the opposition to the appointment of his successor at St. George’s Hospital.

The erroneous ‘Kehoe Principle’ can be summarised as:

The absence of evidence of risk = Evidence of the absence of risk.

Robert A. Kehoe, a toxicologist employed by the Ethyl Corporation, exemplified the ‘show me the data‘ mentality in defending the safety of leaded petrol. His stance was based on the rationale that there was no convincing published evidence of harm to humans. Subsequent research led to the complete removal of lead from gasoline in the United States by 1986.

• CCC – Precautionary Principle and the Kehoe Principle

‘When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.’

The rule originated at Chatham House with the aim of encouraging openness of discussion and facilitating the sharing of information. It is now used throughout the world as an aid to free discussion of sensitive issues.

The Chatham House Rule is a system for holding debates and discussion panels on controversial issues, named after the headquarters of the UK Royal Institute of International Affairs, based in Chatham House, London, where the rule originated in June 1927.

He donated plasma containing antibody for rhesus D so rhesus -ve mothers could be given Anti-D when required.

Harrison donated blood every fortnight for more than 60 years (1173 venesections!) , his last donation on 11th of May 2018 at the age of 81. [Reference]

Listen to James Harrison here.

A specially designed shoe

Manjul Tripathi et al in India investigated the biomechanics and showed that such a move would put too much strain on the achilles tendon. The extra degrees were achieved by a special shoe and a hitch member.

He did also require some erector spinae strength training. [Reference]