Allbutt of Leeds and Duchenne de Boulogne: Newly discovered insights on Duchenne by a British neuropsychiatrist

Abstract

It is well-established that Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne (1806–1875), and Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893) were the founding fathers of Parisian and French neurology during the second half of the 19th century, although much more is known about Charcot than about his “master” Duchenne. In Britain, Thomas Clifford Allbutt (1836–1925) was Leeds’ most distinguished physician of the 19th century, eventually becoming Regius Professor of Physic at Cambridge. Allbutt's 1860–1861 year of postgraduate study in Paris and his friendship with Duchenne profoundly influenced his own contributions to nervous system and mental diseases, partly in collaboration with his colleague James Crichton-Browne (1840–1938) at the nearby West Riding Lunatic Asylum in Wakefield, Yorkshire. The present report briefly recalls the careers of Duchenne and Allbutt, and also presents a unique account by Allbutt of Duchenne in action at the height of his powers, investigating and defining the previously uncharted field of neuromuscular diseases with the aid of his localized electrization techniques. This account is discussed in relation to: Duchenne's personality and pioneering neurological achievements; the origins of French neurology; and the development of Anglo–French neurological relationships during the 19th century. Interestingly, both Duchenne and Crichton-Browne separately made important and much-appreciated contributions to the third major book by Charles Darwin (1809–1882), The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, published in 1872.