Definition of James parkinson
1. Noun. English surgeon (1755-1824).
Medical Definition of James parkinson
1.
This English physician is chiefly remembered for his 66-page "Essay on the Shaking Palsy" (first edition is valued at £10,000) which was published in 1817 and is a classic account of paralysis agitans (Parkinson's Disease).
Parkinson explained that the intellect was uninjured, but motor power was decreased and the body was bent forward with the fingers tremoring, simulating a "pill-rolling action. James Parkinson gave a good description in the 1812 Medical Chirurgical Transactions of acute appendicitis, titled "A Case of Diseased Appendix Vermiformis."
Parkinson authored many political pamphlets on reform and was a political agitator, yet he also was a geologist and paleontologist. His text, "Organic Remains of a Former World" is illustrated with fossil plants and animals.
Lived: 1755-1824.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of James Parkinson
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