Henry Letheby

Henry Letheby (1816–1876), analytical chemist and public health officer, was born at Plymouth in 1816, and studied chemistry at the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society.Christopher Hamlin, ‘Letheby, Henry (1816–1876)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16520 accessed 3 Feb 2008] ] In 1837 he commenced the study of medicine, and became the assistant of Jonathan Pereira. He graduated M.B. at the University of London in 1842, and was also LSA (Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (1837) and PhD.cite web | last = Archbold | first = W. A. J. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Letheby, Henry (1816–1876), analytical chemist, by W. A. J. Archbold Published 1892 | work = Dictionary of National Biography Vol. XXXIII | publisher =Smith, Elder & Co. | date = 1892 | url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/olddnb/16520 | format = HTML | doi = | accessdate = 2008-02-03]

He was lecturer on chemistry at the London Hospital, and for some years medical officer of health and analyst of foods for the City of London. He was also appointed chief examiner of gas for the metropolis under the Board of Trade. Letheby was an exceedingly accurate technological chemist, and contributed many papers to "The Lancet" and other scientific periodicals. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society and the Chemical Society. He died on 28 March 1876 at his residence, 17 Sussex Place, Regent's Park, London. He left a widow. Letheby's chief work was a treatise on "Food, its Varieties, Chemical Composition, &c.", London, 1870, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1872. His official reports on the sanitary condition of London were published from time to time.

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