Alexander Copland Hutchison

Alexander Copland (or Copeland) Hutchison FRSE (1786–1840) was a British surgeon and medical author remembered for his book ''Practical Observations in Surgery'' (1811).

In 1818 he made an interesting observation that navy personnel suffered exceptionally low levels of kidney stones (Urinary calculi) totalling eight cases over a 15-year period (1800–1815) within a minimum of 145,000 subjects per year. Taking all factors into account he calculated a total rate of approximately 1 in 11,000. Whilst the data was clear the cause was not. It was largely ascribed to the very high proportion of salt beef and pork within the diet, and the rather unattractive issue of sleeping in one’s own sweat within your hammock. Oddly, the study seemed to believe that naval diet destroyed the inevitability of kidney stones, rather than considering that naval diet excluded the causes of kidney stones (being very low in dairy products). Provided by Wikipedia