An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

DEWHURST, William Henry

1 entries
  • 10259

The natural history of the order Cetacea, and the oceanic inhabitants of the Arctic regions.

London: Published by the Author, 1834.

Characterizing himself "Surgeon-Accoucheur" on the title page, Dewhurst lectured in 1827-8 on anatomy and physiology, and served as a ship's surgeon, making voyage to Greenland and its surrounding seas in 1824. During that voyage he  studied large Arctic creatures, especially whales. In the decade after his return Dewhurst prepared this description of polar sea life.  Whales were of especial interest in this period, because of the use of their blubber in many household objects, and the value of their oil for lamps, as whale oil burned without soot. Dewhurst's work was one of the first studies to examine the different species of whales, as well as dolphins and other marine life. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS AND REGIONS › Arctic, ZOOLOGY › Mammalogy › Marine Mammals, ZOOLOGY › Mammalogy › Marine Mammals › Cetacea