| Authorised form of name | Todd; Robert Bentley (1809 - 1860) |
| Dates | 1809 - 1860 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland |
| Date of birth | 07 or 09 April 1809 |
| Place of death | His consulting room, Brook Street, London |
| Date of death | 30 January 1860 |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Activity | Education:
Trinity College, Dublin. BA (1829). Incorporated at Pembroke College, Oxford (1832). MA (1832); BM (1833); DM (1836)
Career:
Moved to London (1831); Lecturer, Aldersgate Street School of Medicine; Professor of Physiology and Anatomy, King's College, London (1836); had a leading role in founding King's College Hospital (1838) and was one of its first physicians, with an interest in neurological disorders, including epilepsy, where he is immortalised in the term 'Todds paralysis'; first to understand the neurophysiology of lead poisoning, and he separated locomotor ataxy from other spinal diseases; resigned as Professor (1853) and devoted himself to private practice
Developed an electrical theory of epilepsy which he presented in his Lumleian Lectures to the Royal College of Physicians in 1849. Influenced by Michael Faraday (1791-1867) whose electical studies led Todd to the theory that that the brain had battery-like electrical mechanisms of function.
Memberships:
LRCP (1833); FRCP (1837) |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 08/02/1838 |
| Relationships | Son of Charles Hawkes Todd, surgeon |
| PublishedWorks | 'On the pathology and treatment of convulsive diseases' (Lumleian Lectures to the Royal College of Physicians) in London Medical Gazette, 1849 Volume 8 pp 661-671; 724-729; 766-771; 815-822; 837-846 |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1860-1862 vol 11 pp xxxii-xxxiv
Notes:
BR gives birth date as 07 April 1809
Dr H Reyholds 'Todd, Huglings Jackson, and the electrical basis of epilepsy' in The Lancet, Volume 358, 18 August 2001 pp 575-577
JB Lyons 'Todd's Paralysis' in Koehler PJ, Bruyn GW, Pearce JMS editors of 'Neurological eponyms' Oxford University Press 2000 |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/69712406 |
| Code | NA7567 |
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| MM/21/49 | Letter from Robert Bentley Todd to Thomas Bell | 21 December 1849 |
| MC/4/46 | Letter from [Robert Bentley] Todd to Dr [Peter Mark] Roget, [Secretary of the Royal Society] | 7 December 1844 |
| IM/004619 | Todd, Robert Bentley | nd |
| RR/2/243 | Referee's report by Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'On the functions of the membrana tympani, the ossicles and muscles of the tympanum, and of the eustachian tube in the human ear, with an account of the muscles of the eustachian tube and their action in different classes of animals' by Joseph Toynbee | 20 November 1850 |
| RR/1/129 | Referee's report by Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'On the secretory apparatus of the liver' by Charles Handfield Jones | 22 May 1846 |
| RR/1/263 | Referee's report by Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'On the development of striated muscular fibre' by Wilson Fox | [c.1850] |
| RR/1/10 | Referee's report by Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'Researches in embryology - Second series' by Martin Barry | 11 June 1839 |
| PT/28/6/1 | Manuscript, 'Researches into the structure and development of a newly discovered parasitic animalcule of the human skin - the entozoon folliculorum' by Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| M/118 | Todd Medal of King's College, London | |
| RR/1/116 | Referee's report by Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'Researches on the function of the intercostal muscles and on the respiratory movements, with some remarks on muscular power, in man' by John Hutchinson | 2 August 1848 |
| EC/1838/12 | Todd, Robert Bentley: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| S/0046 | Sculpture bust of Todd, Robert Bentley | 1860 |
| PT/28/6/4 | Plate, figures 9-10 of the head of the entozoon folliculorum by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| PT/24/2 | Paper, 'On the minute structure and movements of voluntary muscle' in a letter from Wm [William] Bowman to Robt [Robert] Bentley Todd | 18 June 1840 |
| RR/1/230 | Referee's report by Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'On the supposed development of the animal tissues from cells' by James Stark | 3 July 1843 |
| PT/28/6/7 | Plate, figures 24-29 of stages of growth of the entozoon folliculorum by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| PT/26/8 | Paper, 'Of the ultimate distribution of the air passages and of the mode of formation of the air cells of the lungs' by William Addison | 16 February 1842 |
| PT/28/6/10 | Plate, figures 35-38 of the growth of the short variety of the entozoon folliculorum by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| PT/28/6/3 | Plate, figures 6-8 of groups of entozoon folliculorum in skin and hair follicles by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| PT/28/6/8 | Plate, figures 30-32 of the young form of the entozoon folliculorum by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| PT/28/6/2 | Plate, figures 1-5 of long and short entozoon folliculorum by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| PT/28/6/9 | Plate, figures 33-34 of the mature form of the entozoon folliculorum by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| PT/28/6/6 | Plate, figures 20-23 of embryonic forms of the entozoon folliculorum by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| PT/28/6/11 | Plate, figures 39-41 of young specimens of the short variety of the entozoon folliculorum by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| PT/28/6/12 | Plate, figure 42 of a perfect form of the short variety of the entozoon folliculorum by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| PT/44/3 | Paper, 'An experimental inquiry undertaken with the view of ascertaining whether any, and what signs of current force are manifested during the organic process of secretion in living animals; continued' by H F [Henry Foster] Baxter | [1852] |
| RR/1/18 | Referee's report by Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'On the nerves of the uterus' by Thomas Snow Beck | 8 October 1845 |
| MM/10/165 | Minutes of the Microscope Committee | c.1843 |
| MC/4 | Volume 4 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society | 1844-1850 |
| PT/28/6/5 | Plate, figures 11-19 of ovum-corpuscles and ova of the entozoon folliculorum by W Bagg and Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| RR/1/265 | Letter from Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'Researches into the structure and development of a newly discovered parasitic animalcule of the human skin—the entozoon folliculorum' by William James Erasmus Wilson | 28 June 1843 |
| RR/1/113 | Referee's report by Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'Researches on the function of the intercostal muscles and on the respiratory movements, with some remarks on muscular power, in man' by John Hutchinson | 18 July 1848 |
| RR/1/266 | Letter from Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'Researches into the structure and development of a newly discovered parasitic animalcule of the human skin—the entozoon folliculorum' by William James Erasmus Wilson | 12 October 1843 |
| PT/28/6 | Paper, 'Researches into the structure and development of a newly discovered parasitic animalcule of the human skin - the entozoon folliculorum' by Erasmus Wilson | [1843] |
| AP/31/4/1 | Unpublished manuscript, 'Contributions to the physiology of the alimentary canal' by William Brinton | 5 April 1848 |
| AP/31/4 | Unpublished paper, 'Contributions to the physiology of the alimentary canal' by William Brinton | 5 April 1848 |
| AP/26/20 | Paper, 'Researches into the structure and development of a newly discovered parasitic animalcule of the human skin: the Entozoon folliculorum' by Erasmus Wilson | 1843 |
| RR/1/126 | Referee's report by Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'Microscopical examination of the contents the hepatic ducts, conclusions founded thereon as to the physiological signification of the cells hepatic parenchyma, and as to their anatomical relation to the radicles of the hepatic ducts' by Thomas Wharton Jones | 29 July 1848 |
| RR/1/112 | Letter from Robert Bentley Todd, on a paper 'Researches on the function of the intercostal muscles and on the respiratory movements, with some remarks on muscular power, in man' by John Hutchinson | 24 October 1848 |