David Boswell Reid

David Boswell Reid was born in Edinburgh in 1805 and graduated MD from the University of Edinburgh in 1830. He taught practical chemistry at the university before leaving to run private classes when a proposed chair of practical chemistry was rejected. In 1840 he moved to London as practical engineer to the Palace of Westminster, designing steam-powered ventilation systems and producing public sanitation reports. Reid later moved to the United States, lectured at the Smithsonian Institution and served as inspector of military hospitals during the American Civil War. He died in Washington in 1863.