Dr. Robert Robertson (1741/2-1829) spent over 30 years as ship surgeon on various vessels, keeping meticulous records about the kinds of illnesses affecting seamen. He was the first to alert the Admiralty to the efficacy of Peruvian bark in both the cure of acute fevers as well as a preventive medicine in the tropics. He also warned of the dangers of bloodletting in treating tropical fevers. Altogerther, he wrote 13 books devoted to fevers, outlining his theories of infection and treatment.
