Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1976 (SND Vol. X, list of scientific terms with Scottish connections).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
BRUNONIAN, adj. In phr. Brunonian system, a system of medicine based on the belief that diseases are caused by excess or lack of external stimulus on the bodily organs and that blood-letting is harmful.
[Latinised adj. from the surname John Brown (1735–88), of Duns, M.D. of St Andrews and physician and medical writer in London, who propounded the theories in his Elementa Medicinae in 1780.]
