{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T10:44:10Z","timestamp":1792061050205,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":12,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]],"date-time":"2025-10-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761523200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]],"date-time":"2025-10-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761523200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Med Biogr"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In 1744, the English physician Thomas Reeve (\u2018T.R.\u2019, b.1700\u20131780) published two proposals for controlled trials of tar water treatment, a \u2018universal\u2019 medication promoted by Bishop George Berkeley (1685\u20131753).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Qualitative analysis of historical medical texts.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In his \u2018defence of physick\u2019, Reeve questions Berkeley's clinical evidence and calls for a \u2018fair experiment\u2019 with a \u2018competent number\u2019 of patients (i.e. 20), half of whom should receive tar water. Participants should be \u2018of the same Age, Sex, Constitution and Country, of the same way of living, and of the same Temperament\u2019. Treatment must be \u2018at the same Time and Place\u2019, circumstances employed in Lind's 1747 scurvy trial. Reeve also proposes a simple two-patient trial to compare smallpox treatment with and without tar water.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>It is tempting to see Reeve's proposals as an influence upon James Lind's 1747 scurvy trial. Evidence that could support this lies in Lind's consideration of both tar water and Berkeley's book within his 1753 treatise on scurvy. Likewise, Reeve's call to keep a \u2018faithful register\u2019 of clinical outcomes offers a possible link with Hauksbee the Younger's 1743 proposal for an 'experimentum crucis' of treatments for venereal disease. The contribution of Thomas Reeve to the development of controlled trials (including the \u2018morality\u2019 of withholding effective treatment) deserves greater recognition.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1177\/09677720251383856","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]],"date-time":"2025-10-27T14:18:29Z","timestamp":1761574709000},"page":"327-335","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["\u2018A Defence of Physick\u2019: Thomas Reeve's proposed \u2018fair experiment\u2019 on the benefits of tar-water treatment (1744)"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"34","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6754-2336","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Max","family":"Cooper","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Brighton and Sussex Medical School"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sarah","family":"Cooper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Royal Sussex County Hospital"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_2_2_2","unstructured":"Thomas Reeve MW. Royal College of Physicians of London https:\/\/history.rcp.ac.uk\/inspiring-physicians\/thomas-reeve (Accessed 8 December 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_3_2","volume-title":"A Chain of Philosophical Reflexions and Inquiries Concerning the Virtues of Tar Water","author":"Berkeley G.","year":"1744","unstructured":"Berkeley G. A Chain of Philosophical Reflexions and Inquiries Concerning the Virtues of Tar Water. Dublin: W. Innys, 1744. https:\/\/www.google.co.uk\/books\/edition\/Siris\/c10uAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1163\/15733823-00252P04"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_5_2","volume-title":"A cure for the epidemical madness of drinking tar water: lately imported from Ireland by a certain R-t R-d doctor. In a letter to his L-p 1744","author":"Reeve T","year":"1744","unstructured":"Reeve T. A cure for the epidemical madness of drinking tar water: lately imported from Ireland by a certain R-t R-d doctor. In a letter to his L-p 1744. London: Printed for John and Paul Knapton, 1744. https:\/\/www.google.co.uk\/books\/edition\/A_Cure_for_the_Epidemical_Madness_of_dri\/p59kAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 (accessed 7 December 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_6_2","first-page":"41","volume-title":"Lectures on the Materia Medica: containing the natural history of drugs","author":"Alston C","year":"1770","unstructured":"Alston C. Lectures on the Materia Medica: containing the natural history of drugs. London: Edward Dilly, 1770, p. 41, https:\/\/play.google.com\/books\/reader?id=VrhUAAAAcAAJ&pg=GBS.PP6&hl=en_GB (accessed 8 December 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_7_2","unstructured":"Donaldson IML. Van Helmont\u2019s proposal for a randomised comparison of treating fevers with or without bloodletting and purging. James Lind Library Bulletin: Commentaries on the history of treatment evaluation https:\/\/www.jameslindlibrary.org\/articles\/joan-baptista-van-helmonts-proposal-around-1643-for-a-randomised-comparison-of-using-or-withholding-bloodletting-and-purging-when-treating-fevers\/ ( 2016 accessed 12 December 2024)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Donaldson IML. George Starkey\u2019s 1658 challenge to Galenists to compare their treatment results with his. 2016 James Lind Library Bulletin: Commentaries on the history of treatment evaluation https:\/\/www.jameslindlibrary.org\/articles\/george-starkeys-1658-challenge-to-galenists-to-compare-their-treatment-results-with-his\/) (accessed 12 December 2024).","DOI":"10.1177\/0141076817719816"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1098\/rsnr.2024.0033"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_10_2","unstructured":"Philanthropus. The Bishop of Cloyne Defended; or tar-water proved useful by theory and experiments in answer to T.R. M.D. Undated but attributed to 1744 https:\/\/www.google.co.uk\/books\/edition\/The_Bishop_of_Cloyne_Defended_Or_Tar_wat\/qJ9kAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA5&printsec=frontcover (accessed 31 July 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_11_2","unstructured":"Lind J A treatise of the scurvy. In three parts. Containing an inquiry into the nature causes and cure of that disease. Together with a critical and chronological view of what has been published on the subject Edinburgh: Printed by Sands Murray and Cochran for A. Kincaid & A. Donaldson 1753"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_12_2","unstructured":"Berkeley G. A Letter to T\u2014- P\u2014- Esq; from the Author of Siris which is added An Answer to a Supposed Physician's Letter to the Right Reverend Bishop of Cloyne https:\/\/www.google.it\/books\/edition\/A_Letter_to_T_P_Containing_Some_Farther\/k1lWAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=A%20Cure%20for%20the%20Epidemical%20Madness%20of%20drinking%20Tar%20Water.&pg=PA32&printsec=frontcover ( 1744 accessed 31 July 2025)."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_13_2","volume-title":"Bishop of Cloyne. A miscellany, containing several tracts on various subjects","author":"Berkeley G","unstructured":"Berkeley G. Farther thoughts on tar-water. In: Bishop of Cloyne. A miscellany, containing several tracts on various subjects. London: Tonson and Draper, https:\/\/www.jameslindlibrary.org\/berkeley-g-1752\/ (accessed 9 December 2024)."}],"container-title":["Journal of Medical Biography"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/09677720251383856","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/09677720251383856","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/09677720251383856","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T09:46:35Z","timestamp":1792057595000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/09677720251383856"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]]},"references-count":12,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,11]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/09677720251383856"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/09677720251383856","relation":{},"ISSN":["0967-7720","1758-1087"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0967-7720","type":"print"},{"value":"1758-1087","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,27]]}}}