Edward Meryon (1807–80) and Charles Darwin's (1809–82)On the Origin of Species

London in the first half of the 19th century was a centre of scientific and medical interest. For example, the Royal Society, the Linnean Society, the Geological Society, the Chemical Society and the Royal Astronomical Society were all centred on Burlington House and, not far away, in Berner's Street was the Medical and Chirurgical Society, which in 1834 became the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society and later the Royal Society of Medicine. It was also in this period that Edward Meryon became a member of the latter society and subsequently a Council Member, Librarian and Vice-President. His research led to the clear identification for the first time of the disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy and he published his results in the Transactions of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society in 1852.