COTTON, JAMES RICHARD (17??-1846)

COTTON, JAMES RICHARD, medical practitioner; d. Miramichi, 15 Jul 1846.

James R. Cotton was residing at McBeath's Hotel in Chatham in 1842, when he advertised his services as "surgeon, dentist, accoucheur, and occultist." He had "a species of medicated vapour bath" called "The Cottonian Novator," which he used for treating rheumatism and pulmonary complaints. He cited twenty-four years of medical experience, and when his credentials were questioned, he stated that his certificate of membership in the Royal College of Surgeons could be examined at his office. He also claimed to hold a certificate from the Quebec medical examining board which he had been required to obtain when he entered that province in 1818. He wagered £100 that no doctor could find him wanting in professional knowledge.

When one of Cotton's patients died in 1842, the coroner, Martin Cranney, had him jailed and charged with malpractice. The charge was later dropped, but the coroner's jury expressed the opinion that the man's death had been hastened by his doctor's "injudicious treatment." Cotton stoutly protested both this finding and the fact that the coroner had issued a warrant for his arrest in the first place.

Cotton used the advertising columns of the newspaper more than any other doctor. He published testimonials regularly from local residents concerning the effectiveness of the Cottonian Novator. In 1844 he announced that, "in consequence of the pressure of the times," he was prepared to provide his services free to "the lower classes of females." At the same time, he was looking for "a lad, respectably connected, with a knowledge of the classics," as a student.

After partaking of "the intoxicating cup" on the morning of 15 July 1846, Cotton invited a number of different people to go for a swim in the river with him. When all declined, he had himself driven to the shore, waded in naked, and fell down and drowned in three feet of water. As though to compensate for any previous excess, the coroner's jury ruled chastely that "the deceased came to his death whilst bathing in the River Miramichi."