Very rare. Born in Rochefort, Lesson entered the navy medical school at 16 and served in the Napoleonic wars. He served as second surgeon on Duperrey’s circumnavigation on the Coquille (1822-25) and was the first European to see birds of paradise in the wild.
Lesson was a prolific writer, he contributed to the official account, published a natural history, and then this volume, which is a valuable complement, indeed, a parallel account of the voyage. Despite advances made in the treatment of scurvy, travel and voyages were still often marred by illness among the men - often by diseases hitherto unknown.
He explains in the preface that the navy’s medical staff are required to report anything “à la suite d’une campagne, quelle qu’en soit la nature” regarding their duties immediately upon their return. Due to ill health, the chief surgeon on board the Coquille (Prosper Garnot) had to return to France and so Lesson took up the medical narrative. This doubtless accounts for the work’s rarity, it being a separate publication from the official account.
Lesson was a natural choice to take over the reins. Not only was he qualified as a doctor, but he had collaborated with Garnot on the zoological reports. This account follows the voyage geographically and contains notes on diseases endemic to each port of call, assessing likely causes and potential remedies. There are detailed notes too on the customs and habits of the indigenous populations and their own medical practices. The end of each chapter has a list of each disease encountered - ranging from the familiar such as angina, gonorrhoea and (interestingly) depression and epilepsy, to conditions and diseases we associate more readily with the tropics like inflammation of the eyes, atonic ulcers, diarrhea, coryza and dyssentery. Half the volume is devoted to the Pacific, namely: Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, French Polynesia, New Ireland and New Guinea.
Toward the end of the work, Lesson discusses the comparative physical traits of Malays, Papua New Guineans, Australian Aborigines and other indigenous populations. There are also instructions for officers on maintaining hygeine while at sea and a table listing all the different medicines taken on the voyage and how much of each was used.
Compiling this work laid the foundation for Lesson’s 1833 handbook for naval surgeons: Manuel d’histoire naturelle medicale, et de pharmacographie. Departing Toulon in 1822, the Coquille landed along the coasts of Chile and Peru before sailing to the Tuamotus Archipelago, the Society Islands, Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and the Moluccas. In addition to scientific observations, over 5000 specimens and flora and fauna were collected.
Ferguson, 1279; O’Reilly & Reitman, 9040; Sabin, 40215; not in Hill; not in Borba de Moraes.
