When I use a word . . . . Sydenham Societies

Thomas Sydenham (1624–89), best known perhaps for having described the form of chorea that is named after him and is also known as St Vitus’s dance, has also given his name to three societies. The Sydenham Society (1843–57) and the New Sydenham Society (1859–1907) were both founded with the intention of publishing important medical texts, both classical and in modern European languages, in English translations, which they did at a rate of 3–6 per year during their existence. Of the two modern Sydenham Societies, one is devoted to promoting rigorous methods of patient oriented research, consistent with Sydenham’s own philosophy of medical practice. The other serves the community of Sydenham, a district in southeast London, whose name derives from Old English words meaning a wide water meadow; Thomas Sydenham’s forebears came from Sydenham in Somerset.