natural, the laborious respiration and oppression of weight of the chest are relieved ... the whole countenance assumes a natural healthy appearance". Results were inconsistent, almost certainly because the correct proportions of salt for physiological saline were then unknown, leaving Latta unable to gauge the proportions of potassium, sodium, bicarbonate, and chloride in the blood so as to prevent hemolysis and the destruction of red blood cells. Though a few of Latta's patients appear to have survived, most died after a temporary period of excitation like that described in his letter to the Lancet. The standard use of saline solutions (largely for recovery procedures) did not begin until 1902, when electrolyte balance and the mechanisms of hypovolemic shock were better understood. Latta was based at the Leith Dispensary and Humane Society at 17 Broad Wynd, the forerunners of Leith Hospital.. Having suffered from tuberculosis for several years, he died in 1833. His death certificate was signed by Dr James Scarth Combe. Personal In November, 1825 he married Mary Millar, the daughter of a Canongate builder. They had 4 sons together: Thomas Allison Latta (1826-38), John Millar Latta (1828), Walter Buchanan Latta (1830-51), and Peter Anderson Latta (1833-40). His son Walter died in London in 1851 from tuberculosis and was buried in the graveyard of South Leith Parish Church. His wife Mary died in 1873 and was buried near her son Walter. In her will she expressed a wish to be buried next to her husband and children, so it is likely Dr Thomas Latta is also buried there. There is no memorial. Thomas Latta also contributed publications on the subject of Arctic science, after having sailed as "surgeon and companion" with Captain William Scoresby on a whaling expedition, while still a medical student. As an unsung hero of medicine, Latta is a popular topic for university dissertations. Memorials In 2014, a new street, on the site of the Eastern General Hospital, was named Latta Place in his memory. References External links 1796 births 1833 deaths Medical doctors from Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 19th-century Scottish inventors Alumni of the University of Edinburgh