Thomas Sutton (1767–1835), a physician in Kent, England, was the first to publish a description of delirium tremens (the "DTs") and to connect the illness to an over indulgence in alcohol.
He served in the Army and then settled in Greenwich, England to become a consultant at the Kent Dispensary and to practice medicine.
[2] In 1813, Sutton published his book, Tracts on Delirium Tremens, on Peritonitis, and on Some other Internal Inflammatory Affections, and on the Gout.
He described the unusual case of a woman not known to be inebriated but he discovered that she frequently imbibed large quantities of Tincture of Lavender, which has an alcohol base.
Sutton's treatment for delirium tremens discarded the use of bleeding, an accepted medical method unless the patient was plethoric.
Dissertatio medica inauguralis de febre intermittente ... [Leyden], Lugduni Batavorum, Fratres Murray, 1787.