What was Joseph Black’s medical thesis about?

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Joseph Black Joseph Black, detail of an engraving by J. Rogers after a portrait by Sir Henry Raeburn

Joseph Black’s medical thesis, which led to his graduation in 1754, focused on the chemical properties of the alkali known as magnesia alba (magnesium carbonate).1

To satisfy the requirement that his work have a medical connection, Black described the application of this substance as a treatment for minor digestive disorders. His research involved a series of planned, quantitative experiments using a balance to study how the substance reacted with acids and heat. This work laid the foundation for his later discovery of "fixed air" and his conclusion that gases could be distinct chemical substances rather than merely atmospheric air in different states of purity.12