Studied at King’s College Hospital, where he became Prosector to Professor Richard Partridge. He had worked in Charing Cross Hospital at a time when there was no Medical School, and also at the Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital. He was appointed Assistant Surgeon to Charing Cross Hospital in 1841, and became full Surgeon in 1855. He lectured on physiology from 1852-1854, on anatomy from 1854-1866, and on surgery and surgical anatomy from 1866-1870. He published in 1848 *Notes on the Morbid Anatomy of Chronic Rheumatic Arthritis*. Also in the same year from the Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital he recorded two cases of cysticercus cellulosæ beneath the conjunctiva and in the anterior chamber of the eye, with a number of references to similar cases. He continued to exhibit specimens of joints at the Pathological Society, which are preserved in the Museum of the College and in Charing Cross Hospital Museum. His account of the arcus senilis also attracted attention. Among exceptional cases was that of the dislocation of the ulna forwards without fracture of the olecranon process. His excision of the knee for separation of the lower epiphysis of the femur is in contrast to the reduction now practised. Canton held offices in the Medical Society, and in 1857 was awarded the Fothergillian Prize for an essay on “Injuries and Diseases of the Spine”. He was a ready writer and contributed satirical and critical articles to *Punch* and other weekly journals. He numbered Huxley among his friends. He retired from the active staff and was appointed Consulting Surgeon to the Hospital in 1878; he had practised in Savile Row, and later moved to Montagu Place. In later years his health declined, and on September 25th, 1885, he was found dead on Hampstead Heath with a phial of prussic acid beside him. He married late in life, but there was no issue. Portraits of him are in the College Collection. His nephew, Frederick Canton, became a distinguished dental surgeon, as also did a brother. Publications: *Notes on the Morbid Anatomy of Chronic Rheumatic Arthritis of the Shoulder and other Joints*, Exeter, 1848. “Remarks on Interstitial Absorption of the Neck of the Femur from Bruise of the Hip.” – *Lond. Med. Gaz.*, 1848, vi, 410; vii, 111, 153; also *Trans. Pathol. Soc.*, 1850-2, iii, 153; 1860-1, xii, 162 ; 1861-2, xiii, 270. “Instance of Hydatid Cysticercus Cellulosæ in the Subconjunctival Cellular Tissue, and in the Anterior Chamber of the Eye.” – *Lancet*, 1848, ii, 91. Published separately, London, 1848. “Two Cases of Excision of the Knee-joint for the Forcible Separation of the Lower Epiphysis from the Shaft of the Femur.” – *Dublin Quart. Jour. Med. Sci.*, 1861, xxxi, 74. “On the Arcus Senilis, or Fatty Degeneration of the Cornea,” London, 1850; reprinted from *Lancet*, 1850, i, 560, and 1851, i, 38 and 66. “A Case of Dislocation of the Ulna Forwards at the Elbow without Fracture of the Olecranon Process.” – *Dublin Quart. Jour. Med. Sci.*, 1860, xxx, 24. “An Account of Parasitic Ova found attached to the Conjunctivæ of the Turtle’s Eyes,” Dublin, 1860; reprinted from *Dublin Quart. Jour. Med. Sci.*, 1860. The copy in the College Library has attached autograph letters from T Spencer Cobbold and Arthur Leared. “Description of a Fœtal Monster with Eventeration,” London, 1849; reprinted from *Lancet*. The Oration delivered March 8th, 1852, before the Medical Society of London at the 79th anniversary, printed at the request of the Society, London, 1852.