Invention of the spirometer, making possible the determination of the vital capacity of the lungs. Hutchinson used the spirometer while evaluating candidates for life insurance as a physician for Brittania Life.  Particularly, he researched the safety of coal mining and the presence of charcoal in miner's lungs. He also theorized that air pollution could lead to poor health. Hutchinson’s work first appeared in summary form in Lancet, 1844, 1, 390-391, 567-70.