Sir William Newbigging (1772-1852) and Patrick Newbigging (1813-1864)-father and son presidents of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

Sir William Newbigging was a surgeon to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary from 1802. While a dextrous operator, he was regarded principally as an excellent general practitioner. He was President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 1814-16 and was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1838. He had five sons, four of whom followed him into the medical profession. Four of his sons died young-only Patrick outlived him. When Patrick returned from a Continental tour in 1842 he joined his father's general practice and when Sir William died in 1852 he took it over. From 1861 to 1863 he was also President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. His last few years were plagued by ill health and he died in 1864, shortly after his fiftieth birthday.     

Sir James Mouat, VC KCB FRCS (1815-1899): winner of the first medical Victoria Cross

Sir James Mouat was the first of 36 doctors to win the Victoria Cross. Born in Kent in 1815, he was educated at University College London before joining the army. After service in India and Ireland he joined the 6th Dragoon Guards as regimental surgeon and served with them throughout the Crimean War. He won his VC at the Battle of Balaclava. After the Crimean War he was appointed principal medical officer to the British troops in the New Zealand Wars. After serving in New Zealand he returned to England and became Inspector General of Hospitals. Surgeon General Mouat retired on 28 April 1876. He was appointed an honorary surgeon to the Queen in 1888, and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1894. He died of a stroke on 4 January 1899 at the age of 83.     

Wilfred Trotter: surgeon, philosopher.

There is no significant biography that records the accomplishments of Sir Wilfred Trotter, who was a general surgeon in its pure sense at a time when surgical specialization was in its infancy. Trotter was born in the 1870s in England. Despite being bedridden during his childhood with a musculoskeletal condition he was able to study medicine at London University, and eventually became Professor and Chair of Surgery at the University College Hospital, a position he held until his death in November 1939. He made many contributions to surgical care, particularly in the field of oncology. He attended to many famous people, including King George V and Sigmund Freud and was greatly honoured in his own milieu. He was named honorary surgeon and Sargent Surgeon to the king. In addition, he was a thoughtful individual who addressed problems in human behaviour, contradicting the stereotype of the contemporary surgeon.     

Julian Smith: scientific surgeon, photographer, inventor

Julian Augustus Romaine Smith was one of the surgeons who, in the company of Thomas Dunhill, Hugh Devine, Douglas Shields and David Murray Morton, established Saint Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, as arguably the premier surgical hospital in Victoria, if not Australia. Smith abandoned a most promising scientific career to study medicine, completing his medical course in Melbourne where he graduated top of his year in 1898/1899. He gained his MD in 1901 and set up practice in Morwell, a Victorian country town, where he initiated his surgical career. In 1905 Smith returned to Melbourne and worked as assistant to Mr F. D. Bird, a prominent surgeon. He travelled overseas in 1906, visiting leading medical centres in England where Almroth Wright's work on vaccination made a deep impression on him. On his return to Australia in 1908 he joined the surgical staff at Saint Vincent's Hospital as surgeon to outpatients, finally retiring as surgeon to inpatients in 1928. Smith was made a Foundation Fellow of the Australasian College of Surgeons in 1927. Smith was regarded by his peers as a brilliant innovative surgeon with a special interest in urology. He became an expert cystoscopist. After he retired, he continued his long-standing interest in portrait photography for which he was considered a master. During World War II he designed and built an elegant roller pump for use in direct blood transfusion. He died in 1947, survived by his wife, a daughter and three sons, one of whom became President of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.     

Daniel John Cunningham (1850-1909): anatomist and textbook author, whose sons achieved distinction in the Army, Navy and Indian Medical Service

Daniel John Cunningham was a son of the manse. His father John (1819-93) was the parish priest at Crieff, Perthshire from 1845 and was to remain there for 41 years. In 1886 he was appointed Principal of St Mary's College of the University of St Andrews and Moderator of the Church of Scotland. Daniel was educated at Crieff Academy before he progressed to the University of Edinburgh. He graduated MB CM with First-class Honours in 1874 and then proceeded MD in 1876 when he was awarded a Gold Medal for his thesis. He acted as Demonstrator to Professor Turner (1832-1916) in Edinburgh for eight years until 1882 and was then appointed to the Chair of Anatomy at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, in Dublin. After only one year there, he transferred to Trinity College, Dublin, where he occupied a similar position for 20 years. In 1903, on the appointment of Sir William Turner to the post of Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, Daniel was invited to succeed him as Professor of Anatomy in Edinburgh. Daniel held this post until his premature death in 1909. He had three sons and two daughters. Each of his three sons achieved distinction in different fields - one in the Army, another in the Navy and the third in the Indian Medical Service. One of Daniel's daughters married Dr Edwin Bramwell (1873-1952), who was later to occupy the Moncrieff Arnott Chair of Clinical Medicine in the University of Edinburgh.     

John Aitken (d. 1790)--grinder or scholar?

John Aitken attended the University of Edinburgh between 1763 and 1769 but did not graduate MD. He gained the membership (i.e. fellowship) of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1770, and was for two sessions Senior President of the Royal Medical Society. Between 1771 and 1790 he published numerous books and pamphlets on surgery, medicine, midwifery, anatomy and physiology. As a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary, from 1779, he lectured on most subjects in the medical curriculum. John Struthers was particularly scathing of Aitken's scholarship, and this article attempts to restore Aitken's reputation as a scholar and probably one of the first of the extra-academical lecturers, who taught both anatomy and surgery in Edinburgh from 1779 until his death in 1790.     

Dr David Maclagan (1785-1865): distinguished Military Surgeon, President of both the Royal College of Surgeons and Royal College Physicians of Edinburgh, founder of a medical and military dynasty

Dr David Maclagan studied medicine in Edinburgh, obtaining the LRCS Edin Diploma in 1804 and graduating with the MD degree in 1805. Because he was too young to enter the army, he spent a year in London, principally at St. George's Hospital, and he gained the MRCS England Diploma in 1807. Then he entered the army as an Assistant Surgeon associated with the 91st Foot Regiment. He served at Walcheren in 1809 and in the Peninsula. Later he was seconded as a Surgeon-Major to the 9th Portuguese Brigade. After his promotion to Physician to the Forces, he superintended the hospital arrangements of the Portuguese Army. Between 1811 and 1814 he sent a series of letters, principally to his wife, giving his personal impressions of his life in the war zone. He also maintained two personal diaries that nominally detailed his activities in the Peninsula between 1812 and 1813. After the end of the fighting he was put on half-pay and returned to Edinburgh. Then he gained the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1816 and was appointed a Surgeon to the New Town Dispensary. After he established himself in private practice in Edinburgh he became the Honorary Consulting Surgeon to the Dispensary until shortly before his death. He was elected President of the Edinburgh College of Surgeons in 1826-27. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1848, and was elected its President in 1856-57. He founded an important medical and military dynasty. Three of his sons joined the medical profession and four served in the army. One of his sons was appointed Archbishop of York. His eldest son followed in his father's footsteps and was also President of both Royal Colleges, of Surgeons and Physicians, in Edinburgh. His widow, Jane, and his seven sons survived him.     

Essay on modern history of anesthesia in Egypt as reflected in Naguib (Bey) Mahfouz books

It was already known that Professor Naguib (Bey) Mahfouz (1882-1974) whas the first staff anesthetist at Kasr El-Ainy Hospital (KEAH) in Cairo between the years 1904-1906. It is not well established why he changed his specialty. In a pursuit of this story, a very relevant account was discovered in his books published in 1935 on medical education and in 1966, a biography. Interesting revelations in his biography were revealed: First, he was not the first anesthetist at KEAH, and he was appointed to replace a retired anesthetist called Amin Naseem; second, chloroform was introduced to Egypt by Herbert Milton, the British surgeon at KEAH, toward the end of the last century; third, the reason why he changed his specialty was a fatal case of obstructed labor whom he has been giving anesthesia to- an incident that turned him toward obstetrics; fourth, he used chloroform, ehter and spinal analgesia with stovaine even when he was practicing as a surgeon; fifth, he revealed in his medical education book the names of pioneer doctors working in anesthesia in Egypt.     

Sir George Ballingall (1786-1855): Regius Professor of Military Surgery in the University of Edinburgh

George Ballingall qualified with the Licentiate Diploma of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in December 1805 and joined the Army Medical Department in May of the following year, spending the majority of his army career in India. He also served in Java. Eventually, he was awarded his MD Edinburgh degree in 1819, and the FRCS Edinburgh and Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh during the following year. He was appointed to the Regius Chair of Military Surgery in the University of Edinburgh in November 1822, succeeding John Thomson, its first holder, and he held this post until his death in December 1855. Ballingall was the first to describe 'Madura Foot', sometimes called 'Ballingall's disease.' In 1833, he published Outlines of Military Surgery, which ran to five editions. He was appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to the King (William IV) and Surgeon to the Queen. He also established a fine Museum Collection to complement his Lecture Course. Throughout his teaching career, he campaigned vigorously in support of military medical educational reform. One of his sons and several grandchildren also served in the medical service of the army or in that of the Honourable East India Company.     

Dr. Norman Bethune as a surgeon

Dr. Norman Bethune’s recognition as a Canadian of renown resulted from his devoted work in China during the late 1930s. He had received a general surgical training, but his personal illness with tuberculosis led him to specialize in thoracic surgery. A surgical program at McGill University under Dr. Edward Archibald, a pioneer thoracic surgeon, was initially successful, but by the mid-1930s Bethune was rejected by McGill and Dr. Archibald. He became chief of thoracic surgery at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur outside Montreal. He developed thoracic surgical instruments and wrote numerous scientific papers. The outbreak of civil war in Spain in 1937 attracted Bethune to oppose what he viewed as fascist aggression. He went to Spain, where he established the value of mobile blood banking. On his return to Canada in 1937 he became aware of the escalating war between China and Japan. He joined the Chinese communist forces in northern China and spent 18 months doing Herculean mobile war surgery, while improving the state of medical services in primitive, depressing conditions. He died in 1939 at the age of 49 years of septicemia as a result of accidental laceration of his finger during surgery. The Chinese have venerated Norman Bethune and stimulated his memorialization in Canada. His surgical record can be viewed as mixed in quality, but overall his performance remains impressive for its achievement.     

James Wardrop (1782-1869): from Whitburn to Windsor Castle

The medical career of a Scottish doctor, James Wardrop, in the 19th century is described. An early interest in the developing science of Pathology in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh was expanded further when he moved to London, due to financial needs. Despite being outside the London teaching hospital scene, he continued to publish and teach in the private schools of the time. His interest in ophthalmology led him to describe what we now know as retinoblastoma, with recommendation for treatment. He also described sympathetic ophthalmitis and performed paracentesis in acute angle-closure glaucoma. He became surgeon to the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, but his criticism of other medical men at court led to his exclusion from the King at the scene of his death. He owned a notable collection of pictures and presented two of them to the National Gallery of Scotland on its foundation in 1850. In recent years, his work has been recognised by leading ophthalmologists, particularly in the USA. The Library of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh contains several of his works, and his portrait hangs in the College.     

John Hilton (1805-78): anatomist and surgeon

John Hilton was the foremost anatomist of his day. From only humble beginnings he became an anatomy demonstrator at Guy's Hospital. When appointed Surgeon to Guy's Hospital, his meticulous clinical skills, arising from his depth of anatomical knowledge, led him to develop many anatomical principles culminating in a series of lectures on 'Rest and Pain'. For the first time the clinical importance of each was highlighted in surgical practice. By public demand the lectures were published as a book, still in print today, which brought a new emphasis to clinical anatomy that would permeate surgery thereafter. He became President of the Royal College of Surgeons and was Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria. A substantial review of his life has not been published; with the present decline in anatomical teaching, we can learn much from understanding a surgeon who dedicated his life to anatomy.     

John Jones, M.D.: Pioneer, Patriot, and Founder of American Surgery

John Jones was a pioneer of American Surgery. Born in Long Island, New York in 1729, he received his medical degree in France from the University of Rheims. He returned to the colonies and helped to establish the medical school that would later become Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons where he was appointed the first Professor of Surgery in the New World. He used his position to assert that surgeons trained in America should be familiar with all facets of medicine and not be mere technicians. Before the outbreak of the American Revolution, he wrote a surgical field manual, which was the first medical text published in America. A believer in the principles of the American Revolution, he would go on to count Benjamin Franklin and George Washington as his patients. Despite achieving many firsts in American medicine, his influence on surgical training is his most enduring legacy.     

The military career of Mr (later Sir) Rutherford Alcock (1809-97)

Rutherford Alcock obtained the MRCS diploma in 1831. During the following year he volunteered for service as a medical officer in the British Marine Brigade, which fought during the Miguelite War in Portugal from 1832 to 1834. After that campaign, he transferred to the British Auxiliary Legion of Spain in May 1835 for service in what later was called the First Carlist War (1835-37). After serving for one year as a surgeon he was promoted to the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Hospitals. He had hoped to return to King's College Hospital, London, to the Chair of Military Surgery, with an associated assistant surgeonship at the Westminster Hospital but, because of a severe bout of what is now believed to have been rheumatic fever, he lost the use of his thumbs and decided he could not continue as a surgeon. Accordingly, he decided not to take up the Chair of Military Surgery at King's on his return to Britain. In 1839 he was appointed to a lectureship in surgery at Sydenham College and, for a brief period in 1842, he was the Home Office Inspector of Anatomy. He then decided to explore other career opportunities and initially was British consul to China, at Fuchow in 1844, at Shanghai in 1846 and at Canton in 1854. In 1858 he transferred to the Diplomatic Service. He retired in 1871 after a successful and distinguished career.     

William Gregory (1803-58): Professor of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh and enthusiast for phrenology and mesmerism

William Gregory was descended from a long line of academics. Although he graduated in medicine, he had earlier determined on a career in Chemistry but more particularly to succeed Professor Thomas Charles Hope in the Edinburgh Chair in that discipline. At various times during the 1830s and 1840s he studied Chemistry at Giessen in Germany under Professor Justus Liebig and was closely associated with him over the succeeding years, translating and editing in all seven of his books. Gregory taught initially in London, at the Edinburgh Extra-mural School, in Dublin, at the Andersonian University, Glasgow and as Mediciner and Professor of Chemistry in Aberdeen. In 1844 he was appointed to the Chair of Chemistry in Edinburgh and remained in this post until his death in 1858. Shortly after he graduated he joined the Edinburgh Phrenological Society (he was initially its Secretary and later President) and took a particularly active role in the meetings of this Society and in the Aberdeen Phrenological Society. He was also interested in the phenomena of Mesmerism and Mesmero-Phrenology, despite the agitation and scorn of many of his academic colleagues both in Aberdeen and in Edinburgh.     

James Alison Glover (1874-963), OBE (1919) CBE (1941) MD (1905) DPH (1905) FRCP (1933)

James Allison Glover served in the Boer War and World War I. In 1917 he was appointed to the Cerebro-spinal Laboratory in London. There, his work on cerebrospinal fever resulted in the "spacing out" of beds in huts and earned him the name of "good friend of the private soldier". In 1919 he proceeded OBE for his work during the war. In 1920 he was appointed medical officer to the new Ministry of Health. He made significant contributions to rheumatology and the understanding and treatment of tonsillitis, and to public health more widely.     

Joseph Swan (1791-1874): pioneer of research on peripheral nerves

Joseph Swan was born in 1791 and appointed surgeon to Lincoln County Hospital in 1814. In addition to his clinical work, he carried out what were probably the first animal experiments on nerve injuries. These were mostly on rabbits, in which the sciatic nerves were partly or wholly divided, had a section excised, or were ligated. He found that regeneration could occur, even after neurectomy. He reported these results, together with his experience in human patients and the effects of neurectomy in a horse, in an essay of 1819, which won the Jacksonian Prize of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and is still preserved there. In 1827 he moved to London, where he devoted himself mainly to dissections of the nervous system and was active in the College. He retired to Filey in Yorkshire, where he died in 1874.     

Bernardino Ramazzini: the father of occupational medicine

Bernardino Ramazzini was born on October 4, 1633, in the small town of Capri located in the duchy of Modula, Italy. He is credited with establishing the field of occupational medicine during his lifetime. His major contributions came after 1682, when Duke Francesco II of Modena assigned him to establish a medical department at the University of Modena. He was installed in the title of professor "Medicinae Theoricae." In 1700, Ramazzini was appointed chair of practical medicine in Padua, Republic of Venice, the premier medical faculty in Italy. In 1700, he wrote the seminal book on occupational diseases and industrial hygiene, De Morbis Artificum Diatriba (Diseases of Workers). Although Ramazzini is perhaps most well known for his work on exposure to toxic materials, he wrote extensively about diseases of the musculoskeletal system. In particular, he warned of the problems of inactivity and poor postures inherent in some jobs.     

Our surgical heritage. Max Bürger and surgical pathophysiology. On the 100th birthday of Max Bürger (16 November 1885-5 February 1966

Max Bürger, born in 1885 in Hamburg, was an outstanding physician in the first half of this century. He markedly influenced many fields in internal medicine. Even in 1922 he investigated the postoperative changes in protein metabolism on the basis of clinical experiments made together with the surgeon M. Grauhan. The discovery of the postoperative loss of nitrogen must be attributed to M. Bürger, not to D. P. Cuthbertson. In 1937 he was appointed to the vacant chair of internal medicine in the University of Leipzig. His work and his great achievements in the medical field were duly appreciated during his life and even after his death in 1966.