James Syme : Regius Professor of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, 1833-1869 : a study of his influence and authority on the science and art of surgery during that period ; delivered before the Royal College of Surgeons of England, December 11th, 1894 / by Oliver Pemberton.

  • Pemberton, Oliver.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: James Syme : Regius Professor of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, 1833-1869 : a study of his influence and authority on the science and art of surgery during that period ; delivered before the Royal College of Surgeons of England, December 11th, 1894 / by Oliver Pemberton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    as to injury. I received from him the following letter, in reading which I tender no apology, as it is not only surgically historical, but it evidences that moderation of tone in alluding to his brilliant proceeding, born, it may be, of some passing disappointment, and yet shewing no trace of want of assurance of ultimate success that is ever the greatest characteristic of genius. [copy of a letter from professor syme.] Edinburgh, May 8th, 1856. My dear Sir,—The results of your experience are very gratifying to me, and will, I hope, tend to lessen the prejudice which still exists against the operation in some quarters. I beg to thank you for the expression of your approbation, which encourages me to persevere in pursuing the great object of my professional life, which is, and always has been, to render some service in improving the practice of surgery. I remain, my dear Sir, yours very truly. Oliver Pemberton, Esq. James Syme. It is with no ordinary feeling of pride that I recall to mind that the reception of this letter led to a friendship, surgical as well as social, that terminated only with life. Moreover, I was then that which I would I were now—a very young hospital surgeon—whilst the writer was in the zenith of his fame. Beyond this, the circumstance illustrated a marked feature in Syme’s character—that of cordially welcoming the younger members of the profession, hailing from any quarter, and dis- cussing with them in social intercourse the story and illustration of the surgeon’s art he loved so well. No subject has more widely elicited a difference of opinion than the treatment of stricture of the urethra. We are all of us familiar with the views of those who have in the past so variously and strenuously advocated the use of dilatation, of caustics, or of internal incision. After failure with dilatation and internal division in a case which came under Syme’s care in 1840, he, for the first time carried out the external division of the stric- ture ; subsequent experience convinced him of the value of the proceeding; and in 1849 bis views before the profession. The principles involved in Syme’s proceedings I must give you in his own words:* i. “That there is no stricture truly imper- * Stricture of the Urethra and Fistula in Perineo. Edinburgh, 1849.