History of the Chair of Midwifery and the Diseases of Women and Children in the University of Edinburgh : an introductory lecture / by Alexander Russell Simpson.

Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: History of the Chair of Midwifery and the Diseases of Women and Children in the University of Edinburgh : an introductory lecture / by Alexander Russell Simpson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    18/24 page 16
    Lncklo shoes of the period, we see the active little man trotting along, swinging freely the dainty hands with ruffles round the wrists, lie is of short stature, for he looks no taller than one of the ladies whom the artist has introduced with the projected miiff' and the exaggeratedly upright bearing of a pregnant female. When we look at his face more closely we are impressed with the power of the large lower jaw; and the compressed lips seem to bespeak the determined character of the man who did so much to advance the science and art of obstetrics, to promote the instruction and elevate the status of obstetricians, and to extend the reputation of the University of Edinburgh as a medical school. The son of a medical practitioner at Fordoun, who had been a surgeon in the army during Queen Anne's wars, he came to Edinburgh about the year 1758 as assistant to a surgeon then in extensive practice, of the name of John Straiton, and on that gentleman's death in 1762 he became a member of the College of Surgeons, and settled in the city. The activity of his disposition may be traced in the circumstance that he had not been long a member when he was elected deacon of the Incorporation, thus becoming a member of the Town Council; and about the same time he was chosen convener of the trades. At a later period he obtained the degree in medicine of the University of St Andrews, and at a still later period he was admitted a Fellow of the Eoyal College of Physicians. This latter position was not obtained without a struggle, for the physicians were still disposed to look down on their brethren who engaged in the practice of midwifery, and it needed all the eloquence of Professor Gregory to persuade them to admit a group of practitioners who have since then furnished to that College a full proportion of its presidents. In the year 1792 a Guide for Gentlemen Shtdying Medicine at the University of Edinhnrgh, by J. Johnson, Esq., was publislied, which gave rise to tierce controvei'sy and threatenings of legal proceedings between Professor Gregory and Professor Hamilton and his son James, the latter of whom was supposed to have written or inspired it. It was withdrawn from circulation, but a copy sur- vives in the valuable library of the Eoyal Medical Society. It tells us : Dr Hamilton divides his course into four parts. In tlie first he explains every circumstance in the state of women before delivery with which the practitioner ought to be acquainted; in the second he describes the treatment during child-bearing of all the various cases which can occur; in the third he describes the management of lying-in-women; and in the fourth part he exhibits a most complete view of the diseases of children in early infancy. . . . The practice of midwifery is acquired in the lying- in ward of the Koyal Infirmary; but, as it is on a very small scale (containing only six patients at a time), Dr Hamilton engages to furnish his pupils with private deliveries if they are very anxious to see much practice.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3