A letter addressed to Sir Benjamin C. Brodie, bart. : containing observations and strictures upon certain parts of his lecture on spinal complaints, delivered to the young gentlemen of St. George's Hospital / by Edward Harrison.

  • Harrison, Edward, 1759-1838.
Date:
1836
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter addressed to Sir Benjamin C. Brodie, bart. : containing observations and strictures upon certain parts of his lecture on spinal complaints, delivered to the young gentlemen of St. George's Hospital / by Edward Harrison. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    THE FIRST LETTER. August 31, 1835. 7, Holies Street, Cavendish Square. Dear Sir, I take the liberty to inform you that I have been induced to revise my Letter to you, formerly inserted in Dr. Ryan’s Journal, of which I gave you notice at the time, and to publish it separately. The reasons are stated in the Letter to which I refer. I have, therefore, forwarded a copy for your perusal, if you deem it of sufficient merit. As the profits are to be wholly devoted to the establishment of the contemplated Spinal Infirmary, I am sorry that it will not be in my power to present you with one of them, because I and my colleagues are anxious to promote the interests of the Institution by encouraging their sale. You will confer an obligation by returning the copy sent at a convenient opportunity, or by favouring me with its cost price. I am, dear Sir> Your obedient Servant, E. HARRISON. N.B. The accompanying circular only reached me this morning, or 1 should have written to you sooner. To Sir B. C. Brodic, Bart. THE SECOND LETTER. September 29, 1835. 14, Saville Row. Dear Sir, Your Letter reached me when I was absent from London; and immediately afterwards I had the misfortune of meeting with an accident, which for some time disabled me from writing. But for these circumstances, you should have received an earlier answer to your communication. I thank you for sending me a copy of the Letter, which you have thought proper to address to me on the subject of lateral curvature of the spine; as well as for the oiler which you have made me, that I should become the purchaser of it at the cost price of two shillings and sixpence. I have, however, no wish to make the purchase, and therefore, in compliance with your request, I return the copy to you. No lectures of mine on the subject of spinal affections have ever been published with my concurrence, or by my sanction and authority. This I explained to you when you wrote to me formerly.* At that time I took the trouble of looking over the Medical Journal which you mentioned, and in one of the numbers of it I found a report of about half of one of my lectures on lateral curvature of the spine. • Sir B. Brodie refers to an exchange of two letters, before he had seen his own lecture in Dr. Ryan’s Journal, and before my communication appeared in it. My object in writing was merely to inform him of what 1 intended to do, that he might not be taken by surprise; Sir Benjamin acknowledged the civility towards himself in a prompt and courteous answer. Here the subject dropped, till I revived it by announcing to him the second edition of my Letter.