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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 V 
 
 
 4-
 
 The Aedico-Chirurgical 
 
 Society of Glasgow. 
 
 1814-1907. 
 
 Walker Downie.
 
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 wmr^-^-
 
 THE 
 
 Aedico-Chirurqical Society 
 OF Glasgow, 
 
 1814-1907. 
 presit)ential at)C)ress 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE OPENING MEETING OF THE SESSION 
 ON 6th OCTOBER, 1007. 
 
 BY 
 
 WALKER DOWNIE, M.B., F.RP.S.G., 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY ; FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF JfEDICINE, LONDON 
 
 MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL, AND EXAMINER FOR THE FELLOWSHIP, OF THE 
 
 FACULTY OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, GLASGOW ; LECTURER ON 
 
 DISEASES OP THE THROAT AND NOSE, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW 
 
 AND WESTERN INFIRMARY ; HON. AURIST, ROYAL 
 
 HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN. 
 
 GLASGOW: 
 PRINTED BY ALEX. MACLOUGALL, 68 MITCHELL STREET. 
 
 1908.
 
 to 6 
 
 I 
 
 I '1 02 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction, . . • 1 
 
 The Glasgow University Medico-Chirurgical Society, 
 
 1802 2 
 
 The Glasgow Medical Society, 1814, .... 2-39 
 
 Its first title — Place of meeting — Admission of 
 of strangers — Fines and penalties — Leave of absence 
 — Summer recess — Optional summer meetings. 
 
 Subjects of discussion : Transfusion — Ether — Chloro- 
 form — Typhus fever — Cholera — Homeopathy. 
 
 Funds of the Society — Payment of interest by 
 Treasurer — Fines — Salary of the officer — Some items 
 of expenditure — Professional conversations — Barnhill 
 Hospital in 1852 — ^Case of disputed paternity — 
 Epidemic phlegmon — Registration of Deaths Act, 
 1855 — Mid wives — Intra-mural interments — Spina 
 bifida — Actions for damages — Turkish bath — Infantile 
 mortality — Tobacco — Special hospitals — Tracheotomy 
 in diphtheria — Jessie M'Lachlan — The laryngoscope 
 — A medical staff. 
 
 Joint meetings — Proposed amalgamations. 
 
 The Glasgow Pathological Society, 1851, . . . 38 

 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOK 
 
 The Glasgow Medico-Ohirurgical Society, 1820, . . 10 
 
 The Medico-Coirurgical Society of Glasgow, 1844, . 42-63 
 
 Its relations with other societies — Its laws — Trans- 
 actious — Reflecting prisms — Sir James Y. Simpson — 
 Certificates in lunacy — Interesting exhibit — Injury 
 from fish bone — Darlingism — A case of plagiarism 
 — The Crimea — Marriage of the Prince of Wales — 
 Madeline Smith — Dr. Pritchard— Ovariotomy. 
 
 Proposed change in date of meeting — Proposed 
 amalgamation, 1860 — Ordinary meetings — Hour of 
 meeting — Winter session proposed — "Glasgow Medical 
 Journal." 
 
 Funds — Officer — Repayment of subscription — Dis- 
 posal of funds — Guarantee towards Brown Sequard's 
 lectures — Subscription to the John Hunter statue — 
 Providing tea and coffee — Conversazione — Amalgama- 
 tion with the Medical Society proposed in 1865 and 
 concluded in 1866— The union. 
 
 The IVIkdico-Ciiirurgical Society op Glasgow after 
 
 amalgamation, 1866, ....... 64-76 
 
 President's address — Transactions — Lord Lister and 
 antiseptic surgery — Sewage question — Urara poison 
 — Lord Kelvin — Anaesthetics — Tuberculosis — New 
 midwives bill — Dr. Pavy — Office-bearers and their 
 election — Days and hour of meeting before and after 
 amalgamation. 
 
 Sectional meetings — Publication of the Transactions 
 of the Society — Congratulations to Lord Lister, 1897 
 — Eligibility of lady medical practitioners for member- 
 ship — Funds — Failure of City of Glasgow Bank.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Glasgow Pathological and Clinical Society, 1873, . 77-88 
 
 Its formation — Limited membership — Ordinary 
 members — Honorary members — Days of meeting — 
 Music versus medicine — Hour of meeting — Funds — 
 Publication of Transactions — Admission of lady 
 medicals to membership — Amalgamation with the 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society, 1907. 
 
 Presidents, 89-91 
 
 Dr. Robert Watt, first President of the Glasgow 
 Medical Society. 
 
 Professor Thomas Thomson, first President of the 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society of Glasgow, 1844. 
 
 Professor Allen Thomson, first President of the 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society after amalgamation, 
 1866. 
 
 Professor Sir William T. Gairdner, first President of 
 the Glasgow Pathological and Clinical Society, 
 1873. 
 
 List of Presidents, 92-93 
 
 Closing Remarks, 95-96
 
 THE nEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY 
 OF GLASGOW, 1814-1907. 
 
 INTEODUCTORY. 
 
 Gentlemen, — The meeting of to-night is not only the 
 first meeting of a new session, but it also marks the 
 beginning of a new chapter in the life-history of this 
 Society. 
 
 Many of you are cognisant of the steps taken by this 
 Society, and the Pathological and Clinical Society of 
 Glasgow towards the end of last session, with the object 
 of arranging for the amalgamation of the two Societies. 
 
 The proposal emanated from the Pathological and 
 Clinical Society, and it was considered favourably by the 
 Council of the Medico-Chirurgical Society. After several 
 meetings of the committees appointed by the Councils of 
 the respective Societies, the conditions of union were 
 agreed upon by them, the suggested arrangements were 
 in turn submitted to a meeting of the Medico-Chirurgical 
 Society held on 5th April, 1907, at which, on the recom- 
 mendation of the Council, they were accepted, and the 
 amalgamation was, as a result, successfully concluded. 
 ' ' That amalgamation shall take effect from the beginning 
 of next winter session," is one of the clauses in the agree- 
 ment, and so the amalgamation is consummated to-night. 
 
 As this is not the first time on which our Society has 
 absorbed another society having similar objects, I 
 thought, when casting about for a topic on which I 
 
 A
 
 2 THE GLASGOW MEDICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 might address you to-night, that a glance at the history 
 of this Society might not be out of place. The occasion 
 seemed opportune for the choice of this as a subject, and 
 it may be that some facts regarding the life and work of 
 this Society in days gone by will interest you as members 
 of it. 
 
 There have been in the past, as there now is, several 
 societies in Glasgow instituted for the discussion of 
 medical topics ; and in order to convey to you a true record 
 of this Society, it will be necessary for me to refer shortly, 
 and by the way to some of the others. 
 
 THE GLASGOW UNIVERSITY MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL 
 SOCIETY, 1802. 
 
 In 1802 the Glasgow University ]\Icdico-Chirurgical 
 Society was founded. It was, and still is, a Society of 
 undergraduates, at least its ordinary membership is 
 practically confined to students of medicine, and many 
 of us in former times were, T am sure, members of it. 
 During those one hundred and five years, with an ever- 
 changing ordinary membership, it has continued its career 
 of usefulness unbroken, and its vigour is still equal to the 
 proverbial vitality of the student of medicine. 
 
 T make mention of this Society, because it appears to 
 be the first society of the kind in Glasgow of which, at 
 least, any record can be found : and it goes to show that 
 the undergraduate felt the necessity, and saw the advan- 
 tages, of discussing subjects connected W'ith his studies 
 several years before the graduate in medicine or the 
 licentiate in surgery thought of meeting formally together 
 for mutual instruction. 
 
 THE GLASGOW MEDICAL SOCIETY, 1814. 
 
 On 27th October, 1814, there met " by mutual agree- 
 ment " the following six gentlemen, viz.. Dr. Watt, 
 Dr. Graham, Dr. Eobertsou, Mr. Pattison, Mr. John
 
 THE GLASGOW MEDICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Young, and Mr. M'Leod, presumably three physicians 
 and three surgeons, and Dr. Watt was unanimously voted 
 to the chair. 
 
 They had met for the purpose of forming a society, and 
 after the subject had been discussed, they agreed upon 
 the following resolutions : — ■ 
 
 " That the Society be nominated ' The Glasgow 
 Medical and Surgical Society.' 
 
 " That the Society be exclusively for the prosecution 
 of ' Medical Science.' 
 
 " That a paper or essay be read at each meeting, the 
 subject of said paper or essay alone to be discussed during 
 that meeting, but that four quarterly meetings be allotted 
 for the discussion of the then prevalent diseases and those 
 which have occurred during the preceding three months. 
 
 " That an annual president, two vice-presidents, 
 a treasurer, and a secretary be elected by vote, 
 
 " A committee of three was then resolved on, and Dr. 
 Watt, Dr. Graham, and Dr. Eobertson were chosen, and 
 they were ordered to draw up a series of laws to be pre- 
 sented for the consideration and amendment of the Society 
 at next meeting. 
 
 " It was further resolved on, that entry money, a fine 
 for want of paper or essay, and a fine for absence or being 
 late, be levied, and that a meeting of the Society take 
 place on the 4th November." 
 
 At the second meeting it was moved by Dr. Graham 
 and seconded by Dr. Monteath " that as the name Glas- 
 gow Medical and Surgical Society is objectionable to some 
 of its members, the resolution imposing that appellation 
 shall further be considered at next meeting," and in the 
 minutes of next meeting the bare statement occurs, " It is 
 resolved that the name of the Society be altered to that 
 of the Glasgow Medical Society." Astonishment might 
 be expressed at the choice of " Medical " as against 
 " Medical and Surgical " for the title of the young 
 Society, It seems as unreasonable as it is misleading,
 
 4 THE GLASGOW MEDICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 for the Society contained surgeons as well as physicians, 
 and the papers read and discussed by its members dealt 
 with surgical subjects equally with those which might be 
 considered to be of a purely medical character. But some 
 members apparently had a strong objection to couple 
 surgery with medicine, and the explanation may be found 
 in the fact that at this time there was considerable friction 
 between the University and the Faculty of Physicians and 
 Surgeons, regarding the rights of University graduates in 
 medicine to practise surgery. At this time the number 
 of graduates in medicine was increasing rapidly, chiefly 
 on account of the very easy conditions under which they 
 were then able to obtain that degree. By reason of their 
 number they were of necessity compelled to leave the tra- 
 ditional lines of the pure physician, and to take to general 
 practice, including the practice of surgery. The Faculty 
 had noted this great influx of practitioners, for there were 
 graduates of Edinburgh, of Aberdeen, and of St. Andrews, 
 as well as of the University of Glasgow, and who, while 
 resident within its borders, were yet not under its juris- 
 diction or supervision ; and the Faculty was at this date 
 on the eve of testing the legality of the position of those 
 practitioners. In the following year, in fact, the Faculty 
 did raise the question before the Court of Session, the 
 crux of the matter being, " Does a degree in medicine 
 confer the right to practise surgery?" It was the begin- 
 ning of a lawsuit which lasted for fourteen years, and 
 engendered a feeling of hostility between the opposing 
 bodies which long remained more or less active. 
 
 An interesting account of the trial, with its bearings 
 on the subsequent history of the Faculty, is given by Dr. 
 Alexander Duncan in his valuable " Memorials of the 
 Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons." The decision did 
 not cover the whole ground of the pleadings, but it was 
 decided so far in favour of the pursuers that " the degrees 
 in question did not so qualify within the bounds of the 
 Facultv."
 
 PLACE OF MEETING. 
 
 The title of ' ' The Glasgow Medical Society ' ' was for 
 the time being adopted. Five years later, however, 
 there appears in the minutes of a meeting, held on 15th 
 October, 1819, a proposal " that, as there exists in Glas- 
 gow another and an older society of the same name with 
 this Society, and as this one originally was named the 
 ' Glasgow Medical and Surgical,' that it shall in future 
 be called ' The Glasgow Medical and Surgical Society.' " 
 It was an attempt apparently on the part of the surgeons 
 to assert the importance of their branch of the healing 
 art. The motion was, without any reason being assigned, 
 subsequently withdrawn, and Dr. Duncan gives the 
 opinion that ' ' there was probably no valid ground for 
 the statement in the motion, as it is hardly conceivable 
 that the title of an older existing society should have 
 been assumed, or that, when the matter was challenged, 
 the usurpation of the title should have been persisted 
 in." "The probability is," he says "that the associa- 
 tion to which allusion is made was the ' Glasgow Medical 
 Club.' " 
 
 PLACE OF MEETING. 
 
 No record can be found to indicate the place at which 
 the first four meetings of the Society were held ; but at 
 the third meeting it w^as moved " that application be 
 made, at the first meeting of Faculty, for the use of their 
 hall." As a result of this application the Faculty, at 
 its meeting in December, 1814, unanimously granted to 
 the Glasgow Medical Society the use of its hall. 
 
 The Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons has ever been 
 ready to lend its rooms for meetings of professional and 
 scientific societies, or for the discussion of questions bear- 
 ing on medicine and surgery. And so the privilege 
 granted was taken as a matter of course, and no vote of 
 thanks is recorded. More than this, the members of the 
 Medical Society, while enjoying the hospitality of the 
 Faculty to the extent of sitting rent-free, did in 1826,
 
 ADMISSION OF STRANGERS. 
 
 what I fear we, similarly accommodated, sometimes do, 
 gave vent to a grumble. They made complaint of the 
 coldness and uncomfortable condition of the hall, and a 
 committee was appointed to enquire into the matter, and 
 see whether it would be better to attempt some altera- 
 tions or to find some other room in town better adapted 
 to the purpose. No mention is made of the subject in 
 any subsequent minute ; and, looking to the small balance 
 in the treasurer's hands at this time, I think they were 
 wise to remain tlie uncomplaining guests of the Faculty. 
 
 ADMISSION OF STRANGERS. 
 
 When the question of a title for the Society liad been 
 settled, a fresh subject for difference of opinion was 
 found in the subject of admission of strangers. 
 
 At an early meeting, a " motion was submitted, enact- 
 ing a law regarding the admission of strangers, viz., that 
 the members of the Society shall have it in their power 
 to introduce strangers, who ivside at least five miles 
 from Glasgow." But, two meetings later, whether on 
 account of the excessive number of strangers interested 
 in the discussions, and introduced by the members, or not, 
 is not disclosed, the motion, when brought u|), was altered 
 as follows: — "The essayist shall alone have the power 
 of introducing not more than two strangers, and which 
 strangers must reside at least five miles from Glasgow." 
 This motion, however, when put to the vote at the meet- 
 ing at which it was discussed two months later, was 
 rejected, and the subject of admission of strangers was 
 allowed to drop. 
 
 Some years later (1828) the question was revived by a 
 motion laid on the table, signed by six members — the i>ro- 
 posal being that any member should have the privilege 
 of introducing a non-resident medical friend to the ordi- 
 nary meetings of the Society — but when this motion came 
 up for discussion it was negatived.
 
 FINES AND PENALTIES. 
 
 FINES AND PENALTIES. 
 
 A reader perusing the early records of the Society 
 might be pardoned if he came to the conchision that the 
 chief objects of this, the first, society of medical men in 
 Glasgow, were, the compulsory reading of a paper by 
 each member in rotation, and the imposition of fines for 
 negligence and non-attendance. 
 
 The first penalty to be noted is under the heading of 
 office-bearers. " A member must accept office, or incur 
 the penalty of one guinea." The ordinary members are 
 next warned that " the roll shall be called, and such as 
 are absent shall incur the fine of two shillings, unless sick 
 or three miles distant from town ; one-half to be remitted 
 on the member entering the room within half an hour 
 after the business has commenced." 
 
 A year later this rule was altered to the effect that 
 " The roll shall be immediately called, and again after 
 the essay is read ; or at quarterly meetings at 9 o'clock, 
 the fine for absence, at each time, being one shilling." 
 
 But the terrors of the law were reserved for the essayist. 
 The first rule under this title is that " Essays shall be 
 read by members in rotation," and the description of 
 the communication so required of him is, "A paper or 
 essay may either be in the form of a dissertation, or the 
 detail of a case with annotations, written by the person 
 whose turn it is to present one, by a substitute, or a 
 friend not a member of the Society. The subject must 
 be submitted to the Society for approval two months 
 before being read, under a penalty of half a guinea, and 
 it cannot be changed without permission, and the pay- 
 ment of a fine of five shillings," except in certain cases 
 which are specified. " Any member who is allowed to 
 take for his substitute a resident member, shall pay for 
 the indulgence the fine of five shillings." And then we 
 come to the climax. " The essay so prepared must 
 be handed to the secretary at the meeting previous to
 
 FINES AND PENALTIES. 
 
 that at which it should be read, and if it is not given in 
 on the night appointed, the essayist shall incur the 
 penalty of half a guinea ; if not read on the night it is due 
 he shall pay one guinea additional ; if he does not read it 
 at the second meeting, two guineas more; if not at the 
 thu'd, he shall, besides, cease to be a member of the 
 Society." 
 
 I am sure that both our general secretary and our 
 treasurer would almost wish for the power to revive at 
 least some of these penal clauses. 
 
 Another ground on which a fine might be levied was 
 discovered in the action of Mr. Clark, who had added 
 some pages to his essay shortly before reading it. As he 
 thus had not laid "an entire essay " on the table, he con- 
 sequently incurred the fine of half a guinea, and the 
 meeting agreed by a small majority that the fine should 
 be imposed. But at this stage Mr. Brown rose and 
 moved that, "as Mr. Clark might not at the time have 
 been aware of having infringed the laws, the said fine 
 be remitted," and this was carried by a large majority. 
 
 While some members demurred to the payment of the 
 fines incurred, others seemed to consider their payment 
 a pleasant duty. Thus we read that Dr Young, " agree- 
 able to the promise made by the treasurer, sent his essay 
 to the hall as early as it was in his power, namely, on 
 the ninth day after last meeting ; and in conformitv to 
 the strict letter of the law, paid his fine of ten shillings 
 and sixpence." 
 
 Again, Mr. Cowan, " who was confined by indisposi- 
 tion, informed the Society that he was not perparcd to 
 lay his essay on the table, but that it would be trans- 
 mitted as soon as possible, and the fine paid." 
 
 At the meeting held on 1st December, 1818, Dr. 
 William Coupcr did not attend, nor did Ik* announce the 
 subject of his essay, and the secretary was directed to 
 inform him that " he had consequently incurred the fine 
 of half a guinea according to the laws." But Dr. Couper
 
 FINES AND PENALTIES. 
 
 having at the next meeting explained the causes of his 
 absence, the Society agreed to remit the fine, 'and at 
 the same time they received the title of his essay. It 
 was, " What proofs have been adduced in support of the 
 theory of compression in the consolidation of mineral 
 strata." What exactly followed the reading of that 
 paper is not recorded, but Mr. M'Leod proposed that 
 the essay should be left with Mr. Jones (who was the 
 ofiicer of the Faculty, and acted in the same capacity to 
 this Society), so that the members might have an opj)or- 
 tuuity of reading it in the hall, which motion was unani- 
 mously carried. 
 
 At the following meeting Dr. Couper intimated that 
 " he did not find it convenient to continue a member of 
 this Society." The name of Dr. Wilham Couper occurs 
 three times in the list of members, and as there are no 
 distinguishing features regarding either the name or the 
 title, it must be assumed that the same gentleman is 
 indicated. He was re-elected a short time after the above 
 incident, but in 182 1 a letter was received from him request- 
 ing that " his name be erased from the list of members." 
 Again he was elected, and in 1825 he again resigned ; and 
 shortly thereafter he was elected an honorary member, 
 thus escaping the necessity for paying further election 
 expenses. 
 
 The relationship between this gentleman and the 
 honorary membership of the Society makes one think of 
 the association supposed to exist between a troublesome 
 member of Parliament and the House of Lords. 
 
 To prepare an essay under compulsion, and to read 
 the same to members of a Society who were present in 
 order that they might thereby escape the payment of a 
 fine imposed for non-attendance, does not sound an in- 
 viting occupation, and one would imagine could not be 
 conducive to good work or hearty discussion. But in a 
 small society it was necessary that each member should 
 take an active part, and the larger the audience the
 
 10 MEETINGS AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 
 
 greater would be the stimulus to the essayist to give of 
 his best, and the result, as seen in the thirty-one large 
 volumes of Transactions in manuscript now in the safe 
 keeping of the Faculty, is a worthy record of the industry 
 and professional attainments of our predecessors. 
 
 1 think that the system of hues, while it proved irk- 
 some on some occasions, was, on the whole, beneficial 
 to the Society in its early days — later it was harmful. 
 The senior members, as they became more engrossed in 
 the practice of their profession or in research work, and 
 others who were teachers and delivered their lectures in 
 the evening, found it impossible to attend the meetings 
 with regularity. They, therefore, in many cases found 
 it more convenient, and possibly more economical, to 
 resign their membership, than to pay the penalty imposed 
 for absence. 
 
 MEETINGS AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 
 
 For the first eighteen months after the formation of 
 the Society, two statutory meetings were held each 
 month throughout the whole year. As attendance at 
 each meeting was imperative under penalty of a fine, we 
 can sympathise with those members who were busily 
 engaged in family j'ractice or who desired when the days 
 were long to take more than a week-end in the country. 
 Any member who desired to be released from attendance 
 required to make application to this effect, stating the 
 reason for the application. Among the earlier ap])lica- 
 tions we have the following: — "In consequence of Dr. 
 Perry's application for leave of absence from the Society 
 during the season. Dr. Monteath moved that such leave 
 be granted to him, seconded by Mr. Watson." T did not 
 at first quite grasp the meaning of the word " season " 
 here used, as the application was made under date 5th 
 December; but as leave could not be granted to him 
 until the subject had been brought before the meeting to
 
 MEETINGS AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 11 
 
 be held on 19th December, the appUcation was made, I 
 have no doubt, in view of the near approach of the Christ- 
 mas festivities. It is interesting to learn from the 
 minutes of the latter meeting that as a result of his 
 timeous application , ' ' leave of absence during the 
 season " was granted to Dr. Perry. I could find no note 
 of any member having made application, during the year 
 of Waterloo, for leave of absence to go to the seat of war. 
 
 Frequent, and in some instances periodical, applica- 
 tions for leave of absence were made, and while the 
 reason \as&>igned was occasionally questioned, the leave 
 was, without exception, so far as I could find, formally 
 granted. 
 
 Dr. William Mackenzie, who was elected an ordinary 
 member in January, 1820, and who at a later period was 
 appointed oculist to Queen Victoria, presented a letter at 
 the first meeting of the next session — that is, in October, 
 1820 — requesting leave of absence from the Society during 
 the session, which was granted without remark. But when 
 a letter was received from ]!)r. Robertson, stating that 
 " he could not attend the meetings of the Society till the 
 conclusion of the coui'se of clinical lectures in which he 
 was engaged," he was reminded "that he should have 
 presented a paper at this meeting," and the Society 
 directed the secretary to inform him that " though they 
 were willing to give him leave of absence for the time 
 specified, they still consider him bound to produce and 
 read his paper according to the regulations." The reply 
 was an intimation of Dr. Eobertson's resignation. In 
 the following year he was re-elected ; and so it appears to 
 have been with others, resignation, when attendance was 
 inconvenient, followed by re-election after a time. 
 
 This method of shirking one of the duties of member- 
 ship seemed to be on the increase until 1840, when 
 it was enacted " that any gentleman resigning his mem- 
 bership of the Society, during the session when his name 
 stands in the list of essayists, shall be considered as
 
 12 SUMMER RECESS. 
 
 having been dismissed, unless a reason, satisfactory to 
 the Society, shall be assi^rned for doing so." 
 
 Re-admi.s.sioii alsd had become a very simple process, 
 for in January, 1839, the following alteration in the law 
 relating to this subject was passed by ballot, viz., " All 
 former members of the Society may be re-elected into the 
 Society by the vote of the majority, without the payment 
 of a new entrance fee. The previous period of member- 
 ship shall be reckoned part of the period which exempts 
 from payment of fines and reading of essays." But in 
 the application of this rule, even in its modified form, 
 laxity crept in, and the necessity for closer adherence to 
 the laws was thought necessary. In 1843 Dr. Watson 
 was re-admitted as a member of the Society, but " it was 
 agreed that his election, and that of Dr. Brown, on the 
 night of proposal, should not be made a precedent for the 
 re-election of any other old member, but that the law 
 requiring the names of members to lie on th(^ table sliould 
 be enforced in all cases." 
 
 Dr. Mackenzie was a member for over two years before 
 he submitted his first essay to the Society, which was 
 entitled, " Remarks contributive to the natural history 
 of puro-mucous inflammation of the conjunctiva." Dr. 
 jNIackenzie was most regular in making ai)plication for 
 " the leave of absence usually granted to those occupied 
 in the delivery of lectures." The Society apparently 
 questioned the reason assigned, for the secretary was 
 requested " to inform Mr. Mackenzie that his non-attend- 
 ance would be excused, provided he was actually engaged 
 in the delivery of his lectures during the hour of the 
 Society's meetings." 
 
 SUMMER RECESS. 
 
 Others besides those whose names I have mentioned 
 began to feel the strain of these regularly recurring fort- 
 nightly meetings throughout the whole year ; and on 16th
 
 SUBJECTS OF DISCUSSION. 13 
 
 April, 1816, Dr. Watt, who had been the first President, 
 moved that ' ' the meetings of the Society shall be 
 adjourned from the third Tuesday of May until the first 
 Tuesday of October annually," and the proposal was at 
 a subsequent meeting carried by a majority. 
 
 OPTIONAL SUMMER MEETINGS. 
 
 But some members, it woidd appear, began to feel 
 lonely when summer days were long and the visiting lists 
 were short, and they pined to meet their fellows in 
 friendly conversation. As a consequence, three years 
 later, it was agreed that the Society should hold meet- 
 ings on the first Tuesday of June, July, August, and Sep- 
 tember, these meetings to be spent in professional con- 
 versations, and it is added, " it being understood that 
 attendance at these meetings should not be compulsory." 
 
 And later (in 1827) it was agreed to appoint a com- 
 mittee of five members, who should meet once a month 
 during the summer recess and prepare a report on the 
 state of the weather, the prevailing diseases and their 
 relative mortality during each month ; the information so 
 acquired to be condensed in a report to be read at the 
 first meeting in October, and if thought expedient by 
 the Society to be printed and distributed amongst the 
 members. 
 
 SUBJECTS OF DISCUSSION. 
 
 The range of subjects discussed by our predecessors in 
 those early days was even wider than we now permit 
 ourselves, and in purely medical subjects they ranged 
 from the essay by Mr. M'Leod, read at a very early 
 meeting, " On Dyspepsia as occurring in himself," to 
 " Malignant cholera," which was rife in the city in 1832. 
 Cases of " Irregular hysteria" were dealt with, as were 
 " Ulcers as they occur on board of the King's ships." 
 There was a paper on " Blue devils," another on the
 
 14 TRANSFUSION. 
 
 " Case of a fasting woman." Dr. Duncan tells us that 
 the author of the latter essay, Mr. George Macleod, was 
 a Highlander with a lofty appreciation of the Celtic race. 
 In discussing the bona fides of the patient, who, he 
 admitted, had not been properly watched so as to place 
 the element of deception beyond doubt, he inclined to 
 the opinion that the abstinence from food was real ; and 
 in favour of this view he naively urged, " She was a very 
 religious woman, to which may be added the circumstance 
 of her being a Highland woman, for T believe that those 
 of Celtic extraction arc less apt to impose on the public 
 than others." Other subjects were cases of " Dysphagia 
 from ulcerated glottis," case of " Ulcerated epiglottis," 
 " Cases of Bronchotomy," " Papers on Iritis," " On the 
 non-mercurial treatment of syphilis," " On Spina 
 Bifida," and " On the dilation of the pupil by narcotics." 
 Then we find Dr. A. D. Anderson on two separate occa- 
 sions describing " Unsuccessful cases in surgery," which 
 example is not so often followed nowadays as it might 
 be. Kemarks on " INIedical education," on " Medical 
 ethics," on " The removal of vesical calculi without 
 incision," " On some of the most important indigenous 
 medical plants and their preparations," "On the medical 
 charity of Glasgow," and " The mortality of children 
 under one year," which apparently gave rise to concern 
 then as it does in the present time. 
 
 TRANSFUSION. 
 
 Then we find Dr. Lyon urging the necessity for trans- 
 fusion in post-partum uterine hcTmorrhage, and stating 
 his belief that many lives otherwise sacrificed might be 
 saved ; and he showed a simple apparatus for purposes 
 of transfusion, w-hich he had devised, consisting of a 
 common dissecting blow-pipe and a common bladder.
 
 CHLOROFORM, 1848. 15 
 
 ETHER, 1847. 
 
 In February, 1847, an interestinfr professional con- 
 versation took place regarding the merits of the new 
 remedy of inhalation of ether for the mitigation of painful 
 operations. 
 
 Dr. Perry, in opening the discussion, said he had seen 
 ether used, and he noticed that it produced intoxication 
 of a peculiar kind, and during which it had the effect of 
 bringing out the characters of the individuals. He had 
 seen it produce nausea and vomiting sufficient to prevent 
 its continued inhalation. It was uncertain, and varied in 
 different individuals, both in the time necessary to produce 
 the effects, and the duration and intensity of those effects, 
 but he considered it a most important remedy. He cau- 
 tioned any from using it by candle light, as the vapour was 
 very combustible. In one case he was applying it to a 
 lady, when a servant approached with a candle to a dis- 
 tance of 4 or 6 feet, with the result that the vapour took fire 
 and they were all enveloped in a blaze, which fortunately 
 was but instantaneous. Dr. Hall considered that the effects 
 of ether were similar to those of alcohol, differing only in 
 degree ; Dr. Bell was afraid that the inhalation of a large 
 quantity of ether would cause worse effects than the pain of 
 an operation ; whereas Mr. INIiller, from his experience of 
 it in hospital, thought that the cases of success were so 
 numerous there could now be no doubt regarding the value 
 of the remedy. 
 
 CHLOROFORM, 1848. 
 
 In January, 1848, a discussion on Chloroform took place. 
 It was introduced by Dr. Adams, the secretary, who had 
 made many trials of the new^ anaesthetic agent. The 
 results were such as to make him fear that its use would 
 not be so extensive nor its benefits so certain as was 
 commonly alleged, and under any circumstance its use
 
 16 CHLOROFORM, 1848. 
 
 required caution and discrimination in the choice of cases. 
 Dr. Miller thouglit that Dr. Adams had been unfortunate 
 in his cases, and Dr. Lyon thought that he took too un- 
 favourable a view of the new remedy. Dr. Lyon then 
 described several cases, amputation of the thigh, etc., in 
 which he had had it administered, and so favourably had he 
 been impressed, that if he had to undergo a severe opera- 
 tion himself he would have the chloroform used. Dr. 
 Bell, on the other hand, said that, as far as he had heard 
 of the new remedy, he thought that few of the members 
 would feel disposed to use it in their own families, for 
 many effects described were worse than an operation. 
 
 Two years later Mr. Lyon reports details of a case which 
 had proved fatal in his hands under the use of chloroform, 
 and where the immediate application of every remedy 
 which could be thought of at the time, including artificial 
 respiration, bleeding from the jugular, tracheotomy and 
 galvanism, had failed to produce the slightest manifesta- 
 tion of life. Many spoke adversely of its use, particularly 
 in private, where that assistance, obtainable in hospital, 
 could not be had; and Dr. Adams said that, " from com- 
 munications he had had from friends in Edinburgh, he 
 learned that the statements issued regarding the uniform 
 and perfect success and safety of its use in that place were 
 not unimpeachable." 
 
 The deliverance of Dr. Easton, then Professor of 
 Materia Medica in Anderson's College, is interesting on 
 account of the position he occupied both then and later. 
 It is as follows : — " Here we have a case in which chloro- 
 form is employed by an individual experienced in its use, 
 and with all the ready appliances of a public hospital at 
 hand, and yet death occurs so completely and so instan- 
 taneously that the case is remediless." " The deduction to 
 be drawn from such a case is, that we are not warranted 
 in proceeding further with the use of this remedy." 
 
 But with this position Mr. Lyon could not agree. " He 
 was not inclined to say that the use of chloroform should
 
 CHLOROFORM, 1848. 17 
 
 be abandoned. He had seen it used fully one hundred 
 tmies, and, with the exception of certain fatal cases, 
 including his own, he had not observed what could be 
 called bad effects from its use. On the other hand, it was 
 difficult to over-estimate the amount of positive pain which 
 had been mitigated or avoided by its employment. We 
 had not yet sufficient experience of the remedy to abandon 
 it. It might be that we would arrive at a better knowledge 
 of its properties, and have it more completely in com- 
 mand. He was rather inclined to recommend that when 
 used it should be employed exclusively under the superin- 
 tendence of an experienced assistant, whose sole duty 
 should be that of administering the drug." 
 
 We cannot but admire the firm and statesmanlike 
 attitude of Mr. Lyon. It required a strong man and a 
 brave man to speak as he did under the conditions then 
 existing. His statement further shows that he recognised 
 thus early the absolute necessity for the chloroformist 
 devoting his undivided attention to the administration of 
 the anaesthetic. 
 
 Chloroform was again discussed in March, 1852, at the 
 instigation of the president, who requested an expression 
 of the opinion of members on the question of whether the 
 employment of the drug was on the increase or the decline. 
 
 One member said he had not used, and did not intend 
 to use it. Few had had experience of it in obstetrics. 
 But Mr. Lyon recounted a case wherein he was required 
 to turn the child, and here he had used chloroform with 
 decided benefit. " At the same time," he said, " it was 
 right to bear in mind that our Professor of Midwifery (Dr. 
 Pagan) thought that such an agent should not be used in 
 cases of this nature, where the patient, by being rendered 
 insensible, was unable to guide us as to her sensations." 
 Dr. Eobertson had no experience of chloroform in mid- 
 wifery, and this from his conviction that it was unneces- 
 sary in natural labour and injurious in instrumental 
 labour ; but in surgical cases he thought that its use had 
 
 B
 
 1« TYPHUS FEVER, 1835. 
 
 conferred a great boon upon humanity. And Mr. Lyon 
 again said that so much knowledge of its use, and caution 
 in its administration, were required, that he would not 
 operate on a patient unless the chloroform was adminis- 
 tered by a medical man, and one experienced in its use at 
 the same time. 
 
 TYPHUS FEVER, 1835. 
 
 Dr. Robert Perry, who has already been referred to, 
 was an original member of the Medical Society, and one 
 who took a very active part in its proceedings throughout 
 his whole professional life. He was a physician to the 
 Royal Infirmary and to the Fever Hospital in Clyde 
 Street. As a result of original investigations in the latter 
 institution, he submitted to this Society " a series of pro- 
 positions which establish a strong case," as Dr. Duncan 
 expresses it, "in favour of his priority in the recognition 
 of the non-identity of typhus and typhoid fever," and in 
 1835 a commission was appointed by this Society to visit 
 the wards of the Fever Hospital, along with Dr. Perry, 
 who readily undertook to point out the facts upon which 
 his opinions had been formed. 
 
 Some years later (1847), during a discussion on typhus 
 fever, one of the points at issue had reference to the con- 
 tagiousness of typhus, and Dr. Perry described an experi- 
 ment he had made, which appeared to settle the question. 
 " He had succeeded," he said, "about six years ago in 
 inoculating typhus, and had since repeated the experiment 
 with success. He had rubbed cotton upon the skin of a 
 typhus patient, at the time desquamation was going on, 
 and then introduced the cotton into the nostrils of another 
 person." "The experiment," he remarks, "was quite 
 safe when tried on children." This may have been justi- 
 fiable in those days in the attempt to modify typhus, which 
 was then so rife, by inducing an attack in youth; but 
 to-day experiments conducted on those lines would bring 
 the practitioner within the pale of the law.
 
 ELECTION DECLARED NULL AND VOID. 19 
 
 CHOLERA, 1849. 
 
 The influence of the personal equation in the successful 
 treatment (or is it in the diagnosis?) of disease was as 
 evident then as it is now. This may here be illustrated 
 by a glimpse at a discussion held in 1849 on the then 
 recent epidemic of cholera. The discussion became ani- 
 mated in consequence of some statements made by Dr. 
 Hall, and the meeting was adjourned. At the following 
 meeting, Dr. Hall resumed the discussion, and stated that 
 he had in the interval " consulted his notes and found that 
 his statement of having treated upwards of 200 cases suc- 
 cessfully during the late epidemic was incorrect, but that 
 the actual number of cases which had come under his care 
 was 113, and of these only one person had died, a circum- 
 stance (i.e., the fatal issue) which was attributed to the 
 patient having neglected to follow up the treatment with 
 regularity, towards the termination of the case." One 
 would think it was bad enough to die, but much worse 
 that the dead man should be blamed. 
 
 Other members who had followed the same line of 
 treatment, viz., that of Dr. Ayre of Hull, stated that their 
 results had been altogether opposed to those furnished by 
 Dr. Hall, and one of the older members, giving his own 
 experience, said "he had found the results of all modes 
 of treatment very unsatisfactory, the mortality having 
 always been about fifty per cent." 
 
 ELECTION DECLARED NULL AND VOID. 
 
 The above discussion took place at the 553rd meeting of 
 the Society, and at the 556th meeting Dr. Hall had his 
 revenge. He questioned the legality of the election of 
 office-bearers which had taken place at the preceding meet- 
 ing, when only nine members had been present, while ten 
 were necessary to form a quorum. He had his way, the 
 election was declared null and void, and the proceedings
 
 20 CHOLERA, 1853. 
 
 were begun " de novo." The minute of this latter 
 meeting is flistinguislied by being one of a very few which 
 contains a full list of the members present. 
 
 Now the question of a quorum became a burning one, 
 and it was proposed that the rule bearing on this matter 
 should be altered so that " seven members shall form a 
 quorum." But the motion, which gave rise to much dis- 
 cussion, was withdrawn when it was pointed out that the 
 law which regulated the number requisite to form a 
 quorum applied to the transaction of private business only, 
 and did not interfere with the regular transaction of the 
 ordinary public business, such as the reading of essays, 
 professional conversations, etc. 
 
 CHOLERA, 1853. 
 
 The meeting which should have been held on the third 
 Tuesday in October, 1853, was postponed in consequence 
 of a meeting of the members of the profession in anticipa- 
 tion of cholera. There is no indication of the conclusions 
 arrived at at this meeting, nor of any preparations made 
 in view of the threatened epidemic ; but at a subsequent 
 meeting of the Medical Society it was stated that cholera 
 and choleraic diarrlura were much more widely diffused 
 and numerically of a much graver aspect than the com- 
 munity, forming its opinion from the limited statistics of 
 the daily papers, supposed. 
 
 The feeling of the members of the profession towards 
 this fatal epidemic disease may be gathered from the 
 remarks of Dr. Wilson, made during one of the conversa- 
 tional discussions. He had seen little of the disease during 
 that epidemic, but he thought that in the cases he had 
 seen the cramp was less severe, and he closes his remarks 
 thus, "Inscrutable as yet, and bafifling all our attempts, 
 he thought the words of the Psalmist, ' a pestilence walk- 
 ing in darkness,' as a description peculiarly applicable to 
 this malady."
 
 FUNDS. 21 
 
 HOMEOPATHY, 1852. 
 
 Early in 1852 there was what might be styled a full 
 dress debate on the subject of homeopathy. It was the 
 outcome of the appointment of a practitioner of homeo- 
 pathy by the Caledonian Insurance Company to be asso- 
 ciated with Drs. Wilson and Watson in their office of 
 medical referees to that Company. In the course of the 
 discussion all the members present took a part, and each 
 expressed himself in strong terms regarding that doctrine. 
 The position of the profession in its relation to the new 
 cult is expressed in two motions : — " That the practice of 
 homeopathy is injurious to the community and opposed to 
 the truths of medical science, and therefore merits the 
 strongest reprobation from the medical profession," and, 
 " That no member of the medical profession can be asso- 
 ciated in professional duty with an individual practising 
 homeopathy without injury to medical science and loss of 
 personal character." Descending from the general to 
 the particular, it is recorded that " animadversions were 
 made on the conduct of an individual in Glasgow who 
 practised homeopathy, and also upon the gullibility and 
 the officious meddling of clergymen and the annoyance of 
 which they were frequently the agents between medical 
 men and their patients." 
 
 FUNDS. 
 
 The income of the Society was derived from the entrance 
 fee of one guinea , payable by each member on his admis- 
 sion ; and from fines. The latter formed a very substan- 
 tial proportion of the whole annual income. It is 
 interesting to note that during the sessions 1814-15 and 
 1815-16 the members were most active in their attendance, 
 in submitting essays and discussing the essays submitted ; 
 that few fines were exacted, and these were imposed 
 chiefly on account of the arrival of the member after the
 
 22 FINES 
 
 business of the meeting had commenced, and in some few 
 cases for absence. 
 
 INTEREST. 
 
 As time went on, money was accumulating in tlie hands 
 of the treasurer, and in 1820 the treasurer had in hand 
 £25, 3s. 5^d. Some member skilled in finance saw the 
 advantage accruing to the gentleman holding the office of 
 treasurer, and he proposed that in future the treasurer 
 should pay interest at the rate of 3J per cent, on the 
 balance of cash in his hands. This was agreed to, and at 
 the end of the year the treasurer added the sum of 17s. 6d. 
 as interest. He was apparently a man of repute, for the 
 Society did not demand security for the funds. In 1821 
 the rate of interest paid was 4 per cent., which yielded £1, 
 but the money market appeared to become easier, for in 
 the following year the treasurer was called upon to pay 
 3 per cent, only, though it rose on several subsequent 
 occasions to 4 per cent., and in 1835 the rate was reduced 
 to 2-} per cent. 
 
 FINES. 
 
 The income of the Society was, as I have said, derived, 
 during the first thirty years of its existence, from entrance 
 fees and from fines. The proportion which those two 
 items bear to each other when they are stated separately, 
 for sometimes they are slumped, may be seen from the 
 following examples, taken practically at random from the 
 treasurer's account book : — 
 
 Balance on hand. 
 
 Entrants. 
 
 Fines. 
 
 Interest. 
 
 1828-29, £37 16 9 
 
 £•4 4 
 
 £8 6 
 
 £10 
 
 1832-33, 16 18 7 
 
 5 5 
 
 9 7 6 
 
 8 6 
 
 1833, 26 2 5 
 
 7 7 
 
 11 9 6 
 
 12 
 
 In 1841 fines to the extent of £6, 3s. were paid, and on 
 looking into the particulars it is seen that this amount 
 includes the sum of £5 paid by Dr. Hannay, and it is 
 noted that this is "commutation allowed for arrears."
 
 TO EXTEND USEFULNESS OF SOCIETY, 1844. 23 
 
 On further investigation it is found that the said Dr. 
 Hannay was in arrears at that date to the extent of £6, 17s. 
 
 The last note of interest having been paid (save one of 
 14s. on £14, 10s. 5d. in 1865-1866) is in October, 1843, 
 and then at the rate of 3 per cent., and the last fines 
 were paid on 21st January, 1845. 
 
 In 1815 a ballot-box was purchased at a cost of £1, 10s., 
 and in the following year a charter chest was procured at 
 a cost of £1, Is. No reference to a charter, however, 
 occurs in the minutes until 1865, when it was suggested 
 by Dr. Ritchie in his presidential address. 
 
 SALARY OF OFFICER. 
 
 Mr. Jones, the officer, was at first paid £3, 3s. " for his 
 trouble in connection with the Society." Later this was 
 raised to £5, and in 1835 to £6, but when in 1844 the 
 funds in hand became low, on account of many resigna- 
 tions, his honorarium was reduced to £3, 3s. 
 
 SOME ITEMS OF EXPENDITURE. 
 
 x\mongst items of expenditure peculiar to the times was 
 the regular charge for candles — thus in 1816, 8s. appears 
 under this head. In 1831 this item disappears, and we 
 find its place taken by a charge of 14s. for " oil and jar," 
 and another of £7, 18s. for lamps. The expenditure so 
 incurred resulted in a deficit on the year's working of 
 £12, 17s. 7d., but even after this payment there remained 
 a balance in hand of £43, 19s. 7d. Immediately following 
 on this unusual expenditure, it was proposed to give a sum 
 of £20 for the benefit of the mother, the widow, and 
 family of their recently deceased secretary. Dr. Armour, 
 and this sum was voted unanimously. 
 
 TO EXTEND USEFULNESS OF SOCIETY, 1844. 
 In 1844 there was a falling off in the membership, few 
 new members were being added, and few remained to pay 
 fines, so the funds were low. At this stage a special
 
 24 DRASTIC CHANGES PROPOSED. 
 
 meeting was called at the request of three members, to 
 consider if any plan could be adopted to extend the useful- 
 ness of the Society, and a committee was appointed for 
 enquiry and report. At the meeting at which the report 
 was submitted, the president read a communication which 
 he had received from the secretary of the newly formed 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society of Glasgow, intimating that 
 they would be happy to admit all the members of the 
 Medical Society without ballot or any form of election. 
 The advent of this new society was api>arently proving a 
 strong counter-attraction to the members of the profession 
 in the city. Ko note is made of the nature of the recom- 
 mendations contained in the report submitted by the com- 
 mittee appointed; but it is stated on 24th July that the 
 various alterations on the law s which had been approved of 
 at last meeting were finally adopted, and the only tangible 
 change which can be gleaned from the records is that 
 contained in the minutes recording the business of the first 
 meeting of the following session, which is that " In con- 
 sequence of the reduced state of the funds, and the small 
 number of members of the Society at present, it was agreed 
 that the officer's salary be three guineas, and the treasurer 
 was instructed to inform Mr. Jones accordingly." 
 
 DRASTIC CHANGES PROPOSED. 
 
 Whatever the alterations may have been, they did not 
 give satisfaction, so that twelve months later fresh notices 
 of motion were tabled. They embodied drastic changes 
 in the constitution. The first was that, instead of paying 
 an entry fee of one guinea, it should be optional with 
 future members to pay five shilings annually ; secondly, 
 that in future the reading of essays shall be voluntary ; 
 and, thirdly, that in future the Society shall meet only on 
 the first Tuesday of every month. 
 
 When these proposals were discussed and voted upon, 
 the two first were adopted, but the third, curtailing the
 
 SECRETARIES. 25 
 
 number of meetings, was negatived. These alterations 
 were apparently very popular, for their adoption was 
 immediately followed by an accession of seventeen new 
 members. 
 
 Members appeared to exercise the option and pay one 
 guinea on admission on till 1860, at which date the Society 
 agreed that the entrance fee of one guinea be cancelled, 
 and, instead, the rule dealing wdth this subject was made 
 to read, " When admitted the member must pay five 
 shillings of entry money, and a further contribution of five 
 shillings on each succeeding session, and that the admis- 
 sion of perpetual members be discontinued, and that no 
 commutation of fees be allowed in future." 
 
 It is w^eli in this place to make a note of the state of the 
 funds at the time of amalgamation of this Society with 
 the Medico-Chirurgical Society, which subject will be 
 referred to more fully later on. The accounts were pre- 
 sented as follows : — 
 
 Balance from session 1864-65, 
 Income for year, .... 
 
 £14 10 
 4 19 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 £19 9 
 5 14 
 
 6 
 
 
 Expenses, ..... 
 
 By balance, . . . . . . £13 15 6 
 
 The balance of income over the ordinary expenditure 
 showed that the Society was in quite a healthy financial 
 condition : and the amount carried forward w^as greater 
 than the average credit balance of the previous twenty 
 years. 
 
 SECRETAEIES. 
 
 The post of secretary to a Society like this is, to mv 
 mind, a more important one than even that of the presi- 
 dentship. The names even of the past presidents would 
 be wholly unknown had not the secretary carefully
 
 26 DISTRIBUTION OF BILLETS. 
 
 recorded them in the minute book ; and our knowledge of 
 the Society and its proceedings hangs entirely on what he 
 thought fit to enter in the minute book. This Society 
 during its long career had many secretaries. One died in 
 office, and the Society valued himself and his services so 
 highly, that it unanimously voted nearly one-half of its 
 whole capital to the benefit of his mother, his widow, and 
 family. 
 
 In many instances the secretary has in turn become the 
 president. 
 
 The records transmitted to us are often very meagre ; 
 but with the appointment of Dr. James Adams in 1845 a 
 change is observed, and liis suitability for the post is 
 evident. The minutes become full and clearly written, 
 and his records of the proceedings are not only very 
 interesting, but they strike one as being eminently fair, 
 judged by the full reports he gives of the remarks of 
 members, who spoke in direct opposition to his own 
 opinions formally expressed. 
 
 THE PASSING OF MR. JONES. 
 
 A pathetic note is recorded in the first minute of session 
 1849-1850 to the effect that " Mr. Jones, officer of the 
 Society, being now incapacitated from the farther exercise 
 of his duties by age and infirmities, it was remitted to the 
 president, treasurer, and secretary to make the necessary 
 arrangements for filling the vacant situation." What- 
 ever appointment was made, the officer is in future 
 referred to simply as the officer, and only once by name, 
 and that many years later. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF BILLETS. 
 
 In 1863, the finance committee of the Faculty intimated 
 that the billets of this Society could no longer be addressed 
 and distributed by the Faculty officer ; and the only
 
 PROFESSIONAL CONVERSATIONS. 27 
 
 services to be rendered by him in future were tliose con- 
 nected with hghting, heating, and putting the meeting- 
 rooms in order. As a consequence it was agreed that the 
 officer (now Mr. Menzies) should be remunerated in future 
 with a payment of £2 per annum. 
 
 TO ARRANGE THE "LAWS." 
 
 There had been so many alterations made in the laws, 
 and many more proposed, that much confusion arose in 
 their interpretation, and in x\pril, 1848, it was resolved 
 that a committee should be appointed to collect and 
 arrange the existing laws of the Society, to suggest altera- 
 tions and amendments on the same, and to report progress 
 at the first meeting of the next session. A report was 
 submitted, but its nature is not divulged. 
 
 Early in the session of 1850 a conversation took place on 
 the subject of the ihour of meeting, when the greater 
 number of the members present expressed theniselves in 
 favour of a change being made from eight to nine o'clock. 
 But this change, if it was carried out, had no influence in 
 increasing the attendance of members. The secretary 
 seems also to have lost his former enthusiasm, for the 
 record of the proceedings suddenly becomes most frag- 
 mentary, and the first volume of minutes closes with the 
 folowing memorandum, " iNIeetings were held in April 
 (1851), but no quorum assembled. The evenings were 
 passed in professional conversation." The minutes of the 
 next session begin a new volume, and the transactions 
 are again very fully recorded, and, judged by the number 
 of speakers who took part in the discussions, some fresh 
 interest must have been aroused amongst the members in 
 the work of the Society. 
 
 PROFESSIONAL CONVERSATIONS. 
 
 While the formal essays, which were at first contributed 
 under compulsion, and later under the same conditions as
 
 28 BARNHILL HOSPITAL, 1852. 
 
 obtain with ourselves, are from some points instructive 
 even now, I found the reports of the meetings spent in 
 professional conversation much more interesting. The 
 personaUty of the speaker is often so fully revealed in 
 those informal discussions; his opinions, the style of his 
 practice, and the results he claims are full of interest. 
 While we may have one speaker after another agreeing 
 with the leader of the evening in his opinion of the subject 
 under discussion, and the method of treatment adopted 
 under the conditions described by him, we meet with 
 others, of whom, while it cannot exactly be said that they 
 were " agin' the (4overnjiient," are opposed on every occa- 
 sion and on every subject to the author of the essay or 
 conversation. Chief amongst the latter is Dr. John 
 Eeid, and as you read the reports of his many remarks 
 — and he always did make remarks when he was present 
 — you can almost see the little red-haired man with thin 
 lips and querulous voice, questioning the opinions, if not 
 the facts, of every speaker. But he was not always in 
 the wrong. Those of you who are of opinion that there 
 is such a thing as meddlesome midwifery, will find sup- 
 port from his remarks made during a discussion on 
 difficult labour cases. "That the less labour was inter- 
 fered with the better." His own method, however, 
 might not be followed. For he said, if he adopted arti- 
 ficial means at all to expedite the duration of labour, it 
 would be " bleeding and tartar emetic." 
 
 Again, in discussing syphilis, he did not approve of 
 any of the recent modes of treatment ; he admitted no 
 distinction between the poison of syphilis and that of 
 gonorrhoea, and he advocated " a good mercurial course." 
 
 BARNHILL HOSPITAL, 1852. 
 
 The next extract throws an interesting light on the 
 sanitary condition of the Parochial Hospitals in the 
 fifties; and in our mind's eye we can contrast them with 
 the present-day palatial buildings, each with an abundant
 
 CASE OF DISPUTED PATERNITY. 29 
 
 supply of pure water, and each replete with every recog- 
 nised invention to ensure perfect sanitation. 
 
 In 1852 " ]Mr Lyon reported, with sorrow, that a very 
 intractable and fatal form of bowel ailment was prevailing 
 at the Parochial Hospital at Barnhill. The disease was 
 not dysentery, the stools were always fecular, there was 
 no absence of bile. It pursued a steady downward pro- 
 gress, sometimes for some weeks, and at length cut off 
 the patient." About fifty cases had occurred, of which 
 number about one-half had proved fatal. Then he says, 
 "With regard to the building, it certainly was not 
 damp ; at the same time it was not clean, intra-mural." 
 
 The water-supply was derived from two sunk wells, into 
 one of which it had been discovered that the excremen- 
 titious matter from the building had been finding its 
 way. This condition had been put right, but with no 
 apparent effect, as yet, in regard to the extension of the 
 disease. Mr. 'Menzies considered that the diarrhoea 
 described by Mr. Lyon had its likely origin in the impure 
 water procured from the well referred to. Mr. Menzies 
 " had seen, in tropical climates, diarrhoea produced from 
 sulphuretted hydrogen generated in water containing 
 decomposing vegetable and animal matter, and the disease 
 had given way when the water was changed." The water 
 from the well at Barnhill was subsequently analysed, and 
 Mr. Lyon reported that " it was full of animal matter, the 
 well from which it had been drawn being little better 
 than a diluted sewer ; the sewage of the house had 
 flowed into it." The disease disappeared when the 
 faulty state of the water-supply was rectified. 
 
 CASE OF DISPUTED PATERNITY. 
 
 A discussion of considerable medico-legal interest is 
 recorded as having taken place on 16th November, 1852. 
 The president. Dr. James Wilson, mentioned that he 
 had lately been called to a neighbouring village to give
 
 30 MIDWIVES, 1855. 
 
 evidence in a case of disputed paternity. Twin children 
 had been born seven months after the marriacre of the 
 parties, and a practitioner who had been consulted by the 
 husband expressed his belief that they were born at the 
 end of eight months, while another medical man stated 
 his conviction that the twins were seven months' children. 
 With the latter opinion the president had no hesitation in 
 concurrinjj, and he gives very fully the grounds on which 
 he based that opinion. 
 
 EPIDEMIC PHLEGMON. 
 
 The presence of phlegmon in an epidemic form is 
 recorded in 1853, due, some thought, to great gastric 
 disturbance, while others thought it to be d'ue to the 
 introduction of a poison into the blood, and that it was 
 contagious. One of the members himself had suffered 
 from it. 
 
 REGISTRATION OF DEATHS ACT, 1855. 
 
 That history repeats itself we are reminded by a long 
 and animated discussion in February, 1855, on the new 
 Kegistration Act as affecting medical men. " While it 
 was agreed that most valuable statistical data would 
 ultimately accrue from the operation of this enactment, 
 the majority of members who took part in the discussion 
 were of opinion that in the penalty attached to the non- 
 fulfilment of what must frequently be a troublesome and 
 in many cases a gratuitous labour, an additional illus- 
 tration was given of the absence of that consideration due 
 to the profession by those in power," A similar position 
 has, we know, been recently taken up, both by our muni- 
 cipality and the Imperial Parliament, in regard to the 
 compulsory early notification of births. 
 
 MIDWIVES, 1855. 
 
 Then bearing on a topic which is meantime a burn- 
 ing question, viz., the necessity for the ensuring of the
 
 INTRA-MURAL INTERMENTS, 1856. 31 
 
 fitness of midwives for their duties by the provisions of 
 the Midwives Bill, I may quote the statement of a 
 speaker at one of the discussions in 1855 : — " He had been 
 indirectly concerned with a case where a woman practis- 
 ing as a midwife mistook a prolapsed bladder for protrusion 
 of the distended membranes, and had actually snipped it 
 through with a pair of scissors. A vesico-vaginal fistula 
 was the result, and the patient died three or four weeks 
 subsequently. The same woman, on another occasion, 
 performed craniotomy by thrusting the identical pair of 
 scissors into the infant's head ; the mother and child 
 were interred together a few days afterwards." 
 
 INTRA-MUEAL INTERMENTS, 1856. 
 
 A discussion on intra-mural interments follows a state- 
 ment bearing on the evidence given by some members in 
 the " Dumbarton churchyard enquiry." 
 
 " Dr. James Adams directed attention to the ' Dum- 
 barton churchyard enquiry ' presently pending before 
 Sheriff Hunter. The investigation was specially interest- 
 ing as being the first which had occurred in Scotland, 
 under the provisions of the recent Parliamentary Act 
 relative to ' intra-mural interments.' Among the scien- 
 tific witnesses, Professors Anderson and Penny, Mr. 
 Lyon, and himself had given evidence to prove that the 
 alleged evils of intra-mural interments were greatly 
 exaggerated — that much popular ignorance prevailed 
 regarding the subject— and that with reference to the case 
 of the Dumbarton churchyard no condition dangerous to 
 the public health existed. 
 
 " Numerous witnesses — including the magistrates, 
 medical men, and clergymen of the town — had alleged 
 the existence of noxious odours, and dangerous emana- 
 tions of carbonic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen gas, the 
 prevalence of epidemic disease, etc., etc. That these con- 
 ditions were imaginary had been clearly shown by the 
 evidence of the witnesses with whom he (Dr. Adams) was
 
 32 ACTIONS FOR DAMAGES. 
 
 associated. Chemical tests had failed to detect the dele- 
 terious gases mentioned, and, even if generated, the 
 state of an open churchyard did not permit of their 
 accumulation. Dr. Adams, after describing the various 
 tests which had been employed, admitted that the practice 
 generally of intra-mural burials had been fearfully abused 
 — a fact which was abundantly proved by the enquiries 
 and investigations of a Parliamentary Commission. It 
 had been shown that in England it was no uncommon cir- 
 cumstance for the number of interments within one acre 
 of ground to average more than 2,000." 
 
 SPINA BIFIDA. 
 
 To contrast with modern methods and present-day 
 results, the following case may be quoted : — Dr. Burns, in 
 1860, showed a specimen of a spina bifida which he had 
 tapped without success. The tumour was a large cyst, 
 and contained a small knuckle of the medulla oblongata. 
 Dr. Lyon had seen many cases of spina bifida, and was 
 of opinion that the disease always terminated fatally, 
 and that little benefit was to be derived from treatment 
 by ligature, by tapping, or by pressure. He considered 
 that iodine injected within the dura mater would termi- 
 nate in death. 
 
 EROSION OF THE WALLS OF THE COMMON CAROTID 
 ARTERY. 
 
 Two cases are recorded. In one there was a strumous 
 abscess in the neck, which was opened. Bleeding fol- 
 lowed, and to ascertain its source, the wound was extended 
 and the vessel ligatured. On inspection after death, an 
 ulcerated opening in the common carotid, communicating 
 with the sac of the abscess, was found. 
 
 ACTIONS FOR DAMAGES. 
 
 At least two cases in which medical men were sued for 
 damages in the Sheriff Court are recorded in the minutes.
 
 TURKISH BATH. 33 
 
 The discussion of each case occupied the whole time of a 
 meeting of the Society. 
 
 In January, 1857, Mr. John Keid gave details of " a 
 case which had recently occupied the attention of the 
 medical profession , which had been brought under review 
 in the Sheriff Court, in which a decision had been given 
 affecting much the question of medical privilege." Dr. 
 Eeid, as the family medical adviser, had been consulted 
 regarding the condition of the servant maid, and his 
 opinion confirmed the suspicions of the mistress. Several 
 months afterwards an action was raised, and, chiefly on 
 the report of Professor Andrew Buchanan, to whom the 
 pursuer was referred for examination by the Sheriff, and 
 who had ' ' examined the female by all the means known to 
 medical men " with negative results, Dr. Eeid " was 
 mulcted in £10 damages and expenses, the Sheriff holding 
 that the plea of medical privilege could not be sustained." 
 
 In the second case, a collier in Garnkirk had injured 
 his finger ; and a man in Glasgow, " who, it appears, had 
 no legal qualification, and was merely a lad in a druggist's 
 shop," said the finger was fractured, and put it in splints. 
 Ten weeks later. Dr. Oliver, adviser to a local provident 
 society, took the splints off, and gave a line for aliment. A 
 similar application was made seven weeks later, which the 
 doctor refused, and as a result an action for £20 as 
 damages was raised. " The Sheriff-Substitute found the 
 defender liable to seven guineas with expenses." " The 
 Sheriff-Principal adhered, but reduced the damages," 
 holding that Dr. Oliver, by removing the splints, was the 
 cause of " the pursuer being kept off work for a long 
 period, and having been put to much suffering and 
 inconvenience." 
 
 TUEKISH BATH. 
 
 At the first meeting of session 1860, Dr. G. H. B. 
 Macleod gave what is recorded as "a graphic description 
 of the Turkish bath as employed in the East," and " it 
 
 c
 
 34 SPECIAL HOSPITALS, 1861. 
 
 was the unanimous opinion of the members present that 
 while the Turkish bath niifiht, in the majority of cases, 
 be employed by healthy people in this climate with im- 
 punity, or even in many instances with advantage to 
 health, its indiscriminate use, as a medical agent, ought 
 to be discouraged." 
 
 INFANTILE MORTALITY. 
 
 At the following meeting there was a discussion on 
 the " Excessive Infantile ^Mortality in cities and large 
 towns." Dr. Fraser, who opened the discussion, attri- 
 buted the excessive death-rate principally to the follow- 
 ing special agencies, which he placed in, what appeared 
 to him, their order of importance: — 
 
 1. Overcrowding and vitiated air, imperfect drainage 
 and deficient supply of light. 
 
 2. Deficient nutrition. 
 
 3. Want of hospital for sick children. 
 
 4. Too early marriages. 
 
 5. Neglect of illegitimate children. 
 All very much as we have it still. 
 
 TOBACCO. 
 
 The effects of tobacco, which were discussed at the end 
 of 1860, and the opinions expressed thereon were as 
 diverse then as those to which we listen at the present 
 time. 
 
 SPECIAL HOSPITALS, 186L 
 
 At the meeting of IMarch, 1861 , the subject of a hospital 
 for sick children was introduced and discussed. The 
 members present, whilst approving of the classification 
 of patients for clinical teaching and other purposes in 
 general hospitals, were almost unanimously of the opinion 
 that there was no call for the institution of special 
 hospitals.
 
 TRACHEOTOMY IN DIPHTHEKIA. 35 
 
 In February of the next year the subject of special 
 hospitals and special departments in general hospitals was 
 again introduced, this time by Dr. Andrew Buchanan, 
 jun., who summed up his paper as follows: — 
 
 "1. Eational specialism is always good, for there is no 
 subject connected with medical science which will not 
 be more successfully cultivated by men who are con- 
 stantly studying it, or if an operation, constantly perform- 
 ing it. 
 
 " 2 . The recognition of the principle of specialism in 
 large general hospitals, by placing particular classes of 
 diseases under the care of men, who, while accomplished 
 general physicians, are led by this arrangement to devote 
 their more particular attention to these diseases, tends 
 to promote the advancement of science, renders the 
 labours of the physician more profitable to himself, is 
 better for the purposes of study, and better for the 
 patients, who are thus unquestionably treated in the most 
 satisfactory manner attainable. 
 
 "3. Special hospitals on a separate scale are good, pro- 
 vided that the relief afforded them is not disproportionate 
 to the expense of keeping them up." 
 
 TEACHEOTOMY IN DIPHTHERIA. 
 
 In a discussion on this subject in 1863, there is 
 evidence of the old order of things passing away. 
 The subject of tracheotomy in croup and diphtheria was 
 introduced by Dr. Eeid, who argued that diphtheria was 
 not a new affection, but an old one under a new name. 
 He was strongly opposed to opening the windpipe in 
 croup, and he thought it was seldom required in 
 diphtheria. Dr. Morton thought that death in diph- 
 theria was due to a general poisoning of the blood, such 
 as we s'aw in scarlet fever, and consequently no good 
 could be got in tracheotomy. 
 
 Dr. Lyon looked on croup as an inflammatory, sthenic
 
 36 LARYNGOSCOPE. 
 
 complaint to be treated by antiphlogistics, given early 
 and decidedly ; and it was only in cases where the local 
 obstruction threatened death that tracheotomy was of any 
 avail. He looked on diphtheria as a totally new disease 
 of which he had had no experience till lately. Dr. A. E. 
 Simpson thought that death in diphtheria was partly due 
 to a poisoning of the blood and partly to a local affection, 
 and in any case in which the latter was present tracheo- 
 tomy should be performed. 
 
 The next remarks are by Professor Gairdner, and are 
 the first made by him of which record is made in those 
 minutes. " He had not seen much of inflammatory 
 croup; he had, however, seen a good many cases of 
 diphtheria lately. In three, tracheotomy had been per- 
 formed, and all died; still, he thought it was a proper 
 remedy if the cases in which it was put into practice 
 were properly selected." 
 
 Dr. Macleod followed. He agreed with Dr. Simpson, 
 and pointed out that it was only in those cases where 
 obstruction was a prominent and threatening sign that 
 tracheotomy could be thought of. 
 
 JESSIE M'LACHLAN. 
 
 A paper read by Dr. M'Leod in January, 1863, on the 
 medical evidence in the trial of Jessie M'Lachlan, in 
 which he endeavoured to show that she must have been 
 the person who committed the murder with which she 
 was charged, aroused considerable discussion. The con- 
 clusions drawn by the author were freely discussed, and 
 many dissented from the author in various particulars. 
 
 LARYNGOSCOPE. 
 
 At the last meeting held in the year 1863, Dr. Forbes 
 read a brief description of the mode of using the laryngo- 
 scope, detailing the parts of the larynx which it brings 
 into view. He gave instructions how to use it, and then
 
 JOINT MEETINGS. 37 
 
 he proceeded to give an autoscopic demonstration of the 
 various movements occurring in the larynx, which was 
 witnessed, and much esteemed, by the different members 
 present. 
 
 "A MEDICAL STAFF." 
 
 Novelties, intended to assist the practitioner in his 
 daily rounds, were brought to the notice of the profession 
 then as now, and as this is the description of one which, 
 I am sure, uone of you have seen, I extract the reference 
 to it : — 
 
 " Dr. Gray, in 1853, submitted what he called a 
 'Medical Staff,' the diameter of which did not much 
 exceed that generally carried, and so iiigeniously t;on- 
 structed that, when taken to pieces, it was found to con- 
 tain an enema, catheters, forceps, etc., etc., etc., as well 
 as several of the more potent substances used in medi- 
 cine." A veritable multum in parvo. 
 
 JOINT MEETINGS. 
 
 The Glasgow Medical and the Medico-Chirurgical 
 Societies were throughout on very friendly terms, and 
 work'ed together harmoniously when occasion called for 
 any joint action. 
 
 As has been already noted, the latter Society at its 
 initiation, intimated by a note sent to the President of 
 the Medical Society that the new Society would be happy 
 to admit all the members of the older Society without 
 ballot or any form of election. 
 
 In February, 1858, a meeting was held jointly with 
 the Medico-Chirurgical Society for the purpose of seeing 
 M. Groux, of Hamburg. This man had a remarkable 
 congenital deficiency of the sternum, on account of which 
 the motions of the heart could in some measure be 
 exhibited, and Dr. Allen Thomson acted on this occasion 
 as demonstrator.
 
 38 PROPOSED AMALGAMATIONS. 
 
 Again in Fcbriiarv, 1863, a joint meeting was held 
 between a committee of the Medical Society, the Faculty, 
 and the Medico-Chirurgical Society on the subject of the 
 regulation of fees. 
 
 PROPOSED AMALGAMATIONS. 
 
 At different times proposals for amalgamation witii 
 this Society were made by other societies composed of 
 medical men, and amongst those proposals the following 
 are of interest : — 
 
 1. The Glasgow Pathological Society, in 1854. The 
 first minute for session 1854-55 opens thus: — "Some 
 conversation follow-ed a proposal made by Dr. Cowan to 
 the effect that an attempt should be made to unite the 
 Glasgow Pathological with this Society, but the matter 
 was allowed to drop." 
 
 The Glasgow Pathological Society was formed in 1851. 
 Its meetings were held in the Koyal Infirmary, and its 
 members devoted their attention specially to pathological 
 W'Ork. Dr. Duncan tells us that " the late Sir William 
 Aitken, and a few other enthusiasts in the field of patho- 
 logy, threw themselves with energy into the work of this 
 society." The first paper was read, just fifty-six years 
 ago, by Dr. Robert Perry (who is here to-night), the subject 
 of the essay being " The post-mortem apjiearances in the 
 bladder and ureters in typhus cases." ^J'jie preparations 
 shown in illustration of his remarks are now in the Patho- 
 logical ]Museum of the Royal Infirmary. The Society had 
 a comparatively short life, as it came to an end not long 
 after the proposal of amalgamation above referred to was 
 made. 
 
 2. The Medico-Chirurgical Society, in 1860. In 
 October, 1860, Dr. M'Ghie proposed, at a meeting of the 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society (founded in 1844) that "it 
 be remitted to the Council to consider the propriety and 
 expediency of that Society effecting an amalgamation
 
 PROPOSED AMALGAMATIONS. 39 
 
 with the Medical Society," but no record remains of the 
 Medical Society having been approached on the subject. 
 
 3. The Medico-Chirurgical Society, in 1863. In 
 November, 1863, Dr. Adams, who was senior secretary 
 to the Medico-Chirurgical Society, and Dr. Eeid pro- 
 posed, at a meeting of the Medical Society, that a com- 
 mittee be appointed to consider the expediency of an 
 amalgamation of this Society with the Medico-Chirurgical 
 Society, chiefly on account of the limited attendance. 
 Drs. Lyon and Smith advocated the continuance of the 
 Medical Society as a distinct Society, and this was 
 approved of by the other members present. 
 
 4. The Medico-Chirurgical Society, in 1865. Dr. 
 George H. B. ]Macleod was elected president of the Glas- 
 gow Medical Society in October, 1865, at which date he 
 was junior secretary to the Medico-Chirurgical Society. 
 At the first meeting which he attended after his election 
 to the presidency, it was agreed to discuss the question, 
 " whether it is desirable to amalgamate with the Medico- 
 Chirurgical Society." 
 
 The question was discussed in March, 1866, and, as a 
 result, it was unanimously agreed that, " in the opinion 
 of this meeting, the time has now come when it is 
 expedient for this Society to enter into terms of anion 
 with the Medico-Chirurgical Society." 
 
 " The preses and the secretary of this Society were 
 appointed a committee to confer with any such committee 
 as might be appointed by the Medico-Chirurgical Society, 
 and instructions were given them as to terms, which were 
 that the session of the amalgamated Society should be 
 nine months, the recess being in the months of June, July, 
 and August, with power in the hands of the Council of 
 calling pro re nata meetings when called for." 
 
 This amalgamation will be more fully discussed, when 
 the history of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Glas- 
 gow of 1844 is under consideration.
 
 40 GLASGOW MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 GLASGOW MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY, 
 CONSTITUTED 1820. 
 
 I would here, in parenthesis, make mention of a society 
 which was formed, in 1820, under the name of " The 
 Glasgow Medico-Chiriirgical Society." 
 
 Dr. Duncan, in describing the medical societies of 
 Glasgow, makes no mention of this one, and, indeed, its 
 very existence seems to have been forgotten until nine 
 years ago. In 1898 Dr. C. Fred. Pollock presented the 
 first minute book of that Society to this Society through 
 Dr. Middleton, our president at that date. Dr. Pollock 
 had received the volume from the grand-daughters of the 
 late Dr. William Lyon, a member of the Society, and 
 probably at one time its secretary, and who also, as we 
 have seen, was a very active member of the Medical 
 Society. A note on this minute book was contributed to 
 the "Glasgow Medical Journal" (November, 1899) by 
 Dr. Middleton. Since the publication of that note the 
 second volume has been recovered, and it, along with 
 its predecessor, is now lodged in the library of the Faculty. 
 
 Three medical men — Mr. Marshall, Dr. Ferguson, and 
 Mr. Wilson — met on 13th June, 1820, and, " considering 
 the great advantage which each of them might derive by 
 forming themselves into a Society for the purpose of 
 writing and discussing medical subjects," constituted 
 themselves into a Society. 
 
 The Society met twice a month, at first in each 
 other's houses, then for a short time in the College, and, 
 finally, in Cow Pock Hall, St. Andrew's Square. 
 
 As in the Medical Society, so here, the reading of papers 
 was compulsory, and fines were exacted for absence, for 
 want of punctuality, etc. At a meeting in 1821 only one 
 member was present, and he, " having waited until his 
 patience was nearly exhausted, it was resolved that all
 
 CONSTITUTED 1820. 41 
 
 the absentees be fined double." It never was a large 
 Society, and Dr. Middleton tells us that at its fiftieth 
 meeting, there were nine members only, " and the total 
 number who signed the laws was only twenty-one. From 
 this latter list the names of two of the founders are missed ; 
 but on the last page their absence is accounted for, both 
 having absconded." It was essentially an East-End 
 Society, both in regard to its membership and its place of 
 meeting. Bearing on the latter, there is an interesting 
 article in Cleland's " Eise and Progress of the City of 
 Glasgow " which comprises " an account of its Public 
 Buildings, Charities, and Other Concerns." He tells us 
 that a number of medical gentlemen in the city, uncon- 
 nected with the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, 
 formed themselves into a Society for vaccinating the 
 childi^en of the poor, gratis, under ,the .'designation of 
 " The Glasgow Cow Pock Institution " ; and that a com- 
 mittee attended in the hall of the institution, St. Andrew's 
 Square, on Fridays, at 12 o'clock, for the purpose of vacci- 
 nation. It was in this " Cow Pock Hall " that this early 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society held most of its meetings. 
 
 I can find no mention in the minute books of either this, 
 or of the Medical Society, of those two associations having 
 had any meetings in common, and there is no indication 
 of amalgamation proposals having been made before the 
 demise of this Medico-Chirurgical Society, which occurred 
 about 1832. 
 
 This wellnigh forgotten Society, its personnel and the 
 work which it accomplished, does not therefore concern 
 us further to-night. What the third volume of its 
 minutes might reveal cannot be known until the lost book 
 has been recovered.
 
 42 RELATIONS WITH OTHER SOCIETIES. 
 
 THE MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW, 
 FOUNDED IN 1844. 
 
 A meeting of medical gentlemen desirous of establisli- 
 ing a Medico-Chiiiirgical Society in Glasgow took place 
 in I^r. Lawrie's house, 15 Moore Place, on 27th June, 
 1844. Twenty-six gentlemen were present at the meet- 
 ing, and other twenty-three, who had been prevented 
 from attending, intimated their wish to become members. 
 
 The establishment of the Society was resolved upon at 
 this meeting, and amongst the resolutions agreed upon 
 were, " That there be no compulsory attendance," and 
 " no compulsory reading of papers or communications of 
 any kind." Also that " the Society meet once a month 
 during eight months in the year, commencing in March 
 and ending in October, on the second Tuesday of each 
 month at eight o'clock p.m.," and fuither, " That the 
 members of the Medical Society of Glasgow be invited to 
 become members, and that the members of the Medico- 
 Chirurgical of Edinburgh, be privileged visitors." 
 
 RELATIONS WITH OTHER SOCIETIES. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Thomson, Regius Professor of Chemistry, 
 who had been called to the chair, was elected the first 
 president. At the first ordinary meeting a letter was read 
 from the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, and 
 one from the ]\Iedical Society of Glasgow ; and to illustrate 
 the feeling of cordiality which existed then, and continued 
 to exist throughout the years to come, between tlic 
 Glasgow Medical and the Medico-Chirurgical Societies, I 
 quote the important portion of the letter, which was 
 addressed to the secretary of the Medico-Chirurgical 
 Society, and signed by Dr. Hannay, president of the 
 Medical Society : — 
 
 " I am directed by the Society to acknowledge, most
 
 PROFESSOR THO/nAS THOASON,
 
 ITS LAWS. 43 
 
 gratefully, the cordial expression of good feeling towards 
 it by the Medico-Chirurgical Society, so handsomely com- 
 municated in your note; and to request the G.M.-C. 
 Society to believe that the Glasgow Medical Society will 
 always rejoice in any good the newly-formed association 
 may be able to accomplish, either in the improvement of 
 its own members, or in the advancement of the healing 
 art in its scientific or practical departments." 
 
 It is further recorded at the first meeting that " the 
 Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons had, in reply to the 
 application made, granted the use of the room to this 
 Society in the most handsome manner." 
 
 ITS LAWS. 
 
 From the laws we learn that there was no compulsion 
 in the matter of attendance, nor in the reading of papers, 
 and no fines were exacted. " The funds of the Society 
 shall consist," it says, "of an annual contribution of five 
 shillings, to be paid by the ordinary members at the meet- 
 ing in jMarch, and by new members on the night of their 
 admission." Corresponding and honorary members shall 
 pay no contributions. This vSociety differed also from the 
 Medical Society in the treatment of the stranger, for it 
 is enacted ' ' that each member shall have the privilege of 
 introducing one medical visitor at every ordinary meet- 
 ing, who must be provided with the printed admission 
 (form) annexed to the member's billet, on w^hich the 
 visitor's name must be written, and also duly attested by 
 the member's signature." At ordinary meetings "five 
 shall form a quorum, but twelve shall be necessary for the 
 election of members." 
 
 At first the ordinary business of the Society consisted 
 in the reading of papers and their subsequent discussion. 
 But in 1852 the Council considered the propriety of hold- 
 ing occasional conversational meetings. It seemed to 
 them expedient that "in the absence of a pressure of
 
 44 CERTIFICATES IN LUNACY. 
 
 important communications, conversational meetings 
 should be held on two or three evenings in the course of 
 each session, and an according discretionary power was 
 committed to the secretaries. 
 
 TRANSACTIONS. 
 
 Tn referring to some of the papers read before the 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society, we may first note that read by 
 Dr. Adam Warden on 8th October, 1844. 
 
 REFLECTING PRISMS, 1844. 
 
 The subject was " Reflecting prisms used for illuminat- 
 ing the open cavities of the body, with a view to facilitate 
 the examination of disease and the application of remedial 
 means in such situations." The paper was illustrated by 
 a great variety of " specula " adapted to this method of 
 observation. What parts were thus brought into view is 
 not recorded, and when we remember that this demonstra- 
 tion was given thirteen years before the introduction of 
 the laryngoscope into medicine, the omission is greatly to 
 be regretted. Shortly after this demonstration. Dr. 
 Warden was elected, along with Dr. John Eose Cormack, 
 a corresponding member of the Society. 
 
 SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON. 
 
 In 1845 ])r. J. Y. Simpson, Professor of ]\Iidwifery in 
 the University of Edinburgh, was present, and gave a 
 verbal statement of facts regarding the alleged reproduc- 
 tion of part of the superior extremity after amputation in 
 utero ; and in the following year he was again present, and 
 again contributed to the proceedings of the Society. 
 
 CERTIFICATES IN LUNACY. 
 
 That the practitioner of medicine encountered diffi- 
 culties in those days, as they now do, may be gathered
 
 DARLINGISM, 1851. 45 
 
 from the record of a discussion in 1848, stated shortly in 
 the minutes thus: — "Dr. John Crawford concluded his 
 essay on the difficulties and duties of medical men, in 
 reference to the granting of certificates of insanity, which 
 gave rise to a long and animated discussion." 
 
 INTERESTING EXHIBIT. 
 
 In 1849 Dr. Kitchie exhibited a large mass of hair taken 
 from the stomach of a girl who had long been in the habit 
 of swallowing her own hair. It weighed, when extracted, 
 19 oz., and presented an accurate mould of the organ from 
 which it had been removed. 
 
 INJURY FROM FISH BONE. 
 
 Dr. Reid also reported a case in which death had fol- 
 lowed penetrating ulceration of the common carotid 
 artery, produced by the end of a fish-bone impacted in the 
 oesophagus. 
 
 DARLINGISM, 1851. 
 
 Dr. A. Buchanan read an essay entitled " Darlingism, 
 misnamed Electro-Biology," in which he commented on 
 the recent exhibitions in this city of certain itinerant 
 lecturers on this subject, indicating the points in which 
 their experiments failed to furnish philosophical evidence 
 of the existence of any real influence transmitted from 
 them to the subjects of their experiments, and offering 
 explanations of the phenomena which they appeared to 
 produce, as originating in an excited imagination, or love 
 of notoriety, or a positive intention to deceive on the part 
 of their victims, or, finally, a combination in various pro- 
 portions of these several causes. A lively discussion 
 ensued, in which the members gave in their unanimous 
 adhesion to the opinions which the essayist had, after 
 careful investigation, expressed. 
 
 Following on this discussion it was unanimously agreed
 
 46 PLAGIARISM, 1852. 
 
 — " That the Society deems it to be its duty to endeavour 
 to put down a system founded on delusion, and fraught 
 with immorality, and, thinking this address well fitted to 
 promote that important end, resolves that the same be 
 published at the expense of the Society." 
 
 PLAGIARISM, 1852. 
 
 In 1852 much excitement in the Society was occasioned 
 by a charge of plagiarism, preferred against one of its 
 members. This gentleman had read a paper at the 
 Philosophical Society entitled " On the Occurrence of 
 Sugar in the Animal Economy," and in which he was said 
 to have arrogated to himself the credit of M. Bernard's 
 discoveries with respect to the existence and mode of pro- 
 duction of sugar in the animal body. " To understand 
 the grounds of the accusation, it is necessary to bear in 
 mind that the paper was not published in a medical 
 journal, to be read by medical men, upon whom such an 
 imposition could not easily have been practised, but was 
 published as part of the proceedings of a society, the great 
 proportion of whose members are quite unacquainted with 
 physiological subjects." 
 
 Much correspondence between the Council, the accused, 
 and others, followed the receipt of the accusation. The 
 Council examined the paper as published in the Transac- 
 tions of the Philosophical Society, with the result that 
 " the Council is of opinion that the charge of plagiarism 
 admits of being fully established," and the particulars of 
 the grounds are stated in its minutes. One point is in- 
 teresting as being specially condemnatory. " So literal is 
 the translation which he gives of one of the most im- 
 portant of Bernard's experiments on this subject, that he 
 completely perverts the meaning of the author by translat- 
 ing literally an error of the press. This it is scarcely 
 possible he could have done, had he really repeated, as he 
 claims to have done, the experiments of Bernard. He
 
 A GRIEVANCE. 47 
 
 therefore here lays himself open to a charge far more 
 serious than that of plagiarism — that of representing him- 
 self to have performed experiments which he never per- 
 formed." 
 
 The report drawn up by the Council was read at the 
 meeting in October, when the following motion was 
 adopted: — " That the Society, having heard the report of 
 the Council, and being now enabled to judge of the nature 
 of the offence charged against" the member, "are of 
 opinion that it can only be viewed as a moral offence ; that 
 the said offence was not committed against this Society ; 
 and that the Society is in no way implicated thereby. 
 They are further of opinion that this Society was instituted 
 solely for the promotion of medical science and literature, 
 and has never pretended to exercise a moral censorship 
 over its members, and would infallibly involve itself in 
 innumerable difficulties by attempting to do so ; and the 
 Society therefore resolves that it is inexpedient to proceed 
 further in this matter, and that the report be not inserted 
 in the minutes." 
 
 A GRIEVANCE. 
 
 Attention was called on 13th April, 1852, to the dis- 
 creditable fashion in which the names of members of the 
 profession are ranked with those of unqualified and irre- 
 gular practitioners in the list purporting to be of physicians 
 and surgeons, published in the Glasgow Post Office Direc- 
 tory. The Society generally expressed their sense of the 
 grievance, and their obligation to Dr. Thomson for moving 
 in the matter. As, however, they have no coercive power, 
 they resolved to memorialise the Faculty of Physicians 
 and Surgeons as to the exercise of their statutory autho- 
 rity over irregular practitioners within their bounds.
 
 48 DR. PRITCHARD. 
 
 ECHO OF IMPORTANT EVENTS. 
 
 Important events in the history of our country, in the 
 criminal history of our city, and in the history of surpfery, 
 are recalled by many of the subjects discussed. 
 
 THE CRIMEA. 
 
 In June, 1857, Dr. George Buchanan read an interest- 
 ing communication from Dr. William Aitken " On the 
 Medical History of the War with Russia — the Influence 
 of the Residence in Bulgaria on the Health of the Army 
 in the Crimea." 
 
 MARRIAGE OF PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 At a Council meeting in February, 1863, it was agreed 
 to hold the first meeting of the session about to begin on 
 Wednesday, 11th March, as the regular night of meeting, 
 viz., 10th ^larch, had been appointed a general holiday on 
 account of the marriage of the Prince of Wales. 
 
 MADELINE SMITH. 
 
 At the July meeting in 1857 the evening was occupied 
 in professional conversation, which turned principallv on 
 interesting points connected with, or suggested by, the 
 recent protracted trial of Miss Madeline Smith for the 
 suspected murder by poison of M. L'Angelier. 
 
 DR. PRITCHARD. 
 
 We have, in the minutes of meeting held in July, 1865, 
 an echo of the trial of Dr. Pritchard of this city, for poison- 
 ing his wife and mother-in-law, by " the report of experi- 
 ments ma^de by Dr. Adams and Dr. Penny, made with the 
 view of determining by a physiological test the presence of 
 aconite in a suspected fluid."
 
 A BLANK IN THE COUNCIL MINUTE BOOK. 49 
 
 OVAEIOTOMY. 
 
 Dr. George Buchanan described a successful case of 
 ovariotomy at the meeting held on 14th June, 1864, and he 
 was complimented on the success of his case, which was 
 stated, and acknowledged to be, the first successful case 
 of ovariotomy in the West of Scotland, 
 
 VISIT OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 
 
 In September, 1860, it was remitted to the Council " to 
 consider the expediency of holding, and, if approved of, to 
 make the necessary arrangements for a conversazione of 
 the Society, to take place during the meetings in Glasgow 
 of the British Association for the promotion of Social 
 Science." 
 
 PROPOSED CHANGE IN DATE OF MEETING. 
 
 In October, 1860, on the motion of Dr. Adams, it was 
 remitted to the Council with full powers to select some 
 other evening than Tuesday for holding the meetings of 
 the Society, which motion was seconded by Dr. Lyon and 
 agreed to. 
 
 PROPOSED AMALGAMATION, 1860. 
 
 At the same meeting, on the motion of Dr. M'Ghie, " it 
 was remitted to the Council to consider the propriety and 
 expediency of this Society effecting an amalgamation with 
 the Medical Society." 
 
 A BLANK IN THE COUNCIL MINUTE BOOK. 
 
 The minutes containing those three separate remits end 
 with the words " vide minutes of Council." But on refer- 
 ring to the minute book of the Council, to ascertain the 
 fate of those recommendations, a series of blank pages is 
 encountered — there is, in fact, no record of the doings of 
 the Council between 29th March, 1860, and 22nd May, 
 
 D
 
 50 "GLASGOW MEDICAL JOURNAL." 
 
 1862. Whether the conversazione to the members of the 
 British Association was ever held or not, is not recorded, 
 and whether the Medical Society was approached on this 
 occasion with a view to amalgamation is not noted. 
 
 Further, a search of the minute book of the Medical 
 Society reveals no statement on the subject of amalgama- 
 tion, or the holding of any conference between the 
 members or Council of the two Societies on this subject at 
 this time. 
 
 DEARTH OF MATERIAL. 
 
 In July, 1860, while meetings were held regularly, there 
 must have been difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply 
 of material for those meetings, for in July it is recorded 
 that " the Society take into consideration a recommenda- 
 tion from the Council in regard to the propriety of adopting 
 a compulsory or some such system in the reading of papers 
 or communications." After some discussion, and without 
 coming to a vote, it was resolved that the proposal of the 
 Council should not in the meantime be carried out. 
 
 LARYNGOSCOPE. 
 
 Dr. W. B. Mackinlay exhibited a laryngoscope at the 
 first meeting in 1861, and described the method of its 
 employment. 
 
 CANCRUM ORIS. 
 
 In 1862, what is described as an interesting paper on 
 cancrum oris was read, in which the author endeavoured 
 to establish a causal connection between deficiency of 
 sulphur in the blood and the existence of this disease. 
 
 "GLASGOW MEDICAL JOURNAL." 
 
 Many references to the "Glasgow Medical Journal" 
 are met with throughout the minutes of this Society. 
 Objections are sometimes raised on account of the un- 
 authorised publication of papers read at the meetings, at
 
 "GLASGOW MEDICAL JOURNAL." 51 
 
 other times the question at issue is regarding the reporting 
 of the proceedings, but the difficulties and differences dis- 
 cussed are, for the most part, of a financial character. 
 
 On 9th March, 1852, the statement of accounts, as laid 
 before the Society by the treasurer, showed a balance in 
 his hands of £34, 4s. 6d. A conversation followed this 
 statement on the expediency of the Society applying its 
 surplus funds to, or otherwise interesting itself in, the 
 establishment and support of a medical journal for 
 Glasgow and the West of Scotland, and a committee was 
 appointed to inquire into ways and means. 
 
 The Committee reported at the next meeting that an 
 octavo journal of six sheets might be published at an 
 expense not exceeding £20 per number for 500 copies, but 
 they desired time to make further enquiries. 
 
 In October of the same year Dr. Andrew Buchanan 
 urged on the profession the establishment of a medical 
 journal for the West of Scotland, and Dr. Pagan, at the 
 same meeting, expressed his willingness to place his paper 
 in the hands of the conductors, for publication in the first 
 number. 
 
 The final recommendation is made at the meeting held 
 on 28th November, 1853, the words of the motion being, 
 " That whereas the proprietors of the ' Glasgow Medical 
 Journal ' have laid before the Council a scheme whereby 
 its publication shall be continued for at least two years 
 from January, 1854, and whereby three delegates from the 
 Council of this Society shall be added to the body having 
 the conduct of the work, the Council agrees to recommend 
 to the Society a grant of fifty pounds from its funds, 
 provided that the said scheme be carried into effect." 
 
 In April, 1865, it was agreed that, in consideration of 
 the expense incurred by the proprietors of the " Glasgow 
 Medical Journal " in the recording of medical intelligence, 
 there should be presented to the editors of the " Journal " 
 the sum of one guinea for each night on w^hich the Society 
 holds a meeting.
 
 52 WINTER SESSION PROPOSED. 
 
 ORDINARY MEETINGS. 
 
 The ordinary meetings were held on the second Tuesday 
 of each month, beginning in March and ending in October, 
 at eight o'clock. 
 
 The many suggestions which are found to have been 
 made and recorded in the minutes with the view of 
 changing the day and hour of meeting, as also the season, 
 illustrates the difficulty of having a fixed day and hour of 
 meeting which will suit or satisfy every member of a fairlv 
 large Society. 
 
 HOUR OF MEETING. 
 
 In April, 1855, it was intimated that some of the country 
 members had represented to the Council that the lateness 
 of the present hour of meeting prevents their attendance, 
 except under the inconvenience of passing the night in 
 town. So at the following meeting it was unanimously 
 resolved that the meetings of the Society shall in future be 
 held at seven o'clock instead of eight o'clock p.m. 
 
 Five months later attention was called to the scanty 
 attendance of country members, and it was proposed that 
 it be remitted to the Council to consider the propriety of 
 reverting to the former hour of meeting, and, if it should 
 seem desirable, to carry the change into effect at the 
 beginning of next session. The Society, however, were 
 of opinion that the present experiment should be continued 
 for a little longer. 
 
 Frequently throughout the following session motions 
 were tabled that the Society re-adopt eight o'clock as their 
 hour of meeting, without any change being effected, and 
 seven o'clock continued to be the hour of meeting for ten 
 years. 
 
 WINTER SESSION PROPOSED. 
 
 In September, 1863, it wa.^ remitted to the Council to 
 make inquiries regarding the propriety of extending the
 
 FUNDS. 53 
 
 meetings of the Society into the winter, and of making 
 such other alterations as to the duration of the session and 
 the hours of meeting as may extend the usefulness of the 
 Society. 
 
 Although this was unanimously agreed to, no note of it 
 occurs in the minutes of the Council, and no action was 
 taken. Each session continued as before to begin in 
 March and close in October until 1866. 
 
 At the opening meeting of session 1865, two proposals 
 emanating from the Council were discussed. The first 
 was that a reporter s'hould be employed to attend the 
 meetings of the Society, and this was referred to a com- 
 mittee to make arrangements with the editor of the 
 " Journal." And the second motion was that the hour of 
 meeting should be changed to eight o'clock. In favour of 
 this change, it was argued that this was the original hour 
 of meeting, and that seven o'clock had been substituted 
 for it in the hope of inducing the country members to 
 attend, but the experience of the last two sessions had 
 proved that hope to be groundless. Secondly, eight o'clock 
 was a much more convenient hour than seven for town 
 members. This proposal was almost unanimously agreed 
 to, and the hour of meeting was altered accordingly. 
 
 FACULTY REMOVAL. 
 
 In 1862 the Faculty removed from St. Enoch's Square 
 to its present premises. While the hall was being put in 
 order the Society met first at 21 Blythswood Square, then 
 at 1 15 West Campbell Street, and it did not again meet in 
 the Faculty Hall until the opening of its twentieth session 
 in March, "^1863. 
 
 FUNDS. 
 
 At the close of the first financial year the treasurer had a 
 balance in hand in favour of the Society of £6, 3s. Id. ; 
 but one year later, the committee appointed to examine
 
 54 REPAYMENT OF SUBSCRIPTION. 
 
 the state of the treasurer's books reported that they had 
 compared the various vouchers and found remaining in the 
 hands of the treasurer the sum of fourpence, and that the 
 arrears of annual contributions amounted to £2, 10s. The 
 sensation of novelty had passed, and the duty of each 
 member to the treasurer and the Society had apparently 
 been forgotten. 
 
 OFFICER. 
 
 In October, 1849, the treasurer was instructed " to pay 
 seven })ound,s in equal j)orti()ns to nice Jones and John 
 Mcnzies ; to intimate to the former that his services would 
 not again be required ; and t(» (in tlip siilary of th(^ latter at 
 two guineas for each session." 
 
 This curt intimation to Mr. Rice Jones, who acted as 
 officer to this, as well as to the Medical Society, lacks the 
 human note which pervades the minutes of the latter 
 Society, and which I have already quoted, touching the 
 frailties which rendered him unfit for further duty. 
 
 At this same meeting the secrt'tnries were instructed to 
 henceforth send all billets of intimation by post, and to 
 discontinue the supply of coffee at ordinary meetings. 
 
 REPAYMENT OF SUBSCRIPTION. 
 
 In 1850 a letter was read from Dr. Wylie requesting 
 repayment of his subscription for last session on the ground 
 that he was elected at the penultimate meeting, and was 
 unable to be present at the final one. The Council in- 
 structed the treasurer to pay the amount, and recom- 
 mended that "in future no subscription for the current 
 session be exacted from any gentleman who shall become 
 a member of the Society after the sixth meeting." As 
 there were seven meetings only in the session, this was no 
 very great concession.
 
 BROWN SEQUARD'S LECTURES. 55 
 
 DISPOSAL OF FUNDS. 
 
 In 1853 the treasurer had a balance of £44, 3s. 5d. in 
 hand. Mr. Held, having reference to the present state of 
 the funds, proposed that after a certain number of years, 
 members should cease to pa}' annual contributions. This 
 being considered private business, was remitted to the 
 Council. At the subsequent meeting of Council, it was 
 proposed, though not" by the treasurer, that after payments 
 amounting in the aggregate to two ]iounds, no member 
 should henceforth Be called on for an annual contribution, 
 unless the accumulated fund should fall below hfty pounds. 
 This proposal, however, was negatived by a majority. 
 
 Again, in 1858, a discussion on the propriety of reducing 
 the annual subscription after the first year of membership 
 to 2s. 6d., or, alternatively, the adoption of a scheme by 
 which members should have the power of commuting their 
 annual payments for a definite sum paid on entry. The 
 subject was remitted to the Council, who, after considera- 
 tion of the remit, agreed to recommend that the annual 
 subscription should be continued unchanged. 
 
 GUARANTEED ^25- BROWN SEQUARD'S LECTURES. 
 
 In 1859 Dr. George M'Leod approached the Council to 
 assist financially a scheme which he had taken much 
 trouble in promoting, viz., to invite Dr. Brown Sequard 
 to deliver a course of lectures in Glasgow. The course had 
 been arranged for, but subscribers at one guinea each, suffi- 
 cient to produce fifty pounds, the minimum amount which 
 could be offered to the lecturer, had not been forthcoming, 
 and Dr. M'Leod requested a grant of a sum not exceeding 
 twenty-five pounds, which would secure the delivery of the 
 lectures at a fee not exceeding half-a-guinea. The Council 
 agreed to supplement any deficiency in the subscriptions, 
 not exceeding twenty-five pounds. 
 
 These lectures were most successful. " A note from Dr.
 
 66 PROVIDING TEA AND COFFEE. 
 
 George M'Leod informed the Society that the number of 
 subscribers to the lectures of Dr. Brown Sequard had been 
 so great that no call on the funds of the Soci«ty, in terms 
 of their guarantee, would be requisite." 
 
 SUBSCRIBED i-'lO, 10s. TO THE JOHN HUNTER STATUE. 
 
 Four months later the Society voted unanimously a sum 
 of ten guineas to the fund for the erection in London of a 
 statue in honour of John Hunter. 
 
 .£20 TOWARDS REPEAL OF PENALTY CLAUSE IN THE 
 REGISTRATION BILL. 
 
 In April, 1861, it was agreed that twenty pounds of the 
 Society's funds be set aside to assist the movcnieut for 
 procuring a rcjieal of the penalty system, as applied to 
 Scotland, for obtaining certificates of the cause of death. 
 And, further, that the treasurer be instructed to hand over 
 the above-named sum to Dr M'Carron, the treasurer of 
 the Facidty of iMcdiciiic. This was done, but nothing 
 came of the agitation. 
 
 PROVIDING TEA AND COFFEE. 
 
 In the Medical Society, the admission of strangers to 
 the meetings, as I have already indicated, formed the sub- 
 ject of frequent discussion. The favourite theme with 
 the Medico-Chirurgical Society, as recorded in the transac- 
 tions of the Council, a]ipears to have been that of providing 
 tea and coffee at the ordinary' meetings. 
 
 At the first meeting of the Council of the Society, in 
 June, 1844, " it was unanimously agreed that coffee should 
 be served at the termination of every ordinary meeting, in 
 conformity with the practice followed by the various lite- 
 rary and scientific institutions of Loudon and Edinburgh." 
 
 In 1849, however, funds were low, and the secretaries 
 were mstructed regarding various economies, and, amongst
 
 STOP TEA AND COFFEE, 1862. 57 
 
 them, " to discontinue the supply of coffee at the ordinary 
 meetings." 
 
 CONVERSAZIONE. 
 
 The opening meeting of session 1859 " took the form of 
 a conversational meeting, when a large number of the 
 members and their friends attended. After tea and coffee, 
 which was supplied in the reading-room, the company pro- 
 ceeded to the Hall, where casts, drawings, new instru- 
 ments, and microscopic objects of interest were submitted 
 for their inspection, after which the Society proceeded to 
 the ordinary business." 
 
 STOP TEA AND COFFEE, 1862. 
 
 In 1862 it was unanimously agreed that the supply of 
 tea and coffee at the ordinary meetings of the Society 
 should be discontinued. This resolution was determined, 
 I presume, by the receipt of "an account of £11, 5s. for 
 refreshments supplied at the opening meeting of the 
 session." This account was remitted to two members of 
 Council, with instructions to settle the claim, " after re- 
 presenting that the same was a heavy over-charge." 
 
 But this extravagance was soon forgotten, for we find 
 two years later the Council again recommending that " tea 
 and coffee be provided on the first night of the session." 
 
 The Society in 1865 had £60, 7s. 9d. to its credit, and I 
 assume the possession of this wealth was the reason for the 
 following resolution : — ' ' It was agreed that at the 
 Society's meetings during the session there should be pro- 
 vided tea and coffee from half-past seven till eight o'clock, 
 and the secretaries were instructed to intimate the same 
 on the billets." 
 
 But early in March of the following year we find the 
 secretary suggesting " that refreshments at the Society's 
 meetings might be purveyed more economically than at 
 present, by resuming certain arrangements that at one
 
 58 THE RESOURCEFUL SECRETARY. 
 
 time were in use, and it was remitted to the secretary to 
 make such arrangements if practicable." 
 
 THE RESOURCEFUL SECRETARY. 
 
 Dr. Adams, whom I have ah-eady referred to as an 
 efficient secretarv of the ISIedical Society, was elected 
 secretary of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, along with 
 Dr. G. H. B. Macleod, in 1862. Here he was quite as 
 efficient, and perhaps more energetic, as may be illustrated 
 by his action in March, 1866. At a meeting of Council he 
 read a letter, which he had received the previous evening 
 from Dr. Fleming, whom the Council had agreed to nomi- 
 nate for the office of president. Dr. Fleming, in the 
 letter, stated that '^ while he highly appreciated the in- 
 tended compliment, he regretted much that at present his 
 engagements would preclude his accepting, or performing, 
 the duties of the office, if elected, and he therefore 
 requested that his name should be withdrawn before the 
 election." 
 
 The letter had been delivered at a late hour, and " no 
 sufficient time had since intervened to admit of a meeting 
 of Council, and of any action following such meeting, by 
 which the contingency might be met. Dr. Adams had 
 therefore taken it upon himself to wait upon Dr. Allen 
 Thomson, and request his permission to allow himself to 
 be nominated for the office of president, to which Dr. 
 Thomson had very kindly consented." This prompt action 
 was rewarded, for " the Council very cordially approved, 
 and commended the action taken by Dr. Adams, and 
 agreed that Dr. Thomson's name should be proposed as 
 president in the name of the Council." This action of 
 the secretary was the means by which Dr. Allen Thomson 
 had the honour of becoming the hrst president of the 
 amalgamated Society.
 
 PROPOSED AMALGAMATION, 1865. 59 
 
 PROPOSED AMALGAMATION, 1865. 
 
 At the first meeting of the twenty-second session, held 
 on 14th March, 1865, Dr. Kitchie, in his presidential 
 address, spoke of the advantages of such associations to 
 medical men. He then' made various suggestions as to 
 amalgamation of the Medical and the Medico-Chirurgical 
 Societies, the obtaining of a Eoyal Charter for the united 
 association, and suggested that committees should be 
 appointed to report to the Society, from time to time, 
 anything occurring in the various departments assigned 
 to them worthy of the Society's attention, or to prosecute 
 original research on any special point. 
 
 At the meeting of the Council in the following month 
 (April, 1865), the various suggestions contained in the 
 address delivered by Dr. Ritchie, on the first meeting 
 of the session, w^ere considered. The Council highly 
 approved of that recommendation which related to the 
 amalgamation of the Glasgow Medical with the Medico- 
 Chirurgical Society, and were unanimous in opinion that 
 such union would tend greatly to the prosperity and suc- 
 cessful action of the united Society. The subject, how- 
 ever, was not brought before the notice of the Society until 
 the first meeting of the next session, 13th March, 1866, 
 when the minute of the Council above referred to was 
 read, accompanied by the statement that the Council 
 strongly recommended the subject for the favourable con- 
 sideration of the Society. 
 
 The Society approved the report of the Council, and 
 remitted it back wath instructions to hold a conference with 
 the Glasgow Medical Society, and to bring up a report 
 on the arrangements by which the proposed amalgamation 
 should be carried into effect.
 
 60 AMALGAMATION CONCLUDED, 1866. 
 
 AMALGAMATION WITH THE MEDICAL SOCIETY 
 CONCLUDED, 1866. 
 
 In accordance with the remits from the Glasgow 
 Medical and the INIedico-Chirurgical S(jcieties, a meeting 
 of representatives of the former with the Council of the 
 latter was held on 27th April, 1866, and, after careful 
 consideration, the conjoint committees agreed to recom- 
 mend — 
 
 "1. That on and after 12th June of the presicnt year the 
 Glasgow ]Medical and the Glasgow jNIedico-Chirurgical 
 Societies should form a united Society under the name of 
 the Glasgow JNIedico-Chirurgical Society, the existing 
 property of both Societies becoming the property of the 
 new Society, and the members of both Societies becoming, 
 by the act of union, members of the newly constituted 
 Society, and having an equal interest in its property and 
 privileges. 
 
 " 2. That the ordinary meetings of the Society should be 
 held on the first Tuesday of each month, commencing in 
 September and ending in May, thus constituting a session 
 of nine months ; and that extra meetings should be held 
 on the third Tuesday of the same month as often as in the 
 judgment of the presidentand secretaries it may be judged 
 desirable. 
 
 "3. That the first meeting of the Society, as anew con- 
 stituted, should be held on the first Tuesday in September, 
 1866, on which date the election of office-bearers for the 
 session 1866-67 should take place." 
 
 The further recommendations are concerned with the 
 office-bearers and the length of time they should hold office, 
 with members presently in arrears, and with the prepara- 
 tion of a list of members and a set of rules. 
 
 The report of the conjoint committee containing the 
 above recommendations was read at a meeting of the 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society on 8th May, 1866. It was
 
 THE UNION. 61 
 
 approved, and it was again remitted to the same conjoint 
 committee to consider the details of arrangement con- 
 nected with the amalgamation and future management of 
 the conjoint Society. 
 
 Accordingly, the committee again met and discussed the 
 arrangements requisite under the new constitution of the 
 amalgamated Societies, and agreed— 
 
 "1. That the first meeting of the Society for the session 
 1866-67 should be summoned for Tuesday. 4th September, 
 1866. 
 
 "2. That the hst of ofiice-bearers, as elected in March, 
 1866, should be recommended for re-election, with the 
 addition of two members of Council, viz.. Dr. M'Leod and 
 Dr. A. R. Simpson. 
 
 "3. That no subscription should be exigible for the 
 session 1866-67, commencing 4th September. 
 
 "4. That the salary of the officer be augmented to £5 
 annually. 
 
 " 5. That the Society date its institution from the year 
 1814." 
 
 LAST MEETING OF THE OLD MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL 
 SOCIETY. 
 
 At the end of the twenty-third session, i.e.', on 26th 
 June, 1866, the chairman intimated at the close of the 
 meeting that this was the last meeting of the Medico- 
 Chirurgical Society, and that the first meeting of the new 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society, as constituted by the union of 
 the Glasgow Medical Society and the Medico-Chirurgical 
 Society of Glasgow, would be held in September for elec- 
 tion of office-bearers and other business. 
 
 THE UNION, 
 
 The two Societies had been in no sense of the term 
 rivals, many practitioners were members of both, but in
 
 62 THE UNION. 
 
 recent years they had been doing similar work on identical 
 lines. It was therefore supposed that united action would 
 probably lead to a wider interest in the work, to greater 
 efficiency in its performance, and to an increase in the 
 attendance at the meetings. 
 
 On more than one occasion have I heard it said that our 
 Society originated in 1844, and that it has no ground for 
 claiming 1814 as the date of its institution, but the reverse 
 is the case. 
 
 The proposal originated with the younger Society, 
 which, when the details were arranged, was absorbed by 
 the older Society. That this is so, is shown by the fact 
 that the work of the united Society was begun as if it was 
 simply a continuation of the Medical Society. 
 
 The first session began in September and ended in May 
 — which constituted the session of the Medical Society 
 since 1816 — and the day and hour of meeting determined 
 upon, were those of the Medical Society. It is true that 
 the name of the younger Society was adopted ; possibly a 
 spirit of tolerance towards the surgeon had come over the 
 older members of the Medical Society. But be that as it 
 may, had the change of title not been made then, it would 
 have certainly been demanded now, for the greater part of 
 our present-day proceedings relate to surgery and surgical 
 procedure, and if the title was to be changed to-day, 
 possibly the surgeon would demand first place in the super- 
 scription. It was a right and proper move to recognise by 
 name the two great branches of the healing art in naming 
 the amalgamated Society. 
 
 Another fact bearing on this subject is that our treasurer, 
 even to this day, records his transactions with the funds of 
 this Society, in the self-same book which was used by the 
 first treasurer of the Medical Society at, and from, its 
 foundation in 1814. 
 
 It may be interesting here to note the names and the 
 official position of the two gentlemen who were most 
 active in urging the advantages of amalgamation.
 
 THE UNION. 63 
 
 First, there was Dr. James Adams, who had been 
 secretary of the Medical Society from 1846 to 1852. He 
 was president of the Medical Society for session 1862-63, 
 at which date he was also the senior secretary of the 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society. It was he who, in Novem- 
 ber, 1863, while president of the one and secretary of the 
 other Society, proposed that the Medical Society should 
 appoint a committee " to consider the expediency of an 
 amalgamation of the two Societies," which, however, 
 came to nothing. 
 
 Secondly, when the question was placed before the 
 Medical Society in 1865, viz., " whether it is desirable to 
 amalgamate with the Medico-Chirurgical Society," it was 
 put by Dr. G. H. B. Macleod, the newly-elected president 
 of the Medical Society, and who, up till the time of his 
 election to this office, had been the junior secretary of the 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society . 
 
 The phraseology employed in describing the various steps 
 taken towards the amalgamation, is certainly not that of 
 the lawyer. It is inexact, and " whereas " is conspicuous 
 by its absence ; but notwithstanding the use of the word 
 " old " applied to the Medico-Chirurgical Society formed 
 in 1844, and the word " new " applied once or twice to the 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society subsequent to amalgamation, 
 all doubt in regard to the feelings and intentions of those 
 who brought about the union is dispelled by the fact that 
 the committees appointed by the two amalgamating 
 Societies placed on record, as one of the conditions on 
 which amalgamation should take place, " that the Society 
 should date its institution from the year 1814." (Minute 
 of Society, 4th September, 1866.)
 
 64 LORD LISTER, 1868. 
 
 AMALGAMATION, 1866. 
 
 The first meeting of the Society as constituted anew by 
 the amalgamation of the Glasgow Medical and Medico- 
 Chirurgical Societies was held on the evening of Tuesday, 
 4th September, 1866, under the presidency of Dr. Allen 
 Thomson, who was on that evening elected president for 
 the ensuing session. Minutes of the Council, dated 
 14th August, were read and approved, in which, inter alia, 
 it was recommended that " no subscription should be 
 exigible for session 1866-67; that the salary of the officer 
 should be augmented to five pounds annually ; and that 
 the Society should date its institution from the year 1814." 
 
 PBESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 
 
 " Dr. Thomson addressed the Society in remarks appro- 
 priate to the objects of the Association, making special 
 reference to the peculiar circumstances of the meeting as 
 constituted that evening." 
 
 TRANSACTIONS. 
 
 Many important communications have been submitted 
 to this Society since the amalgamation took place. Of 
 these I shall refer to a few only, and that in a few words. 
 
 LORD LISTER, 1868. 
 
 In the minutes under date 17th April, 1868, we find the 
 record of a very important meeting — important whether 
 it be viewed in relation to its influence on the surgery of 
 to-day, or from an historical standpoint. And as this was, 
 perhaps, the first occasion on which Lord Lister publicly 
 described the results of his investigations on the treatment 
 of wounds with antiseptic dressings, I quote the minute in 
 full.
 
 PROFESSOR ALLEN THOMSON.
 
 LORD LISTER, 1868. 65 
 
 " An extra meeting of the Society was held to-night, 
 and the president occupied the chair. 
 
 " Mr Lister gave a lengthened exposition of the atmo- 
 spheric germ theory of putrefaction, and illustrated it by 
 the exhibition of M. Pasteur's experiment with flasks con- 
 taining urine. 
 
 " He next directed attention to the employment of 
 carbolic acid for the destruction of the germs presumed to 
 exist in the air, and which Mr. Lister supposed to be the 
 exciting cause of putrefaction in wounds ; and he gave the 
 details of a case in which a young man sustained an incised 
 wound of the left side of the thorax, with penetration 
 through the diaphragm, and protrusion of the omentum 
 through the wound externally. The protruding portion 
 of omentum was cut oE ; and although the left pleural 
 cavity was so distended with air and haemorrhage as to 
 cause displacement of the heart to the right side of the 
 chest, the young man made a perfect recovery under the 
 carbolic acid dressing. 
 
 "Mr. Lister next described the effects of a ligature 
 applied, on the antiseptic system, to the carotid of a horse, 
 and showed the portion of the artery and the superjacent 
 skin, as well as the ligature, all of which had been removed 
 from the horse, which had died, from some disease uncon- 
 nected with the operation, thirteen days after. 
 
 " He also narrated a case of ligature of the external 
 iliac artery by the same method, and the history of a case 
 of necrosis of the libia, in which none of the dead bone had 
 come away, but was presumed to have been absorbed. 
 
 " The mode of dressing wounds with carbolic acid was 
 next described — one part of carbolic acid in twenty of 
 water being recommended for an internal application, and 
 for an external dressing, after experimenting with a num- 
 ber of different substances, Mr. Lister had arrived at the 
 conclusion that emplastrum plumbi, with a fourth of its 
 weight of beeswax, and impregnated with carbolic acid, is 
 the most suitable. The strength of the dressing ought, 
 
 E
 
 66 LORD LISTER, 1868. 
 
 however, in all cases to be regulated by the nature of the 
 wound. 
 
 A discussion following was, chiefly owing to the late 
 hour, confined principally to the cause pf putrefaction 
 in wounds, and the theory which had been advanced by 
 Mr. Lister to account for the antiseptic properties of the 
 carbolic acid." 
 
 This demonstration given by Lord Lister at this Society 
 in April, 1868, proves, if proof were necessary, that his 
 investigations into the antiseptic treatment of wounds was 
 not only begun in Glasgow, but even then had been so 
 successfully employed by him in the wards of the Glasgow 
 Koyal Infirmary, that he was able to demonstrate the 
 satisfactory results he had obtained in this very room. 
 For twelve months longer, he remained Professor of Sur- 
 gery in Glasgow, and one of the surgeons to the Royal 
 Infirmary. 
 
 His communication was followed by at least two papers 
 antagonistic to what was spoken of later, as " Listerism." 
 One of these was by Dr. Eben. \Yatson, " On the theory 
 of suppuration and the use of carbolic acid dres.sings," in 
 which he cast doubt on the presence of germs in the air 
 and their alleged association with the formation of pus. 
 The second was by Dr. Morton, " On carbolic acid — its 
 therapeutic position — with special reference to its use in 
 severe surgical cases." From experience, he had " come 
 to the conclusion that it was not superior, and in many 
 cases it was inferior, to other methods of treatment." 
 
 These papers notwithstanding, the antiseptic treatment 
 of wounds was adopted by many even in those early days. 
 In January, 1873, Dr. Alex. Patterson read " Notes on 
 five weeks' practice of surgery in the Glasgow Royal 
 Infirmary," and in the minutes we find " the essayist 
 referred to the antiseptic mode of treatment which had 
 been carried out in those cases, and he spoke of it in the 
 highest possible terms, ranking it only second to chloro- 
 form, as a boon to practical surgery."
 
 TUBERCULOSIS, 1891 AND 1901. 67 
 
 SEWAGE. 
 
 In 1868 also the sewage question, and the purification 
 of the river, bulk largely in the transactions, 
 
 URARA POISON. 
 
 In March, 1871, Dr. Dougall read a paper on the urara 
 poison, in which he gave an outline of the history of its 
 discovery and its method of preparation. He also detailed 
 shortly the result of some experiments which he had made 
 with it upon animals. He exhibited a number of the 
 poisoned arrows, and the bamboo tube used by the Indians 
 for projecting them. Attempts were made to poison a 
 rabbit, a fowl, and a pigeon by the insertion of arrows 
 beneath the skin, but they all unaccountably failed. 
 
 LORD KELVIN. 
 
 Sir William Thomson gave a lecture " On the diffusion 
 of liquids and gases," illustrated by experiments to show 
 the extreme slowness of the diffusion of liquids on the one 
 hand, and the great rapidity of the diffusion of gases on 
 the other. 
 
 ANESTHETICS, 1890 AND 1902. 
 
 An important discussion, and one which aroused much 
 interest, was that on ansethetics held in October, 1890. 
 It was opened by the president, Dr. William Macewen, in 
 a most interesting paper, and the whole discussion, edited 
 by the secretary, was published in pamphlet form in 1891. 
 The same topic was again the subject of discussion, and 
 practically by another generation, in December, 1902, as 
 most of you interested in the subject will remember. 
 
 TUBERCULOSIS, 1891 AND 1901. 
 
 A discussion, which led to important results, on 
 " Tuberculosis as an infectious disease," was introduced
 
 68 NEW MIDWIVES BILL, 1890. 
 
 by Dr. Lindsay Steven on 18th December, 1891. Professor 
 Gairdner, who took part, considered the question a much 
 larger one than the previous speakers had indicated. He 
 was in the habit of teaching that tubercle is the one disease 
 where infectiousness had been accurately proved, and the 
 logical issue of this is that we should isolate our tubercular 
 patients as lepers were isolated. But that he was not pre- 
 pared to face at present. He moved, " That a memorial 
 be presented to the Town Council of Glasgow, calling 
 their attention to the fact that tuberculosis is now fully 
 recognised as an infectious disease, and asking them to 
 take the matter into their serious consideration with a 
 view to the protection of the community from the infec- 
 tion." This motion was carried, and a deputation was 
 subsequently received by the magistrates in the City 
 Chambers. 
 
 Eight years later, as you all know, this Society took 
 an active part in the establishment of a Branch in Glas- 
 gow of the National Association for the Prevention of 
 Tuberculosis. 
 
 Again, in 1901, an important discussion on the "Pro- 
 visions for the treatment and relief of the tuberculous 
 poor" was held. It was opened by Professor ]\rCall 
 Anderson, Dr. Lindsay Steven, and Dr. A. K. Chalmers. 
 Some members of the Town Council were present, and 
 took part in the discussion, by invitation. 
 
 NEW MIDWIVES BILL, 1890. 
 
 At a meeting of Council held in October, 1890, the 
 secretary read a communication which had been received 
 from Dr. Pvintoul, of Liverpool, containing several sug- 
 gested resolutions opposed to the proposed " New Mid- 
 wives Bill." The letter was discussed, and Professor 
 Gairdner expressed the opinion " that the discussion of 
 subjects in medical politics was foreign to the objects of 
 the Society." As this opinion was acquiesced in by those
 
 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS. 69 
 
 present, it was agreed " That this Council do not think 
 that the subject should be discussed by this Society, but 
 think that the communication be read to the Society, in 
 whose hands it may be left." 
 
 DR. PAVY. 
 
 In January, 1896, Dr. F. W. Pavy of London gave an 
 interesting address on some points connected with the 
 pathology and treatment of diabetes mellitus. The 
 address was delivered in the hall of the Philosophical 
 Society, and was listened to by a large audience of prac- 
 titioners and students. 
 
 OFFICE-BEAEERS. 
 
 In the Glasgow Medical Society, the office-bearers con- 
 sisted of the president, two vice-presidents, a treasurer, 
 and a secretary, and the business of the Society was con- 
 ducted by the Society itself. For special business a com- 
 mittee was occasionally appointed, but there was no 
 Council, so the story of the Society and its doings is con- 
 tained in the minutes of the ordinary meetings. 
 
 The Medico-Chirurgical Society, on the other hand, had 
 an elected Council, consisting of a president, two vice- 
 presidents, a treasurer, and two secretaries, together with 
 six other members ; and this Council regulated the private 
 business of the Society. But the ruling of the Council 
 has not always given satisfaction. 
 
 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEAEEES. 
 
 The law on the subject of election of office-bearers was 
 " That the Council shall regulate the private business of 
 the Society," and thus we find in an early minute of the 
 Council, " It was agreed that, in accordance with the laws 
 of the Society, the Council should recommend the follow- 
 ing gentlemen as office-bearers in room of those whose
 
 70 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS. 
 
 tenure of office terminates at this date," and later, " The 
 vacant offices were filled up in accordance with the recom- 
 mendations of the Council." 
 
 In 1848 Dr. Morton moved that " in future the office- 
 bearers of this Society be elected by ballot, without any 
 recommendation from the Council." Suspicion of the 
 Council and its motives is a chronic ailment, and one which 
 is not confined to medical societies. In our own time many 
 difficulties have cropped up, and when least expected. 
 When the Council, as a Council, took no part in the 
 election of office-bearers, members were frequently pro- 
 posed at the meeting, at which proposals were received, 
 who either did not desire to hold office, or who, on account 
 of other engagements or residence at a considerable dis- 
 tance, found it impossible to attend the meetings of the 
 Council. The result was great difficulty in getting a 
 quorum when a meeting of Council was called. So much 
 was this felt that at a meeting of this Society held on 22nd 
 May, 1886, the following recommendation was made and 
 agreed to: — " That the sederunt be taken at each meet- 
 ing, and that the Council take into account the attendance 
 of members in nominating a certain number for election 
 as office-bearers and Council of the Society," and also, 
 " that a leet of twenty be annually so nominated." 
 
 The leet so chosen is entered in the minutes of the 
 Council for September, 1886, but it was not further put 
 into practice ; and at next meeting of Council, which was 
 held at the close of an adjourned meeting of the Society 
 (called specially to consider the better working of the 
 Society, election of office-bearers, institution of sectional 
 meetings, etc.), it was resolved that the election of 
 office-bearers be left entirely in the hands of the Society. 
 There it remains to this day, and the wish of the president 
 and Council is that the members take such interest in 
 the Society as to make their nominations in good time, 
 and nominate members who will devote some time to 
 the duties of their offices.
 
 AFTER AMALGAMATION. 71 
 
 DAYS AND HOUE OF MEETING BEFOKE 
 AMALGAMATION. 
 
 Prior to amalgamation both societies had fixed upon 
 Tuesday as their day of meeting, and it remained so with 
 each until they united. The Medical Society met on the 
 first and third Tuesday of each month from September 
 till May, while the Medico-Chirurgical Society met on the 
 second Tuesday of each month from March till October. 
 
 AFTEE AMALGAMATION. 
 
 At the first meeting of the re-organised Society it was 
 proposed by Dr. Steven " that the ordinary meetings of 
 the Society shall be held on the first Friday of each month 
 during the session." This motion was considered at the 
 next meeting. It was the cause of a considerable amount 
 of discussion and the movement of amendments, but when 
 put to the vote the motion was declared to be carried by a 
 majority, and the Society resolved accordingly. From 
 that date till now, the first Friday of the month has 
 remained the statutory day of meeting. But although it 
 has remained so, there have been attempts to have it 
 altered. The last attempt was made by Professor George 
 Buchanan when he was president in 1880. He proposed 
 Monday in place of Friday as the day of meeting, but, 
 when it was discussed at the Council, it was generally 
 agreed that Monday was not a convenient evening for the 
 majority of the members, and the president withdrew his 
 motion . 
 
 In like manner it is as difficult to fix upon an hour, as 
 it is on a day, which will suit, equally, the convenience of 
 every member of a large Society like this. 
 
 Eight o'clock remained the hour of meeting from the 
 date of amalgamation in 1866 till 1886, when, on account 
 of the small number of members who attended the ordi- 
 nary meetings, it was resolved after discussion that the
 
 72 PUBLICATION OF TRANSACTIONS. 
 
 night of meeting remain the same, viz., the hist Friday 
 of the month, but that the hour be later, viz.. 8.30, in 
 place of 8 o'clock, as formerly. 
 
 In 1891 it was again proposed that the hour of meeting 
 should be 8 p.m., but the proposal was negatived. 
 
 SECTIONS, 1886. 
 
 With the object of further increasing the interest of 
 the profession in the work of the Society, it was arranged 
 in 1886 that the work should be done in sections, and 
 the Society was accordingly divided into four sections 
 — Medicine, Surgery, Pathology, and Obstetrics — each 
 section having a vice-president, two councillors, and a 
 secretary. 
 
 For a time, increased interest was shown, and then not 
 only did the attendance fall off, but those members, pre- 
 sumably specially interested in the work of a particular 
 section, were, at the meetings of that section, frequently 
 conspicuous by their absence. So, in 1894, it was agreed 
 that while the sections would be retained, individual 
 meetings should not be confined to the subject of any one 
 section, but that there should be " mixed billets," to give 
 greater general interest to the proceedings. 
 
 While sections are still retained nominally, they are 
 shorn of their importance in having no vice-president and 
 no sectional secretary. 
 
 PUBLICATION OF THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
 SOCIETY. 
 
 Although the proceedings of the Society had appeared 
 regularly for many years in the pages of the ' ' Glasgow 
 Medical Journal," it was decided in 1895 to pubhsh the 
 Transactions in volume form. The subject had been dis- 
 cussed in 1893, but after making enquiries into the ques- 
 tion of cost, the Council reported " that it would be 
 impossible to publish, and to continue the publication of
 
 CONGRATULATrONS TO LORD LISTER, 1897. 73 
 
 Transactions, worthy of the Society, under the present 
 financial arrangements." At first it was hoped that a 
 volume containing the joint transactions of this and of 
 the Pathological and Clincial Society might have been 
 arranged, but the negotiations were broken off, and the 
 first volume of our Transactions, which contained the pro- 
 ceedings of sessions 1895-96 and 1896-97, appeared in due 
 course. The succeeding volumes have been published with 
 regularity, and duly forwarded to the members of the 
 Society, as well as to some of the more important libraries. 
 The publication of the Transactions of two sessions in one 
 volume has its disadvantages, and the Council may, during 
 the present year, submit a scheme whereby they might be 
 published annually. 
 
 CONGE ATULATIONS TO LORD LISTER, 1897. 
 
 The following letter, addressed to Lord Lister on his 
 elevation to the peerage, and tlie reply received, are of 
 considerable interest : — 
 
 Faculty Hall, 242 St. Vincent Street, 
 Glasgow, 14th Fehniary, 1897. 
 
 To The Right Honoukai^le Lord Lister, P.R.8. 
 
 My Lord, — It is the desire of the Council and Members of 
 the Glasgow Medico-Chirurgical Society to offer your Lordship 
 their congratulations on the receipt of the honour which has 
 been recently conferred upon you, in recognition of your distin- 
 guished scientific position, and of your valuable contributions to 
 the sum of human welfare. 
 
 The Society recalls with much satisfaction that it had the 
 honour to claim you as one of its members, and that its historical 
 associations include some of the earliest records of the work 
 which has placed your Lordship's name high on the roll of fame, 
 and the issue of which is universally declaimed as a great and 
 practical benediction to mankind.
 
 74 ELIGIBILITY OF LADY MEDICALS. 
 
 In the name, and on behalf, of the Glasgow Medico-Chirurgical 
 Society, we have the honour to subscribe ourselres, — Your 
 Lordship's most obedient Servants, 
 
 (Signed) W. L. Reid, President. 
 
 ( ,, ) C. O. Hawthorne, Secretary. 
 
 12 Pakk (Jkescent, 
 London, W., ISlh Ftbruary. 1807. 
 
 My dear Dr. Reid, — I beg you to convey to the Council and 
 Members of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, my warm thanks for 
 their most kind congratulations. — Believe me, Very sincerely 
 yours, 
 
 (Signed) Lister. 
 
 ELIGIBILITY OF LADY MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS 
 FOR MEMBERSHIR 
 
 At the annual general meeting of the Society held on 
 8th May, 1903, a recommendation from tlie Council, to 
 the effect ' ' that women who are registered medical prac- 
 titioners be eligible for membership," was considered. 
 This was put as a motion against an amendment propos- 
 ing delay in the consideration of the question till the begin- 
 ninti of the next session. Five voted for the amendment 
 and nine for the motion, so that " women who are regis- 
 tered medical practitioners be eligible for membership " 
 was declared to be the finding of the meeting. 
 
 The first meeting of the following session was inaugu- 
 rated by a heated discussion consequent on the Christian 
 names of a lady medical practitioner having been repre- 
 sented on the ballot paper by initials only, and some 
 members had voted not knowing that the candidate was 
 otherwise than a man. As a result of the discussion the 
 ballot papers were destroyed without counting them. 
 This act led to further discussion, some holding that the 
 proceedings were both irregular and unconstitutional.
 
 FUNDS. 75 
 
 Then at the first meeting in November, the following 
 motion was submitted, viz., "That the resolution in 
 favour of the admission of women as members of the 
 Society, passed on 8th May, 1903, is invalid, as Kule 23 
 was not observed." The formalities necessary in any 
 proposed alteration in the constitution of the Society had 
 not been followed. When put to the vote, thirty-nine 
 supported the motion and twenty-seven opposed it, by 
 which vote it was declared that women were not eligible 
 for membership of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of 
 Glasgow. 
 
 FUNDS. 
 
 Since the amalgamation, the subscription has remained 
 at five shillings per annum, and there is no entrance fee. 
 For this small subscription the member may regale him- 
 self with tea, coffee, and cakes in the Library Hall before 
 the meeting, while he enjoys converse with his professional 
 friends ; he may attend every meeting throughout the 
 session, keeping himself in touch with the latest develop- 
 ments in medicine and surgery; and at the close of every 
 alternate session he is presented with the volume contain- 
 ing the transactions of the previous two sessions. INIodifica- 
 tions have been proposed from time to time. By a payment 
 of three guineas, life membership could at one time 
 be assured ; and in 1885 it was proposed and agreed to, that 
 ordinary members might, if they choose, commute their 
 annual subscription by a single payment of fifty shillings; 
 and it was also enacted that after members had paid their 
 annual subscription continuously for twenty years, they 
 should be exempt from further annual contributions. 
 This latter portion of the rule was formally deleted at the 
 annual general meeting in ]May, 1891, and only those 
 members who had by that date completed twenty con- 
 tinuous years of membership were entitled to the benefit.
 
 76 PRESENT INVESTMENTS. 
 
 FAILURE OF CITY OF GLASGOW BANK, 1877. 
 
 This Society, in common with several members of our 
 profession, suffered through the failure of the City of 
 Glasgow Bank in 1877. Two years later it is noted in the 
 minutes of the Council that a circular had been received 
 from the liquidator of the City Bank, asking that the 
 Society should forego 2s. 6d. in the pound of the money 
 which stood at its credit in the bank when it stopped pay- 
 ment. The sum in the bank at that date was £96, and 
 the Council agreed to recommend the Society to comply 
 with the request, which was done, the abatement of the 
 claim resulting in a loss of £11, 19s. 6d. 
 
 PRESENT INVESTMENTS. 
 
 And at the present time, the Society, in common wdth 
 investors generally, is met with a depreciation in the 
 capital value of its reserve fund, in consequence of the 
 lower market price of the stock in which the money is 
 invested; but fortunately for the Society, as well as for 
 the Corporation, whose stock we hold, the interest is paid 
 regularly.
 
 . y- -^/.o^/tloo.
 
 PATHOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL SOCIETY. 77 
 
 THE GLASGOW PATHOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL 
 SOCIETY, 1873. 
 
 This was the second Society formed in Glasgow under 
 the designation " Pathological." The record of its for- 
 mation is unusual, and no reasons are given to account 
 for the movement. The first page of the first minute book 
 bears the address, 152 Wellington Street, Glasgow, and 
 the date is 25th November, 1873, and, following this, we 
 find the heading put thus : — 
 
 "PROPOSED 
 PATHOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL SOCIETY." 
 
 Fifteen gentlemen were present, and "Dr. Leishman 
 was voted to the chair ; and on his proposal a committee 
 was appointed to prepare a draft of regulations should the 
 formation of a Society seem desirable." 
 
 This piece of business being over, preparations, draw- 
 ings, and specimens were shown by Dr. Thomas Eeid, by 
 Dr. Hector Cameron, and by Dr. John Wilson, and the 
 meeting ended. 
 
 At the second meeting Professor Gairdner was elected 
 president of the Society, and the other office-bearers w^ere 
 a vice-president and a secretary. Three years elapsed 
 before a treasurer was appointed. 
 
 Membership was at first limited to thirty. Members 
 were elected by ballot, and " the production of some com- 
 munication by applicants must precede their election." 
 The regular meetings were held on the second Tuesday of 
 the month from October till May at 8 p.m., and fines for 
 absence were imposed. " If a member is absent from 
 three consecutive monthly meetings, a fine of five shillings 
 shall be paid." 
 
 " Communications for the Society must be of the nature 
 of expositions of actual facts, founded as much as possible
 
 78 ORDINARY MEMBERS. 
 
 upon objects presented for observation and criticism at the 
 meetings." 
 
 " The expenses of the Society shall be defrayed by the 
 levying of such contributions from the members as may 
 be required." At first the contribution called for was 
 five shillings ; occasionally an increase was called for to 
 defray some special outlay ; and latterly the annual sub- 
 scription was one of ten shillings. 
 
 The early meetings were held in the Lying-in Hospital 
 in Wellington Street ; but at the beginning of the second 
 session, October, 1874, and on till jNIay, 1876, this Society 
 met in what was then spoken of as the new Eye Infirmary 
 in Berkeley Street. From October, 1876, it met in the 
 Faculty Hall, and continued to do so until the end. 
 
 In the second year of its existence there was trouble of 
 a threefold character — irregular attendance, non-payment 
 of the annual subscription, and failure to pay fines 
 incurred. An addition was made to the laws to enable 
 the Society to deal with such recalcitrant members. It 
 reads thus :—" That any member who shall have failed 
 to attend at least four meetings of the Society during a 
 session, or who may have failed to pay the subscription and 
 fines incurred, shall be considered to have thereby, with- 
 out further debate or vote on the subject, forfeited his 
 membership." 
 
 ORDINARY MEMBERS. 
 
 When the Society was formed the number of members 
 was, as already indicated, limited to thirty, which number 
 was increased, however, from time to time. 
 
 In the rules published in 1879 it is intimated " that the 
 Society shall consist of not more than forty members." 
 
 In 1882 the secretary intimated "that several gentle- 
 men were anxious to join the Society, and that there was 
 as 3'et only one vacancy. After some conversation it was 
 agreed to leave the rules as they stand, without recom- 
 mending any change at present."
 
 ORDINARY AND HONORARY MEMBERS. 79 
 
 In 1885 the subject of increasing the membership of the 
 Society was again discussed, and " the Council resolved 
 to recommend that the membership be increased by five 
 during this session," but this proposal was negatived when 
 discussed by the Society in March, 1885. 
 
 While the members of the Society had every right to 
 restrict the number of members with whom they desired to 
 be associated in the work of the Society, the position taken 
 up by the majority resembled that of the dog in the manger, 
 for while they themselves did not attend, they refused to 
 admit others anxious to become members, and who if 
 elected would have had the right to take part in the 
 Society's proceedings. 
 
 In October, 1890, the majority relented, and it was 
 agreed to further increase the membership. " The 
 Society . . . shall consist of not more than fifty 
 members." 
 
 HONORARY MEMBERS. 
 
 In 1893 the Council desired " the power to elect hono- 
 rary members up to the runiiber of ten from the past presi- 
 dents of the Society ; such elections to take place by order 
 of seniority." The motion was agreed to by the Society 
 in January, 1894, by four votes to two against the pro- 
 posal. 
 
 ORDINARY AND HONORARY MEMBERS. 
 
 But the arrangements did not yet give satisfaction 
 apparently, for in May, 1897, the Council made the fol- 
 lowing proposal : — ' ' In order to create vacancies in the 
 Society's ordinary membership, and to render eligible as 
 honorary members those who had not been presidents of 
 the Society, the rule dealing with honorary members 
 should be altered to read thus, ' that the Council has power 
 to elect not more than three honorary members annually, 
 such members having been connected with the Society for 
 a period of at least twenty years.' "
 
 80 DAYS OF MEETING. 
 
 FURTHER INCREASE. 
 In April, 1900, it was agreed on the recommendation 
 of the Council to increase the membership of the Society 
 to seventy-five, and at the same meeting it was agreed that 
 tea, coffee, etc., be provided at the meetings of the 
 Society. 
 
 DAYS OF MEETING— MUSIC VBRSUS MEDICINE. 
 
 That many members of this Society preferred music to 
 medicine might be infered from the minute of the com- 
 mittee meeting of date December, 1880. It is this: — 
 " Owing to the orchestral concerts occurring this year in 
 December and January on the Tuesday evening, it was 
 decided to hold the December meeting on the Wednesday 
 following the regular night, and the January meeting 
 either on the Monday or the Wednesday as might seem 
 most suitable to the members when the matter was 
 announced at next meeting." 
 
 And in 1883, " The subject of the meeting night was 
 fully discussed again, as this last session three of the meet- 
 ings having coincided with the orchestral concerts the 
 meetings had been so far interfered with as regards attend- 
 ance." It was suggested that " the meetings might be 
 altered so as to be held on ^Monday nights," but it was 
 ultimately agreed that " next session the Tuesday night 
 be adhered to, except on the occasion of the concerts fall- 
 ing on the same nights, when the meetings will be held on 
 Mondays." 
 
 The foregoing recommendation of the Council was sub- 
 mitted to a meeting of the Society in May, 1883, and its 
 acceptance is minuted thus: — " The Society endorsed the 
 recommendation of the Council as to changing the night 
 of meeting next session to ^londay when the orchestral 
 concerts fell on the regular night of meeting, as the attend- 
 ance at the meetings last session had been injuriously 
 affected by the coincidence of these concerts."
 
 HOUR OF MEETING. 81 
 
 Finally Monday was chosen as the regular day of 
 meeting. 
 
 On 15th April, 1886, a motion by Dr. Coats was carried 
 without any amendment, viz., " That the night of meet- 
 ing of the Society be altered to the second Monday of the 
 month in place of the second Tuesday." 
 
 HOUE OF MEETING. 
 
 On the formation of the Society, 8 p.m. was fixed as 
 the hour of meeting, and the Society continued to meet 
 at that hour for close on thirty years. In October, 1897, 
 it was proposed to change the hour of meeting to 4.30 p.m., 
 but the proposal was not then entertained. In October, 
 1902, however, the Council discussed means whereby the 
 attendance might be increased. One was that there 
 should be a greater number and variety of items on each 
 billet, and the other was a change in the hour of meeting. 
 
 The president called attention to the very small pro- 
 portion of members constituting an ordinary attendance 
 at meetings of the Society, and advocated an alteration of 
 the hour of meeting with a view to improve this. He sug- 
 gested that the hour be changed to 4.30 p.m. as an experi- 
 ment, and proposed that this be stated on the billet for 
 the first meeting, as a recommendation from the Council, 
 which was agreed to. 
 
 The recommendation was placed before the Society on 
 10th November, 1902. After discussion it was agreed to 
 adopt 4.30 P.M. as the hour of meeting for the remainder of 
 that session. 
 
 On 10th April, 1903, it was agreed by Council to recom- 
 mend that 4.30 be the hour of meeting for the next session, 
 although one member advocated alternate meetings at 
 4.30 and 8.30, which proposal was not entertained by the 
 Council. At the meeting of the Society in May, the pro- 
 posal of the Council was agreed to, though an amendment 
 to return to the former hour of meeting" (8 p.m.) was pro- 
 posed and defeated.
 
 82 FUNDS. 
 
 On 11th April, 1904, it was moved that the hour of 
 meeting of the Society for tlie future be 4.30 p.m. But 
 an amendment to the effect that the former hour of 
 meeting, viz., 8 o'clock, be adhered to, vs^as proposed; 
 and when the vote was taken, it was declared that only 
 three had voted for the motion, and eleven for the amend- 
 ment in favour of the evening hour. 
 
 At the beginning of the next session (October, 1904), 
 it was proposed that the regular meetings of the Society 
 should be held on the evening of the second Monday of 
 the month, at 8.30 p.m., which proposal was unanimously 
 agreed to at the next ordinary meeting. And 8.30 p.m. 
 remained the hour of meeting until the Society became 
 merged in the Medico-Chirurgical Society. 
 
 FUNDS. 
 
 In 1884 it is noted in making up the budget for the year 
 that a sum of £5, 15s. was derived from fines exacted 
 from members for non-attendance ; and at the same 
 time, to clear the cost of a volume of Transactions 
 about to be published, it was resolved that the subscrip- 
 tion for the year be raised to 15s. 
 
 In the following year the subscription was fixed at 10s. 
 
 In the treasurer's report for 1885-86 the receipts 
 amounted to £24, 17s. lid., while the expenditure 
 amounted to £48, 18s. 7d., leaving a debt of £24, Os. 8d. 
 due by the Society, and the Council resolved to recommend 
 that the subscription be fixed at one pound for next session. 
 
 The increase in the expenditure was due to the publica- 
 tion of the Transactions of the Society, to having a paid 
 reporter at the meetings, and to the reprinting and circu- 
 lating the discussion on all)uminuria in 1884, and on cancer 
 in 1886. 
 
 A committee was appointed to enquire into the question 
 generally, and amongst other things it recommended an 
 increase in the membership, that fines for non-attendance
 
 SIR WILLIAM T. GAIRDNER. 83 
 
 be abolished, that the annual subscription be fixed at ten 
 shillings, and the publication of Transactions be placed 
 under the charge of a special committee. 
 
 The increase in the numbers of the membership was not 
 agreed to by the Society, and in May, 1887, it was 
 resolved, on the motion of Dr. Eobertson, that the publica- 
 tion of Transactions in a separate volume should be dis- 
 continued for the present. 
 
 Further evidence of the waning interest of the members 
 in the work of the Society is indicated in the following 
 abstract from the minutes of 2nd October, 1902 : — " The 
 treasurer stated that as a result of a circular issued early 
 in September he had received £11, 10s. as arrears of sub- 
 scriptions due. There were, however, thirty-five members 
 whose subscriptions were in arrears for periods varying 
 from one to four sessions." 
 
 DECLINES THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 Professor Macewen, who was an original member 
 of this Society, was nominated by the Council for the presi- 
 dency in 1885. But just prior to the day of election, 
 although his was the only name proposed, he intimated 
 his desire not to accept the office. 
 
 SIR WILLIAM T. GAIRDNER. 
 
 Sir William attended the Society for the last time at the 
 opening meeting of session 1902-1903, when he expressed 
 the pleasure it gave him to be present. He had always 
 cherished an active interest in the Society, he said, and 
 continued to do so, for as the first president he had been 
 associated with all the senior members of the Society. 
 He emphasised the function of the Society as being 
 essentially a working one.
 
 84 PUBLICATION OF TRANSACTIONS. 
 
 PUBLICATION OF THE TRANSACTIONS. 
 
 Complete reports of the Transactions of the Society 
 appeared regularly in the pages of the " Glasgow jMedical 
 Journal " during the first eleven years. In addition, 
 abstracts were published from time to time in the 
 " Lancet " and the " British Medical Journal." 
 
 In 1883 the Council resolved that the reports then 
 appearing in the " Glasgow Medical Journal " should be 
 collected and published as a separate volume of Trans- 
 actions. The first volume, containing a full record of the 
 business transacted by the Society during session 1883- 
 1884, was published in September, 1884; the second 
 volume, containing the transactions for tw'o sessions, 
 appeared in 1886, and then their publication ceased. 
 
 In 1891 it was again decided to publish a volume of 
 Transactions, embracing the work of the five years from 
 1886 to 1891 ; but the material being too much to be pub- 
 lished in one volume, it was further decided by the Society 
 that only a portion of its Transactions during those five 
 years should be included, and a committee of selection was 
 appointed. 
 
 The publication of the fifth volume (1893-95) was 
 delayed by the death of the editor, Dr. John Carslaw. In 
 the preface it is stated that "the Transactions are a 
 posthumous record of the painstaking and thoroughness 
 with which they were compiled and edited, and that the 
 Society loses in Dr. Carslaw, not only a valued member, 
 but an editor and reporter of its Transactions whose place 
 it will be difficult adequately to fill." 
 
 From that date onwards the Transactions have appeared 
 regularly, each volume containing a record of the work of 
 the two preceding sessions; and the eleventh volume, 
 which is now in the press, will close the record of the 
 work of the Glasgow Pathological and Clinical Society as 
 a separate Society.
 
 ADMISSION OF LADY MEDICALS. 85 
 
 ADMISSION OF LADY MEDICALS TO MEMBERSHIP. 
 
 While some lady medicals were knocking at the door of 
 the Medico-Chirurgical Society, others were longing to 
 become members of the Pathological and Clinical. The 
 first formal note of the fact occurring in the minutes was 
 the intimation of the following notice of motion, which 
 was read from the chair at the meeting held on 12th 
 October, 1903:- — " That ladies possessed of the necessary 
 medical qualifications may be admitted to the member- 
 ship of this Society." 
 
 This motion was discussed at the following meeting, 
 held on 9th November. The gentleman in whose name 
 the motion stood said ' ' that a lady practitioner w as 
 engaged in his wards in the study of the pathology of the 
 pelvic organs. As it was his desire that she might be in a 
 position to present her work before this Society, he was 
 obliged to bring up this motion." In the subsequent dis- 
 cussion some expressed the opinion that the character of 
 the meetings would be altered by the admission of ladies, 
 and that its usefulness would be limited. " It must be 
 borne in mind," one said, " that the Society is a clinical 
 as well as a pathological one, and that at times the cases 
 of patients are presented to the Society whose complete 
 demonstration would, in the presence of lady members, 
 constitute a real difficulty." Others, who had given 
 clinical instruction to mixed classes, had experienced none 
 of the objections raised ; and another " could not perceive 
 any difference between the presence of a nurse and a lady 
 practitioner, during the demonstrations of particular 
 cases." 
 
 When the motion for the admission of lady practitionej;- 
 to the membership of the Society was put to the meeting, 
 twelve voted for and seven voted against it, and the motion 
 was thereupon declared carried. This finding was 
 immediately followed by notice of motion, " That the 
 rules of the Society requiring alteration, be modified to
 
 86 AMALGAMATION WITH THE 
 
 include lady members." This motion was discussed at 
 the next meeting, and there being no amendment, the 
 nocessary changes in the wording of the rules were 
 arranged. 
 
 While this change in the constitution of the Society was 
 carried, no change in the character of its membership 
 resulted. There is no note in the minutes of any lady 
 having been proposed for membership, and certainly none 
 were ever admitted to membership. But it is recorded 
 that on the 12th November, 1906, a lady practitioner, 
 introduced by a member, gave " a lantern demonstration 
 ()!' primnry carcimomsi of th(> ovary." 
 
 AMALGAMATION WITH THE MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL 
 SOCIETY, 1907. 
 
 The Pathological and Clinical Society was primarily a 
 Society of workers, and each member was expected to con- 
 tribute of his best each year. And during the thirty-three 
 years which was the measure of its life, it has been an 
 important factor in the diffusion of knowledge of facts, 
 newly discovered and known of old, bearing on the science 
 and practice of medicine and surgery. 
 
 In recent years it has been felt that there was con- 
 siderable overlapping in the work done by the Pathological 
 and the ^ledico-Chirurgical Societies, and as the 
 attendance of nicnibers at the former had seriously fallen 
 olT, members were tempted to take their specimens and 
 communications to a society where they would be seen by 
 a larger number. As a consequence the number and, 
 perhaps, the importance of the contributions had also 
 sull'ered of late. For these reasons it was felt by the 
 Council of the Pathological and Clinical Society that it 
 would be advantageous to join forces with the Medico- 
 Chirurgical Society, and accordingly on 20th September, 
 1906, " it was remitted to the president and the secretary 
 to sound the ■Nledico-Chirurgical Society on the question,
 
 MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY, 1907. 87 
 
 and, if their reply was favourable, to carry out the neces- 
 sary arrangements for bringing the matter before an 
 ordinary meeting of this Society at an early date." 
 
 The subject was brought before the Council of the 
 Medico-Chirurgical Society, and an informal discussion 
 took place at a meeting of Council on 5th October, 1906, 
 at which " it was resolved to agree generally with the 
 object of the proposal, but without committing the Council 
 or the Society in any way as to terms." 
 
 The subject was very fully discussed at several subse- 
 quent meetings of the Pathological and Clinical Society, 
 and amalgamation was finally agreed to, practically unani- 
 mously. Then, in February, 1907, a deputation from the 
 Pathological and Clinical Society was received, and its 
 representations considered, respecting a proposal made 
 by that Society for amalgamation wdth the Medico- 
 Chirurgical. During the discussion it was mentioned that 
 only two or three members of the Pathological were not at 
 the same time members of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, 
 so that the actual question of amalgamation became 
 narrowed down to the absorption by the Medico- 
 Chirurgical Society into its membership of those gentle- 
 men , and the perpetuation in some way of the name of the 
 Pathological and Clinical Society. 
 
 Our Council reported the result of the conferences which 
 had taken place between it and the committee appointed 
 by the Pathological and Clinical Society relative to the 
 proposed amalgamation to this Society at its meeting held 
 on 1st March, 1907. The result is thus recorded : — " This 
 Society cordially approves of the proposal made to it by 
 the Pathological and Clinical Society for amalgamation of 
 the two societies," and at the same meeting the Council 
 was authorised " to confer with the Council of the Patho- 
 logical Society and to formulate terms of amalgamation in 
 time for these being finally approved at the next statutory 
 meeting in April." The agreement arrived at was com- 
 municated to the Society under three heads — the first
 
 88 AMALGAMATION, 1907. 
 
 dealt with the date, " that amalgamation shall take effect 
 from the beginning of next winter session " ; the second 
 arranged for the appointment of a committee for the pur- 
 chase of apparatus for pathological demonstrations; and 
 the third related to a connnemorative note. 
 
 To perpetuate the memory of the Pathological and 
 Clinical Society, it was arranged that the words, " Glasgow 
 Pathological and Clinical Society amalgamated 1907," be 
 printed on the billets and official paper of the Medico- 
 Chirurgical Society, immediately below the present head- 
 ing, and, further, that in the next issue of the rules oppor- 
 tunity should be taken tu insert a suitable historical notice 
 of the Pathological and Clinical Society and the work it 
 accomplished. 
 
 There were but four members of the Pathological 
 Society who were not also members of the Medico- 
 Chirurgical Society, so the amalgamation did not appre- 
 ciably add to our numbers, for at the close of last session 
 we had 416 members on our roll. Neither have our funds 
 been augmented, for it was agreed that, whatever surplus 
 remained in the hands of the treasurer of the Pathological 
 Society when all accounts had been paid, should be spent 
 in the purchase of apparatus for the use of this Society.
 
 MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY, 1844. 89 
 
 PRESIDENTS. 
 
 Any detailed history o£ tlie many men who have pre- 
 sided over the dehberations of this Society since 1814 
 would be impossible in the time at my disposal, and as 
 some account of most of them is given by Dr Duncan, 
 repetition by me would serve no useful purpose. But I 
 will refer very briefly to the first president of each of the 
 various Societies which by their amalgamation have led 
 to the formation of the large and flourishing Society which 
 it is my privilege to address to-night. 
 
 THE GLASGOW MEDICAL SOCIETY, 1814. 
 
 Eobert Watt, ]M.D., the first president of the Glasgow- 
 Medical Society, was born in the parish of Stewarton in 
 1774, and in the intervals of labour on the farm and as a 
 stonemason he qualified himself to begin his University 
 course. After having practised for a short time in Paisley, 
 he settled in Glasgow in a house in Queen Street as a 
 physician, and became a successful lecturer on the theory 
 and practice of medicine, forming a library for the use of 
 his students. He died at the age of 45, and yet in that 
 short life he rose to the presidency of the Faculty of Physi- 
 cians and Surgeons, became a physician to the Koyal 
 Infirmary, and published several important works entail- 
 ing extensive research. His " Bibliotheca Britannica," 
 which is described by Dr. Duncan as " one of the most 
 stupendous monuments existing of the patient labour of a 
 single man," was completed before his death, though he 
 died before its publication. 
 
 THE MEDICO-CHIRUKGICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW, 
 
 1844. 
 
 Thomas Thomson, M.D., Fellow of the Royal Society 
 and Regius Professor of Chemistry in the University of 
 Glasgow, was born in Crieff in 1774. He was elected to
 
 90 FIRST PRESIDENT AFTER AMALGAMATION. 
 
 the presidency of the Medical Society in 1826, in succes- 
 sion to Dr. Robert Perry, and he held that office till 1829. 
 He was elected first president of the Mcdico-Chirurgical 
 Society in 1844, and remained in office for two years. He 
 was editor of the third edition of the " Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica " ; was appointed Ilegius Professor of 
 Chemistry in the University of Glasgow in 1818; and for 
 two years he was one of the physicians to the Royal 
 Infirmary. Amongst several works, he published a 
 " System of Chemistry," which passed through several 
 editions. In his teaching he introduced a system of 
 symbols, and he was the inventor of the oxy-hydrogen 
 blow-pipe. 
 
 At the ceremony connected with the opening of the new 
 laboratories at our University in April of the present year, 
 the attention of the Prince of Wales was directed to the 
 fact " that the first chemical laboratory for students was 
 established in 1830 at the University of Glasgow by Pro- 
 fessor Thomas Thomson, several years before the founda- 
 tion of Liebig's celebrated laboratory at Gicscn." He 
 died in 1852. 
 
 FIRST PRESIDENT AFTER AMALGAMATION, 1866. 
 
 Dr. Allen Thomson was the first president of the Society 
 after the amlgamation of 1866. He was the son of Prof. 
 John Thomson, of E^dinburgh, where he was born in 
 1809. Throughout his professional life he was associated 
 with the teaching of anatomy. Working at first with Mr. 
 William Sharpey in Edinburgh, he was successively 
 elected to the professorship of Anatomy in Aberdeen, the 
 professorship of Institutes of Medicine in Edinburgh 
 University, and lastly to the professorship of Anatomy in 
 the University of Glasgow. Many of us still remember 
 him as the kindly and courteous gentleman who was the 
 first University professor to address us when on the 
 threshold of our medical career. He did much to estab- 
 lish our University on Gilmorehili, and he ever had the
 
 PATHOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL SOCIETY. 91 
 
 deepest interest in all that pertained to its welfare. 
 Besides being a Doctor of Medicine, he was a Fellow, a 
 member of the Council, and a vice-president of the Royal 
 Society ; he was an honoraiy Fellow of the Faculty of 
 Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow ; and the honorary 
 degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the Univer- 
 sities of both Glasgow and Edinburgh. Further, he was 
 president of the British Association in 1877. He died 
 in 1884. 
 
 THE GLASGOW PATHOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL 
 SOCIETY, 1873. 
 
 Sir William T. Gairdner, who was the first president of 
 the Pathological and Clinical Society, was born in Edin- 
 burgh in 1824, and since last we met as a Society in this 
 hall he has passed away. To many of us he was the ideal 
 physician, and his presence was heartily welcomed at 
 meetings of our Society, w'hether as president (he was 
 president of the Medico-Chirurgical Society from 1882- 
 1884) or simply as a member, for no man could so readily 
 illume any subject under discussion, and his remarks were 
 ever eloquent and instructive. Many honours were con- 
 ferred upon him : he was a Fellow of the Royal Society, 
 a Doctor of Laws, a Knight Commander of the Bath, and 
 each and all were so fully deserved that their bestowal 
 gave pleasure to every member of his profession who knew 
 him. As a teacher he was unrivalled ; as a speaker he was 
 ever interesting; as a man he was without guile, the soul 
 of honour, and of well-reasoned religious convictions. His 
 learning was so extensive and profound that it has been 
 said of him he was fitted to occupy any chair in the Uni- 
 versity ; and as a physician it is recorded that a recognised 
 authority once remarked, " I regard Gairdner as the first 
 physician in Europe." Although laid aside from active 
 work for some years, his was the outstanding name and 
 figure in the medical life of our city for a full generation — 
 and we may never look upon his like again.
 
 92 
 
 LIST OF PRESIDENTS. 
 
 LIST OF PRESIDENTS. 
 
 I. Thk Glasgow Mkdical Socikty, 
 1814. 
 
 Session. President. 
 
 1814-1.5 Robert Watt. 
 
 181.1-16 James Mouteatii. 
 
 1816-17 William Couper. 
 
 1817-18 T. Brown. 
 
 1818-19 Robert GraliHiu. 
 
 1819-20 (Icorgc Macleoil. 
 
 1820-21 James Watson. 
 
 1821-22 a. C. Monteath. 
 
 1822-2,'? John Raird. 
 
 182.3-24 Thomas Thom.son. 
 
 1824-25 William Cumin. 
 
 1825-26 Roi)crt Perry. 
 
 1826-27 Thf)mas Thomson. 
 
 1827-28 Thomas Thomson. 
 
 1828-29 Thomas Thomson. 
 
 1829-30 Thomas Thomson. 
 
 18.S0-31 William ^oiing. 
 
 1831-32 William Young. 
 
 1832-33 James Wilson. 
 
 1833-34 James Wilson. 
 
 1834-35 John Macfarlane. 
 
 18.35-36 John Macfarlane. 
 
 1836-37 John Macfarlane. 
 
 18.37-38 Andrew Buchanan. 
 
 18.38-39 Andrew Buchanan. 
 
 1839-40 Robert Cowan. 
 
 1840-41 William Weir. 
 
 1841-42 William Weir. 
 
 1842-43 A. J. Hannay. 
 
 1843-44 A. J. Hannay. 
 
 ) 844-45 Robert Perry. 
 
 1845-46 J. Wilson. 
 
 1846-47 William Lyon. 
 
 1847-48 George Watson. 
 
 1848-49 George Watson. 
 
 1849-50 J. A. Easton. 
 
 1850-51 R. G. Maxwell. 
 
 1851-52 James Wilson. 
 
 1852-53 James Wilson. 
 
 1853-54 James Wilson. 
 
 1854-53 James Wilson. 
 
 II. Thk MEDico-CiiiRrRGicAL Society 
 OF Glasgow, 1844. 
 
 Session. 
 1844-46 
 
 1846-48 
 
 1848-50 
 
 1850-52 
 
 1852-54 
 
 1854-56 
 
 President. 
 Thomas Thomson. 
 
 Harry Rainj-. 
 
 A. D. Anderson. 
 
 James Watson. 
 
 Andrew Buchanan. 
 
 •James Wilson.
 
 LIST OF PRESIDENTS. 
 
 93 
 
 LIST OF PRESIDENTS {continued). 
 
 I. The Glasgow Medical Society, 
 
 Session. 
 1855-56 
 1856-57 
 1857-58 
 1858-59 
 1859-60 
 1860-61 
 1861-62 
 1862-63 
 1863-64 
 1864-65 
 1865-66 
 
 1814 [continued). 
 
 President. 
 \Villiam Lyon. 
 Joseph Bell. 
 J. G. Fleming. 
 George Watt. 
 William Brown. 
 James Fraser. 
 John Reid. 
 James Adams. 
 James Stewart. 
 James Morton. 
 G, H. B. Macleod. 
 
 II. The Medico-Chirukgical Society 
 OF Glasgow, 1844 {continued). 
 
 Session. 
 1856-58 
 
 1858-60 
 
 1860-62 
 
 1862-64 
 
 1864-66 
 
 President. 
 James A. Lawrie. 
 
 William Weir. 
 
 John M. Pagan. 
 
 William Lyon. 
 
 Charles llitchie. 
 
 III. Societies amalgamated (1866) 
 
 undek namk of 
 
 The Meuico-Chiritrgical Society 
 
 OF Gla.sgow. 
 
 Session. 
 1866-68 
 1868-70 
 1870-72 
 1872-74 
 1874-76 
 1876-78 
 1878-80 
 1880-82 
 1882-84 
 1884-87 
 1887-89 
 1889-91 
 1891-93 
 1893-95 
 1895-97 
 1897-99 
 1899-1901 
 1901-1903 
 190.S-1905 
 1905-1907 
 
 President. 
 Allen Thomson. 
 J. G. Fleming. 
 James Adams. 
 Robert Scott Orr. 
 James Morton. 
 Ebenezer Watson. 
 Andrew Fergus. 
 George Buchanan. 
 W. T. Gairdner. 
 G. H. B. Macleod. 
 T. M'Call Anderson. 
 William Macewen. 
 Joseph Coats. 
 Hector C. Cameron. 
 William L. Reid. 
 George S. Middle ton. 
 Henry E. Clark. 
 W. G. Dun. 
 David Newman. 
 J. Lindsay Steven. 
 
 IV. The Glasgow Pathological and 
 Clinical Society, 1873. 
 
 Session. President. 
 
 1873-76 W. T. Gairdner. 
 
 1876-78 Joseph Coats. 
 
 1878-80 Alexander Robertson. 
 
 1880-82 Hector C. Cameron. 
 
 1882-84 T. M'Call Anderson. 
 
 1884-86 George Buchanan. 
 
 1886-88 James Finlayson. 
 
 1888-90 W. T. (iairdner. 
 
 1890-92 David Newman. 
 
 1892-94 Samson (iemmell. 
 
 1894-96 D. N. Knox. 
 
 1896-98 Donald Fraser. 
 
 1898-99 William James Fleming. 
 
 1899-1900 Thomas Barr. 
 
 1900-1902 Henry E. Clark. 
 
 1902-1904 A. E. May lard. 
 
 1904-1906 Robert Muir. 
 
 1906-1907 J. Lindsay Steven. 
 
 V. Societies United, 1907.
 
 94 THANKS TO THE SOCIETY. 
 
 THANKS TO THE SOCIETY. 
 
 And now, having spoken of the long and honourable 
 career pursued by this Society, and having made mention 
 of but a few of the many eminent men who have pre- 
 sided over its deliberations, I wish to thank you, the 
 present-day members of this Society, representatives of 
 a long line of honourable professional men, for the great 
 honour you have conferred upon me in electing me to be 
 your president. I assure you that I appreciate the honour 
 very highly. But the feeling of happiness, consequent on 
 my election to the chair, is turned to a spirit of heaviness 
 when I think of and compare myself with the many out- 
 standing members of our profession who have occupied 
 the same post in days gone by, and w'ho each felt honoured 
 in being called to the presidency. Further, I take up the 
 reins of office with much trepidation, following immedi- 
 ately, as I do, Dr. John Lindsay Steven, who was one of 
 the most popular presidents of recent times, a man well 
 versed in the conduct of public meetings, full of knowledge 
 relating to medical education, a keen debater, and an 
 eloquent speaker. As I am lacking in these qualifica- 
 tions, I desire in taking office to bespeak your forbear- 
 ance, and to ask 370ur hearty support in the work of 
 the Society during my term of office. This Society, 
 while it has on its roll of membership almost every 
 physician and surgeon who is a teacher in the world- 
 famous school of medicine of Glasgow, is largely 
 composed of men engaged in general practice. I, 
 on the other hand, am one of a smaller band, the 
 members of which have chosen to practise in a special 
 department of surgery, and so as a specialist, and thus one 
 of a numericaly small, though not now a despised, set, I 
 accept my election as a compliment, and as a source of 
 encouragement, to those who, like myself, have embraced 
 specialism.
 
 CLOSING REMARKS. 95 
 
 CLOSING EEMARKS. 
 
 This Society has great traditions, and a history of which 
 we may well be proud. Like other institutions similarly 
 constituted, it has had its periods of prosperity and its 
 times of adversity. It has been privileged to number 
 amongst its ordinary members — members who took a pro- 
 minent part in its proceedings — the greatest man in 
 modern surgery, besides many others whose names are 
 now inseparably associated with the advance of medicine 
 and the successful entrance of surgery into regions which 
 were in former times looked upon as inaccessible to his 
 knife or trephine. 
 
 At times this Society has lent its moral support- 
 yes, and sometimes its pecuniary help— to aid some 
 project beneficial to the profession or to check some pro- 
 posed action by those in authority which seemed likely to 
 wrongfully damage the status of the profession or of an 
 individual member of it. Yet these excursions into what 
 might be termed the political arena were few^ ; and though 
 tempted in later years to take part in medical political 
 movements it has sternly refused ; and if we desire to 
 uphold the traditions handed down to us and to make 
 progress on scientific lines, we must keep our Society 
 absolutely free from medical politics and from everything 
 savouring of trades-unionism. In the study of the science 
 of medicine and surgery and its application to practice, 
 we have a sufficiently large field to occupy all our energies 
 and all the time at our disposal. 
 
 Whether we should be content to pursue our work under 
 the same designation as heretofore, or seek to bring about 
 an amalgamation of other Societies in Glasgow doing 
 similar work, and found an Academy of Medicine and 
 Surgery, or make application for a Royal Charter, as was 
 suggested by Dr. Ritchie in 1865, is for the Society to 
 determine.
 
 96 CLOSING REMARKS. 
 
 Meantime, I would urge the more regular attendance 
 of the members at our ordinary meetings, for be he phy- 
 sician, surgeon, general practitioner, or specialist, he will 
 learn, if lie intelligently follows the routine proceedings of 
 the Society, that others besides himself are striving to do 
 good, useful, and noble work: and possibly he may in 
 turn, from the abundance of his knowledge, help to 
 instruct others. 
 
 " Experience keeps a dear school," but the experience 
 which teaches must not of necessity be our own personal 
 experience; it may be purchased at the expense of our 
 neighbours; and at our meetings we learn of, and by, the 
 experience of others in all departments of medicine and 
 surgery, which tuition, if we be apt pupils, will be to our 
 advantage, and to the advantage of those placed under our 
 care.
 
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