Letter to the fellows of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of Edinburgh, respecting the proposal to abolish the Chair of General Pathology in the University / [William Thomson].

  • Thomson, William, 1802-1852.
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Letter to the fellows of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of Edinburgh, respecting the proposal to abolish the Chair of General Pathology in the University / [William Thomson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    which may advantageously be given to a course of lectures on Physiology, by admitting a six months’ course on this subject, in lieu of the class of Theory of Medicine; and that they testified their sense of the importance of one de¬ partment at least of the Pathological Chair, by “ strongly recommending to students to avail themselves of the op¬ portunities which they may possess of attending lectures on Botany, Natural History, Comparative Anatomy, and Pathological Anatomy^ in addition to the courses of lec¬ tures absolutely required by the above regulations.” It is not undeserving of mention, that at the time of this re¬ commendation being issued, the students had no opportunity, at this school, of attending a course of lectures on the last mentioned subject, the Chair of General Pathology not hav¬ ing been created for two years afterwards; and that, but for such a course being rendered imperative, either by the Univer¬ sity or by the College itself, they were not likely soon to enjoy such an op]X)rtunity. That I am warranted in this inference I feel confident you will allow , w hen you consider how much ex¬ pense must necessarily be incurred in making adequate pro¬ vision, in the way of drawings and preparations, for the pro¬ per illustration of a course of lectures on Pathological Ana¬ tomy. It is not to be forgotten, too, that at the time when the classes of General Pathology and Surgery were added by the Crown to the Medical Curriculum of the University, the students had it in their option to select any two of the follow- • ing classes they might think proper, viz. Practical Ana¬ tomy, Natural History, Legal Medicine, Clinical Surgery, and Military Surgery. Subsequently to the addition of the Pathology and Surgery, the four first of these classes were rendered imperative, that is, the number of classes to be at¬ tended by candidates for graduation was, on the recom¬ mendation of the Medical Faculty itself, farther increased by two. If they are really too many, a proposition in sup¬ port of which I have never as yet heard any sufficient argu-