Lord Kelvin's early home : being the recollections of his sister the late Mrs. Elizabeth King / together with some family letters and a supplementary chapter by the editor, Elizabeth Thomson King ; with illustrations from Mrs. King's own drawings and those of her daughters.

  • King, Elizabeth, 1818-1896.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Lord Kelvin's early home : being the recollections of his sister the late Mrs. Elizabeth King / together with some family letters and a supplementary chapter by the editor, Elizabeth Thomson King ; with illustrations from Mrs. King's own drawings and those of her daughters. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    149 beauty of the music, deeply impressed us. But one thing followed another so quickly, to excite our wonder and admiration, we could scarcely give due and full attention to each. I think my imagination and interest were more stirred by Westminster Abbey^ than by anything else I saw. June 3rd was a solemn day for us. The operation for calculus was performed on Robert, in the presence of Sir Astley Cooper, by his nephew, Mr. Tyrrell. I saw the poor little boy stretched, all bound, on the table before the operation began, and stood on the mat outside the door while it was going on, listening to his moans—it seemed a long time—and I was the first admitted when it was over. He was laid on the hed nicely arranged, looking very flushed and distressed. There was no chloroform in those days to drown pain. But he was very brave and patient. Indeed, he had often suffered so terribly, the hope of permanent relief helped to give him courage. For some days at first there was a degree of anxiety lest he should fever, but all went well ; he recovered fast [1 Where William, Lord Kelvin, now rests.]