MS Gen 512/21-25
Correspondence from Joseph Lister, 1927-1912, surgeon, to
Dr James Finlayson, 1840-1906, physician
1883-1889
0.001
metres
Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department
Lister, Joseph (1827-1912: Baron Lister, surgeon)
English
When the Regius Professorship of Surgery at the
University of Glasgow, Scotland, fell vacant in
1859, Joseph
Lister was selected from 7 candidates. In August
1861, he was
appointed surgeon at the
Glasgow Royal Infirmary and put in charge of
its new surgical building. Due to the high level of death from sepsis (known as
hospital disease) in his amputation patients,
Lister began to experiment using carbolic acid during surgical procedures. This
lessened the death rate from amputation dramatically and marked the development
of aseptic surgery. Dr
James Finlaysonwas a student of Joseph
Lister. Born in
1840 in
Glasgow, James entered the University of Glasgow in
1856 as an
arts student. From
1862-1867 he attended classes at
Anderson College of Medicine, Glasgow,
receiving the degree of MB with honours from the University in
1867 and then his MD in
1869. In 1899,
he received the honorary degree of LLD from the University. In
1867 he became
a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Edinburgh,
Scotland and in
1871 was
admitted as a Fellow of the Faculty of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow
where for a quarter of a century he held the post of Honorary Librarian and was
able to indulge his interest in early medical literature. In 1899, he became a
Visitor of the Faculty, the equivalent of a vice-president, and from
1900-1903 was the Faculty's president. For most of his
career, Finlayson worked in hospitals and from 1871 in clinical teaching. From
1871 until 1874 he acted as assistant to
Sir William Tennant Gairdner in his clinic at
Glasgow Royal Infirmary and from
1875 he was a
physician to the Glasgow Western Infirmary, where, as a recognised lecturer on
the subject, he taught clinical medicine until his death. He also held the
office of Physician to the Glasgow Royal Hospital for Sick Children from
1883-1898 where he also undertook some clinical
teaching. Finlayson also wrote prolifically on the subjects of clinical
medicine, physiology and anatomy, and medical history and bibliography. His
major work was Clinical Manual for the Study of Medical
Cases (1878). He died suddenly in
1906.
Correspondence from Joseph Lister to Dr James Finlayson 1883-1899
The arrangement of this material reflects the original order in which it
was received
Unknown
Gift : April 1965 : ACCN 4245
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Fonds level description compiled by David Powell, Hub Project
Archivist, 02 April 2003.
Anderson College of Medicine
Glasgow Royal Infirmary
University of Glasgow
Finlayson
James
1840-1906
physician
Gairdner
Sir
William
Tennant
1824-1907
Professor of Medicine
Lister
Joseph
1827-1912
Baron Lister, surgeon
Medical education
Physicians
Surgery