Because of a perceived lack of continuity of care of the surgical patients in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, James Gregory, one of its managers, suggested that from 1800 a total of only six surgeons should be appointed full-time to that institution. As considerable animosity existed between Gregory and John Bell, a senior Edinburgh teacher and surgeon, a pamphlet that was extremely hostile to his activities was posted in prominent locations throughout Edinburgh. While the author was named as ‘Jonathan Dawplucker’ it was speculated that Gregory, or one of his close associates, was its real author. The contents of a second Dawplucker pamphlet, in the same style, but probably written by John Bell, was subsequently published. This was extremely hostile to Benjamin Bell, one of Gregory’s close surgical colleagues. While much distress was caused at that time, the real authors of these pamphlets are unlikely ever to be established.
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References
1.
TurnerAL.Story of a Great Hospital:The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh 1729–1929. Edinburgh &London: Oliver &Boyd; 1937; 119; Kaufman MH. Medical Teaching in Edinburgh during the 18th and 19th Centuries. Edinburgh: Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; 2003; 47–50.
2.
Turner op. cit., ref. 1, 125–6. In 1505, the Town Council granted the Barber-Surgeons a Seal of Cause, and King James IV confirmed this on 13October1506. The Incorporation of Surgeons as it was then termed received their second Royal Charter in 1567 from Mary Queen of Scots. The Incorporation of Surgeons later received a Royal Charter from King George III on 22May1778, so that the formal title of the latter institution became the Royal College of Surgeons of the City of Edinburgh. For further details, see: Cresswell CH. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh: Historical Notes from 1505 to 1905. Edinburgh &London: Oliver &Boyd; 1926.
3.
ThomsonJ.Outlines of a Plan for the Regulation of the Surgical Department of the Royal Infirmary. Submitted to the Consideration of the Managers of that Institution. Edinburgh: C Stewart &Company; 1800; [14 pp], 7–10.
4.
For additional biographical details, see: Thomson J. An Account of the Life, Lectures, and Writings of William Cullen, M.D., Professor of the Practice of Physic in the University of Edinburgh. In two Volumes. Volume 1. First Published in 1832. Now re-issued along with the second volume, and having pre-fixed to it a biographical notice of the author. Edinburgh &London: W Blackwood &Sons; 1859 [For biographical notice of Dr John Thomson, see 5–84]; Kaufman MH. The Regius Chair of Military Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, 1806–55. Amsterdam &New York: Rodopi; 2003; 54–105; Anon. Thomson, John (1765–1846). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1963–64; 19, 740–2. He resigned from his College Chair in 1821 and his University Chair in 1822. In 1831, he was appointed the first holder of the Regius Chair of General Pathology in the University of Edinburgh, but resigned due to ill health in 1841. Cockburn thought very highly of him, and indicated that he had the reputation of being ‘the most learned physician in Scotland.’ See: Cockburn H. Journal of Henry Cockburn: Being a Continuation of the Memorials of his Time 1831-1854. In two Volumes. Edinburgh: Edmonston &Douglas; 1874;Volume 2, 163.
5.
John Bell’s younger brother Charles (later Sir Charles) Bell was both an anatomist and a surgeon, while Benjamin Bell founded a dynasty of surgeons. Five of his descendents within the nineteenth century were fellows of the Edinburgh College of Surgeons, while his grandson, also Benjamin Bell, was President of that College from 1863–65.
6.
BellB.Observations on the Mode of Attendance of the Surgeons of Edinburgh on the Royal Infirmary; in a Letter Addressed to the Royal College of Surgeons. Edinburgh: A Neill &Company; 1800 [24 pp associated with an Appendix entitled Appendix containing Further Remarks on the Surgical Department of Hospitals [11 pp]].
7.
BellJ.Answer for the Junior members of the Royal College of Surgeons, of Edinburgh, to the Memorial of Dr J Gregory, Professor of the Practice of Physic in the University of Edinburgh, – Physician to the King for Scotland, – and one of the Managers of the Royal Infirmary of this City. Edinburgh: Peter Hill; London: Cadell &Davies; Longman &Rees; 1800 [Section I, 57 pp; Section II, 50 pp; Section III, 52 pp] [for obscure references to Dawplucker pamphlets, see: Section I, 35].
8.
Gregory’s proposals for the amended system of attendance by the surgeons at the Infirmary and the perceived need for the end of the rotation system are discussed in detail by Turner. See:Turner op. cit., ref. 1, 126–9.
9.
According to Cockburn ‘Most of the medical profession, including the whole private lecturers, and even the two colleges, who all held that the power of annoying the patients in their turn was their right, were vehement against this innovation; and some of them went to law in opposition to it.’ See: Cockburn H. Memorials of his Time. Edinburgh: Adam &Charles Black; 1856; 105.
10.
GregoryJ.Memorial to the Managers of the Royal Infirmary. Edinburgh: Murray &Cochrane; 1800 [iii–v; 1–260]; see also: Gregory J. Additional Memorial to the Managers of the Royal Infirmary. Edinburgh: Murray &Cochrane; 1803 [iii–xxx; 1–513].
11.
As all of the practising surgeons who attended the Infirmary were members of the Incorporation of Surgeons, and later of the Royal College of Surgeons, it was technically the members of the extramural staff who undertook the teaching of this discipline in the Infirmary at that time. While the Monros initially held the Chair of Medicine and Anatomy, they also taught Surgery to the students of the Faculty of Medicine. Applications to the Crown to establish a Regius Chair of Surgery in the 1770s were blocked by the Monros and by the Senatus, and in 1777 Monro secundus obtained from the Town Council a new Commission that allowed him to be styled the Professor of Medicine,Anatomy and Surgery. Despite these blocking tactics, James Russell was appointed to the Regius Chair of Clinical Surgery in the University of Edinburgh in 1803. See: Wright-St Clair RE. Doctors Monro: A Medical Saga. London:Wellcome Historical Medical Library; 1964; 83–5; Anon. Russell, James (1754–1836). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1963–64; 19, 439–40; Kaufman op. cit., ref. 1, 47–8.
12.
JacksonR.Memorial Addressed to the Managers of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Edinburgh: Mundell &Son; 1800 [14 pp]; Wardrop A. An Address to the Members of the Royal College of Surgeons, on the Regulation of the Surgical Department of the Royal Infirmary. Edinburgh: D Schaw &Co; 1800 [16 pp]; Arrott J. Remarks on the Present Mode of Chirurgical Attendance in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh Submitted to the Consideration of the Royal College of Surgeons there. Edinburgh: Adam Neill &Co; 1800 [14 pp] [This author suggested a plan in which the members of the College of Surgeons were divided into two classes. Seniors, who had taken charge of the Infirmary for four terms or more, of which there were about ten, and Juniors, who had not had charge so often, of which there were about twenty. He proposed that a total of six members should be elected by the managers to take charge of the Infirmary: two from the Senior Class, and four from the Junior Class. He proposed that the Senior members would principally act in an advisory capacity. This arrangement may well have been easier to implement than that recommended by Gregory]; The Royal College of Surgeons. Plan for a Better Regulation of the Surgical Department of the Royal Infirmary Submitted to the Consideration of the Managers of that Charitable Institution. Edinburgh: D Willison; 1800 [20 pp.] [See: Edinburgh University Special Collection (EUSC) Reference Number: RQ.3.28/2].
13.
Thomson op. cit., ref. 3, 5.
14.
BellJ.Letters on Professional Character and Manners: on the Education of a Surgeon, and the Duties and Qualifications of a Physician: addressed to James Gregory, M.D. Professor of the Practice of Medicine in the University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh: John Moir; 1810 [v–xxiii, 1–636].
15.
Dawplucker J (pseud). Remarks on Mr John Bell’s Anatomy of the Heart and Arteries. London: GG &J Robinson; 1799, i–viii, 9–68 [dedication: to John Bell, Esq Surgeon in Edinburgh]; Dawplucker J (pseud). Number Second, Being remarks on the first volume of Mr Benjamin Bell’s System of Surgery. London: no publisher cited; 1799, v–xxiii, 1–176 [dedication: to the Author of the System of Surgery]. The term ‘Dawplucker’ means a slanderer or critic. It is used in the following contexts: ‘Pluck a crow’ i.e. tackle someone about a disagreeable or awkward matter; quarrel with someone. It is also used in the following context: ‘I’ve a crow to pluck with you’ i.e. an accusation to which there can be neither answer nor evasion. See: Wilkinson PR. Thesaurus of Traditional English Metaphors. London &New York: Routledge; 1993; 240.
16.
Memorial for the Managers of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh – Chargers, against the Incorporation and Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh – Suspenders [72 pp and Appendix, 28 pp] [See: Bill- Chamber. 28January1801. Memorial for the Managers of the Royal Infirmary. Ro. Boswell, WS Agent. See: EUSC Reference Number: RQ.3.28/11]; Memorial for the Royal College of Surgeons; against the Managers of the Royal Infirmary [38 pp and Appendix, 11 pp] [See: Bill-Chamber. February 13 1801. Mem. College of Surgeons, against Managers of the Infirmary. Wm Balderston,WS Agent. See: EUSC Reference Number: RQ.3.28/12]; Bell J &Bell C. Memorial for John Bell and Charles Bell, Members of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, against the Managers of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Edinburgh: Mundell &Son; 1801 [78 pp and Appendix, 30 pp] [26February1801. MEM. – John &Charles Bell, against the Managers of the Royal Infirmary. Home – Clerk. D McLean WS Agent. See: EUSC Reference Number: RQ.3.28/13]; Answers for the Managers of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, to the Petition of the Royal College of Surgeons [68 pp] [20August1801. ANS. – Managers of Royal Infirmary, to PET. – College of Surgeons. Ro Boswell WS Agent H Clerk. See: EUSC Reference Number: RQ.3.28/14].
GregoryJ.Censorian Letter to the President and Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Edinburgh: No publisher or printer cited; 1805 reprinted 1809 [156 pp]; see also: Duncan A. Opinion delivered by Dr Duncan senior, in the College of Physicians. On the 13th of September1808, Upon a Charge Against Dr Gregory, for Wilful and Deliberate Violation of Truth. Edinburgh:A Neill &Co; 1808 [55 pp.].
19.
Turner op. cit., ref. 1, 124–5. While John Bell was excluded from the Infirmary because of his differences with Gregory, it is believed that Benjamin Bell did not wish to become one of the surgeons associated with the Infirmary. While he had a large private practice, he had been intermittently unwell for a number of years, and died in April1806. For many years he also engaged in agriculture, and wrote a number of essays on this topic between 1783 and 1802. These were collected together and published at the suggestion of the then late Dr Adam Smith in a single volume. See: Bell B. Essays on Agriculture, with a Plan for the Speedy and General Improvement of Land in Great Britain. Edinburgh: Bell &Bradfute; London: G &J Robinson; Dublin:Archer; 1802;Anon. Bell, Benjamin (1749–1806). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1963–64; 2; 153–4.
20.
All of Cockburn’s comments on Gregory that were published in his Memorials were extremely sympathetically written.
21.
Cockburn op. cit., ref. 9, 105–6. It is a sign of the times that Cockburn should have found this affair amusing. It is likely that these days Gregory, as Professor of Physic in the University would have been severely censured by that body. A Disciplinary panel would have examined his activities and at the least would have found him guilty of letting down the good name of the University. Had John Bell formally gone to Law, there can be little doubt that he would these days have won significant pecuniary damages from him. Alternatively, these days John Bell could have gone to the General Medical Council for redress. In any case the end result was that Gregory severely damaged Bell’s long-term clinical prospects and his good name. In another characteristically sympathetic but nevertheless inappropriate reference to Gregory, Cockburn indicated that ‘The controversies [engaged in by Gregory] were rather too numerous; but they never were for any selfish end [author’s emphasis], and he was never entirely wrong. Still a disposition towards personal attack was his besetting sin.’ See: Cockburn op. cit. ref. 9, 105.
22.
Professor Stuart Craig (1903–1975) was approached by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh to write a history of the College on the approach of their Tercentenary. He died suddenly when the proofs were coming off the press, and very shortly before this volume was published. For details of his history of the College of Physicians, see reference 24.
23.
According to Comrie‘ So successful had his anatomical classes proved that a combination led by Dr James Gregory professor of the practice of medicine in the university was formed against him he was pursued in a manner which for audacity if not for bitterness would be wellnigh impossible at the present day.’See: Comrie J. History of Scottish Medicine. Two Volumes. 2nd ed. London: Baillière,Tindall &Cox; 1932;Volume 1, 324.
24.
CraigWS.History of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications; 1976, 420.
25.
Comrie op. cit., ref. 23,Volume 1, 324.
26.
Anon. Barclay, John (1758–1826). In: A Catalogue of Printed Books in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library. II. Books from 1641 to 1850. A–E. London:Wellcome Historical Medical Library; 1966; 99.
27.
StruthersJ.Barclay. In: Historical Sketch of the Edinburgh Anatomical School. Edinburgh: Maclachlan &Stewart; 1867; 56–70.
28.
BellJ.The Anatomy of the Human Body. Volume 2. Containing the Anatomy of the Heart and Arteries. Edinburgh: Printed for Cadell &Davies; 1797.
29.
He was certainly known to be a member of Gregory’s camp, and was rewarded for his loyalty by his appointment to one of the six surgeoncies in the Royal Infirmary in 1800 under Gregory’s new arrangements.
30.
It should be recalled that extreme exception was taken by James Gregory to an earlier pamphlet entitled A Guide for Gentlemen Studying Medicine in the University of Edinburgh, by J Johnson, and published in 1792. Its contents were said to have reflected injuriously on some of the professoriate. Gregory attributed the authorship initially to Alexander and then to James Hamilton, who at that time was University Professor of Midwifery. Gregory charged James Hamilton with writing it, and the latter provoked Gregory into beating him with a stick. Hamilton brought an action against Gregory, and the latter was required to pay damages to him of £100, equivalent to about £5,250 in modern terms [information from Enquiry Office, Bank of England]. While the sum involved would have been insignificant to Gregory, there was a principle at stake here. Very few copies of this manuscript are known to survive, as they were withdrawn from circulation, but one is said to be located in the Library of the Royal Medical Society. A recent attempt to locate this pamphlet at the Royal Medical Society was unsuccessful. See: Comrie op. cit., ref. 23, Volume 1, 305, see also: Bell op. cit. ref. 14, 503. It appears that Hamilton had a similar pugnacious and quarrelsome personality to Gregory, and brought lawsuits for defamation against a number of his colleagues, as well as against Gregory. See: Comrie op. cit., ref. 23,Volume 2, 485, 488.
31.
StruthersJ.John Bell. In: Historical Sketch of the Edinburgh Anatomical School. Edinburgh: Maclachlan &Stewart; 1867; 41, Footnote 1; see also Bell op. cit., ref. 14, 503.
32.
Ibid., 502.
33.
Struthers op. cit., ref. 31, 37-44.
34.
Ibid., 41-2.
35.
RussellKF.Barclay, John (1758–1826). In: British Anatomy 1525–1800: A Bibliography. Parkville, Victoria: Melbourne University Press; 1963; 43.
36.
From the venom of this attack against Benjamin Bell in the second Dawplucker pamphlet, the reader might wonder whether John Bell was of the opinion that Benjamin Bell might have been the author of the first Dawplucker pamphlet.
37.
BellB.A System of Surgery. In: 6 Volumes. 2nd ed. Volumes 1–5, Edinburgh: Charles Elliot; London: GGJ &G Robinson.Volume 6, Edinburgh: Charles Elliot; London: C Elliot &T Kay &GGJ &J Robinson; 1785–88 [Volumes 1 &2, 1785;Volumes 3 &4, 1786; Volume 5, 1787; Volume 6, 1788] [This ultimately consisted of seven volumes octavo, and passed through seven editions. It began to appear in 1783, and was completed in 1788].
38.
Comrie op. cit., ref. 23,Volume 1, 331–2.
39.
HeisterL.A General System of Surgery, in three parts. Containing the Doctrine and Management … Being a Work of Thirty Years Experience. Translated from the Author’s last edition, greatly improved. 2 Volumes bound into one. 7th ed. London: J Clarke, J Whiston &B White, L Davis &C Reymeis, R Baldwin,W Johnston &H Woodfall; 1763 [Volume 1, 456 pp;Volume 2, 414 pp].
40.
See: Dawplucker op. cit., ref. 12, Number Second, 118–50.
41.
Ibid., 11.
42.
MilesA.The Edinburgh School of Surgery before Lister. London:A &C Black, Ltd; 1918; 59.
43.
BellB.A Brief Review and Estimate of the Professional Writings of Benjamin Bell, FRCSE, FRSE, Author of ‘A System of Surgery,’ and other Works. By Benjamin Bell, FRCSE, Surgeon to the Eye Infirmary, and Non-professorial Examiner in the University of Edinburgh. Edin Med J 1869;14:408–33.
44.
BellB.The Life, Character &Writings of Benjamin Bell FRCSE, FRSE Author of a ‘System of Surgery,’ and other works. Edinburgh: Edmonston &Douglas; 1868 [See:Appendix III, 123–70].
45.
Bell op. cit., ref. 14, 504.
46.
According to John Bell, when Gregory was drafting his Memorial to the Managers of the Royal Infirmary, ‘he was defending himself in the Consistorial Court, from a prosecution for calumny in regard to an anonymous pamphlet.’ It is possible that this was the pamphlet entitled A Guide to the Medical Students attending the University of Edinburgh, which John Bell was certain had been a product of either Gregory himself or one of his disciples, his ‘Copartnery of Surgeons’.
