Much has been written about medical missionaries in China, but not much has been published about other Western doctors who practised there in the nineteenth century. James Watson of the Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs Service, the first Western doctor to practice in northeastern China, was an Edinburgh medical graduate and served in Newchwang, from 1865–1884. He then returned to practice in Britain, where he died in 1926.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CrawfordDS.Mukden Medical College (1911–1949): an outpost of Edinburgh medicine in northeast China. J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2006; 36(1):73–9 and 36(2):179–184.
2.
TsaiHH.Scottish women medical pioneers in Manchuria 1894–1912. Scott Med J 1992; 37(2):56–9.
3.
TsaiHH.Dugald Christie CMG, FRCS, FRCP EDIN: Scottish medical pioneer in Manchuria 1883–1923. Scott Med J 1989; 34(2): 443–4.
4.
WrightSF.The origins and development of the Chinese Customs Service: an historical outline. Shanghai; 1936. Available at the Chinese Maritime Customs Project website www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/History/Customs/Origindevelopment.pdf Viewed 18June2006.
5.
LiSJ.Diet and hygiene at nineteenth century Chinese treaty ports. www.issp.sinica.edu.tw/hygiene/ch/bibliography/10th_m_01.html Viewed 18June2006.
6.
CoatesPD.The China Consuls; British consular officers 1843–1943. Hong Kong and New York: Oxford University Press; 1988.
7.
US Consulate, Newchwang, China. Dispatches from United States consuls in Newchwang, 1865–1906 (Washington: National Archives). MFILM N.S. 709 MTXT. Microcopy 115.
8.
WatsonJ.Observations on some new remedies. Edinburgh Med J 1864; 9:614–27.
9.
CutterE.Veratrum viride as a physiological and therapeutic agent. London; 1860.
10.
WatsonJ.Notes of a case of alopecia areata treated by carbolic acid. Edinburgh Med J 1865; 10:234–7.
11.
WatsonJ.The English doctor in Southern Manchooria [sic]. Edinburgh Med J 1869; 15:430–43.
12.
GaoX.[Western medical books translated by J. Dudgeon] (In Chinese). Zhonghua Yi Shi Za Zhi. 1995; 25(4):242–6.
13.
University of Edinburgh. Communications and Public Affairs. www.cpa.ed.ac.uk/edit/2.02/edited.html Viewed 18June2006.
14.
Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Inspector General’s Circular 19 of 1870, dated 31December1870.
15.
Imperial Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Customs Gazette. Customs Medical reports 1–80. Shanghai; (1870–1910). Most are available at http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/data_rescue_china.html Viewed 18June2006.
16.
TaylorAS.Principles and practice of medical jurisprudence. 2nd ed. London: Churchill; 1873.
17.
Customs Medical Reports; No. 2, for the half-year ended 30th September1871.
18.
Customs Medical Reports; No. 8, for the half-year ended 30th September1874.
19.
Customs Medical Reports; No. 4, for the half-year ended 30th September1872.
20.
Customs Medical Reports; No. 58, for the half-year ended 30th September1899.
21.
HartR.Archives of China’s Imperial Maritime Customs: confidential correspondence between Robert Hart and James Duncan Campbell, 1874–1907. Beijing, Foreign Languages Press; 1990. (Letter 1172).
22.
Private communication, April2006, from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (London), who hold a set of the Service Lists of the ICMCS.
23.
GaskellE.Surrey Leaders; social and political. London: Queenhithe; 1908?
24.
WatsonJ.A case of hydatis of the liver; recovery. Lancet 1892; 140 (3614); 1271–2.
25.
FaggeCH.Principles and practice of medicine. London: Churchill; 1886.
26.
WatsonJ.Southern Manchuria. Letter, Times October 17, 1894 (Issue 34397); page 2, col. G.
27.
1901 Census of England and Wales. Available at www.1901censusonline.com Viewed 18June2006.
28.
Times, Wills and Bequests, 3August1926 (Issue 44340), page 13; col. C.
29.
Li, SJ. Western medicine in 19th century China. Wellcome History 2006 (Summer); 32:10–12.
