Teaching forensic medicine in eighteenth-century Scotland

Abstract

Analysing the handwritten notes recorded by students who attended the classes of Andrew Duncan, Professor of the Institutions of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, the article uncovers the contents of Britain’s first forensic medicine lecture series. It explores not only aspects of forensic medicine distinctive to the late eighteenth century but also uncovers elements of forensic teaching which were distinctly Scottish and distinctly related to the background, connections and experiences of the courses’ creator. The article uncovers the methodology for examining a crime scene which the notes describe, as well as the investigative techniques used in the examination of alleged cases of abortion, rape and murder. Finally, the article reflects on the role physicians were expected to play in the identification of fictitious diseases – diseases, allegedly, falsified to elicit charity, avoid military conscription or to avoid work.