William Fergusson
Encyclopedia
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons is a professional qualification to practise as a surgeon in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland...
FRS (20 March 1808 – 10 February 1877) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
surgeon.
Biography
William Fergusson son of James FergussonJames Fergusson
James Fergusson may refer to:*Sir James Fergusson, 2nd Baronet , Scottish politician and judge*Sir James Fergusson, 4th Baronet *Sir James Fergusson , Governor of Gibraltar from 1855 to 1859...
of Lochmaben
Lochmaben
Lochmaben is a small town in Scotland, and site of a once-important castle. It lies four miles west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway.-Notable people:*Angus Douglas - Scottish internationalist footballer...
, Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries is a registration county of Scotland. The lieutenancy area of Dumfries has similar boundaries.Until 1975 it was a county. Its county town was Dumfries...
, was born at Prestonpans
Prestonpans
Prestonpans is a small town to the east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the unitary council area of East Lothian. It has a population of 7,153 . It is the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans, and has a history dating back to the 11th century...
, East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
on 20 March 1808, and was educated first at Lochmaben
Lochmaben
Lochmaben is a small town in Scotland, and site of a once-important castle. It lies four miles west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway.-Notable people:*Angus Douglas - Scottish internationalist footballer...
and afterwards at the high school and University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. At the age of fifteen he was placed by his own desire in a lawyer's office, but the work proved uncongenial, and at seventeen he exchanged law for medicine, in accordance with his father's original wishes. He became an assiduous pupil of Dr. Robert Knox the anatomist, who was much pleased with a piece of mechanism which Fergusson constructed, and appointed him at the age of twenty demonstrator to his class of four hundred pupils.
In 1828 Fergusson became a licentiate, and in 1829 a fellow of the Edinburgh College of Surgeons
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons is a professional qualification to practise as a surgeon in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland...
. He continued zealous in anatomy, often spending from twelve to sixteen hours a day in the dissecting-room. Two of his preparations, admirably dissected, are still preserved in the museum of the Edinburgh College of Surgeons. Soon after qualifying Fergusson began to deliver a portion of the lectures on general anatomy, in association with Knox, and to demonstrate surgical anatomy. In 1831 he was elected surgeon to the Edinburgh Royal Dispensary
Royal Public Dispensary of Edinburgh
The Public Dispensary of Edinburgh is regarded as the first free-of-charge hospital in Scotland. It gave rise to both the first Department of General Practice and, in 1963, the first Chair of General Practice in the world, both at the University of Edinburgh....
, and in that year tied the subclavian artery, which had then been done in Scotland only twice. On 10 October 1833 he married Helen, daughter and heiress of William Ranken of Spittlehaugh, Peeblesshire. This marriage placed him in easy circumstances, but he did not relax his efforts after success in operative surgery, and by 1836, when he was elected surgeon to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he shared with James Syme
James Syme
James Syme was a pioneering Scottish surgeon.-Early life:He was born on 7 November in Edinburgh. His father was a writer to the signet and a landowner in Fife and Kinross, who lost most of his fortune in attempting to develop the mineral resources of his property...
the best surgical practice in Scotland.
In 1840 Fergusson accepted the professorship of surgery at King's College, London, with the surgeoncy to King's College Hospital
King's College Hospital
King's College Hospital is an acute care facility in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH"...
, and established himself at Dover Street
Dover Street
Dover Street is a street in Mayfair, London, England. The street is notable for its Georgian architecture as well as the location of historic London clubs and hotels, which have been frequented by world leaders and historic figures in the arts. It also hosts a number of contemporary art galleries...
, Piccadilly, whence he removed in 1847 to George Street, Hanover Square
Hanover Square, London
Hanover Square, London, is a square in Mayfair, London W1, England, situated to the south west of Oxford Circus, the major junction where Oxford Street meets Regent Street....
. He became M.R.C.S. Engl. in 1840, and fellow in 1844. His practice grew rapidly, and the fame of his operative skill brought many students and visitors to King's College Hospital
King's College Hospital
King's College Hospital is an acute care facility in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH"...
. In 1849 he was appointed surgeon in ordinary to the prince consort, and in 1855 surgeon extraordinary, and in 1867 sergeant-surgeon to the queen. For many years Fergusson was the leading operator in London. He was elected to the council of the College of Surgeons in 1861, examiner in 1867, and was president of the college in 1870. As professor of human anatomy and surgery he delivered two courses of lectures before the College of Surgeons in 1864 and 1865, which were afterwards published. He was president of the Pathological Society
Pathological society
The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland is a professional organisation whose mission is stated as 'understanding disease'.- Membership and Profile :...
in 1859–60, and of the British Medical Association
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
in 1873. In 1875 he received the honorary degree of LL.D. from Edinburgh University. He resigned the professorship of surgery at King's College in 1870, but until his death was clinical professor of surgery and senior surgeon to King's College Hospital
King's College Hospital
King's College Hospital is an acute care facility in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH"...
. He was also a fellow of the Royal Society. He was created a baronet on 23 January 1866, an honour which led to his receiving a presentation from three hundred old pupils, consisting of a silver dessert service worth £400, at the annual dinner of old King's College men on 21 June 1866.
He died in London after an exhausting illness, of Bright's disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
, on 10 February 1877, and was buried at West Linton
West Linton
West Linton is a village and civil parish in southern Scotland, on the A702. It was formerly in the county of Peeblesshire, but since local government re-organisation in the mid-1990s it is now part of the Tweeddale committee area of the Scottish Borders. Many residents are commuters due to the...
, Peeblesshire, where his wife had been buried in 1860.
A portrait of Fergusson by Lehmann, painted by subscription, was presented to the London College of Surgeons in 1874, and a replica is in the Edinburgh College of Surgeons.
Assessment
Fergusson's reputation is that of a brilliant operator and a great "conservative" surgeon. The term conservative surgery, first applied by Fergusson in 1852 to operations for the preservation of parts of the body which would otherwise have been sacrificed, does not denote merely operations which he originated or improved, for James SymeJames Syme
James Syme was a pioneering Scottish surgeon.-Early life:He was born on 7 November in Edinburgh. His father was a writer to the signet and a landowner in Fife and Kinross, who lost most of his fortune in attempting to develop the mineral resources of his property...
had already been very successful in this line of procedure. But Fergusson extended the principle from the operation of excision of the elbow joint to many others. No portion of the body which could be usefully preserved was too small for him to make efforts to save. Among operations with which his name is specially identified are those for harelip and cleft palate, and operations on the jaws, the excision of joints, notably the hip, knee, and elbow, lithotomy and lithotrity, and amputations of limbs. His skill in dissection, and his careful study of the actions of the muscles which he had to cut through, were of essential importance to his success. In his lectures at the College of Surgeons he was able to speak of three hundred successful operations of his own for harelip. The operation for cleft palate had been largely abandoned till he took it up anew. His manipulative and mechanical skill was shown both in his modes of operating, and in the new instruments he devised. The bulldog forceps, the mouth-gag for cleft palate, and various bent knives attest his ingenuity. A still higher mark of his ability consisted in his perfect planning of every detail of an operation beforehand; no emergency was unprovided for. Thus, when an operation had begun, he proceeded with remarkable speed and silence till the end, himself applying every bandage and plaster, and leaving, as far as possible, no traces of his operation. So silently were most of his operations conducted, that he was often imagined to be on bad terms with his assistants. His punctuality and his hatred of unnecessary waste of time were very marked.
As a lecturer, out of the operating theatre, Fergusson did not shine, owing to his reticence and his imperfect command of abstract subjects; although on points of practice he gave excellent instruction. In the operating theatre his remarks on the cases before him were valuable and instructive. To students he was most kind and generous. He had to sustain much opposition, especially from Syme, but he did not imitate his opponent's mode of controversy; and if on any occasion he imagined he had said or done something to hurt another's feelings, he never rested till he had made reparation in some form.
Fergusson was an excellent carpenter, rivalling skilled artisans. When a student he made himself a brass-bound dissecting case, and in 1834 completed a lithotrite
Lithotrite
The lithotrite was an early medical device, invented by Jean Civiale, which was used to perform transurethral lithotripsy, the first known minimally invasive surgery, to crush stones inside the bladder without having to open the abdomen . To remove a calculus the instrument was inserted through...
, with a novel rack and pinion, which he used throughout life. He was a good violinist, an expert fly-fisher, and very fond of the drama. His endurance was remarkable; he never seemed tired, and scarcely had a day's illness till attacked by Bright's disease. He was tall, dignified, and of good presence, of genial though keen expression, fond of a joke, and very hospitable. He rendered gratuitous aid to large numbers of clergymen, actors, authors, and governesses. He helped many of his pupils in starting in life, a large number of whom attained eminence as surgeons. He never forgot the face of a pupil.
In some expressions of opinion Fergusson was ill-advised, especially in matters requiring more knowledge of physiology and hygiene than he possessed. His evidence before the royal commission on vivisection, and his relations with homœpathic practitioners, which he was led to modify, are instances of this. But his faults were faults of sympathy, not of self-conceit or intolerance of criticism.