The Press. — London, England, 1853-10-22 00:00:00

OCTOBER c.,)!2, 1853. yittraturt. Memoirs John Abernethy. F.R.S. By George Macilwain, F.R.C.S. 2 vols. NOT UllfretplCaily Inca. looking beyond life's limit, have made provision for the keeping of their bones: others, with wiser foresight, have eared fOr the safety of their reputations. For what is the disturbance Of their insen sible remains to the cimel mangling of that part of them which survives after their bodies have become dust? Not many years since Swift's skull went the round of scientific societies in Dublin, that it might be criticised anti labelled, anti have casts taken from it. This was a barbarous outrage of the tombs sanctity, but surely slight in comptuisou to rending his character and heapmg gibes upon his memory for the amusement of a polite audience. The men who have left some sketch of their lives have partially prevented the folly or malignity of biographers, while enriching literature with priceless legacies. Perhaps Johnson well knew itozzy's mission when he smiled on his cringing,--Goethe made preparation for his best monument when he encouraged Eckerinann anti Soret to report his conversations. There was one of Johnson's sharp sayings which Boswell missed, stud we are indebted to " little Burney " for its preservat' . There are two pickles, he said, in which a man's me mory may be presened,—in sugar and in salt. Mr. Macilwain, in his life of Abernethy, has used the sugar pickle, but the result is so mawkish that we doubt its preservative quality. The style of his book is very bad,—con ceited, rambling, wordy, and colourless. He says too much of himself and too little of Abernethy. Whole chapters are devoted to his own philosophical and physiological theo ries, which he smuggles into notice under the attractive title of his hook, as deleterious compounds are palmed off under show of gilded cases. Take, for example, the synopsis of one of his chapters : Of immoralities of trades anti professions—Of habit anti fashion-4 tf conventional nuo nal it y—l ntloenee of fashion —Honesty the best policy-4 If public credulity—Of legal practice—Mischief of convent itstal notrality—Examples of —lllustrations of conduct, &e. This digression would be objectionable were the matter good in itself ; but as it is stale wordy stuff, with scarcely a gleans of original thought,—" dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage,"—we marvel that it should be put forth, when the space, even for bookmaking purposes, might have been so much better filled with extracts from Abernethy's works elucidatory of his character. Abernethy was eminently a domestic man : he lived con stantly within home influences, yet the glimpses we catch of the habits of his every-day life are extremely scanty. A degree of merit the book has no doubt : it preserves souse traits of (hit meter, some facts and anecdotes which might otherwise have been lost; and the unnecessary digressions are occasionally enlivened by a just remark. But we must regret that so good a subject for biography did not fall into .e discriminating hands. Abernethy was bom, as would seem probable by the registry of his christening, in 1781: but Mr. Macilwain, on the authority of his family, says in 1781; and was educated at the Wolves hanspton Gnimmar School. Very likely the boy was father of the man, but it is doubtful whether he exhibited tints early "a polarity of character,—an individuality,—a post " tivencss of type," mounding words of the kind Mr. Macilwain delights in, though they often fail to hide his lack of meaning. The father of Abernethy,—a merchant in Rood-lane, Fenchureh-street,—was the son of a dissenting minister who settled in Dublin from the north of Ireland, and it is conjec tured, probably enough, that much of Aber nethy's shrewdness may he traced to his des cent. It is said that he wished to be a lawyer, and that he was beard to declare in after life, that if his father had suffered him to follow his inclination "he would have known all the " acts of Parliament by heart." It is likely, feom what we know of his qualities, that he would have been even more eminent as it bar- THE PRESS. lister than he was as a surgeo n ►. Rut as it was, he began life under favourable eireuni stlinees. When fourteen or fifteen he was ul►l►ren tired to Sir Charles Blieke. a surgeon in large practiee Here he remained five years. nutl Very early began the excellent eustont,—which we earnestly recommend to young men in every prolession.—of taking notes of the remarkable cases which canoe under his observation. He seems to have had most inclination f o r e l le . mistry. though we doubt whether appetite had not quite as much to dl► %% lilt his extensive I►nrchase of oranges in his boyhood as curio sity to observe their ethsets 4411 t h e kidney : " I W 24% a boy. sant he, " I half ruined all.t•lf In taming oranges awl other things to awvittith the ►•tli•rl d thiteretit kinds of slit . t in this iliseisse.•• Wi. Ido Hot know what authority the author has for saying that, diligent as be was, we susls•el he found little dining his amorist iceshilo of those attractions which make labour and industry !ammo's of pleasure soul enjoyment. The lectures of Sir William Wizard had, it is eertain, a powerful influence in forming his mind, for in the first of those lectures. which he delivered at the College of Surgeons in 1811. lie gratefully acknowledged his obligations to that excellent and distinguished nom : " ile was my earliest instritetsse iu anatomy sill sm~rry. Mild I KM greatly iudrhled to haw fair 6 Valli:ll , k infor nlati . fly warmest thatiks an lilsti Jar to hint for the interest Inr excited in my • I los arils the su wits Mill for hi, e‘Vellellt sib bee. ' 1...1 )I.llr SC:11 . 111 ant r truth,' he would salt, • Is, eager and constant. lie wary in Ilrollosititilla 1., hi. filet '4llllllre VI/111111W $llll • IA them to the strictest exa iii i l lot it'll. If wtier OAK y4llll IN'lle% them to axle, 111Sreg8111 or f o rget ut» one of them however t 11l ill tittortrutt It may at the tints. ttriwitt. `howl( ott perceive With% to lo• imissrtani. make them , • mu. fives of action. I A't 1114111 herVe 11$ sl l lllll4s to ylllll' 14/11. duet. If we neglect to draw .well inlet...tiers, or to let iu continuant with them, we fail its essential duties."' Agin's, in temark . ing how Sir William eteited his wNhtlsut.m Is, ths. illt•ideill which he drew of the me di ca l e l meis m a n-, M r . Abernethy observed I etnlnot tell you lion splendid and brilliant he Made it appear : I then Ile mullioned Ils 'term* to taiminit i 4. luSUe by any ilisinge ills .S.llllllll, (11* by anythillM dint lane even OW Ininblinler of slishoossir." SirWilliant, venentble with age, was present on the occasion. The old mid honoured mut ter listening to his preeepts eloquently en forced and illustrated by Isis popular pupil. and smiling at the plaudits with which they were received, is a pleasing pieture. His mind could scarcely have experienced purer delight than in perceiving how deep 111141 lasting hall been the effect of his admirable instructions. To anatomical studies, merely for the sake of surgical pntetice.Abernethy, we are told, would scarcely have submitted : Ile was fiord of illustrating the true relations of anatomy null physiology ; and at the saute time rontrassting the at• tractions; of the one with the comparatively itrilsite re• quisitions of the other, by saying with Ilr. Barclay, of Edinburgh, that "lie never woodd hats. weshled himself to so wit a witch ( aimtssisly but forth(' shower site hit:tight him (pbcsiology )." In fact, he was always inclined to value tots lightly mere manual skill, and in this re spect he allowed personal sentiment to over ride his judgment. In all those cases demand ing surgical I Ipelratioll the differenee between success and failure in a difficult case,—between the patient suffering little or much,—between patina and complete cure,—between life and Bestir,—trust depend on the amount of prate tical skill possessed by the oerator ; nor would the most perfect knowle dge of physio logy avail anything if his hand wanted dexte rity. It is said of Abernethy : 111 fart, la. held operations altsogether as occupying so low a place in sstir duties, lss hat nog sit link to 1111 - with the sebum. , of Mir lanfeSsi 111 l , that there was very little mostin of them bt set that relowl,ion which both his science and his humanity suggested. Yet we read in another place that one of his claims to a high IMMO in surgical science was that Le hail been the first to extend the applientien ofistbit Bunter's celebrated opertitisin for the mire of oitiviiri.in to a vessel near the heart I the external iliac artery ), on which Mr. Abentethy plact.tl u li g atitte is, 17117. He regarded operations, it seems, as a re proach to the profession, and as he advatiued in life his dislike to them increased : He was apt to be fidgetty and impatient. if things went smoothly, it was all vet) sell; but if any tuttoasirsl occurrence took place he sull'erell a good deal, and it be. came unpleasant to assist him ; but he was never unkind to the patient. Mr. Macilwain says that operations, "with I the exception of such as become necesbury 591 from accidents, are almost sill s , f them conse quent on the imperfection of seienee.' exception is a huge one : anti wind is to be done until surgery attains its ilesidersitell per feelion ? Ahern...thy was eleeted assistant surgeon to Ilartholoinew's Hospital .lisly IA 11'0.41. and this post he tilled ter twenty-eight years. It iscertainly suggest ive of something wrong in the hospital s.steiii of that slay that so eminent titan should have been retained in a subordinate station till his energies began to decline, for at fifty, when he became surgeon to the hospi tal, he was ageing. imil was miespost t o A t e physical fatigue of his duties. As no emolu ment attached to the post of assistant surgeon, lie early reeogniseil the necessity for exertion. Mid began to give leeturem, the first year of his appointment. in St. Ilartholoascris_elose. Ile is noticed in the firsibentites .Iloyetzine as an " ingenious young gentleman." About the same time, or soon after, he instituted an ex tensive series of experiments on the composi tion of animal matter, with the view of alms trating 1111 idea he entertained that the ultimate particles of matter were the I,llllll` ill essence. l'hemistry bus made such mighty Mb Aitern since his day. that his experiments and con• elusions ean be retorted to toi. little else than to show the ardour of his ursuit. (hi s a te occasion he appears to have kept his hand im mersed in quicksilver for sixteen hours. for the purpose of detecting the quantity of air given out through the skin. It is greatly to his honour that he instinctively shrank from all those experiments which, torturing 1111 i. 111111 s, seldom yield a t'olllollsllll IN'SUIt. WO agree with 1111 admirable thought quoted here from Sir Charles (tell, that physiology is much 11101.1. a science Or observation than of experiment : A.: to the itithienei• I.f y 44.0111.151. oil animals, in hi a 1 ili.esit 'islet., me bat e lu. cis II Mille., It, (111 dam tug It. 111 . Mats . " yury ii, MI, the 1401141 Mills Nhir h he Ma. II . • illlblel . ll 111111.4 . .4111 W 1 . %1.1 . 1 Tie) ill feet, Molting to de it it do. °revs... Tl i t• i nns,l, 111 ro•ltividiel v0tir5 . ,454111 ~ i..N1% 1.111441 1 , 1.1 e11a1"11'1 of etiletS. ThIS lie 111111 1111101111 , 16 b 1 st - kI.UNIs - tigl • , and the 1.1.115 . 5 411.'1114. 111 lii .lost, lAN 11l ll %hod 'Wile% " S. "1" " Dill "' %". In "). " I I " In "III" /tIIDU Y 1111111 eilliet V, or, if t appear hoOliitit.: of 1,1 ith% 11 1111 l that I. mitt 11 Oleg. till I' hi. I 1 i We give Ale. iil acillcuitt credit for the giant sense and right feeling discoverable in this passage. The incidents in the life of a successful sur geon, apart from his practice, are usually few. As a lecturer, Abernethy's reputation rapidly spread, and, es a eionsequenee of his reputa 1111 l , Lis prat-lice became huge 11110 lucrative. At the latter end of he decided on the important step of iiiiirriage:-- iss Aline Tlimlfall aas the daughter of a genili•nion Milo hail retired nom lataisieati, and Mho it all" IWriiulll l. loiu or Is.lKhlNnll IN/1.11 1.1 ihs llti • Ei hits whin. This July lout been 1.l it) init Nah a.m., friensim m itt 1.0804011 (at Putney, t‘i. belly% hum Abernethy alga lug, mill, set Mu liven invol, iu his profeasi d enpaeity. A bertiethytt courtship 5511'i abort, anti Isis liropositi Charneterisl Ile wrote a W. 1.. ssr 10%114.4, 111(qtaing the 1101111' and Voricty of his ocentiot ion% in apology for the inethit.l saf milking theca kilo ti, and te.plrsling the holy to lake a fortnight to e.iiiatiler her I iply. Wi• are not s t un. that 4asile tiling Might led 1111‘0. 111 . 1.11 , .ais t in 41.1.1.. ration, .4 We are not informed whether the laity told: advantage of the fortnight to, considerately given her to vonsult her heart, but at itti rate tproposal was accepted, and Abernethy was p l e n r feetly happy in his eluiiee : M r+. Abenietliy is still li‘itig, a n d well enough we Umt to look hack with pleasure Oil 01 perkier* romparatively few Mare been permitted to rsijoy. As he hall been wedded to leetuting before he took a wife, he would not suffer his new love to separate him from his old. Ills usual lecture at the hospital was giten oft his marriage slay : Ninny years sifter 11u, I met him ell • g into thn hospital oily flay, it little 140 I 111.• I ..... r sit letirsio• and seeing him lather %Imo sly .1. 0 s il l a wlutc want cunt, I said : . . . " Yon ate very gay tu•Jny. sir' ".‘7," rai4 ht,"(me of tler girls wos married this ■ I I