[Correspondence between Dr J.Y. Simpson, Dr Robert Christison, Professor James Miller, and others].

  • Miller James, 1812-1864.
Date:
[1852]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Correspondence between Dr J.Y. Simpson, Dr Robert Christison, Professor James Miller, and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    3/38 (page 3)
    I—From Dr Simpson to Dr Christison, Saturday Morning, 20th March 1852. My dear Doctor,—It was on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon that you were so kind as to inform me of the rumour that was being busily propagated through Edinburgh by one or two* homoeopathic physicians, to the effect, that 1st, Mrs , whom you were so good as visit with me two Sundays ago, had died of bleeding after an operation upon the uterus; and 2d, that the authority given by the physicians in question, for this report, was the discovery of a large effusion of blood upon the bed of our lamented patient, by IMr Hardie the upholsterer. You know of my calling on Mr Hardie immediately, and the result. I did not get till yesterday the letter which he at once promised to write me, as he had to go off to Carstairs; and the two following days I had to run to Dunse, and subsequently to Glasgow. Before copy- ing for you his note, permit me to make one or two remarks. 1. Mrs had, as you are aware, an operation (not a serious one) performed upon Friday morning, and the uterus was not the seat of the operation. Mr Syme had performed upon her a similar, or the same, operation about two years ago. The same week on which I operated on Mrs , I performed the same operation on two other patients;—the first of them you know of, viz., an English lady, one of whose family you saw professionally when she was in town, and who set off for England the week subsequently. In the other instance, I performed the operation in my own house, Mr Drummond being present, and the patient after it went home to her ♦ After receiving this letter, Dr Christison stated to me that ho found the infor- mation {fiven to him as to two liomrtopathic physicians \)MUf( engaged in (n'oinulgat- ing the mi.sreportt, was wrong. One only was traced to Ije liusiud witli it.