Sir James Young Simpson Statue , Bart.
by Yvonne Johnstone
Title
Sir James Young Simpson Statue , Bart.
Artist
Yvonne Johnstone
Medium
Photograph - Digitally Enhanced Photograph
Description
Sir James Young Simpson, Bart. (1811 -1870) - Pioneer of Anaesthesia
Simpson was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland of humble origins.
He studied at the University of Edinburgh from 1825 (aged 14) until 1832, becoming a licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1830. In 1836 Simpson gained a position at the City Lying-in Hospital in Edinburgh and he began practicing midwifery. By 1839 Simpson held the chair of midwifery at the University of Edinburgh and his practice grew rapidly, catering for both obstetrics and general medicine.
Simpson was enthused by the success of Robert Liston’s trial of ether as a surgical anaesthetic in University College Hospital, London in December 1846.
In January of the following year he used ether in a case of complicated labour and began to advocate its general adoption. By the end of 1847 he was routinely using ether and had even designed his own inhaler.
However, ether had numerous disadvantages and Simpson sought an alternative, which led to him experimenting with chloroform, first on himself along with two assistants, before starting to utilise it on his patients.
The use of anaesthesia, particularly chloroform, became standardised obstetric practice and Simpson gained international fame.
- Built in 1877 by public subscription and the Simpson Memorial committee, this seated bronze figure in academic robes on a stone plinth, in Princes Street Edinburgh, was designed by William Brodie RSA (1815-1881) and cast by Masefield and Co., Bronze-founders, London.
Uploaded
July 11th, 2020
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