Surgery, Identity and Embodied Emotion

In 1792, James Gregory (1753–1821), Professor of the Practice of Physic at the University of Edinburgh, became involved in a highly public dispute with a family of man midwives. The row centred on a text attributed to ‘J. Johnson Esq’ entitled A Guide for Gentlemen Studying Medicine at the University of Edinburgh (1792). According to Gregory, this was ‘a knavish pamphlet, published under a false name . . . intended to promote the pecuniary interest of one man, and to injure the fame and fortune of another, both of them my colleagues in this University’.11 James Gregory, Additional Memorial to the Managers of the Royal Infirmary (Edinburgh, 1803), p. 310. Gregory suspected the author to be the Professor of Midwifery, Alexander Hamilton (bap. 1739, d. 1802), and although the Senate of the university cleared Alexander of any wrongdoing, Gregory's attention then turned to his son, James Hamilton (1767–1839). According to the established account of events, in 1793 Gregory came across James Hamilton in the precincts of the university and, after a brief exchange of words, thrashed him with his cane. Gregory was subsequently called before the Commissary Court where he was ordered to pay £100 in damages, as well as a fine and expenses. Unrepentant, he claimed that he would gladly pay another £100 for the pleasure of doing it again.22 Robert Chisholm, The Life of Robert Chisholm, Bart, I: Autobiography (Edinburgh, 1885), p. 86; Agnes Grainger Stewart, The Academic Gregories (Edinburgh, 1901), p. 136. As this episode suggests, James Gregory was not averse to engaging in public quarrels with his medical colleagues. Even in the highly fractious world of medicine in late Georgian Edinburgh, he was notorious for his belligerence. Henry Cockburn (1779–1854), the celebrated Whig jurist, claimed that, whatever his virtues, ‘a disposition towards personal attack was his besetting sin’.33 Henry Cockburn, Memorials of his Time (New York, 1856), p. 106. In 1809, Gregory was even suspended from the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh for refusing to apologize for publishing an account of its internal proceedings.44 Paul Lawrence, ‘Gregory, James (1753–1821)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004) [hereafter: ODNB] [accessed 14 Oct. 2018]; Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Narrative of the Conduct of James Gregory towards the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, 1809). However, of all the conflicts in which he was involved, none was more protracted, more heated, nor, indeed, more historically significant, than the ‘medical war’ between himself and the surgeon-anatomist John Bell (1763–1820), which began in 1800 and lasted for up to ten years. This row, which stemmed from a plan to alter the mode of attendance at the Royal Infirmary for members of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, played out across the world of print and gave rise to over a thousand pages of ill-tempered screed. To date, most scholarly accounts of the life and works of John Bell have tended to view him primarily as the erstwhile mentor of his more famous younger brother, Charles Bell (1774–1842).55 For a biographical account see E. W. Wallis, ‘John Bell, 1763–1820’, Medical History, 8/1 (1964), pp. 63–9; K. Grudzien Baston, ‘Bell, John (1763–1820), ODNB [accessed 14 Oct. 2018]; M. H. Kaufman, ‘John Bell (1763–1820), the “father” of surgical anatomy’, Journal of Medical Biography, 13/2 (2005), pp. 73–81. Thus, while a number of historians have referred to the ‘war’ between Gregory and Bell, most have done so only briefly, either as context for Charles's subsequent career, or as part of a general account of medical politics in Edinburgh at the turn of the nineteenth century.66 For recent references to John's dispute with Gregory in relation to his brother, see Carin Berkowitz, Charles Bell and the Anatomy of Reform (Chicago, 2015), pp. 5–6, and Michael J. Aminoff, Sir Charles Bell: His Life, Art, Neurological Concepts and Controversial Legacy (Oxford, 2017), pp. 8–10. The only work that appears to have dealt with the dispute in any detail is an unpublished paper by Michael Barfoot. Indeed, in their reference to the matter, Christopher Lawrence, Stephen Jacyna and Guenter Risse all take Barfoot as their primary authority.77 Christopher Lawrence, ‘The Edinburgh Medical School and the end of the “Old Thing” 1790–1830’, History of Universities, 1 (1988), pp. 259–86, at p. 267, n. 42; L. S. Jaycna, ‘Robert Carswell and William Thomson at the Hôtel Dieu of Lyons: Scottish views of French medicine’, in Roger French and Andrew Wear (eds), British Medicine in an Age of Reform (London, 1991), pp. 110–34, at p, 116, n. 19; idem, Philosophic Whigs: Medicine, Science and Citizenship in Edinburgh 1789–1848 (London, 1994), p. 56, n. 29; Guenter Risse, New Medical Challenges During the Scottish Enlightenment (Amsterdam, 2005), p. 51, n. 168. There is now of the of However, in his ‘The Edinburgh Medical School and the of the “Old Thing” (1988), a that Barfoot as attack on and and a of in the medical and Gregory's the Lawrence, Medical p. Risse that this dispute the of to the now famous Infirmary for the of Edinburgh medicine and the in the in to its and of Risse, New Medical pp. For the most historians have this episode in of and as the dispute the of medicine in Edinburgh this the between and at a the in number and their and as have the politics of medical in the nineteenth Michael and the of in pp. However, one of the dispute which to be is its for and surgical Gregory's published to the row have a His Additional Memorial to the Managers of the Royal Infirmary for a attention to the of which more than on the Bell was by Gregory for his as an for his his a so that even Gregory that them was Gregory, Additional pp. than in to Gregory, Bell than a of his and that of his on the of to the an of surgical and This in his of on and the of a and the and of a to James Gregory a work which not only out his of surgical so in to that of the it was the of this that Bell his The of a work that would to be as a text for to This and John to is highly of scholarly not only he was as only in John of the Edinburgh School (Edinburgh, p. and that then Cockburn, Memorials of his p. 106. after their as a for surgical or then called For see James on The pp. at p. Indeed, it would not be to that Bell was one of the most on surgical in in the of the nineteenth This that work so to of in the late Georgian was its of a to a by and As the a In the it as an and general for any of or or as a for as and the of a in pp. at p. see idem, to The of a Charles Bell as the with of the of p. However, as with so of Charles it is that, whatever the of their he to the of his and As and his and of and the it To be of his have that Bell was a man with or that he a and none have to the of in his public have to his surgical a and Wallis, ‘John p. Baston, ‘Bell, The of is now a of it is only in recent that historians of medicine and have to take in their of and For see The Science of and As have historians of medicine have to the of of have attention to the politics of while and historians have the politics of in the and nineteenth the politics of see William M. The of A for the History of the politics of see J. The of and in (Chicago, The of and in the However, of have to one this to is to the and of the dispute an that this dispute be by the between and in late Georgian Edinburgh the of the of the as man of it and that in the and which came to the in the of the In the of as a of or of a that to the of and of pp. In the context of the this of centred on the to and In his work on the of as a to Charles Bell as a than a This is as the of the and which Bell to the of the a of his surgical p. In this see a in the work of his For John Bell, this suggests, in the of the by was by his from the with and Gregory played on this his for surgical and and to in Bell, on the to turn on their that it was and an to the and of his that the came to be as a man of an that he in to the of the was from This and As Barfoot and as in more Gregory's of medicine and its relation to was in a of of by whatever his with a more and in which the of the in to the and of the established The medical world of late and Edinburgh so well by historians that more to be as Lawrence, Medical Philosophic is to is that the highly of the Edinburgh medical to the of the university medical as it was by the was in Christopher Lawrence, as Edinburgh and the Scottish University of p. The medical established in by the and the John (bap. d. with the of the medical of under at the University of it its a the Edinburgh medical to a and which it from in the British was by the of William as Professor of and subsequently of the and Practice of Medicine pp. of the Alexander and John Gregory of the of Edinburgh medical was a of from To that a was in in by a now as the Royal in pp. Guenter Risse, Life in Enlightenment and at the Royal of Edinburgh pp. The of this between the College and as a for the politics of its In would to have an by Alexander to the surgical of the the of that the would be and of by the Royal College of Physicians and of the most in M. and The History of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, (Edinburgh, 2005), p. by their from the the of Surgeons established their in the However, under the of John the of the Infirmary and to the to all and pay in for the members of the to the Infirmary by this was in Lawrence, as pp. and pp. is to the by the in their to the claimed that the of attendance was to an the of in Lawrence, as p. For its this was of the it as well be as a on the part of to their the of the Royal College of this the of Surgeons was in a In the from the before their to the and would of the Edinburgh after the of them the Royal College of this with the was the it over it was a to their to be as than of the College across the by the the number of in Edinburgh was surgical was on the During the of with was from the and for medical or was not a a or both of and of to the medical of the with the Medicine, the and in the British (Oxford, and the of British Medicine, (London, As the medical and to this of For one the Professor of Alexander was a and in a which on and a number of in Edinburgh which the the of the and which to his Lawrence, Medical pp. that Charles Bell was the of surgical in it is that he to his Berkowitz, Charles John Bell was one of the most in the and, as have was to be only in p. in that he as an Lawrence, Medical p. he to a as the of his and him in all the of his John Bell, on and the of a and the and of a to James Gregory, Professor of the Practice of Medicine in the University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, p. The and that of a is that which an from a not not a . . . a man, of and only of in words, in the of a public one and in from which he of himself than by a of the . . . by the and and the in and the is to pp. Bell came to be involved in this dispute is not The that he was a and in his so as he Henry Cockburn, Journal of Henry a of the Memorials of his (Edinburgh, p. However, have a As of Edinburgh, French the of the of Henry and the by the for . . . in a both in and in Lawrence, Medical p. a Whig was the and to over public Philosophic pp. Charles Bell by historians as a the context of Scottish John's not so Berkowitz, Charles Bell, pp. The of Medicine, and Reform in (Chicago, p. The that his William Bell the of for the at a it was with For an account of see Charles Bell, of Charles Bell (London, pp. while John's of the of in a p. it is that his surgical as John Thomson and John Gregory, Additional pp. However, as the medical politics of Edinburgh in this be politics and, as the of Robert from be Lawrence, Medical p. and in The Edinburgh to Robert (Edinburgh, pp. not with his take on medicine and the of an and John Bell of an then James Gregory was the was in to John Gregory, and in at His was Professor of the Practice of Physic at Edinburgh in celebrated for both his medical and Paul Lawrence, Gregory John ODNB [accessed 14 Oct. James Gregory with his to Edinburgh in and for a in the a brief at he to Edinburgh in to During the of his his and James up his as a in and, after on the to Edinburgh more to take up the now of Professor of the of Lawrence, ‘Gregory, was a a of the for which Scottish and the Edinburgh medical in Roger L. Academic in the Scottish Edinburgh and (Edinburgh, was the and which came from that gave Gregory the to in as as he In he was of the Royal College of a which gave him an on the of the Royal this the of surgical attendance at the Infirmary not In to in the by for a not However, their was in the not to any the of the and, as a of the more to Risse, Life, pp. In an to the the 1800 a number of to the of of Bell and John as have of John Bell, on the of of the Surgeons of Edinburgh on the Royal Infirmary (Edinburgh, John of a for the of the of the Royal Infirmary (Edinburgh, However, it was Gregory, a man on with Bell up to this would a of Gregory, Additional p. that, of the Surgeons in Edinburgh, be more and would the either of a or of a Royal . . . it is to be the with the of and and and p. that would of Gregory's the reference to ‘a an to the of surgical the of as with as and the of in this the the to the Infirmary to all members of the Royal College of not of the most was for This between and is for both Gregory's and the to he claimed that the or of any for the which have in his to out that his the as a In the members of the College of Surgeons of their of their of attendance at the The of in the Infirmary Gregory in the of the and most pp. his to name Gregory his text with of surgical in to a he only be by p. In the most he referred to a so that have to a or a at the a on the In this Gregory's the of medicine the Even he was to that than . . . to with any of to the of the on this which to in a most by or even in the by doing Gregory a of and the of the Infirmary to the of even the most medical pp. The in the have the the and the of and not have the to that is and as Managers of the have a to have a to from the and and which for p. is or whatever or is at the of the by any or or to is and of and to the it is a of on or it is an on p. Gregory claimed that it was the of a of to the of his that he not the and and of a of he it was the of as a Indeed, he claimed that the by and the of Surgeons with the of the Infirmary in was a of he was in this or a more and between the or of a and the and the of pp. it would be to the any more than to the to have or one or even of them established in a . . . Physicians and Surgeons by on the in of with and a of in the of is an number of and to the most of the even be to a of and and and in be and by of for a of their The and and . . pp. number would by the of all the and so or or as to be for life with the and which a of would to in Edinburgh would to be a or a it would not be in public with or or would any of them be and as of and works on or . . . In one by a of the Surgeons of Edinburgh would Gregory, p. be so as . . . to that a established and so that in of he a or a his or even his as he a or the name of the or the of the pp. For Gregory, the of and, was In this the of Edinburgh in a highly A he the on while or as of them the on their in while is of or to the to his on or in a . . . it . . . in and to that his an and that he to a Indeed, the to Gregory a not one of them would be to in a or at a and would any of them be the of pp. of both in and in would up a of or an for and the of of an at the of only or to a he is in of and Surgeons in this have all the the of the he his in the of p. at any in at the of see have with the Infirmary as a for more than and have not all that at a public in the where the Surgeons one p. In a Gregory that he the the of a Gregory, Additional p. and this for the life of was he would his text was this Memorial be the in Surgeons he and than be at to it to the Gregory, p. Gregory was to that his Memorial would be by the of he have that this would to the most in Bell himself to on the of surgical attendance at the he was by the of Gregory's text to to a by the members of the College of that he a John Bell, for the of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh to the Memorial of James Gregory (Edinburgh, p. Gregory, Additional pp. In the for the of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh to the Memorial of James Gregory Bell claimed that the a their at all Bell all of at all or and and his Bell, pp. To a man the he have and a his and be with the of of he have that with the of his which the with and more than to the of to one of and and end with a in a man his he towards his and have towards his general In have their that with the of their and that of be in which and the pp. To be is not to be the of and the Anatomy of the it is . . . to an interest in the of to for his which he himself not . . . to be by of and which even on the This is the in to and is of an interest in and with Bell, p. his at the of his his a was to be done on the the of the his his at the of with the of in the of an a man the he and his be This is not of the he his he would be and as out a he would be of the is In this a the on which whatever its was by and public as a of The in Georgian the by the of (London, pp. Bell was that Gregory's was or than as the Gregory as a a so that he of Gregory's was in the of As while its and only to its across the of pp. from and to so its and it be as an and which an to and which in the for with a for Edinburgh was to the of its and of the Scottish while it was the of Edinburgh Robert and that a as as a Christopher Lawrence, ‘The and in the Scottish in and Stephen (eds), of (London, pp. idem, as pp. it was in Edinburgh that is to have its at in the British In Henry an of both Bell and Gregory, published The of the its an and over the of the he H. W. Henry ODNB [accessed 14 Oct. in its by the nineteenth it from its it of p. 19; of History, pp. not the of Henry of The pp. The for this in the that, the a number of as of of p. The French of the of played an The with the of as a of the and of of of a in (Oxford, 2015), However, as of by the end of the and the over the of the was part of a . . . and not a of of p. to . . . that the the the with a to the with or for the the with than it the his of the and over the so as to it The the of the with its the and then all that in with and so as to up the towards the turn out the of with and the to the of and by that, the of the as it is a it and the of the that all is now John Bell, on the and of (Edinburgh, pp. than in to see the and the in to a and with or the of the the of and the that Bell, p. called to and to than have that in this all be that to be was a of to not of that to it be . . . and it would be to see by a or the of a as to and as to and more on and Bell, on pp. is this of is that it turned and on their Gregory, the of their work them to and to the of the was to be a of more in the and than in the man or Bell was was that the of a which was from the of the As it was the than his was the man of and it was this that gave the his of As he have of my life in which only from in and which would p. There is all that which to a man to an and one and by that to The one is by and in a of the with and and of Bell, on p. is the that the to public and In it in of a an a a a of the politics and of A a family and the of . . . the a and a of as which a for the of that the and the and the the which its while it is is not more in the than in the of where the of their and even on their in the Bell, pp. on the that the Edinburgh medical in the of Henry Cockburn claimed that Bell the both of the and of the the public with the and so Gregory was to have the Cockburn, Memorials of his p. 106. whatever be of their is that Bell the his turned the of the in the a subsequent in 1800 the mode of attendance to one of and p. 106. while Bell was one of the was his John To to Thomson subsequently in he was of to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and in he was the of Professor of at the the that it was Bell for the of this in the Philosophic M. H. Kaufman, The of in the University of Edinburgh, (Amsterdam, pp. Indeed, it that Bell . . . from his from the by their brother, Bell John and Charles the Royal Infirmary in the and p. 106. In any John up in himself to his and to However, while was by his dispute with Gregory, in another his and to be a in Edinburgh For in Thomson he claimed was a of for the at the Royal The was and in at one to a Bell published a attack on the of a man a life of in with and himself to be to the Bell, on p. As a Thomson his at the According to his son, William Thomson he have the attack . . . with . . . he is to be for by the which he the of Bell on the public William of in J. of the Life, and of William (Edinburgh, pp. at p. all Thomson a for as a and in his by the that he at that to himself as a Philosophic p. a man as he be and and of for and a of not the of a in this of personal and and towards his and of the and most of a John Bell, The of (Edinburgh, p. A man of The plan of his is in his with his by than words, and his that which is to a of and to his and is by and from the in which he public to to the younger members of the with the of and with see the with to the and of and to and their and to it with p. of in surgical and in from to Henry Journal of pp. of the as and would across the His of was to the of John and and it is that he was as as in as he was in while it would be to that he was the of the of the a in which and in their he was its most and this with its of and and its of and be to have the to from a to a

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