The history of the study of anatomy in Cambridge : a lecture delivered January 29, 1891, on the opening of the new anatomical lecture room / by A. Macalister.

  • Macalister, Alexander, 1844-
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The history of the study of anatomy in Cambridge : a lecture delivered January 29, 1891, on the opening of the new anatomical lecture room / by A. Macalister. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Tristram Sliandy bad died of phthisis in an obscure lodging, and had been followed to his grave by two friends. His place of interment was St George's Burial-Place at Tyburn, a favourite spot for the operation of the resurrectionists, and it had pro- bably been disinterred that night, brought to Cambridge, and sold to Collignon. Malone records that he had the story directly from the lips of the gentleman who recognised him; and at a later date it is recorded that the Rev. Thos. Greene stated that he saw the skeleton of Sterne in Cambridge. I am informed by Mr J. W. Clark that the story was current when his father was appointed professor in 1817. What the ultimate fate of the unfortunate satirist's bones has been I cannot discover. I have been unable to identify any skull in the col- lection as that of the author of Tristram Shandy, who, having so tragically ended his sentimental journey of life, returned after death to his old university. It is a singular coincidence that of the two great Irish satirists of that period, the skull of Swift should have temporarily sojourned on the shelves of the museum in Dublin, and that of Sterne in the collection at Cambridge. On the death of Collignon, Busick Harwood of Christ's, and afterwards of Emmanuel College, was elected to the chair, which he held until 1814. Shortly after his election he com- menced the publication of a large work on Comparative Anatomy, but, not receiving sufficient encouragement, one part only was published, that on the organ of smell. It is a matter of regret that the project fell through, for the part of the work issued shows originality and erudition, and is beautifully illus- trated. It was translated into German, and published under the editorship of Wiedemann. To Harwood we owe the foundation of our anatomical museum, as he prepared a series of specimens to illustrate his lectures, and the University purchased these at his death. The gossipy chronicler, Gunning, tells many amusing inci- dents of Harwood's domestic life. He tells us that in his day Cambridge was but a poor school for medicine. Harwood had been in practice in India for some years before coming to Cam- bridge and was a man of some means. He lectured on Com-