‘Lad o Pairts’ is the traditional Scottish term used to describe a clever young Scotsman who rises from humble beginnings to be an accomplished all-rounder. It represents a heroic ideal that was encouraged in part by the Scottish educational system of the nineteenth century, which allowed youths of more lowly origins to achieve free public education and attend a Scottish university. The application of this term to James Young Simpson (1811–1870) is certainly appropriate and a well-chosen title for this new multi-authored biography. He was the son of a baker from Bathgate near Edinburgh and at the young age of twenty-eight became professor of midwifery at the University of Edinburgh, a post that he held for over thirty years.
It is now over one hundred and sixty years since the Scottish obstetrician James Young Simpson administered the first general anaesthetic to a woman in childbirth. The initial use of ether has long been ascribed to William Morton following his public demonstration in the ether dome at Boston, Massachusetts on 16 October 1846. Within four months Simpson employed ether in obstetric anaesthesia in a case that attracted widespread publicity. Although ether was widely employed it had many side effects and Simpson and his assistants popularised the use of chloroform in obstetric practice. Simpson made many other important contributions to obstetrics and also supported the concept of hand washing to prevent puerperal sepsis, as advocated by Semmelweis. Simpson also exemplified the idea of an all-rounder with broad interests in the arts, classics and archaeology. He was also well versed in theology.
Simpson’s life and career are well known and have been the subject of several biographies, the first written by his friend and minister, Reverend John Duns, within three years of Simpson’s death. This new book takes a different approach to biography in which the editors have assembled a range of specialist authors from different disciplines to build a picture of Simpson in the context of mid-nineteenth-century medicine and society. James Young Simpson was also the subject of a bicentenary symposium held at the University of Edinburgh in June this year, at which time this book was launched. The authors have succeeded admirably in their presentation of the multiple facets of Simpson’s life in a way that gives due credit to his accomplishments, but without slipping into hagiography. The chapter on Simpson and the development of physical diagnosis paints him as an innovator in obstetrics and gynaecology who was grounded in the pathology of disease and in the scientific method of practice. His first academic appointment was as an assistant to a professor of pathology, and Simpson maintained a personal pathological museum. He promoted methods of physical examination of the pregnant woman and the use of uterine sounds, which he had earlier practised upon cadavers. The chapter on Simpson and Semmelweis is a valuable contribution analysing the correspondence between these two nineteenth-century figures and their understanding of the nature of puerperal sepsis. The author argues that Simpson was limited in his understanding of puerperal sepsis and considered it to be contagious, but failed to observe its crucial infectious quality.
Simpson’s championing of the use of chloroform in childbirth met with religious as well as medical opposition. His biblical and theological training in the Free Church of Scotland and his religious views generally are canvassed in the chapter entitled, ‘A Genuinely Religious Man? An Analysis of the Role of Religion in Simpson’s Life’. It presents a picture of Simpson’s religion as being somewhat complicated, but interconnected with all aspects of his life. It suggests that he was genuine in his faith rather than someone who had only an intellectual interest in religion. Other chapters touch on controversies over homeopathy in Edinburgh, the role of wet nurses and his expertise as an antiquary. The various chapters are well edited and despite multiple authorship the text maintains a consistent style throughout. This volume can be warmly recommended as a valuable addition to the biographical resources on James Young Simpson.
