James Young Simpson

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For other persons named James Simpson, see James Simpson (disambiguation).
James Young Simpson

James Young Simpson
Born 7 June 1811
Bathgate, West Lothian
Died 6 May 1870 (aged 58)
Edinburgh
Known for Use of chloroform as anesthetic
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Sir James Young Simpson (7 June 1811 – 6 May 1870) was a Scottish doctor and an important figure in the history of medicine. Simpson discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform and successfully introduced it for general medical use.

Contents

[edit] Early life

James Simpson was born in Bathgate, West Lothian the youngest of eight children, Thomas, John, Alexander, David, George (died young), George and a sister Mary. His parents were Mary Jarvey (also known as Jarvie) and David Simpson, a baker in Bathgate. James received his initial education at the local school, but because of his obvious abilities his father and brothers (his mother died when he was 9) together paid for a College education and he entered the University of Edinburgh when he was 14 years old. He became a Licentiate in 1830 before graduating in 1832. He was appointed Professor of Midwifery (which would now be called Obstetrics) at the University of Edinburgh and physician to Queen Victoria.

Simpson's name at birth was "James Simpson", as recorded at his baptism on 30 June. It is unknown why he formally adopted the middle name "Young". One theory is that, as a very young professor, he was flaunting his youth in front of his older peers or alternatively that he was known by the affectionate nickname of "Young Simpson" and decided to incorporate it into his name.

[edit] Career

Simpson completed his final medical examination at the age of 18 but, as he was so young, had to wait two years before he got his license to practice medicine. It was during this period that he became a Freemason, being initiated in a Lodge in his home town of Bathgate.

Simpson developed an interest in obstetrics, and at the age of 28 was appointed Chair of Midwifery at the University of Edinburgh. He improved the design of obstetric forceps and, like Semmelweis, fought against the contagion of puerperal sepsis. His most noted contribution was the introduction of anesthesia to childbirth.

A free thinker by most accounts, Simpson's intellectual interests ranged from archeology to an almost taboo subject at the time: hermaphroditism. He was a very early advocate of the use of midwives in the hospital environment. Many prominent women also consulted him for their gynaecological problems.

It was his achievements and wide ranging interests that led to his town house at 52 Queen Street, Edinburgh being a gathering point for many members of society, especially intellectual free thinkers. His impish sense of humour got the better of him on at least one of these occasions when he sat a Southern U.S. slave owner next to a freed slave at the dinner table. Since this town house was fairly busy at times, Simpson preferred to keep his wife and children at their country house near Bathgate.

He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1863.

[edit] Obstetric anesthesia

Sir James Young Simpson

Sir Humphry Davy used the first anesthetic in 1799, nitrous oxide laughing gas. J. R. Lister's ether was dismissed as an anesthetic as it irritated the lungs of the patients. In 1847 Simpson discovered the properties of chloroform during an experiment with friends in which he learnt that it could be used to put one to sleep. It was very much up to chance that Simpson survived the chloroform dosage he administered to himself. If he had inhaled too much, subsequently passing away from an overdose, chloroform would have been seen as a dangerous substance. However, if Simpson had inhaled slightly less it would not have put him to sleep. It was his willingness to explore the possibilities of the substance that established his career as a pioneer in the field of medicine.

Simpson first used his anesthetic to help ease the pain during childbirth. Some may have opposed this practice, interpreting it as an act against nature or the will of God. However, A. D. Farr's study has shown that this was a distinctly minority view.[1] Wider acceptance of Simpson's efforts came when Queen Victoria used chloroform during the delivery of Prince Leopold in 1853. The anesthetist was John Snow.

Full recognition of Simpson's work followed quickly. He was the first man to be knighted by the Scottish Court of the Lord Lyon for services to medicine. "Victo Dolore" (pain conquered) is the inscription of his coat of arms.

[edit] Death and memorials

Simpson died at his home in Edinburgh at the age of fifty-eight. A burial spot in Westminster Abbey was offered to his family, but they declined and instead buried him closer to home in Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh.[2] However, a memorial bust can be found in a niche at Westminster Abbey in London. On the day of Simpson's funeral, a Scottish holiday was declared, including the banks and stock markets, with over 100,000 citizens lining the funeral cortege on its way to the cemetery, while over 1,700 colleagues and business leaders took part in the procession itself.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Farr AD (March 1983). "Religious opposition to obstetric anaesthesia: a myth?". Annals of Science 40 (2): 159–77. doi:10.1080/00033798300200171. PMID 11611643. 
  2. ^ For a photograph of his gravesite, see Baskett, T. F.. "Edinburgh connections in a painful world". http://www.rcsed.ac.uk/journal/svol3_2/3020008.html. Retrieved on 2008-09-29. 

[edit] Further reading

The statue of Sir James Young Simpson, Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh
  • Baillie TW (August 2004). "Hans Christian Andersen's visit to James Young Simpson". Scottish Medical Journal 49 (3): 112–3. PMID 15462230. 
  • Ball C (December 1996). "James Young Simpson, 1811-1870". Anaesthesia and Intensive Care 24 (6): 639. PMID 8971309. 
  • CHALMERS JA (February 1963). "James Young SIMPSON and the "suction-tractor"". The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Empire 70: 94–100. PMID 14019913. 
  • Cohen J (November 1996). "Doctor James Young Simpson, Rabbi Abraham De Sola, and Genesis Chapter 3, verse 16". Obstetrics and Gynecology 88 (5): 895–8. doi:10.1016/0029-7844(96)00234-7. PMID 8885936. 
  • Dunn PM (May 2002). "Sir James Young Simpson (1811-1870) and obstetric anaesthesia". Archives of Disease in Childhood. Fetal and Neonatal Edition 86 (3): F207–9. doi:10.1136/fn.86.3.F207. PMID 11978757. 
  • Eustace DL (November 1993). "James Young Simpson: the controversy surrounding the presentation of his Air Tractor (1848-1849)". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 86 (11): 660–3. PMID 8258804. 
  • Gaskell E (May 1970). "Three letters by Sir James Young Simpson". British Medical Journal 2 (5706): 414–6. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.5706.414. PMID 4911888. 
  • Gordon, B. Laing (1897). Sir James Young Simpson & Chloroform 1811-1870. London: T. Fischer Unwin. OCLC 11397269. 
  • Gunn AL (March 1968). "James Young Simpson--the complete gynaecologist". The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Commonwealth 75 (3): 249–63. PMID 4868187. 
  • Hill B (May 1970). "Towards the conquest of pain: Sir James Y. Simpson, Bt, M.D. (1811-1870)". The Practitioner 204 (223): 724–9. PMID 4914462. 
  • Kellar RJ (October 1966). "Sir James Young Simpson: victo dolore". Journal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 12 (1): 1–13. PMID 5341756. 
  • Kennedy C (October 1966). "Sir James Young Simpson--"the splendid ultimate triumph"". Journal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 12 (1): 14–23. PMID 5341755. 
  • Kennedy C (June 1966). "Sir James Young Simpson--"the splendid ultimate triumph"". The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Commonwealth 73 (3): 364–71. PMID 5329917. 
  • Keys TE (1973). "Sir James Young Simpson (1811-1870)". Anesthesia and Analgesia 52 (4): 562. doi:10.1213/00000539-197307000-00015. PMID 4577696. 
  • Kyle RA, Shampo MA (April 1997). "James Young Simpson and the introduction of chloroform anesthesia in obstetric practice". Mayo Clinic Proceedings 72 (4): 372. PMID 9121187. 
  • Matsuki A (October 1981). "[Recent findings in the history of anesthesiology (15)--James Young Simpson]" (in Japanese). Masui 30 (10): 1142–6. PMID 7035712. 
  • McGowan SW (December 1997). "Sir James Young Simpson Bart. 150 years on". Scottish Medical Journal 42 (6): 185–7. PMID 9507600. 
  • MILLER D (February 1962). "Sir James Young SIMPSON". The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Empire 69: 142–50. PMID 14035991. 
  • Peck P (September 1961). "Doctors afield: Sir James Y. SIMPSON". The New England Journal of Medicine 265: 486–7. PMID 13733828. 
  • Pinkerton JH (June 1982). "Sir James Young Simpson: Irish influences". Irish Medical Journal 75 (6): 183–7. PMID 7050008. 
  • Simpson, Myrtle (1972). Simpson, the obstetrician: a biography. London: Gollancz. ISBN 978-0-575-01368-1. OCLC 489148. 
  • Speert, Harold (1958). Obstetric and Gynecologic Milestones. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 222038266. 
  • Conacher ID (February 1998). "Why the Y?". British Journal of Anaesthesia 80 (2): 271–2. doi:10.1093/bja/80.2.271-a. PMID 9602606. 
  • Secher O (November 1972). "Hans Andersen and James Young Simpson". British Journal of Anaesthesia 44 (11): 1212–6. doi:10.1093/bja/44.11.1212. PMID 4567093. 
  • Speert H (October 1957). "Obstetrical-gynecological eponyms: James Young Simpson and his obstetric forceps". The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Empire 64 (5): 744–9. PMID 13476274. 
  • Taylor CW (April 1965). "Lawson Tait -- A Grateful Pupil of James Young Simpson". The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Commonwealth 72: 165–71. PMID 14273091. 
  • Waserman M (January 1980). "Sir James Y Simpson and London's "conservative and so curiously prejudiced" Dr Ramsbotham". British Medical Journal 280 (6208): 158–61. doi:10.1136/bmj.280.6208.158. PMID 6986947. 
  • "Classic articles in colonic and rectal surgery. James Young Simpson 1811-1870". Diseases of the Colon and Rectum 25 (6): 611–22. September 1982. PMID 6749456. 
  • "James Young Simpson and the conquest of pain". The Medical Journal of Australia 1 (19): 925–6. May 1970. PMID 4912314. 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Young_Simpson"
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