Dr. M’Kendrick gives in the British Medical Journal, October 9, 1875, a list of no fewer than 105 papers and memoirs by Bennett. Among his larger works were “An Introduction to Clinical Medicine;” “Lectures on Clinical Medicine,” 1850-6, which were entitled in later editions “Clinical Lectures on the Principles and Practice of Medicine.” Of this his principal work, six editions were published during his lifetime in the United States, and the book has been translated into French, Russian, and Hindoo. “Outlines of Physiology” appeared in 1858, and a Text-book of Physiology in 1871-2. His works on Cancerous and Cancroid Growths, on the Pathology and Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis, and on the Restorative Treatment of Pneumonia, will of course be consulted as containing authoritative statements of his views on these important subjects. He wrote the article on Phthisis in Reynolds’ “System of Medicine,” Reports on the Action of Mercury on the Liver, and Researches on the Antagonism of Medicines, as reports to the British Medical Association, 1867-1875.
Dr. M’Kendrick, some time Bennett’s assistant and deputy, says of him:[16] “Professor Bennett was a man of clear and logical intellect. What he wanted in breadth of view he gained in penetrative power. Few could grasp more quickly the essentials of a subject, or perceive sooner or more accurately the real point at issue. Method was the prevailing quality of his mind which guided him as a teacher.... He wanted patience with details, the power of positive scientific expression, and the faculty of taking a wide view of all the facts bearing on what was immediately under discussion. He assumed an attitude of scepticism to all questions until fairly convinced.”
“His tendency to indulge freely in critical and sarcastic remarks upon the works of others did not make him a general favourite with some of his professional brethren, consequently he never attained a large practice as a consulting physician, which was from other considerations his due. He was too much a reformer, too pronounced and outspoken in his opinions; he had too much identified himself with certain lines of thought; and it must be confessed that he did not possess that indefinable manner which inspires confidence both in patient and in practitioner alike.”
“By those who knew him best Dr. Bennett was much beloved. He shone in the social circle, where his love of music and power of brilliant conversation cast a radiance through the room.”
In 1855 Bennett unsuccessfully competed for the chair of the Practice of Physic at Edinburgh, and he felt his non-success very much. For the next ten years he continued in active work, but in 1865 began to suffer severely from a bronchial and throat affection. Later he was attacked by diabetes, and had to spend several winters on the Continent. In 1874 he resigned his professorship. In August 1875 he was gratified by receiving from Edinburgh the LL.D. degree, his bust by Brodie being presented to the University by former pupils. He was operated on for stone in September following at Norwich, by Mr. Cadge, and died on September 25th, being buried at Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh, by the side of his friends, Goodsir and Edward Forbes. His wife, son, and four daughters survived him.
FOOTNOTES:
[14] Biographical Notice, prefixed to Graves’ “Studies in Physiology and Medicine,” 1863.
[15] Edinburgh Medical Journal, October 1, 1845.
[16] Edinburgh Medical Journal, November 1875, p. 473. See also British Medical Journal, October 9th, 1875.