He was indeed clothed in well-nigh impenetrable armour, and provided with powerful weapons, when in the autumn of 1835 he returned from his foreign tour to commence the serious fight in which his avowed object was not only to obtain professional eminence, but to stand forth a proud benefactor of the human race. Although he appealed always directly to Nature and used his own well-trained eyes and ears in preference to those of others, he did not completely brush aside authority as Sydenham had done; he hesitated neither to extract all that was valuable, nor to discard what appeared worthless from the writings of past masters.
CHAPTER IV
Early Practice and Professorship. 1835-1840
President of Royal Medical Society—Personal appearance—Practice among the poor—Corresponds with Miss Grindlay—Lecturer on obstetrics—Resignation of Professor Hamilton—Applies for vacancy—Active candidature—Strong opposition—Marriage—Account of the midwifery Chair—The medical professors at the time—Their opposition—Cost of candidature—Triumphant election.
In November, 1835, Simpson was elected one of the annual Presidents of the Royal Medical Society; a position which has been occupied by many young Edinburgh graduates, who have subsequently risen to fame. He took pains to make his inaugural address worthy of the occasion, and chose a subject connected with the pathology of obstetrics. It was a great success, and contributed largely towards giving him a recognised position as an authority in that branch of study. After appearing in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal for January, 1836, it was translated into French, Italian, and German. It also obtained for him his first foreign honour—one of a long list that 53 was made up through his lifetime—that of corresponding member of the Ghent Medical Society; indeed, his early works received more attention and appreciation abroad than at home. In 1836, in order to widen his experience in his chosen subject, he filled the post of house-surgeon to the Lying-in Hospital, and held it for twelve months. He was also elected a Fellow of the Edinburgh College of Physicians. From this time he became a profuse writer on professional subjects, and developed an easy and convincing style; he carried on this work pari passu with practice amongst the poorer classes of the city and in addition to his work in connection with the Pathology Chair, always keeping in view his great object of becoming an obstetrician. It was not until 1838 that he became an independent lecturer on Midwifery. He had intended to do so earlier, but owing to Professor Thomson’s ill-health, he had been called upon to act as Deputy-Professor of Pathology, a most valuable and useful employment.
Simpson’s personal appearance at this time has been described by one who visited a meeting of the Royal Medical Society on an evening when he was in the chair:—“The chair was occupied,” says the narrator, “by a young man whose appearance was striking and peculiar. As we entered the room his head was bent down, and little was seen but a mass of long tangled hair, partially concealing what appeared to be a head of very large size. He raised his head, and his countenance 54 at once impressed us. A pale, rather flattish face, massive brent brows, from under which shone eyes now piercing as it were to your inmost soul, now melting into almost feminine tenderness; a coarsish nose with dilated nostrils, finely chiselled mouth which seemed the most expressive feature of the face ... Then his peculiar rounded soft body and limbs, as if he had retained the infantine form in adolescence, presented a tout ensemble, which even if we had never seen it again would have remained indelibly impressed on our memory.”
In Simpson’s youth physicians and surgeons made a habit of cultivating peculiarities of appearances and behaviour, but he was so shaped by nature as to attract attention without artificial aid. The growth of long hair seemed a natural accompaniment to his massive head and broad expressive countenance.
His practice at this time was scattered over the city, and he took long tramps in the course of the day. In one of his letters to his brothers, who were still loyally supporting him in his increasingly successful endeavours to establish himself after his heart’s desire, he says:—“The patients are mostly poor it is true, but still they are patients; ... if my health is spared me, I do hope I may get into practice sufficient to keep me respectable after the lapse of years; but I know years must pass before that. At present I enjoy the best possible spirits and health, and with all my toils was never happier or healthier.”