Address at the opening of the Medico-Chirurgical Society / by George Buchanan.

  • Buchanan, George, 1827-1906.
Date:
[1881]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address at the opening of the Medico-Chirurgical Society / by George Buchanan. 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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    ReprinUd from the “ Glasgow Medical JoarnaV' for November, 1881,} \ J / / / ADDRESS AT THE OPENING OF THE MEDICO- CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY* By PROFESSOR GEORGE BUCHANAN, President. Professor George Buchanan opened the Session with a short introductory address, having reference to the changes in the profession and medical matters generallj’^ in Glasgow within the present century, and mainly within the present generation. He said that some of these changes were of a very striking character, and some points would scarcely be credible, unless authenticated by figures. First, In regard to the numerical relation of the Profession to the Population of Glasgoiu.—When he became a member of the Society in 1851, shortly after taking his Degree, the popu- lation of Glasgow was only about half of what it now was; but the profession was I’elatively much larger in numbers than at present. Here were the figures for the last 30 years. Year. Population {in round numbers). Number of Medical 1851, 255,000 231 1861, 329,000 226 1871, 477,000 231 1881, 511,000 294 The numbers of practitioners were those in the Post Office Directory for the re.spective years. A glance at these figures brought out some remarkable anomalies, which he would not make even an attempt to explain. For example, they found the number of medical men in Glasgow in 1871 to be numeri- cally the same as in 1851, though the population had during these twenty years nearly doubled itself. They had brought out by these figures the curious phenomenon of a population * Reported for the Society by Mr. Duiicau. The Report is an Abstract of the Address, which was delivered on 7th October.