Alexander Monro (primus)
Encyclopedia
Monro was born of Scots
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
parentage in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and studied there, and at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Leiden. He was appointed lecturer on Anatomy
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
by the Surgeons' Company at Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in 1719; two years later he became professor, and in 1725 was admitted to the University
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. He was a principal promoter and early clinical lecturer in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh or RIE, sometimes mistakenly referred to as Edinburgh Royal Infirmary or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on...
, and continued his clinical work after resigning his chair to his son Alexander secundus
Alexander Monro (secundus)
Alexander Monro of Craiglockhart and Cockburn was a Scottish anatomist, surgeon and medical educator. To distinguish him as the second of three generations of physicians of the same name, he is known as secundus. His students included the naval physician and abolitionist Thomas Trotter...
.
Alexander's father, John Munro took great pains with his education. He had him instructed in the Latin, Greek and French languages, philosophy, arithmatic and book-keeping. After having gone through the usual course at the University of Edinburgh, he was bound apprentice to his father, who was in extensive practice. In 1717 on completion of his apprenticeship, young Alexander Munro (primus) was sent to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to study anatomy under William Cheselden
William Cheselden
William Cheselden was an English surgeon and teacher of anatomy and surgery, who was influential in establishing surgery as a scientific medical profession.-Life:...
, the famous surgeon who was an enthusiastic teacher and a skilful demonstrator. A lasting friendship was formed between the two men.
In order to gain as much experience as possible Monro lodged in the house of an apothecary and visited patients with him and he also attended lectures by Mr. Whiston and Mr Hawksby on experimental philosophy. He made dissections of the human body and of various animals, and his career was nearly cut short owing to a scratched hand being infected by the suppurated lung of a phthisical subject. Monro took an active part in the discussions, and in one of his papers first sketched his "Account of the Bones in General". Before he left London he sent home to his father some of his anatomical specimens, and received the encouraging reply that on his return to Edinburgh, if he continued as he had begun, Mr Drummond would resign his share of the proffessorship of anatomy in his favour.
In the spring of 1718 Alexander Monro (primus) went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he walked the hospitals and attended a course of anatomy given by Bouquet. He performed operations under the direction of Thibaut and had instruction in midwifery from Gregoire, bandages from Cesau, and botany from Chomel. On November 16, 1718 Monro entered as a student of Leyden University in order to study under Boerhaave, the great physician, who lectured on the theory and practice of physic. Many patients from Scotland came to consult Boerhaave, and were put under Monro's care.
On his return to Edinburgh in the autumn of 1719 young Monro was examined by the Incorporation of Surgeons and was admitted as a member on November 19. Mr Drummond then fulfilled his promise of resigning his professorship, and Mr M'Gill did likewise. They also gave Monro a recommendation to the Town Council, the patrons of the University. This was backed up by the Surgeons, and on January 22, 1720 the Council appointed him Professor of Anatomy with a salary of £15 sterling, this modest sum being supplemented by the students' fees of three guineas a head.
Monro's original appointment as professor was only at the pleasure of the Town Council, but in 1722, encouraged by his success, he applied for a permanent status, and although the council had as lately as August 1719 reaffirmed the principle that regentships and professor ships were to be held at their pleasure, nevertheless they departed from it and by resolution of March 14, 1722, for his better encouragement of new nominate Alexander Monro sole Professor of Anatomy within theis City and College.
Until 1725 Monro continued to lecture in the old Surgeons' Hall on the south side of Surgeons' Square, but in that year he was granted a theatre in the University buildings. At the end of 1726 Monro published his "Anatomy of the Human Bones", which went through eight editions in his lifetime, the later ones including a treaise on the nerves. It was translated into most European languages and in 1759 a folio edition with elegant engravings was published in Paris by Mr Joseph Sue, Professor of Anatomy to the Royal Schools of Surgery and to the Royal Academy of Painting Sculpture. The great reputation which Monro's work attained did much to increase the fame of the new school of medicine on Edinburgh.
Monro was also a Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
. He married Isabella, third daughter of Sir Donald MacDonald of Sleat.