Thomas Latta was a physician in Leith when the second worldwide pandemic of cholera hit Scotland.  The disease spread widely.  It was still 20 years before John Snow proved beyond reasonable doubt that contaminated water was the cause, but therapies were also controversial.  Blood letting was a staple treatment. Latta had read the 1832 reports […]

James Barry (c.1789-1865) studied Medicine in Edinburgh 1809-12, his final examinations being deferred as he seemed too young. The Earl of Buchan wrote to the University authorities pointing out that the regulations made no mention of a minimum age, and Barry was allowed to sit. He defended his thesis and knowledge of medical cases to […]

William Cullen was an enormously influential teacher in the early days of Edinburgh Medical School, and was a major contributor to its international teaching reputation. He was born in Hamilton and trained in medicine by apprenticeship in Glasgow. After working as a ship’s surgeon and then in London and Shotts he came to Edinburgh to […]