Obituary Notices
- Author:
John Thomson, M.D., L.L.D., F.R.C.P.
It was with the deepest regret that we announced in the last number of this Journal the death of Dr John Thomson, of Edinburgh, which took place on July 2nd, at the age of 70 years. It is a great loss, not only to all having to do with Mental Deficiency and Children’s Diseases, but to the whole Profession of Medicine. For John Thomson was a skilled physician of the front rank; a man of wide knowledge and attainments, an earnest seeker after truth, and one whose clinical acumen, painstaking and accurate observations and valuable writings had gained for him a reputation which was world-wide and which added a lustre to British Medicine.
John Thomson was born in Edinburgh in 1856, and, after receiving his education at the Academy and University, he studied in London, Berlin and Vienna. His interest was early directed towards diseases of children, and his patient and methodical work in this field led to his amassing a vast store of clinical experience, and to his being recognised as one of the highest authorities on the subject. For many years h^ held the appointments of Physician, and subsequently Consulting Physician, to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, and of Lecturer in Diseases of Children in the University. He was also Consulting Physician to the National Institution for Mentally Defective Children at Larbert, and he instituted, and for many years conducted, a clinic for mentally defective children, where his advice on care and management was an inestimable boon to hundreds of mothers. He was naturally the recipient of many distinctions; America elected him an honorary member of the Pediatric Society ; Canada elected him to the membership of the Society for the Study of Diseases in Children ; the University of Edinburgh conferred upon him the honorary degree of L.L.D. The Royal College of Physicians of London elected him a Fellow in recognition of his distinguished work.
Dr Thomson made many valuable contributions to clinical medicine. Perhaps the chief of these was his ” Guide to the Clinical Study and Treatment of Sick Children.” The first edition of this book, published in 1898, at once gained high appreciation for its clearness of expression, its accuracy of description and its sound common-sense information. The fourth edition, which appeared last year, had developed into a large text-book and was not only highly valued throughout the English-speaking medical world, but was translated into French and Spanish.
Dr Thomson was greatly interested in, and a high authority on, the subject of Mental Deficiency. To this he contributed many important papers and lectures. One of the most valuable was his book ” Opening Doors,” published three years ago. This is only, a small volume of 20 pages, but it is the result of years of patient observation. It is written in delightfully simple language, and it may safely be said that it stands unequalled as a practical guide for the mother of a defective or backward child.
But, valuable as was John Thomson’s work, and great as was his reputation as a physician, his character and personality were even greater. He was a man of singular kindness of heart and gentleness of disposition, a man of the utmost patience and humility, one ever ready to sympathise with and help those who sought his aid, whether they were rich or poor, and one who gained and held the esteem and love of all who came into contact with him. It was as impossible for anyone to harbour an unkind thought of John Thomson as it was for him to say or do an unkind thing. To those who were privileged to know him his death is indeed a sad loss.
Tredgold.
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