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Contents
of Knox's 'new catalogue'
Fate of Dr Knox during the latter part of his career. |
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Contents
of Knox's 'new catalogue'
Fate of Dr Knox during the latter part of his career. |
Analysis of the material written in the two manuscript volumes known as the "Old" and "New" Knox Catalogues has revealed that most of their contents are in the hand of Frederick Knox, younger brother of Dr Robert Knox. Frederick was employed by Dr Knox as his research assistant, and prepared detailed lists of the items in his brother's museum collection. He also dissected and prepared human and non-human specimens, many of which were described by Dr Knox in his numerous publications. As relatively little is known about Frederick Knox, this seemed a timely opportunity to evaluate his contribution to Knox's anatomy class in the extra-mural school. When in due course Dr Knox's success as a teacher of anatomy gradually declined, he decided to leave Edinburgh to pursue his career in London. It was at about this time that his brother Frederick also decided to leave Edinburgh to establish a new career for himself in the Antipodes. The present whereabouts of the majority of Knox's enormous teaching collection of anatomical preparations and his comparative anatomy collection are unknown, and suggestions are made as to their possible whereabouts.
Keywords: comparative anatomy museum, Dr Robert Knox, Frederick Knox, Knox’s catalogues, teaching museum
J.R.Coll.Surg.Edinb., 46, February 2001, 44-56
Two manuscript catalogues are available in the collection of the Section of Anatomy, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, formerly the University's Department of Anatomy. These have long been known to exist, and are referred to as "Knox's Catalogues." What is particularly surprising is that the only published account in which these volumes feature prominently, dating from 1955, suggests that at that time only a single volume was known to exist. According to the authors, "The manuscript is a book bound in cardboard and leather, 13 by 8 inches with 132 leaves and has the outward appearance of an ordinary ledger. The watermark of the paper is a beautiful thistle and crown with the maker's name, J. Whatman, below, and the date 1827."1 According to a note on a loose sheet of paper inside the cover of this volume, in the hand of H.W.Y. Taylor, this should be termed "Knox's Old Catalogue," in contrast to the second, identical-looking, volume that he has termed "Knox's New Catalogue." Both Catalogues bear the bookplate of "The Revd. J.T. Goodsir F.R.S.E.,"2 and it is likely that they were either purchased by him at a sale of Dr Knox's effects or were given to him by Knox, and subsequently donated to his brother Professor John Goodsir, and from him they passed to the Department of Anatomy. Since all of the published information exclusively relates to "Knox's Old Catalogue," little of the information provided by Ross and Taylor will be repeated here. It should be noted that all of the Figures that appear in the "Old Catalogue," exclusively the work of Robert Knox, and samples of the handwriting of both Robert and Frederick Knox were used to illustrate this earlier publication.
Only 21 pages in the "Old Catalogue" are in the hand of Robert Knox. Here he described in meticulous detail a few anomalies he encountered in the course of his activities in the dissecting room, and some of these are illustrated with appropriate drawings (see above). The majority of the other 111 pages in this Catalogue, and all of the text in the "New catalogue" are in the hand of Frederick Knox, and are believed to relate to the period when he acted as a "research" or "technical" assistant to his older brother. His substantial contribution to these manuscript catalogues consists of, preparing the definitive list of items in his brother's teaching collection and in his museum collection of human and comparative anatomy, and producing, where appropriate, meticulous descriptions of the material he dissected, presumably on the instructions of his brother. As the material in Dr Knox's hand has been described elsewhere, it will only be referred to here in general terms.
FREDERICK KNOX
Relatively little information is readily available about Frederick Knox beyond that published in Henry Lonsdale's Life of (Dr) Robert Knox3 and the very limited information provided by Ross and Taylor in their article on Dr Robert Knox's manuscript catalogue.4 Lonsdale certainly believed that most of the entries in the hand of Frederick Knox were written after Dr Knox had taken him on as his assistant, during the 1836-1837 session.5 Lonsdale had been for some years Robert Knox's academic assistant, demonstrator, and subsequently his successor, as teacher of anatomy in the extra-mural school. The picture he presents of Frederick Knox is of a meticulous conservator who was reticent to allow the medical students who attended Knox's anatomical classes access to the valuable items in his brother's teaching collection that principally consisted of osteological preparations. The contents of this collection was closely in line with the views expressed by Dr Knox many years later in a series of articles published in The Medical Times on what material he believed should most suitably be included in a teaching collection.6
Robert and Frederick Knox's father, also Robert, was a teacher of mathematics and various branches of natural philosophy at George Heriot's Hospital School in Edinburgh.7 He had six sons and three daughters by his wife Mary Sherer, or Schrerer, daughter of a farmer of German extraction.8 Robert (1791-1862) was the eighth child and fifth son, while Frederick John was the youngest child.9 By 1870, when Londsale's Life of Knox was published, he claimed that all of Knox's close family with the exception of his younger brother, who had by then emigrated to New Zealand about 30 years previously, had died.10 In 1841, shortly before he left Edinburgh for London, Dr Knox's wife and one of his children died.11
Robert Knox engaged his brother Frederick to act as his principal assistant and conservator of his museum collection, for which he was said to have been rewarded with a generous stipend. Frederick was supported in some of his activities during this period by a number of Knox's senior students. While William Fergusson continued to act as one of Dr Knox's loyal demonstrators, he had been his senior demonstrator during the infamous 1828-29 session,12 his increased surgical responsibilities in the Royal Infirmary meant that he had less time than formerly in attending Knox's practical classes.13 During this period, he also lost Dr John Reid who succeeded Dr Fletcher as Lecturer on Physiology in the extra-mural school in Argyll (or Argyle14) Square.15
Despite this additional help from Frederick, the students that attended Knox's anatomical classes continued to diminish in number. There were various reasons why this should have been the case, not least the University's almost complete monopoly in the supply of bodies following the Anatomy Act of 1832,16 and the fact that many of the Edinburgh chairs were occupied by what were perceived by many to be senile professors. Medical students went to London, Dublin and Glasgow, rather than to Edinburgh, where the facilities offered to them in these other centres were by this time far superior to those in Edinburgh, and additional students were attracted to the Provincial Medical Schools that were springing up at this time.
ROBERT KNOX - FIRST CONSERVATOR OF THE COLLEGE OF SURGEONS' MUSEUM
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh had objected to the original Anatomy Bill submitted to Parliament by Mr Warburton in March 1829, as it did not ensure that teachers of anatomy could obtain supplies of bodies from the only sources which the Bill rendered legally available. It also prevented the teachers from obtaining supplies from any other sources. The original Bill was withdrawn, but was reintroduced a couple of years later in a slightly amended form. Purely by coincidence, a letter from Robert Knox, at that time Conservator of the College Museum, addressed to Mr Peel, the Secretary of State, on the same topic, namely on the supply of anatomical subjects to the extra-mural teachers exists in the College papers. It bears the date 3rd November 1828, and in the light of the fact that Burke was arrested 5 days later strongly suggests that it may not have been posted.17 The whole circumstances behind this correspondence is extremely curious, because Knox's letter would appear to have antedated the introduction of Warburton's original Bill by about 5 months. It is also clear that the preamble to the definitive Bill of 1832 had been considerably amended compared to the original version, with its indirect reference in the 1832 Anatomy Act to Burke and Hare's murderous activities in Edinburgh several years earlier.18
In 1828, Knox paid the conservator of his museum the very generous sum of £195 per year, considerably more than the College of Surgeons paid its conservator, i.e. Dr Knox. During the 1825-26 Session, Knox also lectured on comparative anatomy, illustrating his lectures with examples from Dr Barclay's collection, and received £257-13s from students' fees for these lectures. He retained £190-3s and paid the remainder to Dr Barclay. "To support these lectures in a becoming manner, worthy of the country and myself, a museum was formed at the expense of about £2,000.19 I have never used it since 1829, about which time it became unfashionable to study comparative anatomy, otherwise from books and plates."20 Knox was clearly extremely distressed at the turn of events that led to his resignation from the Conservatorship of the College's Museum, and departed to the country for a few days to contemplate his future. Prior to his departure, however, he had instructed his brother Frederick to open all of his mail and answer items of an urgent nature on his behalf.21
Much of Knox's time not devoted to lecturing and teaching and undertaking research in his private laboratory and in his practical classes was spent looking after and enhancing the College's museum collection. He also advised the College on the purchase of a large part of Charles Bell's collection of human osteology.22 In 1831, shortly before his resignation as Conservator of the College's Museum, he was particularly concerned with the most suitable means of displaying both Bell's osteological collection and Barclay's collection of comparative anatomy in the College's new buildings. Playfair had specially designed these for this specific purpose,23 although for the previous few years the Barclay collection had been displayed in temporary accommodation in the College.24
ACTIVITIES OF FREDERICK KNOX - ROBERT KNOX'S PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT
After Frederick entered Knox's employ, one of his functions was to supervise the activities of his "bone library." While in theory at least this should have been a relatively innocuous role, as Knox was keen to allow access to his particularly comprehensive osteology collection (see below), it apparently led to a great deal of tension between the two brothers. According to Lonsdale, this was principally because Frederick was "a great stickler for order," and "had a horror of seeing anatomical preparations handled by the pupils of his class."25 A cursory inspection of the "osteology" section of Knox's manuscript catalogue, which occupies much of Book 2, drafted during the early period of Frederick's time as Knox's conservator, provides clear evidence of Frederick's fastidious book-keeping skills. The number of individual specimens in each sub-section is considerable, and each item in the catalogue was carefully listed and minutely described. It should not be altogether surprising, therefore, that he was reticent to allow these valuable specimens to be handled by large numbers of over-enthusiastic medical students.
If students came to Frederick Knox in his capacity as custodian of the Museum collection, in order to obtain specimens of interest to them to examine "on loan," then it is likely that he maintained appropriate record books. This would have allowed him to keep track of all of the specimens both in the collection and those on loan at any time. Unfortunately, these record books have long since disappeared. Because of the fragile and occasionally irreplaceable nature of many of these osteological specimens, a proportion of them might easily have been inadvertently damaged during the period when they were away from the Museum. This perceived rough handling of the specimens clearly caused considerable tension between the conservator and the students. An even greater tension appears to have existed between the two brothers, as Robert Knox was extremely keen that all students should have the maximum opportunity of handling all of the specimens in his collection, as this was the principal reason for their existence.
Frederick Knox spent the majority of his time preparing prosections and museum specimens to enhance his brother's collection, and descriptions of many of these dissections appear in Dr Knox's publications.26 Some of these prosections, however, were undertaken exclusively for Frederick's own benefit, possibly the most important of which was the preparation of the skeleton of the blue whale that died near Dunbar, and its carcass brought ashore at North Berwick in 1831 (Figures 1-3).27 The expertise he acquired during this period formed the basis for his monograph entitled The Anatomist's Instructor, and Museum Companion (Figure 4).28 It is relevant to note that in 1846, Dr Knox published two papers in the Medical Times entitled "Anatomical Museums, their Objects and Present Condition." He went to considerable lengths to criticise the usefulness of the majority of these museum collections in Britain,29 drawing particular attention to their inordinate expense, and emphasising that few in the medical profession ever took the opportunity to visit them.30
Figure 1: Contemporary engraving of the articulated skeleton of the blue whale that was found floating in the mouth of the Firth of Forth near Dunbar on 5 October 1831, and was towed to the shore at North Berwick where it was purchased by Robert and Frederick Knox. It is 78 feet in length, and it took Frederick Knox three years and three months to prepare its skeleton. It was originally displayed in the Royal Institution, Edinburgh and in Glasgow. Edinburgh Town Council presented this skeleton to the National Museums of Scotland in 1864, where it is still displayed, while the baleen plates were presented by the Anatomical Museum of the University of Edinburgh.
Figure 2: Photograph dating from about 1899-1902 displaying a frontal view of Knox's whale as displayed in the Mammals Gallery of the Royal Scottish Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. Copyright: Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland
Figure 3: Photograph dating from shortly after 1922 displaying a rear view of Knox's whale as displayed in the Mammals Gallery of the Royal Scottish Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. Copyright: Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland49
Figure 4: Title and facing page of Frederick Knox's monograph entitled The Anatomist's Instructor, and Museum Companion. In the copy of this book in Edinburgh University Library, the facing page contains its only illustration showing the method of displaying the articulated skeleton of a bantam. In the copy of this book in the Library of the Section of Anatomy, this engraving, with its associated legend, is located opposite page 9
An indication of the extent and range of the specimens in Knox's own collection is provided below, and relates specifically to the collections listed in the so-called "Old" and "New" manuscript catalogues.
CONTENTS OF KNOX'S "OLD CATALOGUE"
Apart from the first 21 pages in the hand of Dr Robert Knox, and the abbreviated lists of items believed to have formerly belonged to Dr Barclay, the material in this volume principally consists of a list of preparations numbering from 1-696, all in the hand of Frederick Knox. Preparations 1-408 consist principally, though not exclusively, of non-human specimens belonging to Dr Knox's comparative anatomy collection. Preparations 409-696 mostly consist of preparations of human foetal material and details of prosections of selected regions of human adult cadavers,31 although these preparations are occasionally interspersed with descriptions of prosections of animal material. These lists, where the information provided on some of these preparations runs to several pages of detailed anatomical descriptions, occupy the left half of each page and a considerable number have annotations, many of which are signed "F.K." or "F.J.K." and are also dated. For example, preparation number 138, has a note appended to it dated 17 April 1833, as does preparation number 201. Preparation 268 has a note appended to it dated 1 Feb. 1834, while the note associated with preparation 176 is dated 23 March 1836, and that associated with preparation 140 is dated March 1837.
As many of the early items listed were received during 1832, it is clear that this list could only have been prepared some time later, once the specimens in Knox's collection had been organised into specific groups or categories. For example, the first series of specimens that were mostly acquired during 1832 consist of fish obtained from local rivers or from the Edinburgh fish market.32 Lord Glenorchy presented some of the comparative anatomy specimens, while others were either presented to Dr Knox by friends or purchased from game dealers or trappers. The earliest preparation in this catalogue that is associated with a date, dates from 2nd February 1826. This relates to preparation 122: "Skeleton of Lophius piscatorius - Angler, Monk, Toad, Devil or Frog fish, taken in the Firth of Forth."
A few examples of Frederick's text give an indication of the type of information provided, as well as his sense of humour. With regard to preparation 402: "Specimen of the human aorta in an adult subject. The aorta has been extensively opened up & shews that morbid alteration in its coats said to be peculiar almost to hard drinkers, and which no doubt leads to aneurysm." With regard to preparation 415: "Section of a tumour removed from the breast of a man, this tumour was of very large dimensions and was only removed at postmortem examination of the body. The disease had never caused the individual the slightest uneasiness and, therefore, perhaps was just as well left alone. The tumour, however, could have easily been removed;" With regard to preparation 524, a specimen dating from 13 February 1839: "Crab in the act of getting a new suit of clothes. ..." With regard to preparation 553: "Gall stones and bladder from the adult human male subject. ... They are unique so far as I have been able to observe, and in all probability have never been analysed - Every chemist in Edin. Professor Turner of London included, have got some to analyse - but chemists seem never to do anything. They will talk as much as you please. ..."
Some of the "Notes" appended by Frederick Knox are also extremely informative, in that they give insight into the obvious rivalry that existed between Dr Knox and members of the University. For example, the "Note" associated with preparation 235 ("the trunk of a swan") reads as follows: "The facts were shortly these. Dr K. was actively engaged in making a Museum of Natural History or rather Comparative Anatomy for the College of Surgeons. And the effort was so successful as to cause great alarm to the Professor in the University. The carcass of a swan was carried to the University by mistake having been intended for Dr K. When enquired for, we learned from Mr McG. (the assistant)33 that Mr Jameson 34 had given order for it being cut to pieces and destroyed. A portion of the mutilated carcass was ultimately procured." While this "Note" is undated and unsigned, it is in the hand of Frederick Knox. Yet, on other occasions, Professor Jameson supplied Dr Knox with the skeleton of a Dugong for comparison with one of Knox's own specimens.35
Interspersed throughout the text are references to Knox's "Sketch books;" for example, "See sketch book, Volume 1, p. 16" (associated with preparation 679), and on even more occasions are references to "App. p. 13 or p.14, or see Appendix ..." Unfortunately, no information is presently available regarding the whereabouts of these additional volumes.
CONTENTS OF KNOX'S "NEW CATALOGUE"
This Catalogue was believed by Taylor to have been prepared after 1827-28. All of the entries are in the hand of Frederick Knox, and while there are relatively few appended "Notes," these appear all to be in the hand of Dr Robert Knox. A total of 1177 preparations are listed, the majority being osteological specimens. Preparations 1-852 mostly consist of individual human bones, although a relatively small number consist of articulated preparations.36 Preparations 853-941 consist of specimens of cartilage, both human and non-human, preparations 942-970 include human foetal material, sections of the uterus, placentas and various other specimens, while the remaining items (970-1177) are mostly preparations displaying diseases of bone, although almost the final preparation on this list consists of "an entire articulated human skeleton used for lectures."
FATE OF DR KNOX DURING THE LATTER PART OF HIS CAREER, SHORTLY BEFORE HE DEPARTED FROM EDINBURGH
During 1837, Knox brought out his The Edinburgh Dissector,37 in the hope that this would displace Dr Harrison's extremely successful practical manual entitled The Dublin Dissector,38 but it never became a popular alternative in the dissecting rooms in Edinburgh and elsewhere. Its principal weakness was that it was perceived to be too closely based on the work of the then brilliant Continental (but particularly French) School of human and comparative anatomists such as Bichat, Soemmering, Cloquet, and Meckel [Winslow is also acknowledged], who Knox had always greatly admired.39
While all in Edinburgh at least were aware of its authorship, Knox's name did not appear on the title page, the authorship being attributed to "A Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh."40
Knox's popularity began to wane from about 1836, and steadily declined until he was eventually forced to leave the city in 1842 to gain paid employment elsewhere. He had lectured at No. 10 Surgeons' Square from 1825, when he became Barclay's partner, and had continued to lecture there from 1826, when Barclay died, until 1833 as his successor. For the next 7 years, until 1840, he lectured in old Surgeons' Hall, then in Argyll Square, and finally in Nicolson Street.41
When Alexander Lizars took the chair of anatomy in Aberdeen, Knox took his place at the Argyll Square medical school as anatomical lecturer.42 In May 1840, Henry Lonsdale became Knox's demonstrator and partner.
SPECULATION ON THE FATE OF DR KNOX'S MUSEUM COLLECTION
Specimens Transferred to the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
A number of specimens from Knox's collection were transferred to the Museum of the College of Surgeons43 where from 1826 until 9 June 1831, Knox was their first Conservator.44 According to the College's records, three specimens were donated by Knox from his own collection, and a further 21 specimens were added to the College Collection when he was its Conservator.45 Indirect information suggests that a number of additional Knox preparations were added to the College Collection that had previously been displayed in other collections. For example, a number of Knox specimens were transferred from the Natural History Museum of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1859 (see below), while others were probably transferred to the College Museum at a later date from the Anatomical Museum of the University of Edinburgh.
Specimens Transferred to the Museum at Fort Pitt, Chatham
During the mid-1820s Knox presented numerous specimens to the museum of the Army Medical Department at Fort Pitt, Chatham, consisting principally of the skeletons of birds and mammals. Analysis of their 183346 and 1838 printed Catalogues,47 both of which list the mammalian and avian specimens in their collection, did not prove to be particularly informative. Only four specimens were listed in the 1833 Catalogue as having been presented by Knox, 48 while in the 1838 Catalogue, Knox's name did not appear on the list of contributors to the collection.
In addition, he also sent specimens demonstrating the detailed anatomy of the eye, as well as examples of arterial and lymphatic injections. Between 1827 and 1839 human anatomical and pathological specimens were sent to Chatham49 as well as additional natural history specimens, some of which had been sent in June 1835 at the request of Sir James McGrigor, who had for long been greatly impressed with Knox's scholarship. McGrigor was also particularly pleased to receive a collection of fossils from the limestone quarry at Burdie House, near Edinburgh. In 1839, Knox also sent them a collection of fossil shells for display in their museum. He also sent copies of all of his publications and other anatomical works for their library as they were published.50
Specimens Transferred to the Museum at the Department of Anatomy, University of Edinburgh
The Anatomy Museum in the University of Edinburgh presently contains all that remains of Knox's collection of human and animal cervical and blended ribs, which formed the basis for his two papers on this topic, published in The London Medical Gazette.51 What is particularly curious, however, is that the reference numbers on these specimens do not refer to the numbers in either of Knox's manuscript catalogues. Equally the articulated skeleton of Phoecana phoecana (porpoise), being a young specimen 11.75 inches long recovered from the Firth of Forth, and bearing the reference number 103, does not appear with this reference number in either of Knox's manuscript catalogues.52
Over the years, numerous articulated skeletons of animals, birds and fishes were transferred from the Museum of the Department of Anatomy to the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, and it is likely that at least a number of these originated from Knox's collection.53 Others formerly belonged to the William Ramsay Henderson Trust, formerly the Museum Collection of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society, and the comparative anatomy collections formed by Professors John Goodsir and Sir William Turner, and from the collections of Robert Jameson and others, from other departments in the University of Edinburgh.
The Natural History Museum of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
A number of instances are cited in the "Old Catalogue" when Frederick presented specimens to the Natural History Museum of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In 1859, all of the exhibits in this collection were dispersed to one of the following institutions: the Royal Botanical Gardens, the National Museum of Science and Technology (later to become the Royal Museums of Scotland), the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and to the Society of Advocates.54
Other specimens were displayed at the Rooms of the Royal Institution, in Princes Street, Edinburgh, and it must be assumed that these were also dispersed to one or other of the institutions indicated above.55
The Possible Fate of Other Preparations from Knox's Collection
It is relevant to draw attention here to the time scale of events during the 10-year period before Knox left Edinburgh, as this provides some, albeit indirect, information on the possible fate of his museum collection. In 1833, Dr Peter Handyside (1808-1881) opened his first class of anatomy at No. 4 Surgeons' Square. Five or six years later, he succeeded John Lizars as lecturer on surgery at No. 1 Surgeons' Square, where Messrs Henry Lonsdale (died 1877) and James Spence (1812-1882) later joined him. In 1845, John Struthers (1823-1899),56 who acted as their demonstrator, joined them. In 1842, when Knox left Edinburgh for London, Lonsdale acquired Knox's museum collection "with a promise that he (i.e. Knox) should not lecture again in Edinburgh, for a sum of about £900."57 According to the biographical account of Robert Knox published in the Dictionary of National Biography Knox did not keep to this gentleman's agreement. "He announced a course of anatomy in Edinburgh in November 1842, but got no class. In the following session he attempted a course of physiology with a similar result. For lack of better occupation he joined the small Portland Street school of medicine in Glasgow in November 1844, but returned his fees to his pupils before the end of the month. From 1842 to 1846 he was very unsettled, now living with an old pupil, now seeking employment in London."58
It is possible that for a number of years Lonsdale may have used specimens from Knox's collection to illustrate his own anatomical teaching activities. Lonsdale left Edinburgh for Carlisle in 1845, and it is likely that Knox's specimens were then passed from Lonsdale to Handyside for his use. In 1846, Professor Monro tertius resigned his chair and was succeeded by John Goodsir. Dr Handyside, who had for some years taught anatomy in Surgeons' Square, moved to the extramural school in Argyll Square, taking with him as his demonstrator John Struthers.
In 1847 or 1848, Handyside handed over his anatomy class to Dr Struthers in order to devote himself fully to his surgical practice, and Struthers then inherited Knox's museum collection.59 In 1854, Struthers was appointed to one of the assistant surgical posts to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and a few years later was appointed a full surgeon, retaining this post until 1863 when he was appointed Professor of Anatomy in Aberdeen.60 According to Sir Arthur Keith, Struthers continued to teach anatomy on a part-time basis after 1854,61 and some or all of the specimens that originally formed Knox's museum collection, might have accompanied him to Aberdeen.62 Alternatively, when in 1863, Handyside returned to Edinburgh after having spent some time on the Continent recuperating from ill health, and resumed the teaching of anatomy in the city, Struthers may have returned the specimens from Knox's collection that he had earlier acquired from Handyside once more into his care.
An uncritical analysis of Lonsdale's Life of Knox could easily lead the reader to believe that Dr Robert Knox's younger brother Frederick, who is mentioned on only a few occasions in this book each in the most disparaging of terms, was both a disappointment and a burden on his brother. He is initially mentioned in the context of being taken on as Knox's principal assistant and conservator of his museum collection during the 1836-37 Session as though this was done purely as an act of charity and of filial duty. Elsewhere, it is stated that he "was a great concern, pecuniarily and otherwise, to Dr Knox; indeed many adjudged him to be the Doctor's greatest plague in life. "Fred" had a horror of seeing anatomical preparations handled by the pupils of the class. ... In short, Fred's wilfulness and petty tyrannies cost the Doctor much temper."
No mention is made that Knox, in 1831, when he offered his resignation to the College of Surgeons showed evidence that he must have had absolute faith in his brother's judgement. He gave him authority not only to open all of his correspondence from the College, but also to answer any letters on his behalf without first referring them to him. This, it should be recalled, was during the same year that his brother had become a Licentiate of the College of Surgeons. At no place in his text does Lonsdale mention that Frederick was clinically qualified.63
It is also likely that Frederick worked as his brother's assistant from at least as early as 1833, or possibly some years earlier (see below) as the earliest of the "Notes" signed "FJK" and dating from April 1833, appears in Knox's Catalogue. From that date, or possibly even earlier, not only did Frederick act as his brother's assistant, he also maintained a small practice as a surgeon.64 A number of the tumours he removed ended up in Knox' museum collection. On one occasion he noted, with regard to specimen number 422: "Small tumour removed from the shoulder of a woman. It gave her pain and she seemed subject to swelling about the neck and had altogether an unhealthy aspect. I removed it with the knif [sic]; effectually. F.J.K." On another occasion, with reference to specimen number 514: "An abortion from the human uterus called by practitioners in midwifery a false conception." He noted: "A similar preparation. The patient was attended by FK and stated herself to have been pregnant for about 3 months." While Frederick may have been grateful for the retainer he received from his brother, it is clear that he also gained a supplementary stipend from his small private surgical practice.
According to the Preface to Frederick's monograph The Anatomist's Instructor, published in 1836, he noted "Perhaps few persons have enjoyed more extensive opportunities than I have done, of acquiring a practical knowledge of the almost endless variety of anatomical arts. Whilst assistant to my brother, then Conservator of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, I dissected and displayed, for a succession of years, from two to three hundred preparations annually." He also discusses the technical difficulties he encountered with moving the Bell Collection from London to various temporary sites in the College before these preparations were eventually transferred to the Playfair Hall which was only completed and ready for occupation in 1832. He continued: "Many of the preparations composing the Windmill Street collection had been put up by the first masters of the art; and in repairing the damage done by the repeated removals, I had the opportunity of seeing all the various plans resorted to by Wilson, Cruikshanks, and others, for displaying healthy or morbid structure." These observations strongly suggest that he probably acted as his brother's assistant from about 1829, some years before he obtained his Diploma from the College.
Frederick was clearly a very conscientious and competent practical anatomist in his own right, and while he may not have been invited to give anatomical lectures, it is likely that, if required or invited to do so by his brother, he could assist him in his practical classes. The experience he gained from the numerous anatomical specimens he prepared during his dissecting sessions of both human subjects and animal material would have made him at least the equal to most of Knox's most competent demonstrators.
One can only assume that when Lonsdale joined Knox as his demonstrator and partner in 1840, Knox had become extremely jealous of his younger brother's skills as an anatomist. Frederick had no hesitation, when the few opportunities arose of publishing his own findings, as he did on a number of occasions in 1835 and 1836.65 By 1840, Dr Knox's teaching activities were already in a steep decline, and the undoubted adulation felt for him by his students was now a thing of the past, and it is likely that this probably increased any tensions that may have existed between the two brothers.
Various examples are available from this period of Dr Knox's career that would appear to confirm that "Knox's truthfulness or memory could not be strictly trusted."66 In 1840, for example, he had a very public difference of opinion with one of his ex-colleagues, Dr John Reid, regarding priority of discovery concerning the human placenta.67 According to the account in the Dictionary of National Biography, this discovery was Reid's, rather than Knox's, although Knox had published an article in the London Medical Gazette in which no acknowledgement was given to Reid regarding its discovery. Public opinion favoured the version given by Reid.68 Reference to the original article strongly suggests that this statement might represent an over-simplification of the event, and that Reid might well have been hypersensitive and over-reacted.69 It is possibly relevant that neither Fraser Harris' memoir70 nor Wilson in his Life of Dr John Reid,71mention this incident.
In another example, he had promised Lonsdale that by accepting £900 for his anatomical collection he would resign his rights to give further lectures in Edinburgh. This clearly did not occur, as Knox advertised lecture courses to be given in Edinburgh for both the 1842 and 1843 sessions in anatomy and physiology, respectively (see above). Despite the fact that the Committee of Enquiry into the Burke and Hare affair found in his favour,72 most of the members of this Committee were Fellows of the Royal Society, Knox became increasingly convinced that he was the victim of persecution. As the years passed, he held both the Royal Society of Edinburgh and its Fellows in contempt.73 While he continued to maintain his Fellowship until 1847, he was eventually ejected for failing to pay his annual subscription, and during the following year his name was removed from their Roll.74 Frederick left Scotland for the Antipodes in 1840, shortly before his brother left Edinburgh for London.75 It may well be that there was no opportunity for him to continue as an anatomical assistant to one of Dr Knox's successors, or more likely that he saw no future for himself by continuing in such employment. He probably decided that this was a suitable time for him to seek his fortune in the Antipodes.
While much is known and has been written about his brother's activities in London and elsewhere,76 relatively little has been found regarding Frederick's fate after he left the shores of this country. After his arrival in New Zealand in 1840, he was for a short period Librarian to the Library in Wellington. During the late 1840s and early 1850s he travelled between Australia and New Zealand on a number of occasions principally to collect natural history specimens. Some of these were sent to Richard Owen in London, while others were donated or sold to museums in New Zealand. According to an item in the New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian of July 7 1855, it was noted that he had been a medical practitioner for the previous 5 years in the Hutt Valley, and was pleased to be invited to become a candidate for the post of District Coroner. In the same newspaper in 1858, it was noted that he held the post of Resident Medical Officer of the Lunatic Asylum at Karori. A number of letters also exist to confirm that Frederick regularly corresponded with James (later Sir James) Hector, the Director of the Colonial Museum and New Zealand Institute, during the late1860s and early 1870s. This was mainly in relation to the sending of various fish and cetacea specimens to the Museum, for which he was reimbursed. It is also believed that he was involved during this period in developing the Museum's various collections.77 Frederick Knox died on August 5 1873 in Wellington.78
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Grateful thanks are due to Miss Jean Archibald and her staff in the Special Collections Section, Edinburgh University Library, Ms Marianne Smith, Librarian, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Mrs Margaret Moyer, Secretary, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Mrs Sheena Jones, Secretary, Museum, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Mr Eamonn Bolger, Archivist National Museum of New Zealand at Papa, Mr George Hills, Communications Advisor, National Library of New Zealand and Dr Andrew Kitchiner, Curator, National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Copyright date: 17th November 2000
Correspondence: M.H. Kaufman, Section of Anatomy, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Hugh Robson Building, George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9XD, U.K.
©2001 The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, J.R.Coll.Surg.Edinb.