Prof Morrison Watson FRS

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FRCPE (1845–1885) was a 19th-century Scottish anatomist and

comparative anatomist Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species). The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...

Life

Watson was born in Montrose in 1845. He was educated at the Edinburgh Institution, going on to study medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, where he took the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1867. He then undertook postgraduate studies at

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(he must have been competent in German). Around 1865 he returned to the University of Edinburgh, working as a Demonstrator in the Anatomy classes, and as assistant to William Turner. In 1873 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposer was William Turner. Aged 29 he 1874 he moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to take on the role of Professor of Descriptive and Practical Anatomy at

Owen's College The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

. While there he worked alongside

Arthur Gamgee Prof Arthur Gamgee FRS FRSE (11 October 1841 – 29 May 1909) was a British biochemist. Life Arthur Gamgee was the youngest of eight children of Joseph Gamgee, an Edinburgh-born veterinarian and pathologist and his wife Mary Ann West. He was ...

. At Owen's College he rose to be Dean. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1884. He died of a "fatal illness" in Manchester on 25 March 1885. He did not have any family and left no will.Scottish Law Reporter 1903

Publications

*''Observations in Human and Comparative Anatomy'' (1874) *''The Anatomy of the Northern Beluga''

References

1845 births 1885 deaths People from Montrose, Angus People educated at Stewart's Melville College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Manchester Scottish anatomists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society {{Scotland-scientist-stub