William Rutherford Sanders

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 ...

(17 February 1828 – 18 February 1881) was a 19th-century Scottish pathologist. He was one of the first to advocate the use of digitalis in heart conditions. He served as President of the Royal Medical Society 1847/8.

Life

Sanders was born on 17 February 1828 at 15 Duke Street in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street ...

(the street was renamed Dublin Street in 1920 after Edinburgh joined with Leith). He was the son of Dr James Sanders (d.1843). His early education was at the High School in Edinburgh. The family moved to Montpelier in the south of France in 1842 and William continued his education there. His father died there in 1843 but he remained in France to complete his education. He attended the University of Montpellier and graduated as a Bachelor of Letters in 1844. He returned to his home city of Edinburgh in June 1844 and began to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He gained his doctorate (MD) in 1849. He did further postgraduate studies in both Paris and Heidelberg. Returning to Edinburgh he began working as a pathologist at

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the 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 v ...

in 1852. In 1853 he succeeded Harold and John Goodsir as Curator of the Museum within the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In 1857 he became senior Physician at the Infirmary and from 1869 he was also given the chair in Pathology by the University of Edinburgh. In 1865 he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club. In 1870 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 being

John Hutton Balfour John Hutton Balfour (15 September 1808 – 11 February 1884) was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the University of Edinburgh and also becoming the 7th Regius Keepe ...

. A chronic

abscess An abscess is a collection of pus that has built up within the tissue of the body. Signs and symptoms of abscesses include redness, pain, warmth, and swelling. The swelling may feel fluid-filled when pressed. The area of redness often extends b ...

formed in 1874 and gradually worsened, causing him to retire from most duties. An attack of

hemiplegia Hemiparesis, or unilateral paresis, is weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia is, in its most severe form, complete paralysis of half of the body. Hemiparesis and hemiplegia can be caused by different medic ...

caused him total loss of speech from September 1880. He died of an apopleptic fit at home, 30 Charlotte Square in Edinburgh on 18 February 1881, aged only 53.Edinburgh Medical Journal April 1881 He is buried in one of the central sections of

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

close to a main path.

Family

In 1861 he was married to Georgianna Bridget Woodrow of Norwich (1842–1894). They had five children.

Artistic recognition

His bust by John Hutchison is held by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Publications

*''On the Anatomy of the Spleen'' (1849) *''Paralysis of the Palate in Facial Palsy'' (1865) *''Facial Hemiplegia'' (1865)

References

1828 births 1881 deaths British pathologists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{Scotland-med-bio-stub