252 lloyal Society : Anniversary 1841 : Obituary notices. 



citude never to neglect the perfoi-mance of any public professional 

 duty, it is remembered that on the evening of the day on which the 

 marriage ceremony was performed he delivered as usual his lecture, 

 without the slightest intimation to his class of what had happened 

 in the morning ; and even at the time when he was most fully en- 

 gaged in this exceedingly laborious practice, he never omitted to 

 deliver his regular lectures at the hospital. 



In 1792, after spending some months at Paris and attending the 

 lectures of Dessault at the Hotel Dieu, and also those of Chopart, 

 he commenced practice in London, taking up his residence in the 

 city, where he dwelt for many years before he removed to the west 

 end of the town. The popularity he enjoyed as a surgeon, and the 

 extent of his practice, have probably surpassed that of any of his 

 predecessors: and the large fortune which he acquired was the just 

 and honourable reward of distinguished merit and the most unre- 

 mitting application. 



Sir Astley Cooper was elected a Fellow of this Society on Febru- 

 ary the 18th, 1802. He had previously contributed to the Philoso- 

 phical Transactions two papers : the first entitled " Observations on 

 the Effects which take place from the Destruction of the Membrana 

 Tympani of the Ear*," and the second containing "Further Ob- 

 servations on the same subject, together with an Account of an 

 Operation for the removal of a particular kind of Deafness f." The 

 operation of puncturing the membrana tympani for the relief of that 

 species of deafness which arises from an obstruction of the Eusta- 

 chian tube, suggested itself from observing that, in several cases, an 

 aperture in the membrane did not essentially diminish the powers of 

 the ear, and that even its total destruction by disease is not followed 

 by total deafness. Several cases are described in which the opera- 

 tion proved successful ; but of course, when deafness proceeds from 

 any other cause, the operation is not likely to be of the least benefit. 



The other professional publications of Sir Astley are exceedingly 

 numerous ; they all bear the stamp of the peculiar character of his 

 mind : simple and unaffected in point of style, and without preten- 

 sion to elegance, they contain a plain relation of facts, unbiassed by 

 preconceived theories, the fruits of a long and extended experience, 

 and leading to sound practical conclusions. He never sought pe- 

 cuniary advantage by his publications ; and while he spared no ex- 

 pense in the execution of such engravings as were best calculated to 

 afford instruction, he invariably published them at a low price. 



His publications relate chiefly to the following subjects, namely, 

 the anatomy and treatment of the various kinds of hernia; of aneu- 

 rism ; of spina bifida ; of dislocations and fractures ; of exostoses ; 

 of encysted tumors ; the extraction of calculi from the bladder ; the 

 structure and diseases of the breast and of the testis. Among the 

 last subjects to which he had particularly turned his attention was 

 the structure and functions of the thymus gland. 



* Phil. Trans, for 1800, Part I. p. 1.51. [Phil. Mag., First Series, vol. viii. 

 p. 359.— Edit.] 

 t Phil.Trans. for 1801, Part 11. p. 4;5.5. [76. vol. x.p. 8G, xi. p. 268.— Ed.] 



