SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON. 133 



occasion, he rushed into the dining-room, saying, " For God's 

 sake, sir, come doun; I've pushioned the cook." When Dr. 

 Simpson, with some others, got downstairs, they found the 

 patient lying on the floor snoring heavily. This incident created 

 a hearty laugh. The butler had handed the cook the remains 

 of an effervescing drink, prepared with chloric ether, calling it 

 champagne. She drank it with the above result. Dr. Simpson 

 had also to appear in print regarding what was termed the 

 religious side of the use of chloroform. Many quoted the 

 primary curse in Genesis as a reason why chloroform should 

 not be used in midwifery. These would-be religious objections 

 Dr. Simpson successfully disposed of, and, after more than 

 twenty years had elapsed since its discovery, he found the 

 best answer to all arguments of this kind was to point to the 

 steady increase in its production, and to its ever-extending use. 

 About this time a medical officer of the Indian Army wrote 

 thus to the Bombay Telegraph and Courier: "Decidedly the 

 most wonderful man of his age — I mean of the age in which he 

 lives — is Simpson of Edinburgh. In him are realised John 

 Bell's four ideals of the perfect Esculapius — the brain of an 

 Apollo, the eye of an Eagle, the heart of a Lion, and the hand 

 of a Lady. Nothing baffles his intellect ; nothing escapes his 

 penetrating glance ; he sticks at nothing and he bungles nothing. 

 If his practice be worth a rupee per annum, it is worth ;^ 10,000 

 — twice as much as Dr. Hamilton ever realised, and nearly 

 twice the amount of the late Abercrombie's practice. From all 

 parts, not of Britain only, but of Europe, do ladies rush to see, 

 consult, and fee the man. He has spread joy through many a 

 rich man's house by enabling his wife to present him with a 

 living child, a feat which none but Simpson ever dared to 

 enable her to do. To watch of a mommg with his poor 



