﻿xliv 
  

  

  Sir 
  VICTOR 
  HOESLEY, 
  1857-1916. 
  

  

  This 
  delayed 
  obituary 
  of 
  the 
  late 
  Sir 
  Victor 
  Horsley 
  pertains 
  especially 
  to 
  

   his 
  scientific 
  work, 
  because 
  already 
  his 
  family 
  history, 
  upbringing, 
  character, 
  

   and 
  career 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  admirably 
  and 
  judicially 
  dealt 
  with 
  in 
  'A 
  Study 
  of 
  

   his 
  Life 
  and 
  Work,' 
  by 
  Stephen 
  Paget, 
  1919. 
  

  

  Victor 
  Alexander 
  Haden 
  Horsley 
  was 
  born 
  on 
  April 
  14, 
  1857, 
  at 
  1, 
  High 
  

   Eow, 
  Kensington. 
  His 
  mother 
  was 
  a 
  daughter 
  of 
  Charles 
  Haden, 
  the 
  

   surgeon 
  ; 
  his 
  father 
  was 
  John 
  Callcott 
  Horsley, 
  E.A. 
  Victor 
  was 
  educated 
  at 
  

   Cranbrook 
  School, 
  and 
  in 
  January, 
  1874, 
  he 
  matriculated 
  at 
  the 
  University 
  

   of 
  London. 
  In 
  1875, 
  having 
  passed 
  his 
  preliminary 
  scientific 
  examination, 
  

   he 
  entered 
  as 
  a 
  medical 
  student 
  at 
  University 
  College. 
  Early 
  in 
  his 
  student 
  

   days 
  he 
  showed 
  those 
  distinctive 
  qualities 
  of 
  originality 
  of 
  thought, 
  combined 
  

   with 
  a 
  conception 
  of 
  utility, 
  industry, 
  and 
  pertinacity 
  of 
  purpose 
  which 
  

   rapidly 
  developed 
  into 
  a 
  remarkably 
  brilliant 
  and 
  unique 
  career 
  as 
  a 
  scientist 
  

   and 
  surgeon, 
  terminated 
  only 
  too 
  early 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  saddest 
  fatalities 
  in 
  the 
  

   Great 
  War. 
  

  

  In 
  1880, 
  at 
  a 
  time 
  when 
  Listerism 
  and 
  Spontaneous 
  Generation 
  were 
  the 
  

   burning 
  subjects 
  of 
  scientific 
  discussion, 
  Horsley 
  was 
  engaged 
  with 
  another 
  

   student 
  (the 
  writer) 
  for 
  seven 
  months 
  in 
  investigating 
  the 
  question 
  as 
  to 
  

   " 
  the 
  Existence 
  of 
  Bacteria 
  or 
  their 
  Antecedents 
  in 
  Healthy 
  Tissues," 
  the 
  

   positive 
  results 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  shown 
  in 
  a 
  paper 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  ' 
  Journal 
  of 
  

   Physiology,' 
  1882. 
  

  

  He 
  passed 
  the 
  final 
  examination 
  for 
  the 
  Membership 
  of 
  the 
  Eoyal 
  College 
  

   of 
  Surgeons, 
  1880, 
  and 
  became 
  house-surgeon 
  to 
  Mr. 
  John 
  Marshall, 
  who 
  

   recognised 
  his 
  great 
  scientific 
  abilities. 
  In 
  1881, 
  he 
  took 
  the 
  M.B. 
  and 
  B.S. 
  

   degrees 
  of 
  the 
  University 
  of 
  London, 
  and 
  was 
  awarded 
  the 
  gold 
  medal 
  in 
  

   Surgery. 
  It 
  so 
  happened 
  that 
  an 
  unusual 
  number 
  of 
  brilliant 
  students 
  who 
  

   have 
  since 
  attained 
  to 
  the 
  highest 
  positions 
  in 
  medicine 
  and 
  surgery 
  obtained 
  

   these 
  degrees 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time. 
  

  

  From 
  1882 
  to 
  1884 
  Horsley 
  held 
  the 
  appointment 
  of 
  surgical 
  registrar 
  and 
  

   assistant 
  professor 
  of 
  pathology. 
  During 
  this 
  time 
  he 
  was 
  engaged 
  in 
  

   investigating 
  the 
  patellar 
  knee-jerk 
  and 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  these 
  observations 
  

   were 
  published 
  in 
  ' 
  Brain,' 
  October, 
  1883. 
  He 
  also 
  wrote 
  a 
  report 
  on 
  

   " 
  Septic 
  Bacteria 
  and 
  their 
  Physiological 
  Eelations 
  " 
  for 
  the 
  Local 
  Govern- 
  

   ment 
  Board. 
  It 
  was, 
  however, 
  in 
  1884 
  with 
  Prof. 
  Schafer 
  that 
  he 
  began 
  

   his 
  great 
  work 
  on 
  ' 
  The 
  Functions 
  of 
  the 
  Cerebral 
  Cortex,' 
  and 
  very 
  soon 
  

   he 
  was 
  applying 
  the 
  knowledge 
  and 
  experience 
  gained 
  by 
  his 
  experiments 
  

   upon 
  animals, 
  for 
  in 
  December, 
  1884, 
  he 
  read, 
  at 
  a 
  meeting 
  of 
  the 
  Physio- 
  

   logical 
  Society, 
  notes 
  on 
  four 
  cases 
  of 
  injury 
  of 
  the 
  brain 
  illustrating 
  the 
  

   position 
  of 
  the 
  motor 
  centres. 
  Moreover, 
  now, 
  at 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  27 
  he 
  

   published 
  several 
  valuable 
  papers 
  on 
  cerebral 
  function 
  and 
  made 
  an 
  

   important 
  addition 
  to 
  knowledge 
  by 
  the 
  demonstration 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  

   of 
  nervi 
  nervorum. 
  

  

  