11 



Obituary Notices of Fellows deceased. 



1 Diagnosis of Diseases of the Spinal Cord/ published in 1880. This, though 

 only a small octavo of 80 pages, was a very lucid exposition of the anatomy 

 and functions of the spinal cord, and of the methods of diagnosis of spinal 

 lesions. In this work he was the first to describe a tract of ascending 

 degeneration in the antero-lateral column consequent on a crush of the lower 

 part of the cord by a fracture of the spine. It is now known generally as 

 Gowers' tract, or ascending antero-lateral fasciculus. There is still some 

 uncertainty as to its exact origin and ultimate destination. 



In 1881 he wrote a book on ' Epilepsy ' and other convulsive disorders — 

 the substance of his Gulstonian Lectures at the College of Physicians — founded 

 on his own observations of several thousand cases, chiefly at the National 

 Hospital. But his great work, which embraced all his separate contributions to 

 neuropathology, was his ' Manual of Diseases of the Nervous System,' in two 

 volumes. The first was published in 1886, the second two years later. This 

 at once established Gowers' reputation throughout the medical world as a 

 neuropathologist of the first rank. It was speedily translated into the more 

 important modern languages. Three editions of the first volume have been 

 published, and two of the second. The third edition of the second volume 

 was never completed. 



Gowers' manual, admirable as a text-book — concise, lucid and well 

 arranged — was not, like many text-books, a mere compilation, but revealed 

 on almost every page the fruits of independent clinical and pathological 

 investigation extending over many years. The work was admirably 

 illustrated, many of the figures having been drawn by his own hand. 

 It is not too much to say that no better manual of nervous diseases has 

 ever been written in this or any other language. It still maintains its 

 position, though many other similar treatises have been published, both at 

 home and abroad. 



Sir William Gowers was an excellent teacher, and his clinics at the 

 National Hospital were largely attended by students from all parts of the 

 world. He had the reputation of being somewhat too dogmatic, but this, 

 perhaps, to the majority, made his teaching all the more impressive. 



Many academic and other honours were conferred on him. He was Fellow 

 of University College, Hon. M.D. of Dublin, LL.D. of Edinburgh, Hon. Fellow 

 of the Eoyal College of Physicians of Ireland, Hon. Member of the American 

 Neurological Association, the Netherlands Society of Psychiatry and 

 Neurology, the Eussian Society of Medicine, the Eoyal Society of Medicine of 

 Upsala, and of the Society of Internal Medicine of Vienna. 



He was elected Fellow of the Eoyal Society in 1887, and received the 

 honour of Knighthood in 1897. 



Sir William Gowers had a large practice as a consultant, but failing health 

 led to his retirement several years before his death. In person he was of 

 medium height, spare figure and nervous temperament. He was not a 

 clubable man, and few of his friends and colleagues ever eot to know him 

 intimately. He seldom attended learned societies, and then only when he 



