xxxviii Proceedings of Royal Soeiety of Edinhurgh. 
various Societies, both here and at London ; but specially did our 
Obstetrical Society get the benefit of his ripe experience and 
soundness of judgment. For twenty or thirty years he was present 
at almost every meeting of that Society, and scarcely could a 
subject be introduced, or a specimen exhibited, on which he could 
not profitably dilate, as having in his own practice had cases of a 
similar kind which he had carefully studied. 
To Dr Keiller we are also indebted for the invention and intro- 
duction of various useful instruments into obstetrical practice. In 
this connection it is interesting to know that a similar inventive 
faculty was possessed by a brother of Dr Keiller at Perth, who 
patented valuable machines, among which was a self-registering 
target, so as to avoid any risk to the marker at rifle competitions, 
and of this the Government, I understand, ultimately availed them- 
selves. Another of his inventions, by his failing to renew the 
patent, was adopted by others, Avho thereby enriched themselves 
at his expense. As regards Dr Keiller, I may specify that it is to 
him that we are indebted for the introduction of caoutchouc bags 
into midwifery practice, he having brought them under the notice 
of the Obstetrical Society here at least a year before any competitor 
appeared on the field ; and it is to be regretted that, in the minds of 
some, these instruments are even now associated with another name 
than that of Keiller, and thus he was subjected to the painful 
experience of the poet when he exclaimed : 
“ Hos ego versicnlos feci, tiflit alter honores ; 
Sic VOS non vobis,” &c., &c. — 
an experience to which his brother also was not a stranger. 
The retiring modesty of this estimable physician formed a marked 
feature of his character, and may, to some extent, have concealed his 
real merits, though, in the case of all who knew him well, it only 
added a fresh lustre to his other qualities, as in all discussions he 
was ever ready to acknowledge the merits of others, and there was a 
total absence of anything like self-assertion on his part. Sir J. Y. 
Simpson early observed this beautiful feature in his friend, for in 
1843, in writing to him that he (Sir James) would be proud to 
acknowledge his zealous labours, he adds : “ Do send something for 
our Journals yourself. You have in you the power of doing much 
more than you suppose.” 
