31 
life began to tell upon him, and he resigned his appointment. Ilis 
retirement was of short duration; and he died 26th July 1882. 
Professor James Spence. By Professor Chiene, 
M.D, F.K.C.S.E. 
James Spence was born in Edinburgh on the 31st day of March 
1812. His father sent him, in the first instance, to a boarding- 
school at Galashiels, and afterwards to the Edinburgh High School. 
He entered the University at the age of 13, attended the medical 
classes in the University and Extra-mural School, and obtained the 
diploma of the Eoyal College of Surgeons in 1832. His first ambi- 
tion was to enter the army or navy, and for this purpose he studied 
in Paris, and passed the examination for a surgeon in the navy. 
After two voyages to India in troopships, he apparently abandoned 
the idea of public service, and settled in Edinburgh. It may with 
truth be said that he then (1835) commenced that career as a 
teacher and surgeon which paved the way for his appointment as 
Professor of Surgery in 1861. He first, for seven years, acted as 
Demonstrator of Anatomy to Professor Monro ( tertius ). He then 
taught Anatomy in the Extra-mural School until 1819, when, having 
obtained the Fellowship of the Eoyal College of Surgeons, he 
became a Lecturer on Surgery. He held this appointment until his 
election as Professor of Surgery in 1861. In 1865 he was made 
Surgeon in Ordinary to the Queen for Scotland. In 1866 he became 
a Fellow of the Eoyal Society of Edinburgh. 
For nearly half a century James Spence was intimately associated 
with the teaching of Anatomy and Surgery in this city. From the 
very first he adopted a course of self-education, and under many 
difficulties he gradually but surely made his way to the front; and 
at the time of his death (June 1882) he had attained a position in 
which he was esteemed by all as the representative of Scottish 
Surgery. He possessed most marked manipulative skill, and was. 
a very successful practitioner. 
He has left, as a result of his long practical experience, a most 
valuable work on the Practice of Surgery. To tracheotomy, hernio- 
tomy, the ligature of vessels, urinary diseases, and methods of 
