| Administrative History | Alexander Monro was born on 8 September 1697, the son of John Monro, an army surgeon, and his wife, Jean Forbes, a grand-daughter of the Laird of Culloden. Three years after his birth, John Monro resigned from the army and they moved to Edinburgh where Alexander was given a good education. He attended the University of Edinburgh from 1710 to 1713 but did not graduate and in 1713, he was formally apprenticed to his father.
Three year later, he travelled to London where he spent a year studying natural philosophy and anatomy. In 1718, he left London to spend some time on the continent. Firstly he went to Paris where he studied at the Hotel Dieu and the Jardin du Roi but at the end of 1718, he left Paris and enrolled as a student at the University of Leiden. Here, he studied under Hermann Boerhaave (1668 - 1738). He also made a visit to Amsterdam to study with Frederik Ruysch (1638 - 1731), the anatomist.
He did not graduate from Leiden and returned to Edinburgh in 1719. Here, he was admitted to the Incorporation of Surgeons and as a Burgess of the town.
In January 1720, he was appointed as the professor of anatomy at the University of Edinburgh and he offered an annual anatomy course from that year until 1758. In 1722, his professorship was made a life appointment and the following year, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London.
At first, his anatomy course was taught at Surgeon's Hall but in 1725, he was forced to petition the town council for more secure accommodation after accusations of grave robbing sparked riots. His classes were moved to accommodation within the university complex.
The following year, his volume 'The Anatomy of the Humane Bones' was published. It was translated into several languages and proved to be a popular text for many years.
In 1729, a house in Robertson's Close was acquired and it opened as Edinburgh's first hospital with Monro and his colleagues offering their services to patients.
Two years later, Monro helped found the Society for the Improvement of Medical Knowledge in Edinburgh and became its first secretary. He edited the six volumes of 'Medical Essays and Observations' that they published from 1732 to 1744 and several of his works appear in these volumes.
In 1756, he was awarded the degree of M.D. (Honoris Causa) by the University of Edinburgh.
He died on the 10th of July 1767
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| Description | 'A Treatise of Comparative Anatomy or the Dissection of the Bodies of Terrestrial, Arial & Aqueous Animals' by Alexander Monro primus, professor of anatomy in the University of Edinburgh, c 1720.
Dissections described in the Treatise include:
The Dissection of a Carniverous, Terrestrial Animal, The Dog;
The Dissection of a Terrestrial, Graniverous, Ruminant Animal, The Cow;
Of Graniverous Animals not Ruminant;
The Dissection of a Carniverous Fowl, the Stanchell;
The Dissection of a Graniverous Fowl, the Hen;
The Anatomy of an Egg;
The Dissection of a Haddock. |