Granville Sharp Pattison

Background

Granville Sharpe Pattison was born circa 1791 in Scotland. He was the youngest son of John Pattison of Kelvin Grove, Glasgow.

Education

Granville Sharpe Pattison was probably educated at the University of Glasgow.

Career

At the age of eighteen Granville Sharpe Pattison was chosen assistant to Allan Burns, the well-known Scotch anatomist, and later succeeded him in the chair of anatomy, physiology, and surgery in the Andersonian Institution. Here he made for himself a reputation as an interesting lecturer and successful teacher. In 1819, on a hint of the possibility of his being called to the chair of anatomy in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, he came to the United States. Before sailing he was made a member of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of London and a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.

Disappointed in his hope of obtaining the professorship at the University of Pennsylvania, Granville Sharpe Pattison gave a series of private lectures on anatomy in Philadelphia which attracted wide attention. He also published, in 1820, Experimental Observations on the Operation of Lithotomy. This brought him notoriety, arousing one of the bitter controversies so often waged by anatomists at that time. In the midst of the controversy he challenged his opponent, Dr. Nathaniel Chapman, professor of the theory and practice of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, to a duel. Chapman refused the challenge in a famous note. Pattison then posted him "as a liar, a coward, and a scoundrel. " Chapman's brother-in-law, Gen. Thomas Cadwalader, accepted the challenge and received a ball in his "pistol arm, " which was disabled for the rest of his life. A ball passed through the skirt of Pattison's coat near the waistline.

In 1821 he published A Refutation of Certain Calumnies Published in a Pamphlet Entitled, "Correspondence between Mr. Granville Sharp Pattison and Dr. Nathaniel Chapman. " In the midst of the controversy, 1820, Pattison was invited to the chair of anatomy, physiology, and surgery at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. While here, 1824, he edited the second edition of Allan Burns's Observations on the Surgical Anatomy of the Head and Neck. In 1826 he resigned his professorship at Baltimore and returned to England, where he was appointed professor of anatomy in the newly organized University of London, now University College. There was serious lack of discipline in the institution, and Pattison made the attempt to control his class. The students rebelled and Wakeley, the editor of the Lancet (London), intervened. As a result, Pattison was dismissed from the chair on July 23, 1831. The following year he was invited to the professorship of anatomy at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he acquired the reputation of being the most successful teacher in his subject in the country.

Granville Sharp Pattison brought great prestige to the new school. Nine years later, on the reorganization of the medical department of the University of the City of New York, he was invited to the chair of anatomy and continued to occupy this position until his death. Gross, in his biographical sketch of him, remarks: "It is no exaggeration to say that no anatomical teacher of his day, either in Europe or in this country, enjoyed a higher reputation". He devoted himself faithfully to the demonstration of visceral and surgical anatomy and gave very practical lessons in applying knowledge of the subject to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, accidents, and operations. He was a very popular teacher, for the students felt that they were always securing knowledge that could be applied in the practice of medicine. He spared no pains to arrange clever demonstrations and his teaching produced a deep and lasting impression. He was an editor of the Register and Library of Medical and Surgical Science (Washington, 1833 - 1836) and co-editor of the American Medical Library and Intelligencer (Philadelphia, 1836). He died on November 12, 1851.

Achievements

• Granville Sharp Pattison established The College Street Medical School. Pattison helped to found the Glasgow Medical Society and to establish the Baltimore Infirmary. He was the author of Experimental Observations on the Operation of Lithotomy (1820). In Baltimore he edited the second edition of Allan Burns's Observations on the Surgical Anatomy of the Head and Neck (1823). He edited the American Recorder (1820), and the Register and Library of Medical and Chirurgical Science (1836), and was co-editor of the American Medical Library and Intelligencer, Philadelphia (1836).

Works

More photos

• book

  • A Discourse Delivered on Commencing the Lectures in Jefferson Medical College: Session 1832-3 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from A Discourse Delivered on Commencing the Lect...)

Interests

• In addition to his professional work, Granville Sharp Pattison was much interested in music and was a leader in the group of music lovers who arranged the production of grand opera in New York City. He was very fond of hunting and fishing, and is said to have been somewhat indolent, for which reason, perhaps, Pattison did not leave more definite remains of his work behind him.

Connections

Father:

John Pattison

Brother:

Alexander Hope Pattison

References

• Granville Sharp Pattison: Anatomist and Antagonist, 1791-1851 (History Amer Science & Technol)