He was born in November
1791 in Orkney, the eldest of nine children. He went to school at
Lerwick, and in November 1807 entered the University of Edinburgh. His
studies were at first in theology, but he graduated M.D. in 1815. He
went to London, but finding no work that suited him, after eighteen
months, he took a post in the Gold Coast as medical officer to the
settlements of the African Company.
Copland landed at Goree, and in Senegal, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone,
studying the tropical diseases. On his leaving Sierra Leone,
three-quarters of the ship's crew went down with fever; and a gale
carried away the masts. Copland then landed and made his way along the
coast, sometimes on foot, sometimes in small trading vessels or in
canoes, till he reached Cape Coast Castle, where he lived for some
months.
In 1818 Copland returned to England, but shortly started on travels
through France and Germany. In 1820 he became a licentiate of the
College of Physicians of London, and settled in Walworth. In 1822 he
took a house in Jermyn Street. In 1825 he lectured on medicine at a
medical school then in Little Dean Street, and somewhat later at the
Middlesex Hospital.
Copland was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1833, and of the
College of Physicians in 1837. He attained a good practice. Among his
patients was Dyce Sombre.
Copland was president of the Pathological Society, but without the
respect of some of the practical morbid anatomists who attended its
meetings. He was Croonian lecturer 1844, 1845, 1846; Lumleian lecturer
1854, 1855, and Harveian orator 1857. He gave up practice about a year
before his death, which took place at Kilburn 12 July 1870.
From Tait's Edinburgh
Magazine
A Dictionary of Practical
Medicine. By James Copland. Longman & Co.
Our admiration of this work, as a composition of practical utility, is
lost in the consideration of the Herculean task which Dr. Copland has
achieved; it is one of the most imposing and successful efforts of human
industry and research to be found in the annals of medical literature.
The labour, the patience, the unwearied diligence, which the learned
author must have, for years, bestowed upon the collection of the vast
mass of materials brought together, for the due accomplishment of this
great undertaking, is equalled only by the skill with which they have
been made profitably available; by the capital arrangement displayed in
each article; and by the discriminating judgment and profound learning
exhibited by him in the treatment of every subject.
Upon one alone, the Brain, there are quoted nearly three hundred
authorities, German, French, Italian, Latin, and English, enumerated in
all the perspicuity of volume, chapter, and page; the patience of the
investigation, the sound judgment thus evinced in the separation of the
peck of dross from the grain of pure metal, must have been immense; and
entitles the compiler to the respect and admiration of every member of
society, whether in or out of the profession.
Dr. Copland has wisely apportioned to each subject the precise degree of
consideration which its comparative importance demands; he writes as
though he had not a useless line to throw away; his language is a happy,
clear, and nervous exposition of facts; there is no “show" writing, no
holyday tinsel, no bending the matter to the manner; every word tells,
and is to the point. He speaks as a man who has made himself thoroughly
master of a question viewed in all its bearings; and declares, in
simple, but impressive terms, whatever is worthy to be known of it, and
no more.
But taking the work as we
find it, as the production of one unassisted hand, or the combined
labour of forty, it is beyond all doubt the most useful and excellent
Medical Dictionary ever published in this country; superior to any in
our own language, and ranking second to none in any other. To the
Practitioner it will, when completed, be invaluable ; indeed no
professional library will be complete without it: to the medical student
it will be a treasure of inestimable price; and we strongly and
sincerely recommend it as his best companion and guide, containing a
body of vast practical information collected from an infinity pf
sources, and compressed into a compass well adapted to facilitate his
present studies in pathology and therapeutics, and for after-life
constant reference.
You can download this 9
volume set here in pdf format...
Volume 1 A - C
Volume 2 D - E
Volume 3 E - H
Volume 4 H - I
Volume 5 I - O
Volume 6 P - P
Volume 7 P - S
Volume 8 S - T
Volume 9 T - Z |