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MONTEATH, GEORGE CUNNINGHAM,
author of a Manual of the Diseases of the Human Eye, was born, December 4,
1788, in the manse of Neilston, Renfrewshire, of which parish his father,
the Rev. Dr John Monteath, (latterly of Houston and Killallan,) was then
minister. After passing through the medical and surgical classes in the
university of Glasgow, the subject of this notice attended the hospitals in
London, where he attracted the notice of Sir Astley Cooper, and other
eminent anatomists, and received a diploma from the Royal College of
Surgeons. In 1809, by the recommendation of Dr M. Baillie, he was appointed
surgeon to lord Lovaine’s Northumberland regiment of militia, in which
situation he remained four years, honoured with the affection and esteem of
all his brother officers. He then resigned his commission, and commenced
practice in Glasgow, as a physician and oculist. In 1813, he commenced, with
a friend, a series of lectures on practical anatomy, but was soon
obliged, by the rapid increase of his practice, to relinquish this duty.
Being the first practitioner in Glasgow who devoted particular attention to
the diseases of the eye, he soon became celebrated, not only in the city,
but over all the west of Scotland, for his skilful treatment of that class
of complaints, and had many important and difficult cases intrusted to him.
In 1821, he published his Manual of the Diseases of the Human Eye, which
became a popular work on the subject. Though possessed originally of a good
constitution, Dr Monteath gradually sank under the pressure of his
multifarious duties; and, having been seized with inflammation, in
consequence of a night journey, he was cut off, January 25, 1828, in the
fortieth year of his age.
Dr Monteath was
characterized, by one who knew him well, and who undertook the task of
commemorating his death in the public prints, as "at once an accomplished
physician and an eminent surgeon." His mind, distinguished as it was by
clearness of method, minuteness of observation, and soundness of judgment,
was particularly fitted for the investigations of the former profession. His
power of distinguishing, (perhaps the power upon which success in the
practice of medicine depends more than any other,) added to his thorough
knowledge of what others had discovered, and his readiness in applying what
either his erudition or his experience supplied, made some regret that he
did not devote himself to the business of a physician alone.
"As a surgeon, however, his
success was perhaps still more remarkable. It was not the success of
chance,—it was the result of patient application, at an early period of
life, to that science, without which all attempts at eminence in this
department, must necessarily fail,—we mean the science of anatomy. It was
the result of close and emulous attention to the practice of the ablest
surgeons in the metropolis. It was attributable in no small degree to an
accuracy in planning his operations, and a collectedness of mind at the time
of operation, such that no accident could occur which had not been
preconsidered, or which could in the slightest measure discompose him. Every
surgical operation which he undertook, had evidently been the subject of
much previous thought,--every ordinary circumstance had been carefully
investigated,--many circumstances which a common mind would probably have
overlooked, had been weighed with deep attention,--and neither the honour of
his art, nor the safety of his patient, was at any time left to what might
occur at the moment.
"Dr Monteath was particularly
distinguished as an oculist, and was unquestionably the first individual in
this city who materially improved the treatment of the diseases of the eye.
It was here that the qualities of mind, to which we have already alluded,
were of the greatest service to him,—namely, his power of minute
observation, and the art, in which he so highly excelled, of distinguishing
cases, which, though they might seem alike when viewed superficially, were,
in fact, very different, and might require even opposite means of cure.
"Dr Monteath’s attention to
his patients was particularly deserving of approbation, it extended to the
poorest as well as the richest, and allowed no circumstance to escape
notice, which could tend, even in a remote degree, to alleviate suffering,
or secure recovery. Those who had no other means of judging of his
superiority as a medical practitioner, must have been struck with this trait
of his character, and acknowledged it as an excellence of no mean value. His
manner was soothing, and his politeness fascinating. None who had ever
employed him as a medical attendant could see him approach without feeling
their distress already in part subdued, their fears allayed, and their hopes
invigorated, by the presence of one, in whose ample skill and unwearied
pains they could so implicitly confide." |
