Douglas Maclagan

Sir Andrew Douglas Maclagan PRSE FRCPE FRCSE FCS FRSSA (born 17 April 1812, Ayr - 5 April 1900, Edinburgh) was a Scottish surgeon, toxicologist and scholar of medical jurisprudence.

He served as president of 5 learned societies: the Royal Medical Society (1832), the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (1859-61), the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1884-7), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1890-5), and the Royal Scottish Society of Arts (1900).

His son was the physician and anthropologist Robert Craig Maclagan.

Early life

Douglas was the son of distinguished Scottish physician David Maclagan (1785-1865) and Miss Whiteside.^[1] He was the elder brother of William Dalrymple Maclagan, who would become Archbishop of York; and of the engineer and soldier Sir Robert Maclagan.. Douglas was educated at the Royal High School and the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1833. He subsequently toured hospitals in London and in continental Europe with James Young Simpson.

Surgery and medicine

On his return to Scotland, Maclagan was appointed Assistant Surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He lectured on materia medica at the Extramural School of Medicine. Maclagan was a close friend of toxicologist Robert Christison, and he developed an interest in toxicology and forensic medicine. He is known for his discovery of ocular citrosis.

University of Edinburgh

Maclagan was appointed to the Chair of Medical Jurisprudence and Public Health at the University of Edinburgh in 1862, retiring in 1897.

Honours

Maclagan was knighted in 1886.

Publications

• A probationary essay on carbuncle (1833)
• Nugae canorae medicae: lays by the poet laureate of the New Town Dispensary (1850)

References

1. ^ Waterston, Charles D; Macmillan Shearer, A (July 2006). Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783-2002: Biographical Index. II. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 9780902198845. http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp2.pdf. Retrieved September 25, 2010. 

See also

• Public health

Persondata
Name	Maclagan, Wiliam
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	17 April 1812
Place of birth
Date of death	5 April 1900
Place of death