History of the Johnstones, 1191-1909, with ... - Electric Scotland

288 DR JAMES JOHNSTONE
Hall and Dunsley Manor went to his nephew, the late Major-General Sir James
Johnstone, K. C.S.I.
The younger brother, James (see ante), graduated M.B. at Trinity College
in 1828, and M.D. 1833. From Cambridge he went to Edinburgh to attend
Dr Munro's lectures. The sons and grandsons of his father's fellow-students at
the University gave him a warm welcome to Scotland, where he enjoyed the
genial hospitality of several country houses, danced at the Edinburgh balls, and,
having very good introductions, afterwards looked back on this period as one of
the happiest in his life. He saw Sir Walter Scott take his seat in Parliament
House when, as the great novelist wrote, his head was full of Anne of Geierstein.
Johnstone later went to study in Paris, where the leading surgeons were
Baron Larrey, Guilliet, and others, who had shared in all Napoleon's campaigns.
The last crowned sovereign of France, Charles X., was still on the throne, and
his niece and daughter-in-law, the Duchesse d'Angouleme, presided at the
Tuileries. British visitors were admitted to great state functions on showing
their visiting card. Among other persons of note, Johnstone became acquainted
with the poet Longfellow, who was making the tour of Europe with his friend
Dr Storer.
At this time Johnstone fully hoped to settle in London. He had studied
at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and went to Hastings for six months to acquire
knowledge of the disorders of the chest, which, at that time, were supposed
to be specially benefitted by a sojourn in this mild resort. Hastings must have
reminded him of Annan in the days of his forefathers, for it was the headquarters
of a flourishing smuggling trade, when luggers were actually unloaded
on the beach, in front of the houses, while the Preventive Service men were at
dinner. He left Hastings for London, where the leading members of the medical
fraternity advised him to remain, as a physician was much required who had
particularly studied phthisis. He had even chosen a house, but in obedience to
his father's wish he came to Birmingham, where he settled in one of twenty-four
substantial abodes, built in 1698 by a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren, and which
formed the now defunct Old Square. He was the first Professor of Materia
Medica and Therapeutics at the Queen's College, and Extraordinary Physician
to the General Hospital for thirty years. On the visit of the British Medical
Association to Birmingham in Sept. 1856 he was chosen President.
In 1 83 1 Asiatic cholera was brought to Poland by the Russian troops,
who came from Astrakhan to quell a Polish insurrection, and it spread through
Europe.
had 540
It reached Britain in 1832, causing great mortality. Dumfries alone
deaths. A temporary hospital was established in Birmingham for
cholera patients, to which James Johnstone was appointed Honorary Physician.
Many suspected cases were admitted, but he was always of opinion that not one
of real cholera had appeared in Birmingham, which, in later panics, was made
quite a health resort. At the first notice of its approach Dr John Johnstone
printed and circulated, gratis, a sheet of advice as to how to avoid it.
The best known of James Johnstone's writings are: A Therapeutic Arrangement
and Syllabus of Materia Medica, 1835, which had an extensive circulation,