The William MacKenzie Centenary Symposium on the ocular circulation in health and disease

Historical Significance: This volume publishes the proceedings of a symposium held at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow held on September 23 and 24 1968. It marks the centenary of the death of Dr William MacKenzie. It includes a 3 1/2 page appreciation of Willim MacKenzie. The list of McKenzie Medallists includes some famous names including Dule-Elder (1929), Ida Mann (1935) and H M Traquair (1939). William MacKenzie (1791-1868) was surgeon oculist in Scotland to Her Majesty Queen Victoria), lecturer in the University of Glasgow and a surgeon in the Glasgow Eye Infirmary. Son of a muslin manufacturer, he initially studied divinity but was unable to reconcile the scientific facts of geology with religious beliefs and turned to the study of medicine. He trained at the University of Glasgow and the city's Royal Infirmary. In 1815, after obtaining the diploma of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, he moved to Bartholomew's Hospital, London. The years 1816-18 were spent on the Continent, where he developed his interest in ophthalmology. He joined the Royal College of Surgeons and returned to Glasgow in 1819, entering general practice. His most influential book is 'A practical treatise on the diseases of the eye to which is prefixed an anatomical introduction explanatory of a horizontal section of the human eyeball' first published in 1830. The Kett Museum hold two copies of the 4th Edition 1854 (Cat No 34 and 205).