Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1855-1856 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 volume
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born in Haddington, East Lothian, 1829; educated at the Haddington burgh schools, the Hill Street Institution, Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh; graduated MD, 1850; acted for fifteen months as house surgeon and resident physician to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary; spent two years in Paris, working in the physiological and chemical laboratories of Charles Dollfus, Verdeil, and Charles-Adolphe Wurtz; his many observations were recorded in the Chimie Anatomique, notably the recognition of iron as a constant constituent of the urine, and the observation that the cherry colour of normal human urine was due to urohaematin; worked in the physiological laboratory of the Collège de France, at first under François Magendie and then under Claude Bernard, whose publications led Harley to undertake research on the effects of stimulation of nerves on the production of sugar by the liver; during his two years in Paris, almost entirely occupied with physiological research; elected annual president of the Parisian Medical Society, 1853; spent time in Germany at the universities of Würzburg (under Rudolf Virchow), Giessen (under Justus von Liebig), Berlin, Vienna, and Heidelberg; while studying in Vienna, during the Crimean War, attempted to join the army of Omar Pasha as a civil surgeon but, travelling with an irregular passport, was arrested and narrowly escaped being shot as a spy; appointed lecturer on practical physiology and histology at University College London, 1855; also curator of the anatomical museum at University College London; started practice in Nottingham Place, 1856; elected a fellow of the Chemical Society and fellow of the College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 1858; read at the Leeds meeting of the British Association a paper showing that pure pancreatine was capable of digesting both starchy and albuminous substances; became Professor of Medical Jurisprudence at University College London, 1859; became editor of a new year-book on medicine and surgery brought out by the New Sydenham Society, aiming to keep an epitome of science applied to practical medicine, 1859; became physician to the University College Hospital, 1860; received the triennial prize of fifty guineas from the Royal College of Surgeons of England for research into the anatomy and physiology of the suprarenal bodies, 1862; elected fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, 1864; later examiner in anatomy and physiology in the Royal College of Physicians; active in the committee of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society appointed to study the subject of suspended animation by drowning, hanging, etc, with its experiments carried out in his laboratory at University College London, 1864; experiments for the Society's committee on chloroform were also carried out there, 1864; his research while studying in Robert Bunsen's laboratory at Heidelberg on the methods of gas analysis and, after his return to England, research on the chemistry of respiration, was instrumental in his election to the fellowship of the Royal Society, 1865; active in founding the British Institute of Preventive Medicine; conducted research into the action of various poisons, and was the first to demonstrate that strychnia and wourali (arrow-poison) reciprocally neutralise one another's toxic effects; corresponding member of numerous foreign scientific societies; invented a microscope which could be transformed from a monocular into a binocular or into a polarising instrument, of high or low power; tried to reform English orthography, and advocated the omission of redundant duplicated consonants from all words except personal names; died, 1896. See George Harley, FRS: the Life of a London Physician, ed Mrs Alec Tweedie (his daughter) (The Scientific Press, London, 1899). Publications include: Jaundice: its Pathology and Treatment (London, 1863); The Urine and its Derangements (London, 1872; reprinted in America and translated into French and Italian); The Simplification of English Spelling (London, 1877); A treatise on Diseases of the Liver (London, 1883; reprinted in Canada and America, and translated into German by Dr J Kraus); On sounding for gall-stones (London, 1884); Inflammations of the Liver (London, 1886); many scientific papers in various journals, most importantly on liver diseases. George T Brown's Histology (1868) was based on demonstrations given by Harley at University College London, the second edition edited by Harley himself.
Repository
Archival history
Presented to University College London by F W Goodbody.
GB 0103 MS ADD 320 1855-1856 Collection (fonds) 1 volume Harley , George , 1829-1896 , physiologist
Born in Haddington, East Lothian, 1829; educated at the Haddington burgh schools, the Hill Street Institution, Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh; graduated MD, 1850; acted for fifteen months as house surgeon and resident physician to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary; spent two years in Paris, working in the physiological and chemical laboratories of Charles Dollfus, Verdeil, and Charles-Adolphe Wurtz; his many observations were recorded in the Chimie Anatomique, notably the recognition of iron as a constant constituent of the urine, and the observation that the cherry colour of normal human urine was due to urohaematin; worked in the physiological laboratory of the Collège de France, at first under François Magendie and then under Claude Bernard, whose publications led Harley to undertake research on the effects of stimulation of nerves on the production of sugar by the liver; during his two years in Paris, almost entirely occupied with physiological research; elected annual president of the Parisian Medical Society, 1853; spent time in Germany at the universities of Würzburg (under Rudolf Virchow), Giessen (under Justus von Liebig), Berlin, Vienna, and Heidelberg; while studying in Vienna, during the Crimean War, attempted to join the army of Omar Pasha as a civil surgeon but, travelling with an irregular passport, was arrested and narrowly escaped being shot as a spy; appointed lecturer on practical physiology and histology at University College London, 1855; also curator of the anatomical museum at University College London; started practice in Nottingham Place, 1856; elected a fellow of the Chemical Society and fellow of the College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 1858; read at the Leeds meeting of the British Association a paper showing that pure pancreatine was capable of digesting both starchy and albuminous substances; became Professor of Medical Jurisprudence at University College London, 1859; became editor of a new year-book on medicine and surgery brought out by the New Sydenham Society, aiming to keep an epitome of science applied to practical medicine, 1859; became physician to the University College Hospital, 1860; received the triennial prize of fifty guineas from the Royal College of Surgeons of England for research into the anatomy and physiology of the suprarenal bodies, 1862; elected fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, 1864; later examiner in anatomy and physiology in the Royal College of Physicians; active in the committee of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society appointed to study the subject of suspended animation by drowning, hanging, etc, with its experiments carried out in his laboratory at University College London, 1864; experiments for the Society's committee on chloroform were also carried out there, 1864; his research while studying in Robert Bunsen's laboratory at Heidelberg on the methods of gas analysis and, after his return to England, research on the chemistry of respiration, was instrumental in his election to the fellowship of the Royal Society, 1865; active in founding the British Institute of Preventive Medicine; conducted research into the action of various poisons, and was the first to demonstrate that strychnia and wourali (arrow-poison) reciprocally neutralise one another's toxic effects; corresponding member of numerous foreign scientific societies; invented a microscope which could be transformed from a monocular into a binocular or into a polarising instrument, of high or low power; tried to reform English orthography, and advocated the omission of redundant duplicated consonants from all words except personal names; died, 1896. See George Harley, FRS: the Life of a London Physician, ed Mrs Alec Tweedie (his daughter) (The Scientific Press, London, 1899). Publications include: Jaundice: its Pathology and Treatment (London, 1863); The Urine and its Derangements (London, 1872; reprinted in America and translated into French and Italian); The Simplification of English Spelling (London, 1877); A treatise on Diseases of the Liver (London, 1883; reprinted in Canada and America, and translated into German by Dr J Kraus); On sounding for gall-stones (London, 1884); Inflammations of the Liver (London, 1886); many scientific papers in various journals, most importantly on liver diseases. George T Brown's Histology (1868) was based on demonstrations given by Harley at University College London, the second edition edited by Harley himself.
Presented to University College London by F W Goodbody.
Transferred to University College London Manuscripts Room from the College Collection at University College London in 1987.
Volume of manuscript lecture notes, 1855-1856, made by George Harley from lectures on experimental chemistry at Giessen University (Germany).
Open.
Normal copyright restrictions apply.
English
Collection level description.
University College London Special Collections holds letters from Harley on University College and Hospital business, 1856-1862 (Ref: COLLEGE CORRESPONDENCE AM 76, 83, 86, 90, 94; COLLEGE CORRESPONDENCE MEDICAL FACULTY 243, 258).
The Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine holds Harley's papers, c1860-1885 (Ref: MSS 2780-81).
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; National Register of Archives; British Library OPAC. Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. May 2001 Europe Experimental chemistry Germany Giessen University Harley , George , 1829-1896 , physiologist Higher science education Medical personnel Medical profession Medical sciences Personnel Physicians Surgery Western Europe People by occupation People
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Transferred to University College London Manuscripts Room from the College Collection at University College London in 1987.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Volume of manuscript lecture notes, 1855-1856, made by George Harley from lectures on experimental chemistry at Giessen University (Germany).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open.
Conditions governing reproduction
Normal copyright restrictions apply.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
University College London Special Collections holds letters from Harley on University College and Hospital business, 1856-1862 (Ref: COLLEGE CORRESPONDENCE AM 76, 83, 86, 90, 94; COLLEGE CORRESPONDENCE MEDICAL FACULTY 243, 258).
Finding aids
Collection level description.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
The Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine holds Harley's papers, c1860-1885 (Ref: MSS 2780-81).
Publication note
Notes area
Note
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Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English