Simpson

Simpson, SIR JAMES YOUNG, BART., M.D., was born at Bathgate, Linlithgowshire, in 1811, and educated at the university of Edinburgh, where in 1846 he filled the chair of obstetric medicine. In 1847 he published his great discovery of chloroform as an anaesthetic, having personally gone through a series of hazardous experiments to prove his point. His reputation became at once European, and many honours were bestowed upon him. In 1866 he received a baronetcy. Several other surgical improvements are due to him, especially the introduction of acupressure for arresting haemorrhage. He was also a keen archaeologist. He died in 1870.