20
H. A. RYDINGS
other pests took their toll, the collection of the Medico-Chirurgical Society gradually became unwanted and unusable.
Some remarks should be made on the incorporation of the Society into "the Asiatic Society of China" which soon became the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (21). First, why was such a step necessary, and second, to what extent did members of the former Society opt for membership of the new?
In the account of the origin of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1) it is stated that the Medico-Chirurgical Society "in accord with the contemporary spirit of inquiry and the enthusiasm for better knowledge of Asia in general and China in particular, had contemplated setting up a Philosophical Society." Part of this story is recorded in the Transactions, p. 62-63. Dr. McGowan of Ningpo wrote a letter which was read at a meeting of the Society on 6th January 1846, "suggesting the addition of a scientific branch of this Society; or the formation of a Philosophical Society having a Medical Section. The matter having been briefly discussed it was the unanimous opinion of the members present... that the discussion of other scientific subjects should be left to other Bodies, of which members could avail themselves.
**
However, this resolve to go it alone was not to be achieved. It is stated in the "Journal of Proceedings" regarding the setting up of the "Philosophical Society of China" (afterwards the China Branch of the R.A.S.) that "the number of members of a scientific body called the 'China Medico-Chirurgical Society' had been gradually diminishing, so as to render it difficult to obtain any meetings except at irregular and frequently long intervals" (22). At the preliminary meeting held on 5th January 1847 there were eight doctors present, namely Drs. Balfour, Young, Barton, Dill, Harland, Bankier, Grant and Fletcher. Only four of these can be positively identified on the membership list of the Medico-Chirurgical Society (Transactions, p. 78), which includes 38 names—though of course others may have joined in the intervening year—but it appears that these four and possibly others had formed a splinter group sympathetic to those who favoured the formation of a "Philosophical Society", in the older meaning of the phrase.
There seems little doubt that the activities of the Medico-Chirurgical Society were on the wane, probably due to the death or departure of some of the more active members. Drs. Tucker,
20
H. A. RYDINGS
other pests took their toll, the collection of the Medico-Chirurgical Society gradually became unwanted and unusable.
Some remarks shold be made on the incorporation of the Society into "the Asiatic Society of China" which soon became the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (21). First, why was such a step necessary, and second, to what extent did members of the former Society opt for membership of the new?
In the account of the origin of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1) it is stated that the Medico-Chirurgical Society "in accord with the contemporary spirit of inquiry and the enthu siasm for better knowledge of Asia in general and China in particu- lar, had contemplated setting up a Philosophical Society." Part of this story is recorded in the Transactions, p. 62-63. Dr. McGowan of Ningpo wrote a letter which was read at a meeting of the Society on 6th January 1846, "suggesting the addition of a scientific branch of this Society; or the formation of a Philosophical Society having a Medical Section. The matter having been briefly discussed it was the unanimous opinion of the members present... that the discussion of other scientific subjects should be left to other Bodies, of which members could avail themselves.
**
However, this resolve to go it alone was not to be achieved. It is stated in the "Journal of Proceedings" regarding the setting up of the "Philosophical Society of China" (afterwards the China Branch of the R.A.S.) that "the number of members of a scientific body called the 'China Medico-Chirurgical Society' had been gra- dually diminishing, so as to render it difficult to obtain any meetings except at irregular and frequently long intervals" (22). At the pre- liminary meeting held on 5th January 1847 there were eight doctors present, namely Drs. Balfour, Young, Barton, Dill, Harland, Bankier, Grant and Fletcher. Only four of these can be positively identified on the membership list of the Medico-Chirurgical Society (Transac- tions, p. 78), which includes 38 names-though of course others may have joined in the intervening year—but it appears that these four and possibly others had formed a splinter group sympathetic to those who favoured the formation of a "Philosophical Society”, in the older meaning of the phrase.
There seems little doubt that the activities of the Medico- Chirurgical Society were on the wane, probably due to the death or departure of some of the more active members. Drs. Tucker,
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