An experiment in medical education.

Abstract

One of the pleasant duties which devolves upon all who give this lecture is to pay tribute to the man whose memory we honour this evening. Although in this, the 33rd Memorial Lecture, it is almost impossible to say anything new about Silvanus Thompson, it seems to me that, as his life and times recede more and more into the past, it is all the more desirable that we should recall what manner of man he was. I should like to begin by showing you the programme of the Inaugural Meeting of the Röntgen Society, held in St. Martin's Hall on November 5, 1897 (Fig. 1). You will note that Röntgen and Sir William Crookes were honorary presidents, Silvanus Thompson, president, and you may find a few familiar names in the list of Council members. I draw your attention to two, Dr. MacKenzie Davidson and Mr. A. W. Isenthal, the gentleman, now 87, to whom I am greatly indebted for the loan of the original programme. The inaugural meeting was evidently a gala affair, including the presidential address, lantern and other demonstrations, a large collection of exhibits, refreshments and musical entertainment. The concluding sentence on the programme is not without interest. It reads: N.B.—Visitors are specially warned not to touch, point at, or approach apparatus. It was with some surprise that I first read this, because it seemed to imply that Victorian audiences were not as well-behaved as one would have expected.