Sir William Watson Cheyne, Baronet, 1852 - 1932

Abstract

In helping to diffuse the principles and practice of antiseptic surgery Joseph Lister had no more efficient, ardent or loyal disciple than William Watson Cheyne, who died after a prolonged illness on April 19, 1932, in the eightieth year of his age. From humble beginnings, Cheyne, by his ability, diligence and high principle, reached the summit of the surgical profession in the British Empire and was held in the highest repute all over the world. Watson Cheyne was, however, no mere surgical technician, but from his early professional years took a great interest in all scientific matters concerned with medicine and surgery. He was a pioneer in bacteriological research and did more than any one in England to diffuse the bacteriological knowledge which in the seventies and eighties of last century was accumulating at an astonishing rate in France and Germany. In this advance England played practically no part. English workers were more concerned at first with histology and physiology, and at a later period the medical profession was swept by a wave of enthusiasm for the doctrines of the cellular pathology so well laid by Rudolf Virchow and his pupils.