Philip Henry Pye-Smith

Infobox Scientist
name = Philip Henry Pye-Smith
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caption = Philip Henry Pye-Smith
birth_date = 30 August 1839
birth_place = London
death_date = 23 May 1914
death_place = London
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nationality = English
ethnicity =
field = physician
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alma_mater = University of London
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Philip Henry Pye-Smith (30 August 1839 - 23 May 1914) was a physician, medical scientist and educator. His interest was physiology, specialising in skin diseases.

He was born in 1839 at Billiter Square, London, Middlesex, England, the son of Ebenezer and Mary Anne Pye-Smith. He was educated at [Mill Hill School] and [University College London] before pursuing medical career at Guy's Hospital and University of London.

He married Emily Gertrude Foulger (daughter of Arthur Foulger and Martha Barclay) in 1894, and had issue one son, Philip Howson Guy Pye-Smith, born 1896, London.

Pye-Smith died in 1914 and was buried in the family tomb at Abney Park, Stoke Newington.

Career highlights

* Elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1870.
* Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1886.
* Representative to Senate of the University of London from 1902 to 1908, and was vice-chancellor from 1903 to 1905.
* Representative to the General Medical Council from 1899 to 1909.
* Presentation of Lumleian lectures “The Etiology of Disease” in 1882.
* Presentation of Harveian oration “Pathology as the Basis of Rational Medicine” in 1893.
* Publication: "An Introduction to the study of diseases of the skin" in 1893.
* Publication: Revised "Principles and practice of medicine" by Charles Hilton Fagge in 1888.
* Vice-chancellor of University of London

Obituary

PHILIP HENRY PYE-SMITH, M.D., F.R.C.P, F.R.S. Consulting Physician to Guy’s Hospital [The British Medical Journal, May 30, 1914, p.1216]

We regret to have to record the death, on May 23rd, of Dr. P.H. Pye-Smith, who throughout the greater part of his career was identified with Guy's Hospital and its Medical School. Dr. Pye-Smith, who was in his 75th year, has been in failing health for some years, but his death was unexpected.

Philip Henry Pye-Smith was the son of Mr. Ebenezer Pye-Smith, F.R.C.S. who had a large practice in Hackney, and the grandson of the Rev. John Pye-Smith, D.D., F.R.S., a well-known Nonconformist divine. He was educated at Mill Hill School and then went to University College, taking the degree of B.A.Lond., with honours in classics, in 1858. He pursued his medical course at Guy's Hospital, entering in 1859. In 1861, at the first examination for the degree of M.B. in the University of London, he took the exhibition and gold medal in physiology, histology, and comparative anatomy, and honours in anatomy, organic chemistry, and materia medica. In 1861-2 he was dresser to Mr. Bryant and Mr. Birkett, and physician’s reporter to Dr. (and afterwards Sir William) Gull. When he graduated M.B. in 1863 he took the gold medals in medicine and in surgery, first-class honours in obstetric medicine, and honours in forensic medicine. In the following year he graduated M.D., taking the first place and receiving the gold medal of the university.

He then spent some time abroad at the medical schools in Vienna and Berlin, forming what proved to be lasting friendships with Professor Virchow and others. At this time the assistant lecturers on comparative anatomy at Guy’s were Drs. Pavy and Moxon, and in October, 1865, he succeeded them as the teacher of comparative anatomy and zoology. These subjects interested him greatly, and he held the post until the year 1875; during this time he reorganized the museum of comparative anatomy and compiled the catalogue. He was eminently suited for this work, and he included in the catalogue many observations on the classification of animals which were of great value to the students. His work brought into contact with zoologists, and he formed friendships with the late Professor Huxley and other eminent naturalists. It is said that at this time Professor Huxley once referred to him as the best educated young man in London. In 1866 the demonstrators of anatomy were Dr. Moxon, Mr. Bankart, and Dr. Hilton Fagge, and on the appointment of Dr. Moxon as assistant physician Dr. Pye-Smith succeeded him as demonstrator of anatomy, an appointment he held for four years.

In 1870, he was appointed medical registrar and in the following year assistant physician. Microscopes were not in use in medical schools in those days, and shortly before this, at the suggestion of Dr. Moxon, Mr. Howse had started a class in histology. Then Dr. Pye-Smith took up the teaching of practical physiology in the school; the course consisted chiefly of histological work; the sections were cut by hand, the tissue being held between two pieces of carrot, and although great manual dexterity was attained by a few, the sections were very clumsy compared with the mechanically-cut sections which were available a few years later.

In 1873 he was appointed lecturer on physiology jointly with Dr. Pavy, and became sole lecturer on the subject in 1877. He held the appointment for seven years. The preparation of his lectures was characterized by great care; elaborate tables were written up on the board, and a very excellent summary of the current views on physiology was put before his students. He had the qualities which were essential for a good lecturer — he spoke deliberately, delivered himself in excellent English, and illustrated is lectures with numerous well-drawn diagrams. At that time the instruction did not include much practical work, and experiments with recording instruments, which were then being bought into use by Professor Michael Foster at Cambridge, were infrequent.

In 1877 he was appointed to the department of skin diseases, which post he held for several years, taking a deep interest in the work. His demonstrations became very popular, for the subject was one which especially lent itself to dogmatic and precise teaching. A long series of students followed his methods with the greatest advantage. He did much to advance the subject by his insistence on the correct use of terminology. He emphasized the importance of applying on a set of terms to the lesions and another set to the etiology of the diseases, and he did much to modify and improve the chaotic nomenclature which was current at that time. His small book, "Introduction to Skin Diseases", marked a distinct advance towards the elucidation of the whole subject. A large portion of his private practice was always connected with this speciality. At this time he lived at Finsbury Square, and was an active member of the Hunterian Society. He contribute frequently to the Society’s "Proceedings", and he was also a frequent contributor to the Pathological Society, whose "Transactions" he enriched by some forty papers, dealing with every variety of subject. He became physician to the hospital in 1883 on the death of Dr. Hilton Fagge, whose decease was the first of the closely approximated losses that Guy’s Hospital suffered through the death of brilliant members of its medical staff — namely, Drs. Moxon, Fagge, Carrington, and Wooldridge. Dr. Pye-Smith edited and completed with the assistance of Drs. Wilks and Carrington, Fagge’s great work on the "Principles and Practice of Medicine", which had been left unfinished. He himself contributed the articles on cutaneous disease.

He had always been greatly attracted to the history of medicine, and in the second and succeeding editions of the work he added to each chapter short historical disquisitions and notes on the derivation of medical terms, thus enhancing the value of the book. There were four editions of the work, the being published in 1901. This editing entailed a large amount of work, and he also introduced considerable statistical information drawn from the records of Guy’s Hospital concerning those diseases the data of which had not been completed by Dr. Fagge.

In 1894 he succeed Dr. Moxon as Lecturer on Medicine and held the post until he retired under the age rule in 1899. He had then been senior physician since Dr. Pavy’s retirement in 1890, and on his own retirement he was appointed consulting physician to the hospital.

He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1870, was an examiner for eight years between 1875 and 1888, and he was a member of the council from 1888 to 1890, and a censor for 1894 to 1899. He delivered the Lumleian lectures on “The Etiology of Disease” in 1892, and a most scholarly Harveian oration on “Pathology as the Basis of Rational Medicine” in 1893. He was a representative of the Royal College of Physicians on the Senate of the University of London from 1902 to 1908, and was vice-chancellor from 1903 to 1905. These were the culminating events in a long connexion with the university; he was active Member of Convocation during the important debates which preceded the earlier reform of the university, and was a member of the old standing Committee of Convocation. He represented the University of London on the General Medical Council for two periods from 1899 to 1909.

He was acknowledged authority upon life assurance, having been medical adviser to the Alliance and to the Legal and General Life Assurance offices for over thirty years.

In 1878 he was Vice-President of the Section of Physiology at the annual meeting of the British Medical Association at Bath, in 1891 President of the Section of Medicine at the annual meeting at Bournemouth, and he gave the address in Medicine on “Medicine as a Science, and Medicine as an Art,” at the annual meeting at Ipswich in 1900.

As will be seen from this summary account, Dr. Pye-Smith accomplished much public work during his long and active career. He received many well-deserved honours from public bodies: he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in Jun, 1886; he received honorary degrees from the Universities of Dublin, Paris, and Berlin, and was Honorary Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia and of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. With Sir Herbert Maxwell he represented the British Government at the International Congress on the Prevention of Tuberculosis in Berlin in 1899.

Throughout life he was a man of many interests, always keeping in touch with fellow workers in the subjects of zoology, physiology, medicine, and medical education. He was extremely methodical and orderly in his habits. He devoted much of his life to the interests of his hospital, invariably attending punctually and devoting a considerable amount of time to his duties. His lectures in medicine, carefully prepared as they were , and illustrated by many tables, proved of great value to his audience. He was an accomplished scholar, with a well-stored mind, and an accurate memory. His library was his great hobby, and he delighted to regale himself with old and favourite authors. He was very proud of his books, and he dearly loved to bring out for admiration of his friends some old volume finely bound and tooled. He was insistent on the superior of old beauties of the old, and had the greatest contempt and severity for anything that savoured of frivolity or inaccuracy. He considered the time devoted to reading the daily newspapers as worse than wasted.

His interest in the history of medical knowledge led him to urge his students to make themselves familiar with the loves and works of men great in the annals of medicine. In the wards he devoted much time to the teaching of systematic and thorough examination of the patients, and dwelt upon the bearing and significance of the various signs. He used to lay great stress on the typical physical signs and symptoms of the various diseases and all those who worked with him were thoroughly trained in the foundations of their profession. In treatment he advised the use of simple prescriptions, and was not in the habit of employing many drugs. He did not fail, however, to impress upon his students the utility of the really valuable preparations, and when he thoughts it was indicated he was always willing to push the use of any particular drug to its maximum.

He was addicted to oracular statements, such as, “Psoriasis is as unlikely to be found on the flexure of a joint as bears are to be found in Africa, while eczema may often leave its proper territory just as marsupials may occur in Virginia.” :It is venial error to overlook a murmur, but a grave one to image one when it does not exist.” “The loudness of a bruit is unimportant, its rhythm and distribution are all-important.” “Gout is almost always podagra, sometimes chiagra, seldom gonagra, and scarcely ever omagra.” “In a doubtful case of dermatitis think firstly of its being caused by an irritant, intentionally or accidentally; secondly, by a drug; thirdly, by a parasite; and lastly, by syphilis.” “Perverse in treatment and push remedies.” “As you practise your auscultation on your own chest and recall your anatomy on your own joints so from your own accidents and illnesses you will learn to sympathize with pain, to bear with impatience, and to put yourself into your patient’s place.”

When delivering a complimentary address, or making an after-dinner speech, he was pre-eminent. He had a happy knack of saying just the right thing in the happiest way, often with a touch of humour, and couched in the most elegant English, while an appropriate simile or quotation gave an indication of his wide culture, Being of a generous and unselfish disposition, the acts of kindness done by him to others were many; these were frequently unknown, because any suggestion of self-seeking, aggressiveness, or advertisement was abhorrent to him. His was a long, useful, and beneficent life, but it was clouded over towards the latter years by ill-health, which practically more or less confined him to the house, and incapacitated him from taking any active part in affairs. He was tenderly cared for by his devoted wife, to whom and to his son the sympathies of all will go out in their loss.

A memorial service was held on Wednesday, May 27th, at St. George’s, Hanover Square, and was conducted by Canon Sandys, of Oxford, and the Rev. W. W. Jackson. Beside the family nourners, those present included Sir John Bradford (representing the Royal Society), Dr. Herringham (University of London), Sir Francis Champneys (Royal Society of Medicine), Mr Stephen Paget (Research Defence Society), Sir James Fowler, Sir Dyce Duckworth, Dr. H. Tooth, Dr. T. Dyke Acland, Dr. N. Moore, Dr. J. A. Ormerod, and Dr. W. H. White (who also represented Guy’s Hospital), representing the Royal College of Physicians, Lady Bradford, Lady Duckworth, Lady Barlow, Lady Perry, Sir Alfred and Lady Fripp, Sir James Reid, Sir Bryan Donkin, the Master of the Rolls, Sir William Osler, Sir William Church, Mr. Guy Elliston (British Medical Association), the Rev. F. Lenwood (London Missionary Society), Dr. Little (General Medical Council), and Mr James McGowan (representing the Governors of Mill Hill School). The burial took place later at Abney Park, Stoke Newington.

[photograph contained in original article]

Memorial

In St. Mark, North Audley St, Westminster there are [http://www.stainedglassrecords.org/Ch.asp?ChId=7844 two-stained glass windows] in the memory of Philip Henry Pye-Smith.

Notes

External References

* [http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwinletters/namedefs/namedef-3889.html Darwin Correspondence Project]
* [http://royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=((text)=%27pye-smith%27) Royal Society]

Persondata
NAME=Pye-Smith, Philip Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=anatomist
DATE OF BIRTH=August 30, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH=London, Middlesex, England
DATE OF DEATH=May 23, 1914
PLACE OF DEATH=London, England