William Strange 1816 - 1893
June 16, 2010
William Strange 1816 - 1893, MD Edinburgh, was a
British orthodox physician, Senior
Physician at the General Infirmary
in Worcester,
President
of the British Medical Association,
In 1882 at the Fiftieth Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association held in Worcester, Strange gave a speech on the Survival of Medicine, and referring to Homeopathy, said ‘… The science of therapeutics is, in fact, in course of being revolutionized by this means; and it is quite certain that no positive science of therapeutics, capable of withstanding the shocks of mere changes in opinion and alterations (Anon, Transactions of the … Session of the American Institute of Homœopathy, Volume 47, (American Institute of Homeopathy, 1894). Page 128. See also James Henderson McClelland, Jubilee address delivered before the American Institute of Homoeopathy upon the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary, (s.n., 1894). Page 45)…’
Strange spoke first about the remarkable bursting forth of the repressed forces of thought and research that distinguished the decade of 1830-40 (See also Anon, The Medical Times and Gazette A Journal of Medical Science, Literature, Criticism, and News, (1882). Pages 188-189), and he praised ‘… men who unhesitatingly cast aside the dogmas of former ages …’, mentioning John Forbes (one of the very few orthodox physicians who gave earnest consideration to homeopathy, despite vicious attacks from his colleagues for doing so), and he castigated those members of the medical profession who ‘… conduct their practice under what I may call an organised hypocrisy…’, and he called for a High Court of Equity and Ethics to decide the question of homeopathy (Anon, The British Medical Journal Vol. 2, No. 1128, (BMJ Publishing Group, 12th August 1882). Pages 280-282).
Unfortunately the British Medical Association rejected the advice of their President!
Strange was born in Shalstone but his family moved to Brackley in Northamptonshire soon after.
Of interest:
William Heath Strange 1835 - 1907 was the founder of the Royal Free Hospital,