SIR VICTOR HORSLEY.

White Ribbon, Volume 22, Issue 255, 18 September 1916, Page 7

SIR VICTOR HORSLEY.

(Extract from “The Medical Journal of Australia,” zyth July, iyi6.) “A brief cable was received on July 2 ist, iqiO, announcing that Colonel Sir Victor Horsley had died of heatstroke in Mesopotamia. Sir Victor, who was Colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps, had exhibited great keenness and had performed invaluable service, both in England and in France, up to a few months ago. More recently he was appointed Consulting Surgeon to the Mediterranean Expeditionary Forces, and in this capacity spent some time in Egypt. The manner in which he fulfilled the terribly difficult task of setting matters right during this visit is well known, and the Empire is under a deep debt of gratitude to him for what he accomplished. It is probable that the War Office directed him to proceed to that hell, Mesopotamia, where the climatic conditions and pestilential diseases have cut short many valuable lives. The loss to the Empire at the presert juncture is a cruel one, and the wisdom of the authorities in exposing a man of his worth to the conditions obtaining on the Tigris may well be questioned. His fame was world wide, but only who had the privilege of an intimate acquaintauce with him will realise how gross the sacrifice of his life is.”

After a length) account of Sir Victor's scientific attainments and achievements, the writer goes on to say: “One word be devoted to Sir Victor’s capability for work. Many men plead as an excuse for failing to do their duty that they have no time; they are so busy. Sir Victor had an immense surgical practice; he spent hours in his laboratory, working for the benefit of humanity; he served on numberless committees, and rarely was absent from a meeting; he was ever ready to help a worthy colleague in his work, and to devote the small hours of the morning to some special matter of importance. H<* never refused to take up work in which he had an interest, and always did his duty, regardless of the effect the doing might have on himself. He was called upon by his country to undertake a difficult task in a murderous climate, and did not hesitate one moment. It cost him his life. Truly he was a great man.” Inter alia, the writer says: “Arising out of his neurological work came the conviction of the inevitable destruction of tissue consequent on the ingestion of the smallest quantity of alcohol. In iyoo he delivered the Lees and Raper Memorial Lecture on this subject, and from that time onward held his ground without flinching. His book on “Alcohol and the Human Body,” published in collaboration with Dr. Mary Sturge, is perhaps the most powerful advocacy for total abstinence in our possession.”