As the commemorations of World War I continue the RCSI Heritage Collections have decided to follow Monty Python's suggestion...
Amongst the Heritage Collections you can come across such hidden gems as 180 glass plate slides taken by John Alfred Scott, Professor of Physiology in the College from 1889 to 1926. These slides are housed in 3 bespoke wooden boxes with handwritten labels attached.
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Wooden bespoke box with manuscript labels containing
Scott's glass plate slides (RCSI/IP/Scott) |
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Scott's glass plate slides
(RCSI/IP/Scott) |
John Alfred Scott was born in Dublin on 2 October 1854. He was educated in Waterford and after leaving school took up a job making apparatus for lighthouses. This occupation did not last long and soon Scott was enrolled and studying medicine in the Ledwich and Carmichael Schools. He received his medical qualifications from the College in 1881 and the Royal College of Physicians in 1882. In 1886 Scott obtained his Fellowship from the College. He furthered his medical qualifications by graduating from Trinity with a B.A. in 1887, M.B. in 1888 and M.D. in 1893. Scott was appointed Professor of Physiology in 1889, a position he held until his death in 1926.
Scott had a love for all things biological. A love that according to his obituary from the Irish Journal of Medical Science April 1926 came from his teacher in Waterford
'Scott could not remember much Latin or literature from him [school teacher], it is true, but he used to be sent out with others for walks in the country with instructions to bring home whatever he liked, fossils or fungi, beetles or grasses, and the evenings were spent in talks about these objects. Doubtless here was laid Scott's well-known intense interest in all biological subjects'.
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| John Alfred Scott (1854-1926) |
Scott held a number of other positions outside his College work. He was an avid photographer and was President of the Photographic Society of Ireland. Scott was also a photographic inventor and his contribution to the advancement of photography is best described in a memorial to him from December 1932 in the
Irish Times
'Scott did an extraordinary amount of photographic research work, and perfected by mathematical methods the exposure necessary for each hour of every day of the year. This he did by calculating the rate of absorption of the light due to the position of the sun. He believed that this was recognised as one of the greatest scientific achievements in photography. Scott's work with Professor Joly, of the Royal Dublin Society, laid the foundation of the modern development of colour photography by the screen-plate process'.
Scott also had a keen interest in animals and was a Member of Council of Royal Zoological Society of Ireland. He was a driving force in the establishment of the
Zoological Gardens in the Phoenix Park and spent much of his time there. That is where our collection of Scott's glass plate slides come in. The majority of these slides are of animals either in the Dublin or London zoo taken by Scott on his visits. The slides are in pristine condition and, as you will see from the small selection below, are captivating.
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| Coloured glass plate slide of Galapagos tortoises |
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| Glass plate slide of the Zoo's exit |
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| Glass plate slide of Kolbe or Cape Vulture dated 1909 |
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| Glass plate slide of children taking a ride on an elephant |
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Glass plate slide of two men inspecting
an animal's enclave. Note the man on
right has a camera in his hand.
Could it be Scott himself? |
- Researched and written by Meadhbh Murphy
