162 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Notwithstanding a certain bluntness and decision of manner, which was liable
to be occasionally misunderstood, and which gave rise to some curious scenes
and incidents in the course of his professional practice, Mr. Wood‘s philanthropy
and kindness were proverbial; and his unremitting attention to the distresses
of the indigent sick, whom he continued to visit in their wretched dwellings,
after he had given up general practice, was a noble trait in his character.
What has been said of the illustrious Boerhaave may be equally applied to
him-that “he considered the poor as his best patients, and that he never
neglected them.” To his other qualities he added an enthusiastic warmth and
steadiness in his friendships, with a total freedom from selfishness-and in his
social relations, that kind and playful manner, which softened asperities, and
rendered available all the best sympathies and affections of which human nature
is susceptible ; and being of a most convivial disposition, his company was
courted by all ranks. In fact, few men have ever been 60 universally beloved
as Mr. Wood, and proportionally numerous are the testimonies to his worth.
During the long course of his useful career he enjoyed the unanimous good
will and approbation of his brethren, who, without any jealous feelings, allowed
him the palm of superiority he deservedly merited-a tribute due not only to
the soundness of his practical knowledge, and the dexterity of his skill iu
operating (which tended much to raise the reputation of the surgical department
of the Royal Infirmary), but to his personal character,
In a fragment of a fifth Canto of “Childe Harold,” which appeared in
“ Blackwood‘s Magazine” for May 18 18, he is thus alluded to :-
“ Oh ! for an hour of him who knew no feud-
The octogenarian chief, the kind old Sandy Wood ; ’’
and, ina note on this stanza, he is spoken of as “Sandy Wood-one of the
delightful reminiscences of Old Edinburgh-who was at least eighty years of age,
when, in high repute as a medical man, he could yet divert himself in his walks
with the ‘ Hie Schuil laddies,’ or bestow the relics of his universal benevolence
in feeding a goat or a raven.”
He is also alluded to in a spirit of tenderness and affection by Sir Walter
Scott, in a prophecy put into the mouth of Meg Merrilees ; and the late celebrated
John Bell, who had been a pupil of Mr. Wood, dedicates to him his first
volume of Anatomy in a concise but elegant tribute to his skill, his disinterested
conduct, and public and private virtues.a
Mr. Wood’s character is further commemorated by the late Sir Alexander
“ A gathering together of the powerful shall be made amidst the caves of the inhabitants of Dunedin.
They shall beset his goat ; they shall profane his raven ; they shall
blacken tha buildings of the Intirniary ; her secrets shall be examined ; a new goat shall bleat, until
they have measured out and run over fifty-four feet nine inches and a half.”
8 “ To Alexander Wood, surgeon, whose abilities and skill, and disinterested conduct, have raised
him by common consent to the first rank in a most useful profession, conducting him in honour to
that period of life in which he niust feel, with pleasure, how completely he enjoys the confidence of
the public and the esteem of all good men-this book of anatomy is presented by his pupil John Bell.”
Sandy is at his rest.
