ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.—The President, Vice-Presidents, and
Council of this College invited the attendance of the Fellows, members,
and a large and distinguished party to a conversazione on the
28th inst., on which occasion the whole of the rooms of the large
establishment were thrown open for the reception of the guests, who
began to arrive soon after 9 o'clock.
In the Council-room were displayed the handsome mace of the College,
presented by George IV., together with some valuable plate ; here also
were seen the large painting by Hans Holbein of Henry VIII granting the
charter to the Barber Chirurgeons, and that chef d'oeuvre of
Sir Joshua Reynolds, the portrait of John Hunter, the founder of the
Anatomical Collection ; Sir Astley Cooper's portrait, by Sir Thomas
Lawrence ; the portrait of Sir Caesar Hawkins, by Hogarth ; and many
other past worthies of the College.
It was the noble library of the institution, however, which was,
perhaps, the chief point of attraction ; here were displayed some fine
specimens of sculpture from the studios of Macdowell, Weekes, Noble,
Adams, and others. The last-named gentleman contributed a life-like bust
of the late Mr. Edmund Belfour
who for the long period of 54-years performed the duties of secretary to
the College. On the walls were suspended some of the finest paintings
from the easels of Sir Edward and Mr. Charles Landseer, contributed by
those gentlemen. Mr. E.W. Cooke, R.A., most liberally supplied a large
number of his charming works, as did also Mrs. Gibbons from her large
and valuable collection. Professor Fergusson contributed a fine view of
Edinburgh from Craig Miller, one of the earliest productions of the late
David Roberts, a portrait of John Abernethy by Sir Thomas Lawrence, and
a small copy of Holbein's large picture above alluded to. Mr. Hodgson,
the president, sent the fine picture by Hannah, of Harvey demonstrating
his theory of the circulation of the blood to Charles I., so well known
to most readers by the engraving of Mr. Lemon. Professor Quain sent some
of Sydney Cooper's fine groups of cattle ; Professors Prescott, Hewitt,
and W. Bowman sent several fine paintings from their collection.
In the smaller library were deposited the result of the explorations by
Professor Busk of the caves at Gibraltar, exhibiting some rare specimens
of extinct animals, domestic utensils, and stone arrow-heads. Dr Cobbold,
of the Middlesex Hospital, displayed the fine collection of entozoa from
human bodies, prepared by him for the museum. In this room were also
some interesting and extraordinarily minute dissections, especially one
of the arteries of the foot, injected and prepared by Professor
Fergusson 35 years ago.
The Council of the Royal Botanic Society most liberally supplied a large
collection of fine exotic plants of rare beauty ; and, to make up for
the deficiency of smell, Mr. Rimmel had ingeniously placed his perfume
vaporizers, now in constant use at the College during the anatomical
examinations, near the plants, thus dispersing a most agreeable perfume
of sweetbriar throughout the building. The three museums were
brilliantly lighted by Messrs. Hulett of Holborn, bringing into fine
relief the large statue of John Hunter, by Weekes, R.A. Upwards of 2,000
visitors availed themselves of the hospitality of the President,
Vice-Presidents, and Council.
The Times, Friday, Jun 30, 1865; pg. 9; Issue 25225; col F
John Adams-Acton (1830-1910) was born John Adams, adding the suffix
"Acton" in 1869 to avoid confusion with a painter of the same name. He
studied in Rome under the sculptor John Gibson, returning to Britain in
1865 with a reputation as a talented portrait sculptor. You can see some
of his work at the
National Portrait Gallery.