Medical Detectives by Robin Odell

Author:Robin Odell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780752489308
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2012-10-21T16:00:00+00:00

John Glaister was aware of the sort of remarks his succession to his father’s position might provoke. But in truth, his professional credentials and reputation were beyond criticism and he had firm ideas about the future direction of forensic medicine. Certainly ‘Old John’ did not linger at the university to offer advice or, worse still, to interfere, ‘… he left the building and never returned to it,’ said his son. Glaister realised that he would inevitably face opposition from the Old Guard, those who had been in practice while he was still a student, but he resolved to plot a course that would further both the independence and international outlook of his professional calling.

There was an early clash when he was privately taken to task by a Procurator Fiscal on account of his practice of sometimes appearing as a witness for the prosecution and, on others, for the defence. The Procurator told Glaister he objected to him giving evidence against the Crown doctors and ordered him not to do so again, threatening that he would not be asked to appear for the Crown in future. John Glaister was horrified at what he had been told and he invited the Procurator to repeat his instructions in the presence of witnesses. This was greeted with a sullen silence and the professor left, marking his disgust by slamming the door.

After just a few months in his new post John Glaister was asked by the University Principal if he would be willing to return to Egypt to lecture for a three-month period every year. The Egyptian Government had written to the university making this special request and it was agreed that he could be released during the non-teaching term. The Glaisters’ return to Egypt was a pleasant experience, marred only by bad news from home. Muff had to return to England to see her brother who was dangerously ill, leaving John to see out the rest of the tour on his own. While at sea on board the Orontes bound for England in 1931, he received a cable informing him that both his father and mother had died. They succumbed at home within hours of each other from a virulent influenza epidemic which was raging in Britain. ‘Old John’s’ passing and a sense of a chapter closing persuaded John Glaister to give up his arrangement with the Egyptian Government and despite attempts to dissuade him he stuck to his decision.

He threw himself whole-heartedly into his work at the university using his experience and quiet authority to guide a generation of students whose professional calling would one day take them into the witness box. It was a lonely place, he told them, and one where any hint of posing would be seen for what it was. ‘I’ve always tried to be as natural as possible when giving evidence,’ he wrote, in the belief that professional stature and a thorough knowledge of the subject were the chief requirements. He extolled the virtues of being concise, a

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