Many Scotsmen distinguished themselves in the fields of science and medicine. For example, Dr. James Young Simpson, who was born at Bathgate in 1811 and, at the age of 14, was admitted to University, was the discoverer of chloroform as an anaesthetic agent. “For this triumph of science, he was rewarded with a prize of 2000 francs from the Paris Academy of Sciences, and was elected a member of the learned societies both in England and upon the continent of Europe.” Sir James Whylie was physician to Nicholas, the late Czar of Russia; Dr. Matthew Bailie, whose monument is in Westminster Abbey, was a distinguished anatomist and physician to George III; Sir James Clark was physician to Queen Victoria and, by his writings on medical subjects and his merits as a skillful physician, earned the title of Baronet.
-Scotland’s Share in Civilizing the World