Alexander Monro tertius (1773 – 1859)
Alexander Monro Tertius was born in Nicholson Street in Edinburgh on the 5th November 1773. He entered the University in 1790 and graduated as a medical doctor on the 12th of September 1797. The notes and manuscripts he wrote while a student are untidy and unmethodical, which unfortunately hints at things to come. He studied abroad for several years, and during his absence was made conjoint professor in 1798. From 1802 Tertius began to teach, using his father’s teaching materials, and was sole teacher in anatomy from 1808. He published prolifically, but very little of what he said was from his own research or observations. He used a 'cut and paste’ method of research (see cabinet 12 for a literal example), sometimes with no real depth of understanding of the topic.
On the 20th of September 1800, Alexander married Maria Carmichael Smyth. They had six boys and six girls, and all but one son survived to adulthood. The eldest was named Alexander, but he never went into medicine. The fourth son David was born on the 27th of March 1813, and graduated in medicine in 1835. It was to him that Tertius bequeathed his Anatomical Museum, drawings and copperplates, and all his medical books and manuscripts.
Alexander Monro Tertius resigned from the Chair of Anatomy in 1846, ending the reign of Monros, spanning 126 years.