Sir, – Further to Frank McNally's Irishman's Diary of April 29th, the least of Napoleon's contributions to medicine in Dublin was his toothbrush.
Such was the demand for military surgeons during the Napoleonic wars that 17 medical schools thrived in Dublin in the early decades of the 19th century.
John Timothy Kirby, a veteran of the Spanish Peninsular War and later president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, achieved international fame for his empirical demonstrations of wound management.
To show the effects of firearms upon the human body, “resurrected” corpses were lined up and, to applause, Kirby discharged his pistol into “the enemy”.
As the Lancet recorded, "Every spectator fancied himself upon the field of battle, and looked upon Mr Kirby as a prodigy of genius and valour for shooting dead men."
Napoleon’s legacy includes the practical, bedside approach to medical education still found in Dublin to this day. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Gaoth Dobhair,
Co Dhún na nGall.