Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 55.djvu/273

 external division, and his bold and original methods of grappling with some of the most formidable kinds of aneurysm; his additions to the mechanical instruments and appliances of his art—such are some of his many labours, and will serve to illustrate their great variety and extent.

As a practical surgeon Syme presented a remarkable combination of qualities—soundness of pathological knowledge, skill in diagnosis, rapidity and clearness of judgment, fertility in resource as an operator combined with simplicity of method, skill, and celerity of execution, fearless courage, and singleness of purpose. His character was ably summed up by Dr. John Brown as ‘Verax, capax, perspicax, sagax, efficax, tenax.’ Syme was twice married: first, to the daughter of Robert Willis, a Leith merchant. She died on 17 Nov. 1840, survived by two daughters, one of whom married Professor (now Lord) Lister, his successor in the chair. Syme was married a second time, in 1841, to Jemima Burn, by whom he was survived, with a son.

The following are Syme's principal works: 1. ‘On the Excision of Diseased Joints,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1831. 2. ‘The Principles of Surgery,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1832 [the fifth and last edition in 1863 is smaller than the first]. 3. ‘Researches on the Function and Powers of the Periosteum,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1837. 4. ‘On Diseases of the Rectum,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1838 [supplement, 8vo, Edinburgh, 1851]. 5. ‘Contributions to the Pathology and Practice of Surgery,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1848. 6. ‘On Stricture of the Urethra and Fistula in Perineo,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1849. 7. ‘Observations in Clinical Surgery,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1861. 8. ‘Excision of the Scapula,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1864.

 SYME, JOHN (1755–1831), friend of Burns, born in Edinburgh in 1755, was son of a writer to the signet who owned property in East Galloway. Educated in Edinburgh, and trained as a lawyer, he served for a short time in Ireland as an ensign in the 72nd regiment. Retiring in 1774, he settled on his father's estate of Barncailzie, Kircudbrightshire, devoting himself to gardening and agriculture. The father, however, being involved in the affairs of the disastrous Douglas and Heron bank, Ayr, had to dispose of his property, and Syme signalised in verse his involuntary departure from his rural retreat. In 1791 he was appointed distributor of stamps at Dumfries, where he was noted for business capacity and lavish hospitality. Burns's first residence in Dumfries was over Syme's office, and the two men speedily became close friends. Burns was an honoured guest on great occasions, and privately a close and sympathetic companionship existed. At Syme's house at Ryedale one afternoon, in a momentary ebullition of anger caused by an interminable lecture from Syme (on the subject, it would appear, of temperance and moderation), Burns drew his sword, which as an excise officer he wore habitually, and promptly threw it down again. This trifling scene—the ‘sword-cane incident,’ as it is called—was somewhat too seriously regarded by Scott when reviewing Cromek's ‘Reliques of Burns’ in the ‘Quarterly Review’ for 1809 (, Miscellaneous Works, xvii. 242, ed. 1881; see, Review of the Life of Burns, 1815, pp. lxv sq.).

In July 1793 Syme accompanied Burns through the stewartry of Kirkcudbright (cf., Burns, vi. 89). Syme was one of the executors appointed by Burns in his will, and he zealously defended the poet's reputation and promoted the subscription raised in the interests of his family. He also spent some time at Liverpool assisting Currie with his edition of Burns's ‘Works.’ He died at Ryedale on 24 Nov. 1831, and was buried in the parish churchyard. In certain characteristic epigrams—as in that on a tumbler at Ryedale, in a letter of 17 Dec. 1795—Burns eulogises Syme's ‘personal converse and wit’ (ib. p. 174).

 SYME, JOHN (1795–1861), portrait-painter, nephew of Patrick Syme [q. v.], was born in Edinburgh in 1795, and studied in the Trustees' academy. He became a pupil and assistant of Sir Henry Raeburn [q. v.], whose unfinished works he completed, and subsequently practised with success as a portrait-painter in his native city. Syme was an original member of the Scottish Academy, founded in 1826, and took an active share in its management. He died in Edinburgh on 3 Aug. 1861. Of his many excellent portraits, that of John Barclay, M.D., which was exhibited at the London Royal Academy in 1819, and is now in the Scottish National Gallery, is a good example. It was well