The former is a synopsis and classification of diseases, with definitions. His division of diseases into four great classes—(1) pyrexiæ, or febrile diseases; (2) neuroses, or nervous diseases; (3) cachexiæ, or diseases resulting from bad habit of body; and (4) locales, or local diseases—was a great improvement, and much impressed his contemporaries and successors. Yet it brought together widely distinct diseases, and separated allied ones. The ‘First Lines’ was very popular. In it Cullen strongly opposed Boerhaave's eclectic system, which leaned much towards the views of the humoral pathologists, and favoured rather those of Hoffmann; and he had the merit of attaching great importance to the influence of the nervous system in producing and modifying diseases. He was early acquainted with the distinctness of nerves of sensation and nerves of motion. In a clinical lecture delivered in 1765–6 he says: ‘It is surprising that, when the nerves that go off together from the sensorium are the cause of both sensation and motion in a muscle, yet the one should be destroyed and the other remain entire; this affords a proof that these nerves are distinct, even in the sensorium.’ He rejected Hartley's doctrine of vibrations, and referred the operations of the nerves to the agency of a nervous fluid, meaning by this that there is ‘a condition of the nerves which fits them for the communication of motion’ (see Brown, John (1735–1788); and Cullen's Life, ii. 222 et seq. and note M. pp. 710–18). Brown, when a Latin grinder to medical students, was very kindly treated by Cullen, who for some time employed him as tutor to his children, and testified much affection towards him, notwithstanding Brown's irregular habits. It is said that Cullen had even promised to use his interest to gain Brown the next vacant medical chair, if he became qualified; but before he graduated Brown had quitted Cullen's service, and promulgated his own doctrines in the lectures afterwards published in the ‘Elementa Medicinæ,’ which Cullen felt bound to oppose in no measured terms. Adherents of the Brunonian system of stimulation and the doctrine of sthenic and asthenic diseases were rigorously plucked by Cullen and the orthodox teachers, and at last Brown was driven from Edinburgh in 1786, largely by his own intemperance and extravagances.
Dr. Anderson describes Cullen as having a striking and not unpleasing aspect, although by no means elegant. His eye was remarkably vivacious and expressive; he was tall and thin, stooping very much in later life. In walking he had a contemplative look, scarcely regarding the objects around him. When in Edinburgh he rose before seven, and would often dictate to an amanuensis till nine. At ten he commenced his visits to his patients, proceeding in a sedan chair through the narrow closes and wynds. In addition to an extensive practice, his lectures occupied two hours a day during the session, sometimes four; yet, when encountered, he never seemed in a hurry or discomposed. He would play whist before supper with keen interest. His gifts showed a noble carelessness about money, which he kept in an unlocked drawer, and resorted to when he needed it. He eventually died without leaving any fortune. A marble bust of Cullen, by Gowans, was subscribed for by his pupils and placed in the Edinburgh New College. There are two portraits of him, one by Cochrane in the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow, the other by Morton in the possession of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh. Cullen's eldest son, Robert [q. v.], became a Scottish judge under the title of Lord Cullen.
The following is a list of Cullen's principal works:
- ‘Synopsis Nosologiæ Methodicæ,’ Edinburgh, 1769, 8vo. This went through numerous Latin editions, but was not published in English until 1800. The best edition is that by Dr. John Thomson, 1814.
- ‘Institutions of Medicine, Part I. Physiology,’ Edinburgh, 1772; translated into French by Bosquillon, Paris, 1785.
- ‘Lectures on the Materia Medica,’ London, 1771, 4to, published without Cullen's consent; reprinted with his permission, 1773; rewritten by himself and published under the title ‘A treatise of Materia Medica,’ Edinburgh, 2 vols. 1789, 4to. A French translation by Bosquillon was published at Paris in the same year.
- ‘Letter to Lord Cathcart concerning the recovery of persons drowned and seemingly dead,’ Edinburgh, 1775, 8vo.
- ‘First Lines of the Practice of Physic,’ Edinburgh, 1776–1784, 4 vols. 8vo. Many editions have been published; an important one is that in 2 vols., edited and enlarged by Dr. J. C. Gregory, Edinburgh, 1829. French translations were published by Pinel, 1785, and by Bosquillon, 1785–7, with notes. There were also German (by C. E. Kapp, Leipzig, 1789), Latin (Göttingen, 1786), and Italian translations.
- ‘Clinical Lectures,’ delivered 1765–6, published by an auditor, London, 1797, 8vo.
- ‘The substance of Nine Lectures on Vegetation and Agriculture delivered privately in 1768,’ London, 1796, pp. 41, 4to, in Appendix to Outlines of 15th chapter of ‘Proposed General Report from the Board of Agriculture;’ with notes by G. Pearson, M.D., F.R.S.
- A general edition of the Works of Cullen, containing his Physio-
