John Barclay (anatomist)

John Barclay FRSE FRCPE FRCSE FLS MWS (10 December 1758 – 21 August 1826) was a Scottish comparative anatomist, extramural teacher in anatomy, and director of the Highland Society of Scotland.

He was born in Cairn, Perthshire, on 10 December 1758,[1] the son of a farmer, and nephew of John Barclay, who established the Berean Church.

Educated at Muthill parish school, Barclay initially studied divinity at the University of St Andrews, and served as a minister.

However, the proposal was defeated by the concerted opposition of a number of the incumbent medical professors, led by John Hope, Robert Jameson and Alexander Monro, tertius, who feared the new chair would encroach on their own prerogatives.

[2] In this work Barclay gives a spirited defense of vitalism against a catalogue of thinkers he considered to be advocates of materialistic theories of life, including Erasmus Darwin, William Lawrence and Jean-Baptiste Fray.

[1] The noted Scottish zoologist and geologist John Fleming wrote that Concerning Life and Organization "should be perused with care by every student of Anatomy and Natural History, as an effective preservative against the doctrines of Materialism".

[9] Barclay gave his large collection of specimens to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1821, under the condition that a suitable hall be built to display all the materials together, associated with his name.