In 1870 medical science was changing at a faster rate than ever before. Anaesthetics made the prospect of surgery bearable, Antiseptics made it survivable. The new Germ Theory displaced the notion of 'bad air' being the cause of disease. Blood letting as a treatment was banished to the history books.
Spencely Robinson felt from a young age that he wanted to be part of this new revolution. But when he finally got to university he discovered that...