were a treatise on Granular Degeneration of the Kidneys (1839), and a Commentary on the Pharmacopoeias of Great Britain (1842). In 1841, he was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society. Christison was a strong opposer of women in the field of medicine, a view in Edinburgh eventually undermined by his colleague, Patrick Heron Watson's admission of women students to his extra mural surgery classes. A further (still controversial) proposal was his creation of a system of lethal injection (through the discovery of physostigmine in 1846) for human execution, in place of hanging. For various reasons, although this seems to pre-date its introduction into American use by 40 years, the method never appealed to British sensibilities. Christison served as Vice President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1845–1868 and was its President from 1868 to 1873. From 1875 to 1881, he served as a vice-president of the Cockburn Association, a newly established campaigning conservationist group in Edinburgh. Christison, who retained remarkable physical vigour and activity until old age, died at home, 40 Moray Place in Edinburgh on 27 January 1882. He is buried in New Calton Cemetery in a family plot created by his father, Alexander Christison (who is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard and only memorialised here), on one of the south-facing terraces. Opposition to women doctors Christison was unequivocally opposed to women studying medicine and qualifying as doctors, and led the campaign against Sophia Jex-Blake and the Edinburgh Seven. He was an influential figure both within the University and in the wider civic life of Edinburgh, and his opinion was held in high regard. When the Senatus met on 9 April 1870 to discuss the issue of Edith Pechey's right to a Hope Scholarship having come top of the class in the chemistry exam, he made his opinions clear. He shared the view of many of his contemporaries that nature intended women to be mothers and housekeepers, and lacked the intellectual ability and stamina of men. Consequently, if women were to enter any learned profession in significant numbers they would lower its standards. His influence was largely responsible for the eventual decision taken by the University not to allow the women to graduate. James Stansfeld, who had been closely associated with the London campaign (following the failure of the Edinburgh campaign) wrote, in his brief history of the events, in 1877: ″Dr Sophia Jex-Blake has made the