With all his operative brilliancy, that did not constitute Fergusson’s chief claim to admiration, nor was it the principal cause of his success. The perfect planning of the operation beforehand from beginning to end, down to the smallest detail, and being ready for every possible emergency with the precise method for meeting it, distinguished him most. Consequently he neither hurried, wearied, nor hesitated when he began. Things were so perfectly planned, his assistants so well drilled, that not a word needed to be spoken, and this produced a curious appearance at times, so that it was often remarked that he must be on bad terms with his assistants. He left no detail unsupervised, and completed the operation entirely himself, even applying bandages and plasters. His coolness under difficulty was probably connected with his forethought; he could often cover his own or others’ mistakes in the coolest manner, and this put him in the best position for remedying them. It was his pride never to be late. He hated unnecessary waste of time, and once when a friend intending to tie a large artery had laid it bare by a fine dissection, and was showing it with natural gratification, Fergusson called him to the point by remarking, “Jist put a thread round it.” So when a large artery had been wounded, and an assistant eagerly tried to stop the bleeding with his finger, Fergusson said: “Jist get your finger out of the way, mon, and let’s see what it is,” and satisfactorily tied the vessel.[4] He was remarkably neat too in his completion of an operation, and could not bear to leave any traces behind, either in hospital or private house. In the subjects which he had thoroughly studied and on which he had practical experience Fergusson was a master. This is seen in his “Practical Surgery,” which reached a fifth edition in 1870, and in his lectures on the Progress of Anatomy and Surgery delivered at the College of Surgeons in 1864 and 1865. But as a systematic lecturer he did not achieve great success, nor was he conspicuous as a bedside teacher owing to his reticent manner. It was in operating that he shone most, and in his remarks on operations; to see him operate was for the student or practitioner already instructed what to observe a lesson full of practical value. On some important questions he was imperfectly informed, and this was proved when he opposed the movement for securing a pure water supply to large towns, and favoured the anti-vivisectionists in some remarks and evidence which showed considerable ignorance of physiological discovery and progress. Again, his attitude towards homœopathic practitioners largely compromised his influence at one time.