Burns, Allan (DNB00)  From Wikisource Jump to: navigation,
search  BURNS, ALLAN (1781–1813), surgeon and anatomist, was
born at Glasgow on 18 Sept. 1781, his father, Dr. John Burns,
being minister of the Barony Church. He commenced medical study
at fourteen under his brother, John Burns [q. v.], who then
lectured on anatomy and surgery in Glasgow. In 1804 he went to
London to seek medical service in the army, and was induced to
go to St. Petersburg to take charge of a hospital about to be
established by the Empress Catherine on the English plan; but
finding the position uncongenial, he returned to Scotland in a
few months. Burns now established himself as a lecturer on
anatomy and surgery at Glasgow, his brother having given up his
lectures on anatomy, owing to a body-snatching scandal. He
attained very considerable success, being both vivid in
illustration and accurate in knowledge. In 1809 he published
‘Observations on Diseases of the Heart,’ and in 1812
‘Observations on the Surgical Anatomy of the Head and