George Viner Ellis FRS (25 September 1812

Minsterworth Minsterworth is a village in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the border of the City of Gloucester, on the north bank of the River Severn (effectively on the western side of the river) and on the A48 road between Gloucester and Chepstow. ...

- 25 April 1900 Minsterworth) was Professor of Anatomy at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and one of the foremost anatomists of his time. George Viner was the second son of Viner Ellis of Duni House, Minsterworth, near Gloucester, his family having been landowners in the area for many years. His education was at the

Crypt Grammar School The Crypt School is a grammar school with academy status for boys and girls located in the city of Gloucester. Founded in the 16th century, it was originally an all-boys school, but it made its sixth form co-educational in the 1980s and moved ...

from where he went to the

Cathedral Grammar School The Cathedral Grammar School is an independent, Anglican preparatory day school in Christchurch, New Zealand. The school is situated on a site covering two blocks in mid-Christchurch next to the Avon River and adjacent to Hagley Park, which it ...

, and later was apprenticed to a Dr Buchanan of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. His uncle, Daniel Ellis, a member of the Royal Society Edinburgh, suggested that he enrol as a medical student at the newly founded University College London. In his vacations he studied in Paris and attended lectures and worked at anatomy in Berlin. Ellis was Demonstrator of Anatomy under Professor

Richard Quain Richard Quain may refer to: * Richard Quain (Irish physician) (1816–1898) * Richard Quain (English surgeon) (1800–1887), English anatomist and surgeon {{hndis, Quain, Richard ...

, and succeeded him in the Chair of Anatomy in 1850, retiring as Emeritus Professor in 1877, but always aloof from the professional world. He was succeeded by Sir George Dancer Thane (1850-1930). Ellis was one of the great names of the world of anatomy in England, having given all his working life to the study and teaching of this discipline, and was held in the highest respect. His lectures were conscientiously precise and lucid, so that his students always paid close attention. In 1840 he published ''"Demonstrations of Anatomy: being a Guide to the Knowledge of the Human Body by Dissections"'', his name becoming a household word among medical students, and his work becoming the standard textbook in England and the United States. The 11th edition of his book was published in 1890. University College London in its first thirty-five years of existence, published an extraordinary number of anatomical atlases. Ellis carried on this tradition by collaborating with the South African natural history illustrator,

George Henry Ford George Henry Ford aka G. H. Ford (20 May 1808 in London – July 1876 in London), was a Cape Colony natural history illustrator who joined the British Museum in 1837. He portrayed animals and produced the plates in Andrew Smith (zoologist), ...

, to produce some of the best anatomical artwork ever published. They used the relatively new technique of

chromolithography Chromolithography is a method for making multi-colour printmaking, prints in lithography, and in theory includes all types of lithography that are printed in colour. However, in modern usage it is normally restricted to 19th-century works, and ...

for their imperial folio atlas of fifty-eight plates, ''"Illustrations of Dissections in a Series of Original Coloured Plates the Size of Life"''. The plates were done between 1863 and 1867, with from four to seven completed each year. These plates are considered exceptionally clear and accurate, with an aesthetic depiction of the cadavers, printed by Mintern Bros., and published by James Walton. During Ellis' tenure the University College London was regarded as the pre-eminent centre for the study of anatomy, its spacious and well-lit dissecting room approved of by both staff and students. The College was fortunate in acquiring and retaining the services of an anatomist of Ellis' stature - his culture, zeal, and energy were legendary - receiving only a moderate salary and with no prospect of career improvement. In Ellis' day cadavers were not treated with any preservatives, so that they were often in an advanced state of putrefaction, limiting dissection to the winter months. Several times he acted as Examiner in Anatomy at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, but declined to join the Court of Examiners of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

. On his retirement Ellis came into a small fortune left him by a relative, built himself a house at Minsterworth, 'Severn Bank', and lived there quietly with his younger sister, devoting himself to gardening and apple-growing. He also ran night classes for the older boys of the parish. A few years before his death he became blind and was tended by his sister. ''"Ellis' muscle"'', the

Corrugator cutis ani muscle The corrugator cutis ani is a muscle of the human body, also known as the Ellis' muscle, after the anatomist George Viner Ellis. Around the anus is a thin stratum of involuntary muscle fiber, which radiates from the orifice. Medially the fibers ...

, is named after him.

Publications

*'
Demonstrations of anatomy : being a guide to the knowledge of the human body by dissection
'' - George Viner Ellis (London : J. Walton, 1840) *'
Illustrations of dissections in a series of original coloured plates : the size of life, representing the dissection of the human body
'' - George Viner Ellis and G. H. Ford. (London : Walton, 1867) Ellis wrote the greater part of the description of the nerves in Sharpey's edition of

Jones Quain Jones Quain (pronounced "kwan") (November 1796 – 31 January 1865) was an Irish people, Irish anatomist, born at Mallow, County Cork, Mallow. Quain was Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the University of London. He was author of ''Elements ...

's ''"Elements of Anatomy"'', 6th ed., 1856, and contributed several papers on scientific subjects to the ''London Medical Gazette''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, George Viner English anatomists 1812 births 1900 deaths Alumni of University College London Academics of University College London People from Minsterworth