Harriet Wheelock / Thursday 14 July 2016 Surgeon Butcher's admirable biceps The Heritage Centre will be closed tomorrow (Friday 15 July) as RCPI is holding a summer staff day out. This year one of the activities is archery, which reminded me of possibly my favourite image in the archive collection – Surgeon Butcher practising with his long-bow. VM/1/2/B/47 Richard Butcher (1819-1891) was a leading Irish surgeon and President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In Cameron’s history of RCSI he gives a quite extraordinary description of Butcher’s teaching style; Early in his career, and for many subsequent years, Mr Butcher excited the admiration of medical students by exhibitions of his muscular development. He was wont to roll up his shirt-sleeves before operating, thereby exposing to view biceps of much more than average proportions. His dark complexion, well-oiled, raven-black, long hair and good features rendered his appearance remarkable. As one of my colleagues commented, he sounds like the Indiana Jones of 19th century surgery lecturing! We have a number of Butcher’s publications in the Dun’s Library, and a collection of over 200 letters to Butcher, with some draft replies, relating to his practice and publications. More of his papers are held in the RCSI Heritage Collections.