ABSTRACT
On may 8, 1938, Murry had to go into hospital for a month. The autumn before, during the Glasgow Rectorial Election campaign, he had noticed a numbness and cramp in his right leg, which had come back since whenever he walked more than a few hundred yards. His doctor, nonplussed, had sent him to an orthopaedic surgeon, who, diagnosing Burger’s Disease (‘endoteritis obliterans with intermittent claudication’), had recommended diathermy and massage as ‘the first line of attack’. With Young’s approval, he had agreed to submit to the treatment, realizing that if it proved unsuccessful – and success was rare – a major operation would be called for.
