Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Cunningham, Daniel John
CUNNINGHAM, DANIEL JOHN (1850–1909), professor of anatomy at Dublin and Edinburgh, born at the Manse of Crieff, in Strathearn, on 15 April 1850, was younger son of John Cunningham (1819-1893) [q. v. Suppl. I]. His mother was Susan Porteous, daughter of William Murray of Crieff, by his wife Susan Porteous, a relative of Captain John Porteous [q. v.]. After education at Crieff Academy, Cunningham spent some three years in a large mercantile house in Glasgow. But his inclination was for medical study, and in 1870 he entered the University of Edinburgh as a medical student. From the first he took a high place amongst his contemporaries, and he graduated in 1874 with the highest honours. For a few months he engaged in practice in Glasgow; but he returned in 1876 to become demonstrator of anatomy in the University of Edinburgh, and for a time held, with this post, the chair of physiology in the Eldinburgh Veterinary College. In 1882 he became professor of anatomy in the school of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, and next year was appointed professor of anatomy in Trinity College, Dublin. Here, for twenty years, he was the most popular teacher in the university. In 1903 he succeeded Sir William Turner as professor of anatomy in the University of Edinburgh where he laboured with enthusiasm and success until his premature death on 23 June 1909. He married in 1878 Elizabeth Gumming, eldest daughter of Andrew Browne, minister of the parish of Beith in Ayrshire, and had by her three sons and two daughters.
As a lecturer Cunningham had the faculty of illuminating all scientific subjects by illustrations drawn from every field of science. His enthusiasm and perseverance were contagious, and roused the latent powers of both colleagues and pupils. He published much original research in human and comparative anatomy, as well as in the wider field of anthropology. In addition to numerous papers in the 'Journal of Anatomy and Physiology,' of which he was the acting editor, and in other scientific publications, he issued 'Report on the Marsupialia brought home by H.M.S. Challenger' (1878), and 'The Dissector's Guide ' for students (1879), which subsequently developed into his 'Manual of Practical Anatomy' (2 vols. 1893-4; 4th edit, revised, 1910). A 'Cunningham Fund,' founded in memory of Timothy Cunningham [q. v.], for the publication of work of special merit connected with the Royal Irish Academy, issued two papers by Cunningham: 'On the Lumbar Curve in Man and the Apes' (1886), and 'On the Surface Anatomy of the Cerebral Hemispheres' (1892). To the 'Transactions' of the same academy he contributed a 'Memoir on Cornelius Magrath, the Irish Giant; a Research into the Connection which exists between Giantism and Acromegaly' (1891); and to the 'Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society ' a 'Memoir on the Microcephalic Idiot' (1895). He delivered before the Anthropological Institute in 1902 the third Huxley memorial lecture, on 'Right-Handedness and Left-Brainedness,' for which he was awarded a memorial medal. In conjunction with Edward Hallaran Bennett [q. v. Suppl. II] he wrote 'The Sectional Anatomy of Congenital Caecal Hernia' (1888). Of the 'Textbook of Anatomy,' published in 1902 (3rd edit. 1909) by the pupils of Sir William Turner, he acted as editor and joint-author.
As a man of affairs, he exercised great influence in the councils of the universities and of the learned societies with which he was connected, and he played a chief part in the establishment of post-graduate instruction at Edinburgh. He was a member of the commission to inquire into the management of the sick and wounded in the South African war, of the war office committee on the standard of candidates and recruits for the army, and of the vice-regal commission on the inland fisheries of Ireland. He was largely responsible for inaugurating the medical department of the territorial army in Scotland. He received many honorary degrees M.D. and D.Sc. Dublin, LL.D. St. Andrews and Glasgow, and D.C.L. Oxford in 1892, on the celebration of the tercentenary of Trinity College, Dublin. He was elected F.R.S. on 4 June 1891, and was president of the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland, and vice-president of the Royal Dublin Society. A memorial bronze bas-relief has been placed, in duplicate, on the walls of the anatomical departments of the University of Edinburgh and of the University of Dublin.
[Lancet, 1 July 1909; Brit. Med. Jour., 1 July 1909; Edin. Med. Jour., July 1909; Dublin Med. Jour., July 1909.]