The Medico-Chirurgical Society of Glasgow was instituted in 1844 and amalgamated with the Glasgow Medical Society in 1866. The newly formed Society adopted the year 1814, the date of the foundation of the Glasgow Medical Society, as the date of its foundation. Its business consisted of the reading of papers on medicine, surgery and the collateral sciences with the aim of promoting professional improvement. Unlike many other societies, attendance and the reading of papers was not compulsory. Meetings were held in the Faculty Hall in St. Enoch's Square. In 1886, the Society was subdivided into four units: Medicine, Surgery, Pathology and Obstetrics. This measure was taken in order to hold separate meetings but the experiment was ended in 1894, the sections remaining in name only until the early twentieth century. In 1907 the Society absorbed the Glasgow Pathological and Clinical Society. Female practitioners were admitted as members in 1911 after a failed attempt in 1903. The Society finally celebrated its centenary in 1919, the delay having been caused by the First World War. As part of the celebration, the Society was granted permission to use the prefix "Royal".
From the guide to the Records of the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society of Glasgow, 1844-1987, (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow)
