Alexander Wood

Who was Alexander Wood?

Alexander Wood FRSE PRCPE, was a Scottish physician. He invented the first true hypodermic syringe.

The son of Dr James Wood and his wife Mary Wood, Alexander was born on 10 December 1817 in Cupar, Fife, and educated at Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University.

In 1853 invented the first hypodermic needle that used a true syringe and hollow needle. His biographer and brother-in-law, Rev Thomas Brown, stated that Wood had taken the sting of the bee as his model. Brown also noted that, 'At first this new hypodermic method was employed exclusively for the administration of morphia and preparations of opium, but it is important to note that, from the outset, Dr Wood pointed to a far wider application.' In referring to the preface of a paper on '"New Method of Treating Neuralgia by Subcutaneous Injection," separately published in 1855', Brown quotes Wood as saying, 'In all probability, what is true in regard to narcotics would be found to be equally true in regard to other classes of remedies.'