James Mackenzie was born at Picstonhill Farm, near Scone, on 4 April 1853. He attended the village school in Scone and then, from the age of twelve until he was fifteen, Perth Academy. On leaving school he took up an apprenticeship at the chemist's shop of Messrs Reid and Donald in George Street, Perth. At the age of twenty he was offered a partnership in the firm but turned it down in order to study medicine. In October 1874 he entered Edinburgh University and completed his studies in 1878 with the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Master in Surgery. After graduation he took up duties at a colliery practice in Spennymoor, Co. Durham and then at Crooke, Co. Durham and later in1878 worked briefly as House Physician and Assistant to Professors of Clinical Medicine at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. From 1879 until 1907 Mackenzie was in medical practice in Burnley. In 1882 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine from Edinburgh University, the subject of his thesis beingClinical report of a case of Hemi-paraplegia Spinalis. In 1907, he left Burnley for a consulting practice in London. In 1918, Mackenzie left London for St. Andrews, establishing the Institute for Clinical Research. His publications includeThe study of the pulse(1902),Diseases of the heart(1908),Symptoms and their interpretation(1909),Principles of diagnosis and treatment(1916),The future of medicine(1919), andHeart disease and pregnancy(1923). Mackenzie was the Consulting Physician to King George V in Scotland, and Consulting Physician to the London Hospital. He was knighted in 1915. Sir James Mackenzie died on 25 January 1925.