Authentic memoirs, biographical, critical, and literary, of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of Great Britain; with a choice collection of their prescriptions, and account of the medical charities of the metropolis, &c. &c.

Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Authentic memoirs, biographical, critical, and literary, of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of Great Britain; with a choice collection of their prescriptions, and account of the medical charities of the metropolis, &c. &c. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    147/680 (page 101)
    there some time, the death of his father and brother called him to the West Indies, and he settled as a practitioner in Tortola, finding- himself left without that fortune he had reason to expect by the death of his relatives. His in- dustry and exertions, however, enabled him, in a short time, to realize such a competence, as induced him to leave the torrid zone once more for England, the object of his wishes, and where he intended to pursue his future destiny. During- his stay in the West Indies, that philanthropic turn of mind, which has since so eminently distinguished him, shewed itself highly to his credit—for the negroes left to him, as his only patrimonial inheritance, he freely emancipated; and thus set a voluntary example on a sub- ject, which nothing but legislative interference has been able to carry through. The first object, on his revisiting Europe, was a return to his professional studies, which he pursued with ardour and industry, first in London, and afterwards on a more extended field at Edinburgh. Here he acquired the friendship of the celebrated Dr. Cullen, who has paid him, at an after period, a just compliment in his works. On finishing his studies at Edinburgh, he next set off for the continent, and at Paris became acquainted with the lead- ing- chymists of that period, by the respectable introduc- tion of Dr. Franklin. At Leyden, he completed his pro- gress, by taking the degree of Doctor of Medicine; and thus, with a mind stored with the practical experience he had gained in the West Indies, and a full acquaintance with the learning of the schools, he sat down in the me- tropolis, to exercise the duties of his profession as a phy- sician. He was accordingly admitted a Licentiate of the College in 1769, and soon after a Fellow of the Royal Society, and the Society of Antiquaries, distinctions equally honourable.