86 JOHN HILL 



enhanced since Hill intercalated much information that was 

 lacking in the original ; further, the work was so well executed 

 that it gained him the attention and good-will of eminent Fellows 

 of the Royal Society. 



The publication of this work was probably the turning point 

 in Hill's career, and its success must have influenced him not 

 a little in the determination of following a literary career. In 

 1846 he edited the British Magazine, a periodical which lived 

 but four years. His activities in this direction were phenomenal, 

 and it is hard to realize how he managed to find time for so much 

 work, for in addition to his botanical publications, which will be 

 considered hereafter, he wrote on such diverse subjects as the 

 art of acting, the conduct of married life, theology, naval history, 

 astronomy, entomology, human anatomy and other medical 

 subjects. Also he wrote an opera, two farces, and certain novels. 

 Much of this output represents mere hack work, but it shews 

 that Hill had an enormous capacity for work, indeed on one 

 occasion when he was sick, he confessed to a friend that he 

 had overtaxed his strength in writing seven works at the same 

 time. 



The Dictionary of National Biography gives 76 titles of his 

 publications, exclusive of eight which are generally attributed 

 to him. Hill's output was probably even more extensive, for 

 towards the latter part of his career he sometimes used to publish 

 under a pseudonym. It is the more remarkable since he found 

 time to enjoy the good things of the world, without which 

 indulgence, according to his biographer 1 , "he could not have 

 undergone the fatigue and study inseparable from the execution 

 of his vast designs." Again, according to Fitzgerald 2 , he was 

 "invariably in the front row at the theatres, exciting attention 

 by his splendid dress and singular behaviour. When there was 

 loud applause for the King, the doctor was seen to rise, and bow 

 gravely to his Majesty." 



The next few years were eventful ones for Hill. In 1751 

 he contributed a daily letter, called the Inspector, to the London 



1 Short Account of the Life, Writings and Character of the late Sir John Hill, M.D., 

 Edinburgh, 1779. 



2 Fitzgerald, Life of Garrick, London, 1868. 



