82 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE 



necessarily in a desultory way, on account of an 

 impending domestic sorrow. My dear father's 

 originally fine constitution, long tried by severe 

 asthma and gout, had at length seriously given way. 

 He required continual medical and surgical treatment 

 and trusted in me, so to him I went. The end came 

 in October 1844 at Hastings. His remains had to 

 be taken to Leamington. It was a wretched journey, 

 for the railway was not even then completed the 

 whole way. 



The effect of his death was to remove the main 

 bond that kept our family together, and we soon 

 became more or less separated. Two of my sisters 

 married within the year, and I found myself with a 

 sufficient fortune to make me independent of the 

 medical profession. So my status of pupilhood was 

 closed, and I had henceforth to be my own director. 

 Being much upset and craving for a healthier life, I 

 abandoned all thought of becoming a physician, but 

 felt most grateful for the enlarged insight into Nature 

 that I had acquired through medical experiences. 



