xii MEMOIR. 



journey ; and in the following May he fled, as it 

 were in despair, to Europe. He there visited 

 England, France, Italy, and Germany, directing 

 his attention principally to the Hospitals and to 

 the great collections of science and art, and re- 

 turned home in December, 1825, greatly relieved 

 of his disease; though he ever afterwards felt 

 the relics of it, and had one or two violent parox- 

 ysms of palpitation of the heart, threatening to 

 be fatal. He then resumed his medical studies, 

 and took the degree of Doctor in Medicine at 

 Harvard University, 1826. 



Though intensely interested in the study of 

 medicine on account of its bearing upon natural 

 science, the practice of the profession he had cho- 

 sen was by no means congenial to his taste -, and 

 as he deemed the past history of his health ad- 

 verse to a professional life, and, still further, as 

 Providence seemed at that time to present to 

 him prospects of an advantageous connection in 

 business, he forthwith abandoned the medical 

 profession for mercantile pursuits. His earlier 

 enterprises in trade were not encouraging. The 

 consequence was, that he was led to direct his 

 attention to real estate and mining operations, in 

 which his father was also extensively engaged, 



