x ii 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, 
