C14 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1S09. 



being nowconsiderable, he resigned 

 the office of phjsician to St. Bar- 

 tholomew's Hospital. His office 

 at Christ's Hospital demanded but 

 little of his time, and was therefore 

 retained by him several years lon- 

 ger. By the death of Dr. Warren, 

 which took place in June, 1797, 

 Dr. Pitcairn was placed at the head 

 of his profession in London. One 

 or two other physicians possibly de- 

 rived asmuch pecuniary emolument 

 from the practice of medicine as 

 himself; but certainly no other was 

 so frequently requested by his bre- 

 thren to afford his aid in cases of 

 difficulty. But this prosperous state 

 did not endure long. In the au- 

 tumn of the same year he fell from 

 his horse, and bruised his side. — 

 Shortly after, his heart began to 

 beat with violence, andhisaltention 

 was more particularly directed to 

 this symptom, as it had occurred in 

 one of his brothers, likewise in con- 

 sequence of a fall, whose heart, af- 

 ter death, was found considerably 

 enlarged. He continued, however, 

 to follow his profession till Februa- 

 ry, in the following year, when he 

 was attacked with an haemorrhage 

 from his lungs. From this he re- 

 covered, after some time, so far as 

 to be enabled to resume the exer- 

 cise of his profession ; but the same 

 disease having recurred in summer, 

 he embarked in September for Lis- 

 bon. During a stay of more than 

 18 months in Portugal, he had no 

 return of the haemorrhage, in con- 

 sequence of which he ventured to 

 come back to this country in May, 

 1800. He was still feeble ; and his 

 heart was still beating too forcibly ; 

 he for some time, therefore, declin- 

 ed altogether engaging in medical 

 practice. Afterwards, as his health 

 injproved, he began to receive pa- 



tients at his house ; then to mdet 

 other physicians in consultation at 

 the houses of their patients ; and at 

 length, after an interval of several 

 years, to undertake the entire care 

 of sick persons at their own homes; 

 except during four months in the 

 latter part of the year, which he 

 spent almost wholly in the country. 

 — In the mean time, however, the 

 palpitation of his heart continued ; 

 on which account he, for a long 

 time, lived very abstemiously, drink- 

 ing only water, and abstaining al- 

 most entirely from animal food. 

 But, as the beating did not increase, 

 and no other sign of a diseased 

 heart existed, and as he found a ve- 

 getable diet to producein him much 

 flatulence, about a year or two be- 

 fore his death he began to eat mo- 

 derately of animal food once a day, 

 and to take sometimes after dinner 

 a single glass of wine diluted with 

 water. Under this change of re- 

 gimen his appearance altered con- 

 siderably, and during the last six 

 months of his life, he frequently re- 

 ceived the congratulations of his 

 friends on the improvement which 

 his health had undergone. Disre- 

 garding the advice given by one of 

 the masters of his art, *^ si plenior 

 aliquis, ct speciosior, et colorattor, 

 fnctus est, suspecta habere bona sua 

 debet," he seemed to look upon his 

 increased strength as a permanent 

 acquisition, and as chiefly valuable 

 from enabling him to bear an in- 

 crease of professional labour. la 

 the course of the month of March, 

 for instance, he rose several times 

 from his bed soon after midnight, 

 and travelled between twenty and 

 thirty miles before morning, to visit 

 a patient. From these exertions, 

 however, he appeared to suffer no 

 immediate injury. But about the 



beginning 



