i 4 6 REMINISCENCES OF 



undertook the office of secretary, and thus far our ship 

 was launched. Of course it was my intention to be 

 the medical officer of the new concern, but I had 

 ascertained that there was a young medical man in 

 the town who had paid some attention to aural 

 ailments. He was an entire stranger to me ; but I 

 called upon him, introduced myself, explained our 

 scheme and the extent of our arrangements, and 

 invited him to co-operate with me as one of the 

 surgeons to the Institute. This offer was accepted 

 by him; he joined our committee, and we next 

 proceeded to search for a local habitation. We 

 found at the lower end of Oxford Street, near 

 St. Peter's Square, a house that would serve our 

 purpose. A day was fixed for commencing practical 

 operations. When that day arrived I went to the 

 Institute, wondering whether or not a single patient 

 would make his or her appearance, and my heart 

 rather sank when I found none. I sat down, how- 

 ever, to contemplate the situation, and shortly one 

 man appeared. Whilst I was investigating his 

 case and putting into practice my newly acquired 

 knowledge, several other patients found their way 

 into the waiting-room. After attending to all these, 

 I returned home in elated spirits, fully assured our 

 experiment was not going to end in failure. I 

 continued to occupy the position of surgeon, along 

 with my coadjutor Mr. McKeand, until, as I have 

 previously stated, the college required all the time I 

 could spare from private practice, and then I was 



