WILLIAM SMELLIE. 27 



professor of Oriental languages in the Univer- 

 sity of Edinburgh, assisted him with the pecu- 

 niary means for establishing himself. Mr Robert 

 Auld, a writer in Edinburgh, was also a mem- 

 ber of this firm, but after two years withdrew 

 his name ; and Mr John Balfour, of the firm of 

 Hamilton, Balfour, and Neil, with whom Mr 

 Smellie had served his apprenticeship, was admit- 

 ted in his stead. This new copartnery com- 

 menced December 22, 1766, and existed till 

 November, 1771? when Mr Auld retired, and a 

 new arrangement was then entered into by 

 Messrs Balfour and Smellie. About this time, 

 Dr Ramsay, the Professor of Natural History, 

 died, and the friends of Mr Smellie applied in 

 his favour for the vacant chair, but without 

 success. It was given to Dr Walker, whose 

 political interest was greatest. Mr Smellie's 

 knowledge of medicine had brought him acquain- 

 ted with the celebrated Dr Buchan, to whom he 

 rendered considerable assistance in the composi- 

 tion of that popular work, the Domestic Medicine, 

 which was first published in 1770. 



Ever active and indefatigable, he, at this time, 

 entered into an engagement with Messrs Bell 

 and M'Farquhar for compiling and entirely 

 conducting a Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, 

 the result of which was the first edition of the 

 Encyclopaedia Britannica, in three volumes, which 

 appeared in numbers. He was again applied to 

 by the proprietors to superintend the second 

 edition of that work in 1776. but he declined, on 



