XIX 



liked thus to show his sympathy, and among his scientific friends he 

 used to say that above all he dearly loved to chat with the physio- 

 logists. 



It is somewhat difficult for one like the present writer, who only 

 knew Sir George during the last ten years or so of his life, to guess 

 who among his earlier friends had most to do with the formation of 

 his character. Sir George had obviously a strong character of his 

 own, which would have brought him to the front in any walk of life; 

 but to judge by his conversation on the reminiscences of his younger 

 days, it would seem that above all others, Dr. Todd was the one who 

 especially stimulated him in the particular branches he took up. At 

 the time that he was student, Dr. Todd was Professor of Physiology 

 at- King's College, and throughout the whole of his subsequent life, 

 Johnson was as diligent a student of physiology as ho was of 

 medicine. He knew, in a most surprising way, the contents of 

 modern physiological text-books, especially in relation to the circula- 

 tion of the blood, his favourite study ; and, to show the vigour of his 

 mind, he was intensely interested towards the last in the question of 

 osmotic pressure, a difficult subject which has only recently attained 

 importance to physiologists. He was, however, not merely a student 

 of books, but was practical to the backbone ; after the establishment of 

 the physiological laboratory at King's College, during the time Pro- 

 fessor Rutherford occupied the chair of physiology, he was a frequent 

 visitor there, and much important work was done at his suggestion 

 then and subsequently. He was an accomplished histologist, and 

 took a keen delight in showing to his friends the specimens by which 

 he believed he had refuted the views of those who disagreed with 

 him. Even in the last week of his life he had commenced experi- 

 ments on the action of the cilia in the renal tubules of the newt's 

 kidney. 



In mentioning his early friends, one must not omit to enumerate 

 Sir Thomas Watson, whom he helped with his celebrated lectures ; 

 Sir William Ferguson, Sir William Bowman, and Dr. Bristowe, all 

 of whom Sir George Johnson survived. 



The controversies of his life were numerous ; there were stormy 

 times at King's College, especially in years now far back ; there was 

 the great cholera controversy : in the first years of this, Johnson was 

 most unfairly treated, being branded almost as a quack in the 

 medical journals. He, however, in spite of loss of practice, stuck to 

 his views, and had, in the end of his days, the satisfaction of seeing 

 his evacuant treatment of cholera regarded as a rational one, and in 

 many cases recognised by eminent practitioners as the correct one. 

 Of his sobriquets, Johnson preferred to be known as " Cholera John- 

 son " rather than "Kidney Johnson." His views on the kidney 

 question were direct deductions from physiological knowledge derived 

 VOL. LX. ** 



