46 THE APOTHECARIES' GARDEN 



learnt that in order to prevent the recurrence of 

 those alarming attacks he had to lead a most 

 careful and temperate life, and become almost 

 a teetotaler. He must have learnt, too, perhaps 

 unconsciously, numberless unforgettable lessons 

 in the treatment of his own illness, which would 

 help to make him the successful practitioner 

 he afterwards became, in treating the illnesses 

 of others. 



An almost exact parallel to Sir Hans Sloane's 

 history is that of a well-known physician of 

 Victorian times, 1 who, after a like illness had 

 subsided, became a wise and deservedly popular 

 physician, capable, like Sloane, of hard work, 

 helpful to crowds of patients, and eventually a 

 successor of Sloane as President of the College 

 of Physicians. 



As soon as he was strong enough, Sloane 

 came to England, studied physic at the 

 Apothecaries' Hall, and botany at the Chelsea 

 Garden. 



A youth of parts, he was attracted to minds 

 like his own John Ray, and Robert Boyle, the 

 founder of scientific chemistry, who had been 

 offered, and had refused, the Presidency of the 

 Royal Society and a peerage, and Dr. Syden- 

 ham, the preacher of common-sense in medicine, 

 were his friends. 



After four years of study in London, Sloane 

 attended lectures in Paris and Montpellier, 

 where there was a botanic garden ; and while 

 in France was advised to take a medical degree 

 at Orange-Nassau, which he did " with 

 applause." 



1 The late Sir Andrew Clark. 



