152 MEM OIK OF DR WRIGHT. 



school ; and, on the establishment of a society in Edin- 

 burgh in the year 1808, for the encouragement of na- 

 tural science on the general principles which he had 

 long espoused, he took an active interest in the ad- 

 vancement of the institution, and was accordingly one 

 of the original members, and a Vice-President, of the 

 Wernerian Natural History Society *. 



On the 11th of October 1809, he thus writes to 

 Dr Garthshore : 



" What was the name of the lethargic boy relieved by 

 tincture of cantharides ? With this same medicine I cured a 

 lady of a convulsive cough, similar to that of Miss M. In 

 hooping-cough I use nothing else. 



" A woman in the fifth month of pregnancy had hiccup 

 for five days, even when she slumbered. She was imme- 

 diately relieved by the application of a blister to the breast. 

 This I conceive was brought about by the cantharides excit- 

 ing an action in the system stronger than that of the morbid 

 action. 



" Mr William Jackson Hooker of Norwich arrived 

 here lately from Iceland, where he had remained during the 

 summer, exploring the island for natural productions. He is 

 a man of fortune, one of the best draughtsmen in England, 

 and a complete botanist. He had made a large collection in 



* The original constituent members, as stated in the minute-book of the 

 Society 12th January 1808, were, " Robert Jameson, Esq. E. R. S. E., 

 Professor of Natural History ; William Wright, M. D., E. R. S. ; Rev. 

 Thomas Macknight, F. R. S. E. ; John Barclay, M. D., F. R. S. E. ; 

 Thomas Thomson, M. D., P. It. S. ; Colonel Stewart Murray Eul- 

 larton ; Charles Anderson, Esq. ; Sir Patrick Walker; and Pa- 

 trick Neill, A. M., F. R. S. E." The sederunt appears to have been 

 taken down by Mr Neill, who, as well as all the other" gentlemen pre- 

 sent, with the exception perhaps of Colonel Eullarton ; are believed to 

 have been personal friends of Dr Wright. 



