ii ALEXANDER MONRO 15 



practice to write out in Latin the notes he had taken of 

 the lectures, then to refer to his medical books, ancient 

 and modern, and finally to set down his own remarks on 

 the subject. He also kept at this time a Latin diary, and 

 the following entry aptly sums up a social visit to one of 

 the professors, who had occupied the evening by talking 

 of his adventures as a student : multa dixit, non multa 

 didicimus (much he said, not much we learned). 



A small medical society was formed amongst the 

 students in the year 1734, and carried on with much 

 activity. Fothergill joined it in its second year, and 

 amongst his fellow-members there were several who 

 became his intimate and life-long friends, especially 

 William Cuming, George Cleghorn, and Alexander Russell. 

 Of these, and of the society (now the Royal Medical 

 Society of Edinburgh), we shall hear more later. 



Fothergill took his degree in 1736, with an inaugural 

 thesis, De Emeticorum Usu, an elaborate treatise, garnished 

 with numerous quotations, alike from Hippocrates and 

 Celsus, from Sydenham and Boerhaave. These were the 

 early days of the school, and it was but a picked few of 

 the students that obtained the medical degree. Of the 

 four friends Fothergill was the only one to be capped at 

 the close of their studies. 



After taking his degree, Fothergill came to London ; 

 the journey by sea then took from six to nine days, and 

 cost i to 1 1 guineas. On arrival he entered himself at 

 St. Thomas's Hospital for a course of medical practice 

 under Dr., afterwards Sir Edward Wilmot, son-in-law to 

 Dr. Mead. This seems to have occupied him for about 

 two years. In his quiet lodging, although he soon came 

 to know many of the Friends, he had much time for 

 solitary thought. His father wrote words of caution and 

 solicitude as to the temptations of the town, but Fother- 

 gill, whose " sweet innocent carriage and deportment " 

 is noted at this time, had a soberness and wisdom un- 

 usual at his years. 1 He was weighing the purpose of life, 



1 Fothergill lodged at Robert Bell's in Gracechurch Street in gth month 

 1738. His father sends by him his kind respects to the " Syrian Prince " 



