EDWARD FORBES. 195 



been better in some respects if he had been persuaded in 

 early life to make it less than all window, by a shutter 

 here and there ; but he loved the full light, and all that he 

 could be induced to do was to temper the brightness by a 

 veil, originally but one degree less transparent than the 

 glass, and even when thickest, more translucent than 

 opaque.' 



In 1831, Edward Forbes, having completed his brief 

 school career, visited London, where he stayed between 

 three and four months. He had the intention of entering 

 upon the study of art, in order to become a professional 

 artist ; but he had mistaken his vocation. He was refused 

 admission to the Royal Academy as an art-student, and a 

 well-known artist under whose tuition he had placed him- 

 self held out to him no encouragement to follow his 

 proposed career any further. Under these circumstances 

 Forbes very sensibly abandoned all idea of art as a 

 profession, and made up his mind to study medicine. 

 He therefore proceeded to Edinburgh, where he entered 

 the university as a medical student in November 1831. 



Forbes's career as a medical student cannot be touched 

 upon here. He studied botany under Professor Graham, 

 and natural history under Professor Jameson, both well- 

 known men in their day. It must be remembered, how- 

 ever, that scientific teaching at that time was a very 

 different thing from what it is now. It was, as Dr Wilson 

 says, a matter of dispute among the Edinburgh students 

 whether Professor Graham had altogether ' six or seven 

 diagrams to illustrate the structure of plants. A micro- 

 scope was never seen in the class-room, and the majority 

 of students could not have told with confidence which 



