1413073 



WILLIAM CUMING, M.D. 35 



informed of their nationality, remarked " Qui se dicit Scotum, 

 dicit doctum." At Leyden they attended the lectures of 

 Dr. Boerhaave. The illness of his father re-called Cuming to 

 Edinburgh in October, 1736. Two. months later James Cuming, 

 senior, died (his wife had predeceased him), and his son, per- 

 ceiving that Edinburgh had no lack of physicians, went to 

 London, with a view of obtaining information about some 

 provincial practice in England. From his friend, Dr. Fothergill, 

 he heard of a vacancy at Dorchester. 



Cuming settled at Dorchester early in 1739. The town was 

 then the head-quarters of the North British Dragoons, several 

 of whose officers were personally known to him. They were 

 much liked by the Dorchester folk, and their introductions 

 procured him a trial. His receipts during the first three years 

 of his practice were (as he says) " very moderate," but the 

 emoluments of the fourth year surpassed the sum of the pre- 

 ceding period, and thenceforth his business increased yearly. 

 He tells us that, as time wore on, he was employed " in every 

 family of distinction within the county, and made several 

 excursions into the adjacent ones." Yet, according to our 

 standard, his practice was not very lucrative, since it appears 

 from his pocket book that his professional income for 1766 

 amounted to ;^3i2 8s. 



The autobiographical letter, already quoted, is the chief 

 authority for Cuming's life. But, besides this source of infor- 

 mation, there exists: (i) His printed correspondence with 

 Dr. Lettsom on general subjects ; and (2) his unpublished 

 letters to Richard Gough, written mainly in regard to the 

 preparation for the press of " Hutchins' History of Dorset." 

 Moreover, I have a quantity of printed and manuscript odds 

 and ends collected by Cuming, some of which chronicle local 

 events and topics in the Dorchester of his day, while others 

 serve, in conjunction with his letters, to throw light upon his 

 character and pursuits. 



Many of us, perhaps, are aware that, on July 12th, 1775, 

 Dorchester suffered greatly from fire. In a letter to Gough 



