28 PROFESSOR OWEN ch. II. 



spice. This beverage was carried about in a 

 bright kettle, and as the Church clock struck 

 twelve the ' het pint ' was handed round and 

 drunk amid cheers. 



While at Edinburgh, he received many letters 

 from his mother. The first that is preserved is 

 dated from Lancaster, March 4, 1825. In it she 

 says she has had a call from a friend of his 

 resident in Edinburgh, during a visit he was 

 making to Lancaster. 



' He gave me,' she writes, 'a most gratifying 

 account of you, and your comfortable lodgings in 

 Nicholson Street, and appears wishful to show 

 you every attention in his power. ... I hear 

 that your thumb has again become inflamed, and 

 am, my dear Richard, very uneasy about it. I 

 therefore beg that you will take every precaution 

 that is possible to guard against further danger, 

 making a point of washing your hands as often as 

 possible in the dissecting-room. All unite in best 

 love, and that you may continue to enjoy health, 

 and also the regard and approbation of the Profes- 

 sors, is the constant prayer of, dear Richard, 

 ' Your ever affectionate mother, 



' Catherine Owen. 



1 P.S. — You will let us know when you want 

 money.' 



At the end of April 1825 John Barclay 

 strongly advised Owen to move to St. Bartho- 



