of Edinburgh , Session 1872 - 73 . 5 
certain common pulmonary diseases. Taking advantage of this 
peculiarity, Dr Symonds, while neglecting no corner of the field of 
medical practice, studied with great care and success the diseases 
of the lungs. In consequence, the suffering members of the 
community flocked to him in great numbers from all parts. 
Many went to him from Scotland, many from Edinburgh. Among 
the latter Principal Forbes, while Professor of Natural Philosophy, 
repaired to Clifton at my recommendation ; and he derived so 
much benefit from his first residence there, under the care of 
Symonds, that he was able to struggle bravely with his malady 
for many years, and at one time indeed seemed as if about to 
shake off his deadly enemy altogether. Forbes often spoke to me 
with admiration and gratitude of the Clifton physician’s kindness, 
skill, and philosophical acuteness ; and it is no wonder that two 
such men continued fast and intimate friends ever after. 
Local celebrities, in positions similar to that of Dr Symonds, 
not unfrequently owe success to qualities different from those 
which ought alone to give a title to it. Dr Symonds was none of 
these, but in every sense of the word a true physician of the 
purest dye, of excellent talents, rare assiduity, deep discernment, 
well-balanced determination, unpretentious bearing, thorough con- 
scientiousness in every thought and act, a sincere unostentatious 
Christian, — in short, a man qualified to rise to a high rank wher- 
ever he might have chanced to choose his path in the medical pro- 
fession. 
But Dr Symonds was more than a physician. He had a fine 
taste for art. His classical training in youth led him to keep up 
familiarity with ancient literature. Philosophy, too, was his frequent 
recreation from professional toil. It is no wonder, therefore, that, 
when his part of physician had been discharged and came to an 
end, that of friend continued ; and that he thus enjoyed through 
life the friendship and society of not a few of the most remarkable 
men in British literature, science, and politics during the last 
thirty years. 
These his tastes are displayed in the. subjects he chose for 
those of his writings, which have been collected and published 
since his death by his son. He has contributed less than he 
might have done to the literature of the practice of medicine in 
