WILLIAM SMELLIE. 
27 
professor of Oriental languages in the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh, assisted him with the pecu- 
niary means for establishing himself. Mr Robert 
Auld, a writer in Edinburgh, was also a mem- 
ber of this firm, but after two years withdrew 
his name ; and Mr John Balfour, of the firm of 
Hamilton, Balfour, and Neil, with whom Mr 
Smellie had served his apprenticeship, was admit- 
ted in his stead. This new copartnery com- 
menced December 22, 1766, and existed till 
November, 1771, when Mr Auld retired, and a 
new arrangement was then entered into by 
Messrs Balfour and Smellie. About thia time, 
Dr Ramsay, the Professor of Natural History, 
died, and the friends of Mr Smellie applied in 
his favour for the vacant chair, but without 
success. It was given to Dr Walker, whose 
political interest was greatest. Mr Smellie’s 
knowledge of medicine had brought him acquain- 
ted with the celebrated Dr Buchan, to whom he 
rendered considerable assistance in the composi- 
tion of that popular work, the Domestic Medicine, 
which was first published in 1770. 
Ever active and indefatigable, he, at this time, 
entered into an engagement with Messrs Bell 
and M‘Farquhar for compiling and entirely 
conducting a Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, 
the result of which was the first edition of the 
Encyclopaedia Britannica, in three volumes, which 
appeared in numbers. He was again applied to 
by the proprietors to superintend the second 
edition of that work in 1776, but he declined, on 
