OBITUARY. 
583 
plaintiff to serve him “at a salary of £20 per year for the first half-year, and £25 for 
the second half-year,” could dismiss him by a month’s notice; nothing having been said 
in the letter as to the power of determining the contract. Mr. G. Hedgson appeared for 
the plaintiff, and Mr. David Hornby for the defendant. Mr. Hodgson contended—1st, 
that there was no custom in the trade to dismiss by a month’s notice; and 2nd, that 
even if there was such a custom, as the engagement was for a year, and as there was a 
written agreement, the defendant could not set up the custom. Mr. Hornby called wit¬ 
nesses who clearly proved the custom, and then argued that parol evidence of the custom 
or usage of particular trades might always be adduced to annex incidents to written 
agreements, provided there was nothing in such customs repugnant to or inconsistent 
with the written agreement; that in the present case the custom set up was perfectly 
consistent with the agreement, and no intention was apparent on the face of the agree¬ 
ment to exclude the custom, hence it became part of the agreement.^ He cited the 
cases of Parker v. Ibbetson , 27 L. J. C.P. 23G, and Mentznerv. Bolton, 9 Ex. 518, which 
were almost identical with the present case. 
Verdict for the defendant. 
©irituarg* 
DR. THOMAS HODGKIN, 
Who died lately, was born on the 17th of August, 1798, at Pentonville. _ His parents 
were members of the Society of Friends, of which body he himself remained througn 
life a member, free from all trace of sectarian narrowness. After completing his edu¬ 
cation, wholly under private tuition, he studied chemistry, both practically and theo¬ 
retically, under William Allen, F.R.S. He afterwards studied anatomy, surgery, and 
medicine, firstly at Guy’s Hospital, secondly at the University of Edinburgh, and after¬ 
wards at the medical schools of Paris, Rome, and "Vienna. He graduated at Hamburg 
in 1823, and having completed his foreign medical studies, commenced practice mEon- 
don in or about 1824. Whilst his private practice was forming he was appointed official 
curator of the Pathological Museum, and demonstrator of morbid anatomy at Guy s, and 
delivered a course of lectures on “ Morbid Anatomy,” which he afterwards published. 
He was the chief assistant of Dr. Bright in those researches which resulted in the dis¬ 
covery of the disease known as Bright’s Kidney. He took a very active part m t e 
endeavours used to obtain the throwing open of the Faculty of Medicine m London to 
the graduates of other universities than those of Oxford, Cambridge, and Duolm; making 
the path to professional eminence in the metropolis as accessible to the Dissenter as to 
the Churchman. Whilst thus engaged the College of Physicians offered him a fellow¬ 
ship, although he possessed only an Edinburgh degree. He declined this honour, lest 
its acceptance should be regarded as a betrayal of his coadjutors in the movement, who 
would still have remained outside. . A , 
On the establishment of the Uni verity of London m 1836, his was amongst the first 
names included in the original charter as members of the Senate, a nomination made by 
the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and he continued m this post till 
death He joined with Sir T. F. Buxton in forming the Aborigines Protection -ociety 
in 1838. And when in the first instance the Niger expedition withdrew a considerable 
portion of Sir T. F. Buxton’s special attention from the general question of the protection 
of the aborigines, and when subsequently his declining strength, and eventually his death, 
deprived them altogether of the benefit of his labours, Dr. Hodgkin became, and con¬ 
tinued thenceforward until his death, the chief support of this society. . 
He took two journeys to the Holy Land with Sir Moses Montefiore, with the view of 
assisting in various schemes for the benefit of the Jewish people. He also repeatedly 
accompanied Sir Moses in other journeys, including one to Morocco m 1864, for the 
purpose of an interview with the Emperor, which procured the rescue of several Jewish 
prisoners, and established liberty of conscience both for Jews and indirectly for Gentiles 
also in that Mohammedan Empire. It was on the second of the journeys to the Holy 
Land that Dr. Hodgkin’s death took place. , 
Dr. Hodgkin married, in 1850, Sarah Frances, widow of John Scaife, Esq., who sur¬ 
vives him. ° He has left no issue.— Examiner, April 2 LA . 
