tion, which certainly takes place there, is performed by the extremities of the veins, or by vessels that carry the fluid directly into the veins; so that any impediment to the free motion of the blood in the veins of the brain, may interrupt the absorption there, and occasion that accumulation of serous fluid which so frequently occurs from a congestion of the blood in these veins. But I give all this as matter of conjecture only." The recent researches of Dr Tonnellé would seem to shew that obliteration of the venous sinuses of the Dura Mater is not an unfrequent attendant of serous effusion into the cavities of the brain; and it may be doubted whether this effusion should not be attributed to the obstruction, occasioned by the obliteration, to the return of the blood to the heart, rather than to diminished absorption.

Respecting the proximate cause of Scurvy, Dr Cullen says: 66 Notwithstanding what has been asserted by some eminent persons, I trust to the concurring testimony of the most part of the authors upon the subject, that, in scurvy, the fluids suffer a considerable change." Those who have attempted to explain the nature of the change in the blood which gives rise to the phenomena of scurvy, have strangely omitted to take into consideration Dr Lind's very explicit statement, in the postscript to the third edition of his Treatise on that disease, respecting the very opposite condition in which he had very frequently found the blood of persons labouring under scurvy, from that dissolved, and арраrently putrescent, state, which was described by the surgeons of Lord Anson's fleet, and on which he had himself, with most authors, founded his reasoning on the theory of this disease. Though the opportunities of making observations on this and other points con

nected with the history of sea scurvy have happily been greatly contracted since Dr Lind's time, a strong confirmation of the accuracy of his statement, that the blood of scorbutics was often in a natural state, firm and compact, or even more or less sizey, has been obtained from the analogy of another form of hæmorrhagic disease, the Morbus maculosus of Werlhoff, the Purpura hæmorrhagica of more recent authors, respecting which it has been satisfactorily established by Bateman, Harty, Parry, and others, that in many cases not only does the blood exhibit decided inflammatory characters, but that, in those cases, the treatment is most advantageously conducted by decided antiphlogistic measures. Some recent observations respecting the occurrence of land scurvy at the Cape of Good Hope, seem to shew that the antiphlogistic mode of practice is not inapplicable in the severer forms of purpurous or scorbutic affections.

About the period of the publication of the first volume of the First Lines, Dr Cullen's private practice, in town and country, and both by personal and written consultation, seems to have been considerably extended. His consultation-letters, with his answers to them, which from 1764 he regularly preserved, amounted, in each of the two years 1774 and 1775, to about a hundred; in the following year, they were doubled; and during the last fifteen years of his life, he appears to have carefully considered and answered, on an average, not fewer than two hundred consultation letters yearly.

Nor was the recognition of his rising reputation

confined to his own city and country. On the formation of the Royal Society of Medicine of Paris in 1776, seventeen Foreign Associates were elected. Dr Cullen's name stands fifth on the list, according to the order of their reception, following those of Franklin, Sir John Pringle, Gaubius, and Sir Clifton Wintringham. It was probably the institution of this society which suggested the proposal for a new Academy of Medicine and Surgery in Edinburgh; a manuscript prospectus of which, bearing date October 1777, I find among Dr Cullen's papers. His nomination as a foreign associate of the Royal Society of Medicine was soon followed by his election as a fellow of the Royal Society of London. His friend Dr William Hunter, in a note dated 16th May 1777, says,-" Since Thursday se'nnight I have been so much engaged, that I could not well, till now, give you joy of your very honourable election into the Royal Society. It was a very full meeting." Dr Cullen seems, soon after this, to have taken a zealous and active part in the measures necessary for procuring a charter of incorporation for the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh. I find the following note addressed to him on this subject by his able and distinguished colleague Professor John Robison:

"DEAR SIR,

"Edinburgh, 6th May 1778.

"The constant hurry that I have been in for some time past in order to finish my College, has prevented me from giving that attention to your Memorial that I ought to have done. Inclosed you have a scheme of resolutions, formed agreeably to our sentiments when we met at your house. I bave omitted those passages only which I considered as

either prefatory or as not required to recommend the points which you had at heart; and I have drawn it up in form of resolutions to be made by the Society, as I took that to be the design of committing the paper. I have also put it into the form of a report, and for this reason have signed it, but, I fear, inadvertently, not having recollected that the Chairman alone of the committee should have done this; but this blunder is venial.

"I am obliged to go to the country, and have therefore troubled you with this packet; and hope, on my return next week, to hear that your laudable efforts have been successful. I am, dear Sir, your obedient humble servant,

"JOHN ROBISON."

The following letter, addressed by Dr Cullen to Mr Dundas, then Lord Advocate of Scotland, in 1782, relates to the same business :

"MY LORD,

"EDINBURGH, 14th December 1782. "As Lord Kames, President of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, is at present so much indisposed as to render it inconvenient for him to attend their meetings, I, as Vice-President, have the honour of transmitting to your Lordship the Memorial herewith inclosed. In doing this, I beg leave to observe, that the Philosophical Society have many reasons for desiring to be formed into a body corporate, and particularly for the purpose of legally holding property, in which, for want of a proper constitution, they have formerly suffered a considerable loss. In this view, the Society might apply for their own purposes alone; but your Lordship will perceive from their memorial, that they are willing and desirous to be comprehended in an institution which, they think, will be of more general utility and credit to this country. This they hope your Lordship will patronize.

"I have the honour to be, with the utmost respect, my Lord, your Lordship's most obedient and most humble serWILLIAM CULLEN."

vant,

As the reward of his exertions, Dr Cullen had the satisfaction, in 1783, of seeing the Philosophical Society erected into the Royal Society; an institution which has since continued to cultivate the various branches of physical science with much industry and

success.

In 1778, Dr Cullen effected the purchase of a small landed property named Ormiston Hill, situate in the parish of Kirknewton, about eight miles west from Edinburgh. A passage of a letter formerly given (vol. i. p. 565), addressed to his friend Dr Hunter, contains a simple and pleasing portraiture of his feelings in regard to this acquisition, which continued, during the remaining part of his life, to form an object of great interest to him, as well as an occasion of agreeable relaxation. The following letter, addressed by him, four years afterwards, to Dr Betham, a very early and intimate friend, presents a no less lively and agreeable picture of the pleasure he enjoyed in the cultivation of his farm.

Dr CULLEN to Dr BETHAM, Isle of Man. "MY DEAR FRIEND,

EDINBURGH, 2d October 1782.

"I regret exceedingly that we have so little inter course. That I foresaw long ago; but I have often comforted myself that our families should know that their fathers had been friends, and consider themselves as related. This I hope has happened; and, by very slight efforts on our side, I have experienced the warmest expressions of friendship from your family. The attention and kindness which my daughter Margaret has, for so long a time, met with from you and your family, must engage me and all mine to you

*Authoress of the novels, "Home" and "Mornton."