88
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
when he was apparently released from his apprenticeship bond
and proceeded in 1734 to pursue his medical studies in Edinburgh.
Here he took his degree of Doctor of Medicine, and made his way
to London, and on 29 October, 1736, to further qualify himself, he
entered as a student at St. Thomas's Hospital. Having estab-
lished a fair practice, he took a house in White Hart Court,
Gracechurch Street, in 1740, and as he had previously lodged
at Robert Bell's in Gracechurch Street he had no doubt been
influenced in his selection of both lodging and house by their
close proximity to the Friends' Meeting House in Gracechurch
Street, whose members and attendants were certainly among
his first patients. Prior to settlement in his new house Fothergill
had made a Continental tour, which cost him £44 for the twelve
weeks of its continuance. His fees for the year had amounted
to 105 guineas. His progress was slow, and his income small,
but epidemics of throat disorder swept over London in the
autumns of 1747 and 1748, and were fatal to large numbers of
people, especially children. Fothergill saw his opportunity,
made a careful study of the disease, and, discarding the usual
methods of bleeding and purging, was very successful in his
treatment, which made especial use of cinchona bark. Fired
by his success he wrote and published in 1748, "An Account
of the Sore Throat attended with ulcers." This book achieved
a wide circulation, and many editions were issued; his reputation
was made, and almost immediately a large and lucrative practice
rewarded him. Also at this time he became concerned about
the terrible ravages of smallpox and, influenced probably by
Baron Dimsdale and the Essex Suttons, who had introduced
an improved method, he became convinced of the benefits of
inoculation, and in a letter to his brother concerning an out-
break, writes:—
"I should earnestly advise inoculation, 'tis an operation
"easily to be performed and in the manner I am going to
"direct it is seldom with any ill effects.
"In common, those who have it in this way get through
"without the least danger. A common sewing thread, of
"moderate thickness, may be drawn through a ripe spot
"in such a manner as that some part of the thread may be a
"little moistened with the matter. Then with the point of
"a needle make a small scratch on the skin a little below