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The preceding biographical sketch having grown under our hands into somewhat larger dimensions than was intended at first, we must curtail our notices of Professor Marx's letter to Dr. Cheyne, and of Dr. Mackness' comments upon it. From the former we select the following passage:

"There are two things which I attribute to you, and which conspire to awaken confidence in your character and judgment: the one is your decided aversion to all personal strife, the other your well-grounded recommendation of water-drinking. The accidental remark that abstinence tends to produce serenity of mind, is one that I can heartily subscribe to.

"Should I ever take upon me to publish my sentiments on dietetics, my rules for the promotion of happiness will be based on a few propositions; tending to manifest that health is a virtue, cheerfulness a duty. I would show that one cannot be too deeply impressed with the feeling of aversion to sickness, for a sickness which is incurable is not only a clog, but a lie against our destined lot. The valere aude I would put forth as the general salutation." P. 36.

"My efforts will be limited to the endeavour to exhibit the simplest means by which to preserve continual cheerfulness, to have the body not for an accessory in evil, but a friend, and, if necessary, to lay out one's life to some useful purpose.

"It must be plainly confessed that most are unhappy on this account, namely, that they live in dread of the possibility of misfortune, give up too readily to it when it occurs, and do not sufficiently notice its palliative circumstances.

"The full experience of happiness appears, to the anxious and timid mind, something so doubtful that they pray that it may not be sent. They consider not that prosperity, that is, a wise self-confidence, awaits the bold.

"Regrets accompany most events; we smile at the devotee who lacerates himself amongst the tombs, and yet we ourselves weep over the experience which has been collected in the grave of the past. As mendicants live by their sores, so we suck consolation out of our inward weakness.

"But help may be sought in a very different direction, by being strict in selfgovernment, the master of our own house, and own person: nunquam retrorsum, that is to say, never gloomy. Cheerfulness is to be sought in free intercourse with Nature, with men, or with books; and the purest enjoyment is preserved, like seed-corn in the earth, to spring up in gloomy weather.

"The saying that a man's stomach is his destiny is essentially true; the best race-horses take the least food. Mors in olla means, not death iu the pot itself, not in its leaden or copper lining, but in its contents; he who fills his stomach too full, must not wonder if sometimes his heart is full also.

"Physicians must perseveringly enforce a reasonable system of dietetics; by this means they will not merely contribute to invigorate life, but to prolong it." P. 38.

On the question of Dietetics, as suggested by Professor Marx, Dr. Mackness judiciously observes:

"It is, we believe, a subject of immense importance in medical practice, and one which is far from receiving commensurate attention at the present time. Strict attention to dietetics has been one grand means by which empiricism has attained success-a success which has been favoured by a corresponding neglect on the part of established practitioners. Hydropathy and Homœopathy owe much of their celebrity to this source, and whenever men of talent and judgment have condescended to avail themselves of this simple means, the results have been highly beneficial. Our subject leads us rather to inquire what is the moral bearing of the question. And here we think it distinctly the duty of the medical man to use all his influence with his patients to adopt and persevere in such

systems of diet as he may have reason to think will, in their particular cases, most tend to preserve the mens sana in corpore sano, not allowing them to suppose it is sufficient to do so during the period of sickness or convalescence, but habitually to look upon such care as a preventive of disease, and enforcing that view which Professor Marx takes, that it is a duty incumbent upon every one to take a rational care of his health, as the great means by which he may be enabled to perform efficiently those duties to which Providence has appointed him. Persons will often pay much attention to these views, when urged with all the weight of medical authority, who would laugh to scorn the very same opinions if proceeding from some judicious non-medical friend. Most persons desire health, and would make sacrifices to procure it; but many would submit more easily to severe remedies to remove disease than to a little habitual selfdenial to preserve health, and the very simplicity of the means operates against their recognition. They cannot believe that a little indulgence in one thing one day, and in another at some other time, can do them any harm: and thus the medical man is often obliged to have recourse to strict and definite rules, rather than to lay down general principles." P. 40.

We come now to the fourth and last character that we have selected; one, which the graces of benevolence, friendship, and charity will render very attractive.

JEAN NOEL HALLÉ was born at Paris on the 6th of January, 1755. In early life, he had the great advantage of the advice and instruction of his maternal uncle, Aimé Charles Lorry, one of the most distinguished and intelligent physicians in France at the close of the last century. He took his first degree in 1776, after displaying so much ability in his examinations, that the founders of the Royal Society of Medicine requested him to be a companion of their labours, even before he had received his doctor's diploma.

"This precocious honour," remarks M. Cuvier in the eloge pronounced by him on the character of Hallé in the Institute of France, "afterwards prevented him from obtaining the title of Doctor Regent in the Faculty of Medicine. Fourcroy and several other men of first-rate talent suffered the same disgrace from the same cause. This puerile jealousy which had led the Faculty to regard the Royal Society of Medicine as a rival body, had also induced it to vow an implacable hatred to those of its own members who had consented to belong to it. When it is remembered what antipathies this jealousy excited amongst the physicians of the capital, and the ridiculous dissensions and odious satires it produced, it may give a favorable idea of the mildness of character and modesty of Monsieur Hallé, and also the regard which those qualities inspired, that while the highest reputations were not respected in the writings of the day, he was less vituperated than any of his associates. Elevated indeed beyond all intrigue, and only desirous of increasing his professional knowledge by all those aids of science which could assist hlm, and neither pluming himself upon the success of his discoveries, nor seeking popular applause, he neither wounded the vanity, nor alarmed the interest of any one. The study of medicine appeared to him quite sufficient to occupy the whole of life. In his view of the subject, there was nothing which could influence man morally or physically that did not belong to this noble science, and he therefore manifested so disinterested a feeling towards it, as to regard every means beneath his notice for obtaining public confidence, except such as were truly desirous of it. He was therefore continually to be found at the bed-side of the sick, watching the progress of disease, or in his own room, engaged in the study of practical medicine, chemistry, and even of political economy, as far as it related to the benefit of the different classes of

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society. Nor did he neglect anatomy and physiology, but still regarding these sciences as subservient only in their relations to the health of men generally or of individuals." P. 49.

He contributed several papers on Practical and Hygienic Medicine to the Memoirs of the Royal Society of Medicine. In 1784, he published an edition of Lorry's work, entitled, " De præcipuis morborum mutationibus et conversationibus;" and subsequently he edited the writings of Bordeu upon the Glands and cellular tissue.

His disinterested humanity to the sick poor of Paris was so universally known that, when the National Convention ordered the nobles (and Hallé's father and grandfather, having each received the badge of St. Michael, were consequently considered as such) to quit the metropolis, he was of course included in the sentence, and was exempted from the penalty, only upon the ground of his being the kind-hearted physician of the destitute and afflicted. It was at this time too that he displayed so much heroism and generosity of friendship in aiding the escape of many who, from whatever cause, had fallen under the suspicion or displeasure of the existing government. "He penetrated into the prison of Malesherbes, giving him consolation, and receiving his last adieus. At the Lyceum of Arts he drew up the petition for the pardon of Lavoisier, and during the two years which may be called the age of misery and shame, he occupied himself assiduously in performing a thousand other services to the unfortunate, for doing which the principal condition he required was secrecy."

When Fourcroy in 1794-5 was called upon to re-organise the school of medicine in Paris, the chair of Physique Medicale and Hygiene was conferred upon Hallé; and in the following year, on the establishment of the Institute of France, he was named a member of the department of medicine and surgery.

In 1806, Corvisart, who was entirely occupied with his duties as physician to Napoleon, chose him for his colleague at the College of France, and soon after gave up the post altogether to his care. This distinguished physician, when he bequeathed the portrait of Stoll to Hallé, said in his will that he left it to that physician whom he most esteemed.

Among his labours at the Society of Medicine, in whose welfare he continued to take an active interest, we may particularly mention his steady and zealous advocacy of Vaccination. He contributed much to its general introduction into France. Italy, too, owes to him a particular remembrance in this respect. He was employed in 1816 to introduce it into the states of Lucca and Tuscany, and his success in this mission tended to render his name very popular in those countries.

Hallé was a man of very great erudition, an admirable scholar, and deeply versed in most departments of physical science. In the practice of his profession, he was generous and liberal even to a fault. We have already had occasion to allude to his kindness and attention to the poor and suffering. Not content with being ever ready to aid them by his medical skill, he took pleasure in relieving from his own purse their wants and necessities. Many a person, who could not afford to pay, found, after his convalescence, that all the expenses occasioned by his illness had been defrayed, and only then by careful enquiry discovered that his physician had provided for all.

"Returning home," says his eloquent panegyrist, "at the close of the day, exhausted with fatigue, it was, perhaps, announced to him that a lady wished to consult him; he would desire his servant to advise her to go to one of his medical brethren, a message is returned that she cannot do so, for she has nothing to pay him with; this is an appeal he cannot withstand. Oh, in this case, then,' replies he, "I have no choice, I must attend to her.' His generosity was ever prominent; he invariably gave the entire profits of his works to the young persons who rendered him assistance in collecting materials for them. Having been charged with the task of editing a new pharmacopoeia, he employed the sum which was allowed by government for this purpose in the completion of the hall of the Faculty of Medicine. Happy in the good that he did, happy in his success, happy in his family, M. Hallé seemed to possess what is beyond every other earthly blessing; his health was robust, and although occasionally troubled with a little fulness of blood, prompt bleeding immediately relieved him, but all at once he found himself suffering from stone in the bladder. Yet even in such painful circumstances, when most persons would have been only occupied about themselves, his unbounded charity was still active; before he underwent the operation of lithotomy, though suffering great pain, he yet went to see some poor persons whom he supported, fearing that his long absence might appear to them an act of forgetfulness." P. 56.

The operation was successfully performed; but a congestion of the lungs followed, which proved suddenly fatal on the 11th of February 1822. Hallé was 68 years of age at the period of his death.

The letter addressed to him by Professor Marx is one of the most beautiful in the series; alike felicitous in conception and graceful in expression. We cannot resist the pleasure of giving it entire.

"The history of your life, can well attest the sufferings which a medical man of fine feelings has to endure; and, therefore, I shall find indulgence, if I venture to impart to you some sentiments respecting the trying hours of our profession. No one will better understand me.

"It was but the painful sequel to a much tried life, when at the age of 68, shortly before your death, you submitted to the anguish of lithotomy, which nothing but the force of resignation could have enabled you to sustain with your habitual gentleness.

"To what extent you were the protector, the friend, and the helper of the poor, was shown in a time when a part of mankind had ceased to be human.

"It was yours to experience what it is to serve others with our whole soul, and yet to be misjudged by them, and then, as it were by the majesty of innocence, to compel esteem from the madman.

"The hound set on against his benefactor often recognizes him in the moment of attack, and instead of tearing, covers him with caresses.

"In the tumult of unbridled passion, you were enabled to preserve calmness of mind for yourself and others.

"To you it was permitted to visit Malesherbes in his imprisonment, and to receive his farewell; you drew up the petition for Lavoisier.

"Could the stones of Paris speak, they would testify that you alone wiped away the tears of the sorrowing.

Every project in medicine tending to the benefit of society might safely reckon on you as its patron and protector. How untiringly did you contribute to the spread of Vaccination!

"You have kept no record of personal sacrifices and thanks received; where the deficit lay it is easy to divine.

"You acted benevolently with a full participating heart; you were rather surprised when in any case gratitude followed, than shocked when it was wanting..

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"Franklin relates that he lent a sum of money, and when the debtor would have returned it to him, he requested him to lend it to some other person in similar need, and so on continually. Thus did you consider property as a deposit -a debt to be discharged.

"But if the physician works with his mind as Fenelon teaches than men ought generally to work, is it not true that the burden of the profession, or rather the addition of selfishness, often presses like lead on his heart?

"Those, who are conversant only with business or mechanical employments, can scarcely imagine what a heavy heart the medical man takes with him out of the house of death.

"There are indeed physicians who look upon disease and death merely in the abstract, and who would seem to have to do not with the sick but with sickness, not with the dying but with death, who practise lege artis, and content themselves with common-place morality; with such I shall not trouble you.

"Neither does death awake any overwhelming compassion in cases where the cessation of suffering appears as a benefit.

"In such instances, sickness deals with the invalid as a gardener does with a tree which he wishes to transplant, and whose roots he therefore carefully loosens from the soil. The separation from their accustomed habits and relations takes place then so gradually that it comes to be considered like the natural result of preceding changes.

“ But how is it when a dangerous illness falls like a rocket into the house, and now none but the physician can save? when the life sinks, not gradually and gently like the fluttering of a leaf before it falls from the tree, or the stopping of a watch, but when Nature, like a tragedian, seems to have compressed the most affecting scenes into the last act?

"Exhausted, returns the medical man to his house, solacing himself with the hope of forgetting the toils of the day, and renewing his strength in refreshing sleep; when lo! at midnight he is summoned to a child who is dying of croup. The parents welcome him as an angel from heaven; it is the first time for days that they have attended to any one but their own child; they hang breathless on his expressions; they scan his features to extract from them his thoughts; they draw hope from every question, every direction, every gesture; the mother smiles at him in half-desponding thanks because the child is quiet; the father in emotion grasps him by the hand; but the quiet is of short duration, the child can cough no more, it bends its head backwards, it stretches out its limbs convulsively to breathe-in vain, it expires.

"Who else is now the companion to the physician besides the groaning lamentations of the stricken parents?

"Should he hereafter lose a friend, one perhaps on whom he has cheerfully expended years of toil, self-denial, self-sacrifice, where can he turn for pity ?

"From the furnace of his anxieties he is followed by the sighs only of those who intimately share them; few concern themselves about him, who is nevertheless harassed and worn down by his efforts to assuage the woes of others.

"Another practitioner goes with a heart oppressed with grief to his chamber; he is immediately called to a woman in labour, and compelled to perform the operation of craniotomy.

"Nor is it enough that in critical and decisive moments he draws, like the orphan boy in a lottery, he knows not whether a prize or a blank; that, like a swimmer, he has to struggle with the apparent dead; that, like a father confessor, he has to speak consolation at the very gallows,-no, he must pass the ordeal of ignorant and perverted judgments. In thus running the gauntlet of reproaches on the one hand, and envious joy on the other, he must sustain himself by his conscious innocence, as men who are undergoing operations or suffering pain bite a bullet to prevent them crying out.

"For the dying there is an Euthanasia, for the mourner a visit of condolence, NEW SERIES, NO. IX.-V.