Among the faculty / [W. Pitt Byrne].

  • Julia Clara Byrne
Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Among the faculty / [W. Pitt Byrne]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    “ Doctor ” Prince. absurdities of medical opinion; because at the present day it is the other way up, and doctors forbid the consumption of any milk that is not boiled. The medical responsibilities of Tunbridge Wells after Pullen’s departure were shared between Dr. Mayo and Mr. Prince ; the former seldom sent for, probably because of his fee; and the latter,—styled “doctor” by courtesy, as- before,—took (perfectly fair) advantage of the practice thus thrown in his way. Prince was rather below the middle height, and by no means stout, so that, being quick and active,, he was not inaptly likened to a parched pea. Though not quite a youth, he was of a younger, brisker, more wideawake type than his predecessor Pullen. He was also more gentlemanly, and got on much better, both socially and professionally, with the elderly ladies, who formed so large a contingent in the society of the place. Men being at a premium, a man whom it was possible for them to ask to afternoon tea-fights, “ smalls-and-earlies,” little card-, and gossip-parties, and the other mild amusements in which they indulged, was an acquisition, and thus Prince soon obtained an advantageous position in the “Wells” society,, as well as in local medical practice; it was, therefore, at least partly, through favourable circumstances that Prince became facile princeps in this undisputed field. He was- clever enough, too, to make the most of his opportunity, and diplomatically assumed the knowing air and self-reliant tone which generally succeed in inspiring a corresponding degree of confidence.. But, alas ! for those who put their trust in princes, the Prince of the Pantiles, though he reigned for some time, finally disappeared in his turn, and was succeeded b}^ a Dr. Hargreaves, another of the parched-pea type, and quite as assumptive of importance and experience as Prince. Hargreaves soon ingratiated himself into favour, and became popular in “the Wells.” One wealthy old lady,, widow of a large landed proprietor in the immediate neigh-
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