History of the Fife Pitcairns

DR DAVID PITCAIRN, F.R.C.P., &c. 457
before the fire of London, which drove the Society from
Gresham College, when they were invited to sit at Arundel
House in the Strand by Mr Howard, who also bestowed
upon them the noble library that had been collected by his
ancestors. After the fire the Society returned to Gresham
College, which they finally left, and purchased a house in
Crane Court, Fleet Street, where their meetings continued
to be held until the Government gave them apartments in
Somerset House. (Now the Society's rooms are in Burling-
ton House.)
Dr Pitcairn, on the 7th April 1791, met there Prince
Poniatowsky, who had been invited as a guest. Sir Joseph
Banks was in the chair. His Highness appeared about
fifty, had a good face, was of middling stature, was dressed
in black, had the Order of Malta in his buttonhole, and
wore his hair in a round curl.
By the death of Dr Warren, in June 1797, Dr Pitcairn
was placed at the head of his profession in London. It
was his friendship for Dr Matthew Baillie which first brought
that eminent physician into notice. Although there was
a great disparity of years between the two, yet a long and
uninterrupted friendship of thirty years existed between
them, and the confidence reposed by Dr Pitcairn in the
professional abilities of his friend was very great, Dr
Baillie being his only medical adviser to the last moment
of his existence.
The success of Dr David Pitcairn in practice was great,
and although one or two other physicians might possibly have
made a larger fortune than himself, certainly no one was
so frequently requested by his brethren to afford his aid
in cases of difficulty. He was perfectly candid in his
opinions, and very frank in acknowledging the extent of
his confidence in the efficacy of medicine. To a young
friend, who had very recently graduated, and who had
accompanied him from London to visit a lady, ill of
consumption, in the country, and who, on their return,
was expressing his surprise at the apparent inertness of