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 PRINGLE. 173 scattered on a barren soil. During his studies, wliicii were most diligent, he formed an intimate friendship with Van Swieten, who ultimately ac- quired at Vienna, and, indeed, throughout Europe, a reputation of equal lustre. In 1730, his gradua- tion was accompanied by a thesis " De Marcore Senili," and his diploma was signed, among other professors, by Boerhaave, Albinus, and Gravesande. Pringle now settled in Edinburgh, and even in the early part of his career obtained universal esteem. These are not mere words of course, since we find him appointed in 1734, to be joint Professor of Moral Philosophy, with the right of succession on the death of his senior. His text book, in discharging this new employment, was Puffen- dorff's treatise De Officio Hoininis et Civ is ; but he continually recommended to his pupils the works of Bacon, and particularly the Novum Organoji. He annually delivered several lectures on the Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul. That a young physician should commence his practice by becoming a professor of ethics may, to some, appear an extraordinary mode of intro- duction to eminence in the art of healing. Few, however, have attained more practical skill, more intimate acquaintance with their own peculiar sci- ence, or more deserved success than Pringle. To suppose that general attainments in knowledge, and even a predilection for its finer literature, have a tendency to disqualify or enfeeble the medical practitioner, is to avow an ignorance of the cha- racter and private history of the most distinguished