Page:Lives of British Physicians.djvu/357

 GOOCH. 335 weak, and incapable of much exertion. It will re- quire some time before I am fit for work of any kind. In the meanwhile, to stay the mischief, I have put into Mr. Peel's hands some of the evi- dence I have collected on the subject ; and I now write to you, to say, that if you have any notes of reading on the subject, I shall be very thankful for them." How well he performed the task thus self-im- posed, is seen in the article on the Contagious Nature of the Plague, which appeared in the Quarterly Review for December, 1825. As Gooch reprinted this paper among his other medical works, there can be no impropriety in giving him the credit which is so justly due. During the whole of this year he suffered much from illness. He went to the Continent in search of health, but the crossing from Dover to Calais brought on a sickness which continued after he landed, confined him to his bed three days at Ca- lais, and three weeks at Bruges ; and he returned weaker than he went. He had the good fortune to be accompanied on this excursion by his accom- plished friend, Dr. Robert Fergusson, to whose skill and attention he was much indebted, and who greatly lessened the anxiety of Mrs. Gooch, the indefatigable nurse and constant attendant of her husband in all his journies. While at Ghent, ill as he was, Gooch contrived to visit the Beguinage there ; and in one of his letters gives an account of the evening service in the chapel : — " When we entered, it was nearly dark ; the only lights were a few tall tapers before the altar, and as many at the opposite extremity