Page:The True Benjamin Franklin.djvu/40

 THE TRUE BENJAMIN FRANKLIN distention and contraction of the arteries, and by- being forced through minute vessels. This essay is very ingenious and well written, and the position given to it in his works might lead one to suppose that it was of importance ; but I am informed by physicians that it was merely the revamping of an ancient theory held long before his time, and quite without foundation. Franklin's excursions into the domain of medicine are not, therefore, to be considered among his valua- ble contributions to the welfare of man, except so far as they encouraged him to advocate fresh air and ventilation, though they may have assisted him to take better care of his own health. Of the numerous portraits of him of varying merit, nearly all of which have been reproduced over and over again, only a few deserve consideration for the light they throw on his appearance and character. The Sumner portrait, as it used to be called, is supposed to have been painted in London in 1726, when he was there as a young journeyman printer, twenty years old, and was brought by him to America and given to his brother John, of Rhode Island. He evidently dressed himself for this picture in clothes he was not in the habit of wearing at his work ; for he appears in a large wig, a long, decorated coat and waistcoat, with a mass of white ruffles on his bosom and con- spicuous wrist-bands. The rotund and strongly de- veloped figure is well displayed. Great firmness and determination are shown in the mouth and lower part of the face. The animal forces are evidently strong. The face is somewhat frank, and at the same time 30