Sir William Gull.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 473, 21 May 1890, Page 5

Sir William Gull.

After reading the announcement that the late Sir William Gull has left a fortune of £344,000 to his heirs, there can be little doubt as to the correct choice of a profession. Sir William began life without a penny, and I was told the other day by a medico who was his clerk at Guy’s that he did not make his first guinea till he was Up to that time Sir William—he was nob Sir William then, of course—was content to live in that gloomy little street of St. Thomas’ which runs out of thab roaring, turbulent Borough-road, and is close to Guy’s Hospital. To this very day this quaint by-way is beloved by the physicians and surgeons who lecture and demonstrate at Guy’s. On the shining brass door-plates you may see inscribed names which are distinguished in the medical records, but havo nob yet been advertised to the world at large. After St. Thomas’street, Harley, Brook, and tho rest, yoh know. Apropos of Sir William this same medico told me an amusing story illustrating the {jeculiar memory which the great physician >ad for small things. The medico in question beiog a smart young student, and given bo sartorial embellishments of ‘an eccentric order, used to wear a remarkable waistcoat all buttoned down before with lovely buttons of some jewel-like mineral, known only to the lapidaries. It was this young man’s duty to lead the list of cases in his ward to IJr. Gull, who used to toy these buttons with his fingers during the recitation. Fifteen years later the young man with the eccentric buttons had become a full-blown medico himself and had occasion to meet Dr. Gull for the first time since his Guy’s days. After they had settled their business, Gull looked aib him with his piercing eyes, and, taking hold of his coat, said, *By the way, buttons ?’