The times., 1899-03-24
SIR WILLIAM JENNER.
Some characteristics of the Famous
Physician. Recently Deceased.


Some characteristics of the Famous
Physician. Recently Deceased.
(From the Pail Nall Gazette)
Sir William Jenner. the famous physi-
clan, died On Sunday at Greenwood, Bish-
ops Waltham, Hampshire at the age OF
eighty three years. THE Court Circular
states that the Queen has received the
news with much regret. and that Sir Will
lam Jenner. who had been Her Maiestys
physician for upward of thirty years, only
retired from the Queens service in 1893.
owing to failing health. The Court Cir
cular' adds; He was not only a most
able physician. but a true and devoted
friend Of Her Majesty's. who deeply
mourns his loss It was Sir William Jen-
ner who finally established and defined
the generic difference between typhus and
typhoid, and showed that they were not
merely milder or aggravated forms of the
same disorder
In the course of an exceedingly interest
ing biographical sketch in The Times it
Is stated that when at the zenith OF his
fame Sir William Jenner worked ilordi-
nately hard, and his consultations were
often fixed for a. m. or even earlier.
A man SO immersed in professional work
as Sir William Jenner has little time for
other pursuits, and feels but little aetd Of
them story is current at University
College that on an occasion when the
subject of amusement WAS being discussed,
Jenner said: "Amusemsn.: My amuse-
ment IS pathological anatomy" and once.
when his audience at lecture was smaller
than usual, and it was suggested that
some of the absentees mighs have gono
to the Derby. Jenner replied: THE Der
by. When / was a student / no more
knew when 1t was Derby Day than when
il was Trinity Sunday"
His personal influence in counsel was
generally overwhelming At times he held
his views with undue pertinacity, and with
advancing years he became almost incap-
able OF accepting any that differed from his
own. He was nothing if not dogmatic and
emphatic. and herein lay the key to his
strength and weakness. His dogmatism
rendered him an excellent teacher. but 1t
often excited an opposition which greatly
diminished his influence in other ways. II
he could not have his own way he was apt
to turn restiye; and in working with him
for a common object ii was always nsces-
sary to bear in mind that he might lib
He sometimes took umbrage at slight
causes, and it was not easy to appease him.
whence it happened in the decline OF his
life that the ties of many of his old friend
ships became weakened or even severed
He refused to be placed upon the General
Medical Council. and in this it is probable
that he acted wisely, for il is not too much
to say that in deliberatiye body he was
scarcely calculated to be useful. He was
a member of the Senate of the University
of London. but took up an impracticable
attitude on the question of the admission
of women to degrees. and. in consequence,
seldom cared to occupy his seat at the
table. In the same way and for the same
reason his influence with the lay governors
of University College. which ought to have
been very great, was practically nil Po-
sitions in which he was leader or dictator
he filed with marked ability and success.
which was, perhaps. never more consplcu-
Gus than during his long presidency OF the
Royal College OF Physicians. Before this
he had been in turn president of most, IL
not all, OF the leading medical societies OF
the metropolis.
There is memoir By Dr. Cooper Ben
than in the Daily Telegraph" in which
is the following paragraph: 1T was in 1870
that | Joined him, and / was with him until
his retirement in 1889. He must have made
an enormous sum during those fifteen
years. His practice in Book Street. 1 know.
doubled in 1876. and his income averaged
from e12.000 to s15.000 per annum. 1t
never went beyond. Andrew Clark boastei
that he once made 424 600 a year. but I
do not understand how he did it. | do not
take into account exceptional fees of which
know Sir William had two-each OF 5000
guineas. both paid by Americans. The first
was given him for going to Scotland and
the second, just as he was retiring from
practice. was sent to him by a man for
seeing his son at Brighton. / have known
Jenner to make 1000 guineas a day in
country journeys. II was these. with the
mileage payments. that enabled him TO
make so much money. for he refused TO
raise his town consultation fee from two
guineas to three guineas which was just
then coming into vogue. for he argued that
a great many people in ordinary circum-
stances who would perhaps wish to have
his oDinion could not afford the higher fee.