The appointment letters of John Durancé George, Dental Surgeon
Writers: Lord Berriedale; Lady Berriedale
Date: Monday
Address: 17 Hill Street; 12 Hill Street
17 Hill Street
Monday
My dear Sir,
Could you kindly
tell me the best person
to consult as an Aurist,
as I do not know such
a person in London, and
am very anxious to see
one at present. Pray
excuse this & believe
me to be,
Yours vy Truly
Berriedale
ps I bring you the book
on Animal Magnetism that
I spoke to you about some
time ago
Lady Berriedale
presents her compliments
to Mr. George and will
be much obliged to
him if he will be
so good as to see
her any time
between one &
1/2 past two, on
Monday, or Tuesday
next.
Saturday July 1st
12 Hill Street
Berkeley Square
Notes:
Lord Berriedale was the courtesy title for the eldest son of the 13th Earl of Caithness.
The writer, Lord Berriedale, was James Sinclair (1821-1881), who became the 14th Earl on the death of his father in 1855.
Berriedale, a Fellow of the Royal Society, was a scientist and inventor. His inventions included a steam carriage
and the Caithness gravitating compass.
He married Louisa Georgiana, daughter of Sir George Richard Philips, 2nd Baronet, in 1847, and had a son
and a daughter. Lady Berriedale died in 1870.
An ‘aurist’ is what we now call an audiologist, an expert on hearing - or deafness.
The book may have been an English translation of Practical Instruction in Animal Magnetism by J.P.F. Deleuze,
describing the use of mesmerism in medicine with documented accounts of attempted and apparently successful cures.
