ate, including thousands of acres of land. Little is known of his
medical activities and interests except that he was summoned to treat
the victim of a duel and that he left a large library which probably
included volumes on medicine.

Paul Micou, a young French physician who seems to have acquired his
education abroad, settled on the shores of the Rappahannock river, near
a place afterward called Port Micou, during the last decade of the
seventeenth century. Cultured and educated, he soon won prominence and
wealth as a physician (and surgeon), attorney, and merchant. County
records in Virginia make numerous references to suits brought by him
for nonpayment of fees, suggesting an extensive practice.

Because so many of the doctors and surgeons of seventeenth-century
Virginia are given only slight mention in the records, it is impossible
to know whether, in most cases, they had acquired their skills and
educations before coming to Virginia, or even whether they were born in
the New World. Nor is it known how many young men born in Virginia went
back to England or Europe to study medicine; a reference made by the
famous English surgeon, John Woodall, indicates that a Virginian named
Wake may have studied under him in London.

Within the Virginia county records, however, can be found evidence
indicating that a common method of learning the profession was by
apprenticeship. One interesting example of the contract between
apprentice and surgeon survives in the records of Surry County,
Virginia; made in 1657, it bound Charles Clay to Stephen Tickner,
surgeon, for a term of seven years. Clay swore to serve his master in
whatever surgical or medical duties he was assigned, and Tickner
promised to use his best skill and judgment to teach his apprentice
whatever he knew of the art. Another contract for apprenticeship was
made between Richard Townshend and the London Company's well-known Dr.
Pott. This relationship included a breach of contract that occurred not
infrequently between master and apprentice: Townshend argued in court
that Pott was not teaching him the "art & misterye" for which he was
bound.

As an apprentice, the would-be physician or surgeon could gather herbs
for his master and assist him in treating the sick. If the apprentice
could read, or if the master would teach him, then the novice could
study the medical books in the doctor's library. Not only were volumes
on medicine available, but in the libraries of