ysicians--to make the arduous journey to America. In the eyes of the
Company, physicians could render especially valuable services to the
colony, and ranked with other persons of extraordinary talent such as
ministers, governors, state officers, officers of justice, and knights.
These individuals received special compensations in the form of land
and profits, in accord with the estimated value of services to be
rendered. In 1620, Dr. Bohun had had a promise--for taking the position
of physician-general for the colony--of an allotment of 500 acres of
land and ten servants; Pott accepted the job under about the same
conditions as had Bohun.

These inducements offered physicians to persuade them to go to Virginia
indicate the great need for, and the high value attached to, their
assistance in the seventeenth century. With the population in the
colony growing so great Dr. Pott's services were in considerable
demand; several years after his arrival a certain William Bennett built
the doctor a boat as he by then had a relatively large area to cover
and most of the outlying plantations stood on the rivers and creeks.

In the colony, Pott won recognition for his professional proficiency.
Even a political enemy, Governor Harvey, described him as skilled in
the diagnosis and therapy of epidemic diseases. Because he alone in the
colony was considered capable of treating epidemic diseases, a court
sentence against him for cattle theft stood suspended early in the
1630's and clemency was sought on his behalf.

Pott had become involved in other legal difficulties before 1630. In
1625, a case having medical and humorous implications brought him into
court. A Mrs. Blany maintained that Doctor Pott had denied her a piece
of hog flesh, and that his refusal had caused her to miscarry. The
court accepted Mrs. Blany's contention that she believed the denial of
the hog flesh caused her distress, but did not hold Pott guilty of
willful neglect.

Since the biographical material on Pott's non-professional life reveals
so many intellectual and political interests, it would be surprising if
he had not occasionally neglected his medical practice. He gave
considerable time to the colony's administration and he served in 1629
as the elected temporary governor of the colony after having previously
been on the governor's council. His activities in politics and affairs
brought him political enemies and explain, in part, the cattle theft
charge and