First of all, the virtuoso was an amateur. In the literal sense the amateur loves the activities in which he engages, and in the figurative sense he remains independent of any Establishment. Not trained in any rigorous, prescribed discipline, he was not committed to any set doctrine. Furthermore, he was not restricted by the regulations which all Establishments employed to preserve their status, block opposition, and prevent competition. In many fields the Establishment took the form of a guild organization--in medicine, the Royal College of Physicians.[47] Boyle was a wealthy and highly talented man who could pursue his own bent without needing to make concessions merely to earn a living. He remained quite independent of the cares which oppressed those less well endowed in worldly goods or native talent. Sometimes, of course, necessity can impose a discipline and rigor which ultimately may serve as a disguised benefit, but in the seventeenth century, when Boyle was active, the lack of systematic training and rigorous background seemed actually an advantage. Clinical chemistry and the broad areas which we can call experimental medicine had no tradition. Work in clinical chemistry, clinical pharmacology, and experimental physiology was essentially innovation. And since innovations are often made by those who are outside the Establishment and not bound by tradition, we need feel no surprise that the experimental approach could make great progress under the aegis of amateurs. Necessarily the work was rather unsystematic and undisciplined, but system and discipline could arise only when the new approach had already achieved some measure of success. Through the casual approach of amateurs this necessary foundation could be built. Boyle, as a clinician, remained on excellent terms with medical practitioners. For one thing, he took great care not to compete with them. As stated,[48] he "was careful to decline the occasions of entrenching upon their profession." Physicians would consult him freely. As a chemist and experimental pharmacologist, he prepared various remedies. Some of these he tried out on patients himself, others he gave to practitioners who might use them. Boyle seems to have abundantly provided what we today call "curbstone consultations."