Born at Aberdeen, the son of a banker; studied at Marischal College, taking his MD in 1855. He then passed high up on the list into the Indian Army and became Staff Surgeon in the Bengal Army. He served during the Mutiny with the Naval Brigade, then with the Field Force in the China War, where he was placed in charge of hospitals. After his return to India he became the sole officer at the European Depôt Hospital and of the Female Hospital at Raneegunze, Bengal. He was appointed to the Cavalry on the Trans-Indus Frontier, where he distinguished himself as an organizer and in professional work, particularly during an epidemic of cholera, and he was officially thanked for valuable service. Best was obliged to retire in 1867 on account of ill health. He began to practise in Aberdeen, at 214 Union Street, acting as Interim Professor of Midwifery in 1873-1874, during the illness of Professor Inglis. But he was forced at the beginning of the winter to go south, and he died at Hyères on March 25th, 1875, leaving a widow and two children. Publications: Several papers in the *Lancet*, 1871-1873.