Early Life
Balfour was educated at the Royal High School in Edinburgh and then studied at St Andrews University and Edinburgh University, graduating with degrees of M.A. and then M.D., the latter in 1832. In Edinburgh, he became a notable member of the Plinian Society, where he encountered William A.F. Browne and entered the vigorous debates concerning natural history. His original intention had been to seek ordination in the Church of Scotland but instead he started medical practice in Edinburgh in 1834 after studying abroad.
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