In this situation things were when Nash first came into the city; and, hearing the threat of this physician, he humourously assured the people, that if they would give
In this situation things were when Nash first came into the city; and, hearing the threat of this physician, he humourously assured the people, that if they would give him leave, he would charm away the poison of the doctor’s toad, as they usually charmed the venom of the tarantula, by music. He therefore was immediately empowered to set up a band of music against the doctor’s reptile; the company very sensibly increased, Nash triumphed, and the sovereignty of the city was decreed to him by every rank of people. None could possibly conceive a person more fit to fill this employment than Nash: he had some wit, but it was of that sort which is rather happy than permanent. He was charitable himself, and generally shamed his betters into a similitude of sentiment, if they were not naturally so before. His first care, when made master of the ceremonies, or king of Bath, as it is called, was to promote a music subscription, of one guinea each, for a band, which was to consist of six performers, who were to receive a guinea a week each for their trouble. He allowed also two guineas a week for lighting and sweeping the rooms, for which he accounted to the subscribers by receipt. By his direction, one Thomas Harrison erected a handsome assembly-house for these purposes. A better band of music was also procured, and the former subscription of one guinea was raised to two. Harrison had three guineas a week for the room and candles, and the music two guineas a man. The money Nash received and accounted for with the utmost exactness and punctuality. The balls, by his direction, were to begin at six, and to end at eleven. Nor would he suffer them to continue a moment longer, lest invalids might commit irregularities, to counteract the benefit of the waters. The city of Bath, by such assiduity, soon became the theatre of summer amusements for all people of fashion; and the manner of spending the day there must amuse any but such as disease or spleen had made uneasy to themselves. In this manner every amusement soon improved under Nash’s administration. The magistrates of the city found that it was necessary and useful, and took every opportunity of paying the same respect to his fictitious royalty, that is generally extorted by real power. His equipage was sumptuous, and he used to travel to Tunbridge in a postchariot and six greys, with out-riders, footmen, French horns, and every other appendage of expensive parade. He always wore a white hat; and, to apologize for this singularity, said he did it purely to secure it from being stolen; his dress was tawdry, and not perfectly genteel; he might be considered as a beau of several generations; and, in his appearance, he, in some measure, mixed the fashions of a former age with those of his own. He perfectly understood elegant expence, and generally passed his time in the very best company, if persons of the first distinction deserve that title.
3, he received the degree of doctor of philosophy and medicine, in order to support the character of physician to Louis XIII. with which he had been honoured. On the death
While at Padua he lost his father, which obliged him to
return to Paris to settle his affairs. In 1628, the faculty of
medicine chose him to make the ordinary harangues at the
admission of licentiates, which he performed entirely to
their satisfaction. One of these, in Latin, on the origin
and dignity of the medical school at Paris, was printed
there in 1628, in octavo. He was then recommended by
one of his friends to cardinal Bagni, who appointed him
his librarian and Latin secretary. He took him also to
Rome in 1631, and Naud had an opportunity of forming
an acquaintance with the celebrated Peiresc, as the cardinal
travelled by the way of Beaugensier, on purpose to see his
old friend, who complimented him very warmly on having
acquired for a librarian a young man of Naude’s extensive
knowledge of books. While on this journey, Naude went
to Padua, where, in 1633, he received the degree of
doctor of philosophy and medicine, in order to support
the character of physician to Louis XIII. with which he
had been honoured. On the death of cardinal Bagni, in
1640, he intended to return to France, but had so many
liberal offers to remain in Italy, that he changed his mincl,
and determined to attach himself to cardinal Barberini.
There is much difference of dates amongst his biographers
respecting his return from Paris. All we can decide is,
that he acted there as librarian to cardinal Mazarine, and
that he collected for him a library of 40,OO0 volumes, the
greatest that had then appeared in France. But the cardinal died in 1642, and he consequently could not have
long been in his service. Perhaps he was employed to
make purchases for this library when in Italy, &c. The
cardinal appears not to have rewarded him with much liberality, and in 1648 we find him complaining of being
neglected. He had, however, a greater mortification to
undergo in 1652, when this fine collection was sold by order of the parliament. He is said to have been greatly irritated on this occasion, and bought all the medical books
it contained for 3500 livres Isaac Vossius now recommended him to Christina queen of Sweden, with whom
he resided a few months as librarian, or rather to fill up
that station in the absence of Vossius, who was at this time
in disgrace. Isiaude, however, neither liked the employment nor the people, and took an early opportunity to give
in his resignation; on which occasion the queen, and some
other persons of rank, testified their regard for him by various presents. The fatigue of his journey on returning
brought on a fever, which obliged him to stop at Abbeville,
where he died July 29, 1653. Naude was a man of great
learning, and in his private conduct, correct, prudent, and
friendly. His sentiments, as we have noticed, were on
some subjects, very liberal, but on others he deserves less
praise. While he played the freethinker so far as to despise
some parts of the belief of his church, he could gravely
vindicate the massacres of St. Bartholomew, as a measure
of political expedience. His works are very numerous.
To the few already mentioned we may add, 1. “Le Marfore, ou Discours contre les libelles.
” Paris, Instruction & la France sur la verit de l'histoire des
freres de la Rose-croix,
” ibid. Addition a Thistoire de
Louis XI.
” ibid. 1630. 4. “Consideration politique sur
les coups d'Etat, par G. N. P.
” Rome, (i. e. Paris), Bibliographia Politica,
”
Leyden, Hieronymi Cardani vita,
” Paris, Jugement de tout ce qui a ete imprim6 contre le
cardinal Mazarin depuis Jan. 6, jusqu'au 1 Avril, 1649,
”
Paris, 1641, 4to. This curious work, which is of great rarity,
is sometimes called “Mascurat,
” and consists of a dialogue
between St. Ange, a librarian, L e. Naude, and Mascurat,
a printer, i. e. Camusat. 7. “Avis a Nosseigneurs du
pariement sur la vente de la Bibliotheque du cardinal Mazarin,
” 1G52, 4to. 8. “Nundaeana et Patiniana,
” Paris,
, and his remains were interred inn King’s Rippon, in a burying-ground belonging to Thomas Parnel, a physician there. About two hours before his close, he spoke these words:
He was confined about two years; and after he was set
at liberty he went to Bristol, where, in a public meeting,
he made confession of his offence and fall, so as to draw
tears from most of those who were present: and, restoration to humility of mind and soundness of judgment being
apparent in him, he was restored to the esteem and fellowship of his friends. He quitted London finally in 1660,
intending to return to his wife and children at Wakefield;
but was found by a countryman one evening in a field near
Holm and King’s Rippon, in Huntingdonshire, having been
(as was said) robbed, and left bound. He was taken to
Holm, and his cloaths shifted, on which he said, “You
have refreshed my body; the Lord refresh your souls:
”
not long after which he died in peace, and his remains
were interred inn King’s Rippon, in a burying-ground belonging to Thomas Parnel, a physician there. About two
hours before his close, he spoke these words: “There is
a spirit which I feel, that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things, in
hope to enjoy its own in the end. Its hope is to outlive
all wrath and contention, and to weary out all exaltation
and cruelty, or whatever is of a nature contrary to itself.
It sees to the end of all temptations. As it bears no evil
in itself, so it conceives none in thoughts to any other.
If it be betrayed, it bears it; for, its ground and spring
are the mercies and forgiveness of God. Its crown is
meekness, its life is everlasting love, unfeigned; and takes
its kingdom with entreaty, and not with contention, and
keeps it by lowliness of mind. In God alone it can rejoice, f though none else regard it, or can own its life. It’s
conceived in sorrow, and brought forth without any to
pity it: nor doth it murmur at grief and oppression. It
never rejoiceth but through sufferings; for, with the
world’s joy, it is murdered. I found it alone, being forsaken: I have fellowship therein with them, who lived in
dens and desolate places, in the earth; who through death
obtained this resurrection, and eternal holy life.
” Nayler’s
writings were collected into an octavo volume, printed in
1716, which may still occasionally be found.
, in German, published at Gottingen in 1777. There flourished about the same time with our author, a physician of the same names, who was born in 1529, and died in 1581, whose
From his works he appears to have deserved the high
character he enjoyed during his life-time, and which some
critics of modern times have revived. He was one of the
very few in those days who turned their thoughts to the
history of literature. His first publication was “Erotema
Grascae Linguae, cum proefatione Philippi Melanchthonis
de utilitate Grsecae linguse,
” Basil, Pandectae variorum auctorum et scriptorum.
” From the sketch he had
given of the proposed contents of this work, there is great
reason to regret that he did not complete it; in the second
edition of his “Erotemata
” he has given a specimen of
what he could have done, in a dissertation on ancient libraries, on books that are lost, and on the libraries of his
own time which contained the most valuable Mss. and an
account of the principal Greek and Latin authors, whose
works have been published, with a minuteness of description which would have reflected credit on a modern bibliographer. The last edition of his “Erotemata
” was edited
at Leipsic in Graecae Linguae Tabulae,
”
Basil, Linguae Hebreae Erotemata, cum veterurn Rabbinorurn testimoniis de
Christo, apophthegmatibus veterum Hebreeorum et notitia
de Talmude, Cabbala, &c.
” Basil, Erotemata Graecae Linguae,
” containing
notices of the most eminent Oriental scholars, the writings
of the rabbins, the editions of the Bible, &c. 4. “Aristologia Pindarica Graeco-Latina, et Sententiae novem Lyricorum,
” Basil, Aristologia GraecoLatina Euripidis; argumenta quoque singulis tragcediis
praemissa sunt,
” ibid. Anthologicum Graeco-Latinum,
” ibid. Gnomonologia Graeco-Latina, sive insigniores sententiae
philosophorum, poetarum, oratorum, et historicorum, ex
magno Anthologio Joannis Stobaei excerptae, et in locos
supra bis centum digests,
” ibid. Opus
aureum et Scholasticum,
” Leipsic, Sententiae Theologicae
selectiores, Græco-Latinæ,
” Basil, 1557, 8vo. 10. “Catechesis parva Martini Lutheri Graeco-Latina,
” &c. ibid. Loci communes Philosophic! Graeci,
”
Leipsic, Gnomonologia Latina ex
omnibus Latinis vetustis ac probatis autoribus, recentioribus etiam aliquot, in locos communes digesta,
” Leipsic,
Phraseologia Isocratis GraecoLatina,
” Basil, Joannis Vollandi de re
Poetica Graecorum libri quatuor, e noutionibus et bibliotheca Mich. Neandri collecti,
” Leipsic, Argonautica, Thebaica, Troica, Ilias
parva; poematia Graeca anonymi (Laur. Rhodomani) primum edita cum argumentis a Mich. Neandro,
” Leipsic,
s, where he entered into partnership with the bankers Girardot and Haller, the son of the celebrated physician; and in 1762 settled at Marseilles, whence in 1791 he returned
, professor of civil law
at Geneva, about 1724, was created a citizen of Geneva
in 1726, and died there in 1760. He published “Four
letters on Ecclesiastical Discipline,
” Utrecht, A
description of the Government
” of the Germanic Body,“Geneva, 1742, 8vo, and a few other professional tracts.
His eldest son, Louis Necker, a pupil of D'Alembert’s,
became professor of mathematics at Geneva in 1757, but
quitted that city for Paris, where he entered into partnership
with the bankers Girardot and Haller, the son of the celebrated physician; and in 1762 settled at Marseilles, whence
in 1791 he returned to Geneva. In 1747 he published
” Theses de Electricitate,“4to, and wrote in the French
Encyclopaedia, the articles of Forces and Friction. There
is also a solution of an algebraical problem by him in the
” Memoirs des savans etrangers," in the collection of the
Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences. He died about the
end of the last century.
Arnheim, ifo Guelderland, where she met with some relief to support herself and breed op her son. A physician, named Tutkens, a man of wealth and humanity, became the patron
, an eminent painter, was born in 1639, at Prague in Bohemia. His father dying in the Polish service, in which he was an engineer, his mother was constrained, on account of the catholic religion, which she professed, to depart suddenly from Prague with her three sons, of whom Gaspard was the youngest* At some leagues from the town she stopped at a castle, which wafc afterwards besieged; and Gaspard’s two brothers were famished to death. The mother, apprehensive of the same fate, found means to escape in the night-time out of the castle, and with her son in her amis reached Arnheim, ifo Guelderland, where she met with some relief to support herself and breed op her son. A physician, named Tutkens, a man of wealth and humanity, became the patron of Netscher, and put him to school, with the view of educating him to his own profession; but Netscher’s decided turn for the art he afterwards practised, induced his patron to place him with a glazier to learn to draw, this being the only person at Arnheim who could give him any instructions. As soon as tie had iearned all this man could teach, he went to Deventer, to a painter, whose name was Gerhard Terburg, an able artist, and burgomaster of the town, under whom he acquired a great command of his pencil and, going to Holland, worked there a long time for the picture-merchants, who, abusing his easiness, paid him very little for his pieces, which they sold at a good price.
, a physician and miscellaneous writer, the son of John Nettleton, was born
, a physician and miscellaneous writer, the son of John Nettleton, was born in 1683,
at Dewsbury, and settled at Halifax, in Yorkshire, where
he practised physic for several years with great success,
having taken the degree of M. D. at Utrecht. He and
Mr. West, of Underbank, near Penniston, in Yorkshire,
were the first who instructed professor Sanderson in the
principles of mathematics; and Dr. Nettleton used to say,
that the scholar soon became more knowing than his master. We find several communications from Dr. Nettleton
in the Philosophical Transactions, as “An account of the
height of the Barometer at different elevations above the
surface of the earth;
” and two papers on the small-pox. It
appears that he had inoculated sixty-one persons, when
the whole amount of persons inoculated by other practitioners was only one hundred and twenty-one. In 1729,
he published a pamphlet, entitled “Some thoughts concerning virtue and happiness, in a letter to a clergyman,
”
8vo, which he afterwards much enlarged. It was reprinted at London in 1736 and 1751, both in small octavo,
but the former of these is the most valuable, because it
had the author’s finishing hand. The design is to shew
that happiness is the end of all our actions; but that it
must be founded on virtue, which is not only the support
and ornament of society, but yields the greatest pleasure,
both in its immediate exercise, and in its consequence and
effects. Dr. Nettleton married, in March 1708, Elizabeth Cotton, of Haigh-hall, by whom he had several
children. He died Jan. 9, 1742, at Halifax, and was buried at Dewsbury, with a Latin epitaph on the south wall
of the church. To the account of his publications, not
noticed in our authority, we may add his thesis on taking
his degree, “Disput. de Inflammatione,
” Utrecht, Account of the success of inoculating the Smallpox.
” Lond.
, a Latin poet, divine, schoolmaster, and physician of the sixteenth century, was the eldest son of Edward Newton,
, a Latin poet, divine, schoolmaster, and physician of the sixteenth century, was the eldest son of Edward Newton, of Butley, near Presbury in Cheshire. He was educated at Macclesfield in the same county, under Brownswerd, a schoolmaster of considerable fame. Newton preserved so great a regard for him, as to erect a monument to his memory in Macclesfield church, lyith an inscription which concludes with these lines:
, a celebrated grammarian, poet, and physician, flourished in the 160th olympiad, about 140 B. C. in the reign
, a celebrated grammarian,
poet, and physician, flourished in the 160th olympiad,
about 140 B. C. in the reign of Attains; or, according to
some, in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphia. Suidas tells
us, that he was the son of Xenophon of Colophon, a town
in Ionia and observes, that, according to others, he was
a native of Ætolia but, if we may believe Nicander himself, he was born in the neighbourhood of the temple of
Apollo, at Claros, a little town in Ionia, near Colophon
yet the name of his father was Damphæus. He was
called an Ætolian, only because he lived many years in
that country, and wrote a history of it. A great number
of writings are ascribed to him, of which we have remaining only two: one entitled “Theriaca;
” describing, in
verse, the accidents which attend wounds made by venomoug beasts, with the proper remedies; the other, “Alexipharmaca
” in which he treats of poisons and their antiuotes, or counter-poisons these are both excellent
Scholia” upon both, the author of which is not known; though Vossius imagines they were made by Diphilus just mentioned. He wrote also “
Ophiaca,” upon serpents; “
Hyacinthia,' 1 a collection of remedies, and a commentary upon the” Prognostics of Hippocrates“
in verse. The Scholiast of Nicander cites the two first of these, and Suidas mentions two others. Athenseus also cites, in several places, some poetical works of our author upon agriculture, called his” Georgics,“
which were known likewise to Curio. Besides these he composed five books of” Metamorphoses,“
some verses of which are copied by Tzetzes, and the” Metamorphoses“
of Antonius Liberalis were apparently taken from those of Nicander. He composed also several historical works, among which” The History of Colophon,“
his birth-place, is cited by Athenaeus we are told likewise of his history of Ætolia, Bœotia, and Thebes, and of” A History and description of Europe in general.“
He was undoubtedly an author of merit, and deserves those eulogiums which are given of him in some epigrams in the” Anthologia.“
This Nicander has been confounded with Nicander the grammarian of Thyatira, by Stephanus Byzantius: and Vossius, in giving the titles of the books written by both these Nicanders, does not distinguish them very clearly. Merian, in his essay on the influence of the sciences on poetry (in the Memoirs of the royal academy of Berlin for 1776), mentions Nicander to show the antipathy that there is between the language of poetry and the subjects which he treated. He considers Nicander as a therapeutic bard, who versified for the apothecaries, a grinder of anecdotes, who sung of scorpions, toads, and spiders. The” Theriaca“
and” Alexipharmaca“
are inserted in the Corp. Poet. Greec. Of separate editions, the best is that of Aldus, 1522; of the” Theriaca,“
that of Bandini, 1764, 8yo, and of the” Alexipharmaca," that of Schneider, 1792, 8vo.
, a physician and anatomist of eminence, was born in London in 1699, where
, a physician and anatomist of eminence, was born in London in 1699, where his father was a barrister. After receiving the rudiments of his education at a private school in the country, where his docility and sweetness of temper endeared him to his master and school- fellows, he was in a few years removed to Westminster, and thence to Oxford, where he was admitted a commoner of Exeter college, under the tuition of Mr. John Haviland, in 1714. He applied himself to the usual academical exercises with great assiduity, and took his degrees in arts at the accustomed periods, that of M. A. in 1721. He paid his greatest attention to natural philosophy, and after reading a few books on anatomy, engaged in dissections, which he pursued with so much reputation as to be chosen reader of anatomy in the university in 1726, about two years after taking his degree of B. M. In this office he used his utmost endeavours to introduce a zeal for this neglected study, and obtained a high and well merited reputation. His residence at Oxford, however, was only temporary; for at the close of his course he returned to London, where he bad determined to settle, after having made a short trial of practice in Cornwall, and a subsequent visit to the principal schools of France and Italy. At Paris, by conversing freely with the learned, he soon recommended himself to their notice and esteem. Winslow’s was the only good system of physiology at that time known in France, and Morgagni’s and Santorini’s, of Venice, in Italy. On his return to England he resumed his anatomical and physiological lectures in London, and they were frequented, not only by students from both the universities, but by many surgeons, apothecaries, and others. His reputation rapidly extended, and in 1728 he was elected a fellow of the royal society, to which he communicated several papers, which were published in the Philosophical Transactions, especially some observations on the nature of aneurisms, in which he controverted the opinion of Dr. Freind; and a description of a singular disease, in which the pulmonary vein was coughed up. He also made observations on a treatise by Helvetius, on the lungs. In 1729, he received the degree of M. D at Oxford, and became a fellow of the college of physicians in. 1732. In 1734 he was appointed to read the Gulstonian lectures at the college, and chose the structure of the heart, and the circulation of the blood, for his subjects. At the request of the president, Dr. Nichols again read the Gulstonian lectures in 1736, choosing for his topics the urinary organs, and the nature and treatment of calculous diseases; and in 1739 he delivered the anniversary Harveian oration. In 1743 he married one of the daughters of the celebrated Dr. Mead, by whom he had a son and daughter, both living.
of various knowledge, that he was accounted a good philosopher, a great mathematician, a celebrated physician, and an able and just magistrate. Although naturally of a grave
, an eminent Dutch philosopher and mathematician, was born Aug. 10, 1654, at
Westgraafdyk in North Holland, of which place his father
vvas minister. He discovered a turn for learning in his
first infancy, and his father designed him for the ministry;
but when he found him averse from this study, he suffered
him to gratify his own taste. He then applied himself to
logic, and the art of reasoning justly; in which he grounded
himself upon the principles of Des Cartes, with whose
philosophy he was greatly delighted. Thence he proceeded to the mathematics, where he made a great proficiency; and added so much to his stock of various knowledge, that he was accounted a good philosopher, a great
mathematician, a celebrated physician, and an able and
just magistrate. Although naturally of a grave and serious
disposition, yet his engaging manner in conversation made
him be equally admired as a companion and friend, and
frequently drew over to his opinion those who, at first,
differed very widely from him. Thus accomplished, he
acquired great esteem and credit in the council of the
town of Purmerende, where he resided; as he did also in
the states of that province, who respected him the more,
as he never interfered in any cabals or factions. His disposition inclined him to cultivate the sciences, rather than
to obtain the honours of the government and he therefore
contented himself with being counsellor and burgomaster
of the town, without wishing for more bustling preferments,
which might interfere with his studies, and draw him too
much out of his library. He died May 30, 1718, in the
sixty-third year of his age. His works are, 1. “Considerationes circa Analyseos ad Quantitates infinite parvas applicator principia,
” &c. Amst. Analysis
infinitorum seu curvilineorum Proprietates ex Polygpnorum
natura deductse,
” ibid. Considerationes
secundoe circa differentialis Principia r & Responsio ad Yirum nobilissimum G. G. Leibnitium,
” ibid. A Treatise upon
a New Use of the Tables of Sines and Tangents.
” 5. “Le
veritable Usage de la Contemplation de TUnivers, pour la
conviction des Athees & des Incredules,
” in Dutch. This
is his most esteemed work; and went through four editions
in three or four years. It was translated into English by
Mr. John Chamberlaine, and printed three or four times
under the title of the “Religious Philosopher,
” &c. 3 vols.
8vo. This was, until within these forty years, a very popular book in this country. We have also, by our author,
one letter to Bothnia of Burmania, upon the 27th article
of his meteors, and a refutation of Spinosa, 1720, 4to, in
the Dutch language.
, a learned physician at Antwerp, who flourished in the seventeenth century, was the
, a learned physician
at Antwerp, who flourished in the seventeenth century,
was the author of a curious treatise, entitled “Pieteticon,
sive de Re cibaria;
” containing several remarks illustrative
of those passages in the Latin Roman poets, particularly
Horace, Juvenal, and Persius, which relate to the luxury
of the old Roman tables. It was published in 4to in 1646,
at Antwerp. He renewed the opinion of the ancient physicians, who have written “De salubri Piscium alimento,
”
or the wholesomeness of a fish diet; and endeavoured to
shew, that, according to them, fish is especially a proper
aliment for sedentary persons, for the aged, sick, and such
as are of a weak constitution, as it generates blood of a
moderate consistence, which suits their habit. In this
work Nonius complains of the Arabians, who, in translating the Greek physicians, have omitted all passages
relating to fish; because the Arabs eat little of this kind
of aliment, which in that hot and dry country is rarely to
be met with. Nonius also printed a very large commentary in 1620, upon the Greek medals, and those of
Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Tiberius, which had been
engraved about fifty-five years before by Goltzius, and
published in folio at that time by James de Bye, another
celebrated engraver. Besides these, he wrote “Hispania;
seu de Oppidis Fluminibusque Hispanise,
” Icthyophagia, seu de Usu Piscium,
” and “Epicaedium
Justo Lipsio,
” &c.
, a very eminent Portuguese mathematician and physician, was born in 1497, at Alcazar in Portugal, anciently a remarkable
, a very eminent Portuguese mathematician and physician, was born in 1497, at
Alcazar in Portugal, anciently a remarkable city, known
by the name of Salacia, from whence he was surnamed
Salaciensis. He was professor of mathematics in the university of Cojmbra, where he published some pieces which
procured him great reputation. He was mathematical
preceptor to Don Henry, son to king Emanuel of Portugal,
and principal cosmographer to the king. Nonius was very
serviceable to the designs which this court entertained of
carrying on their maritime expeditions into the East, by
the publication of his book “Of the Art of Navigation,
”
and various other works. He died in
, a physician and celebrated astrologer, was born Dec. 14, 1503, at St. Remy,
, a physician and celebrated astrologer, was born Dec. 14, 1503, at St. Remy, in the diocese of Avignon. His father was a notary public, and his grandfather a physician, who instructed him in the elements of the mathematics. He Afterwards completed his courses of humanity and philosophy at Avignon, and studied physic at Montpelier; but the plague raging in 1525, he became a travelling physician for five years, and undertook all such patients as were willing to put themselves under his care. After this fee returned to Montpelier, and was created doctor of his faculty in 1529, and then revisited the places where he had practised physic before. At Agen, he contracted an acquaintance with Julius Caesar Scaliger, which induced him to make some stay in that town, where he married; but upon the death of his wife, four years after, he went first to Marseilles, and then, in 154-4, to Salon, where he married a second time.
Nostradamus, presented him with a purse of 200 crowns, together with a brevet, constituting him his physician in ordinary, with the same appointment as the rest. But our
So remarkable a prediction not a little increased the
credulity of the public, and he was honoured shortly after
with a visit from Emanuel duke of Savoy, and the princess
Margaret of France, his consort. Charles IX. coming to
Salon, being eager to see him, Nostradamus complained of
the little esteem his countrymen had for him, on which the
monarch publicly declared, that he should hold the enemies of Nostradamus to be his enemies. In passing, not
Jong after, through the city of Aries, he sent for Nostradamus, presented him with a purse of 200 crowns, together with a brevet, constituting him his physician in ordinary, with the same appointment as the rest. But our
prophet enjoyed these honours only for the space of sixteen,
months, for he died July 2, 1566, at Salon. Besides his
“Centuries,
” we have some other pieces of his composition, and his prophetical works have been translated into
English.
He left three sons and three daughters John, his second
son, exercised with reputation the business of a proctor in
the parliament of Provence: he wrote the “Lives of the
ancient Provencal Poets, called Troubadours,
” which was
printed at Lyons in Manuscript giving an Account ofthe most remarkable
events in the History of Provence, from 1080 to 1494,
” in
which he inserted the lives of the poets of that country.
These memoirs falling into the hands of his nephew Caesar
Nostradamus, gentleman to the duke of Guise, he undertook to complete the work; and being encouraged by a
present, of 3000 livres from the estates of the country, he
carried the account up to the Celtic Gauls the impression
was finished at Lyons, in 1614, and published under the
title of “Chronique de l'Histoire de Provence,
” The next
son of Michel is said to have imitated his father, and ventured to predict, that Pouzin, which was then besieged;
would be destroyed by fire. In order to prove the truth of
his prophecy, he was seen, during the tumult, setting fire
to all parts of the town; which so much enraged M. De
Saint Luke, that he rode over him with his horse, and
killed him. But this story has been justly called in question,
, a distinguished Dutch physician and anatomist, but a German by birth, was greatly distinguished
, a distinguished Dutch physician
and anatomist, but a German by birth, was greatly distinguished by his anatomical labours, both at the Hague
and at Leyclen, in the latter part of the seventeenth cenr
tury. He filled the office of professor of anatomy and surgery in the university of Leyden, and was also president of
the college of surgeons. He pursued his dissections with
great ardour, cultivating both human and comparative
anatomy at every opportunity. In these pursuits, within
eight years he dissected above sixty human bodies,
besides those of the animal creation, and made many discoveries by means of injections, but at that time this art
had not attained its full perfection, quicksilver being the
only substance used. He died about 1692. The following is a catalogue of his publications: “De Vasis aquosis
Oculi,
” Leid. De Ductu salivali novo, Salivfi,
ductibus aquosis et humore aqueo oculorum,
” ibid. Sialographia, et ductuum aquosorum Anatome nova;
” “Adenographia curiosa, et Uteri foeminei Anatome nova, cum
Epistola ad Amicum de Inventis novis,
” ibid. Operationes et Experirnenta Chirurgica,
” ibid.
, was born at Augsburgh, Oct. 17, 1524. When he had finished his medical studies under his father, a physician of Augsburgh, who died in 1572, and at the university, he soon
, one of a family' of physicians of
considerable eminence, was born at Augsburgh, Oct. 17,
1524. When he had finished his medical studies under
his father, a physician of Augsburgh, who died in 1572,
and at the university, he soon became noted as a practitioner, and in 1564 was appointed inspector of the apothecaries, and perpetual vicar to the dean of the college of
physicians. He died in 1605. He published a “Pharmacopoeia
” in Imperatorum Romanorum Numismata
a Pompeio M. ad Heraclium,
” Strasburgh, 4to and folio.
This is an excellent book of general reference, being a list
of all the coins in every reign, digested into the years in
which they were apparently struck. It was first printed
in 1579, and again in 1600, which is the best edition.
One afterwards published by Mezzabarba is not so highly
valued, as this editor’s additions are of doubtful authority.
Among Gesner’s letters is a learned “Epistola Graeca de
Oxymeli helleborato, aiiisque ad rem medicam spectantibus,
” written by Occo, who was an excellent Greek
scholar.
es. This gentleman, living near London, was intimately acquainted with Dr. Richard Lower, an eminent physician there, and who encouraged Oldharn to study physic, in which
, an English poet, was born Aug. 9,
1653, at Shipton, near Tedbury in Gloucestershire, where
his father was a nonconformist minister, and had a congregation. He educated his son in grammar-learning, and
afterwards sent him to Tedbury school, where he spent
about two years. In June 1670, he was admitted of Edmund-hall, Oxford, where he was soon distinguished for a
good Latinist, and made poetry and polite literature his
chief study. In May 1674, he proceeded B. A. but soon
after was called home, much against his inclination. He
continued sometime with his father, still cultivating his
muse: one of the first fruits of which was “A Pindaric
Ode,
” the next year, upon the death of his friend and constant companion, Mr. Charles Morvent. Shortly after this,
he became usher to the free-school at Croydon in Surrey,
yet found leisure to compose several copies of verses; some
of which, being seen in ms. by the earls of Rochester and
Dorset, sir Charles Sedley, and other wits of distinction,
were so much admired, that they surprised him with an
unexpected visit at Croydon. Mr. Shepherd (then master of the school) attributed the honour of this visit to himself; but they soon convinced him, that he was not the
object of their curiosity. The visit, however, brought
Oldham acquainted with other persons of wit and distinction, and probably by their means, he was, in 1678, removed from Croydon, and appointed tutor to the two
grandsons of sir Edward Thurland, a judge, near Rygate
in-' Surrey. He continued in this family till 1681; when,
being out of employment, he passed some time in London
among the wits, and was afterwards engaged as tutor to a
son of sir William Hickes. This gentleman, living near
London, was intimately acquainted with Dr. Richard Lower,
an eminent physician there, and who encouraged Oldharn
to study physic, in which he made some progress; but he
had no relish for protracted study, and preferred the occasional exercise of his pen on temporaty subjects. f Having discharged his trust, in qualifying young Hickes for foreign travels, he declined, though earnestly pressed, to go
abroad with him, and took leave of the family. With, a
small sum of money which he had saved, he now hastened
to London, where company seduced him into intemperance,
yet in other respects he neither degraded nor disgraced his
character. Before he had been long in the metropolis, he
was found out by the noblemen who had visited him at
Croydon, and who now brought him acquainted with Dryden, who highly esteemed him, conceived a very great
opinion of his talents, and honoured his memory with some
very pathetic and beautiful lines.
ral curious examples, and remarks, historical and philosophical, thereupon. Dedicated to Dr. Monsey, physician to theRoyal hospital at Chelsea. Also, some address to the public,
Of the writings of Mr. Oldys, some of which were anonymous, the following account is probably very imperfect:
I. In the British Museum is Oidys’s copy of “Langbaine’s
_ Lives,
” &c. not interleaved, but filled with notes written
in the margin, and between the lines, in an extremely
small hand. It came to the Museum as a part of the library
of Dr. Birch, who bought it at an auction of Oidys’s books
and papers for one guinea. Transcripts of this have been
made by various literary gentlemen. 2. Mr. Gough, in
the first volume of his “British Topography,
” p. been favoured, by George Steevens, esq.
with the use of a thick folio of titles of books and pamphlets
relative to London, and occasionally to Westminster and
Middlesex, from 1521 to 1758, collected by the late Mr.
Oldys, with many others added, as it seems, in another
hand. Among them,
” he adds, “are many purely historical, and many of too low a kind to rank under the head
of topography or histpry. The rest, which are very numerous, I have inserted, marked O, with corrections, &c.
of those I had myself collected. Mr. Steevens purchased
this ms. of T. Davies, who bought Mr. Oidys’s library.
It had been in the hands of Dr. Berkenhout, who had a
design of publishing an English Topographer, and riiay
possibly have inserted the articles in a different hand. It
afterwards became the property of sir John Hawkins.
”
3. “The British Librarian, exhibiting a compendious Review of all unpublished and valuable books, in all sciences,
”
which was printed without his name, in Life of sir Waiter Raleigh,
” prefixed to
his “History of the World,
” in folio. 5. “Introduction
to Hay ward’s British Muse (1738);
” of which he says,
“that the penurious publishers, to contract it within a
sheet, left out a third part of the best matter in it, and
made more faults than were in the original.
” In this he
was assisted by Dr. Campbell. 6. “His Observations on
the Cure of William Taylor, the blind boy at Ightharn, in
Kent, by John Taylor, jun. oculist, 1753,
” 8vo. Thetide
of the pamphlet here alluded to was, “Observations on
the Cure of William Taylor, the blind Boy, of Ightham,
in Kent, who, being born with cataracts in both eyes, was
at eight years of age brought to sight on the 8th of October, 1751, by Mr. John Taylor, jun. oculist, in Hattongarden; containing his strange notions of objects upon the
first enjoyment of his new sense; also, some attestations
thereof; in a letter written by his father, Mr. William
Taylor, farmer, in the same parish: interspersed with several curious examples, and remarks, historical and philosophical, thereupon. Dedicated to Dr. Monsey, physician
to theRoyal hospital at Chelsea. Also, some address to
the public, for a contribution towards the foundation of an
hospital for the blind, already begun by some noble personages,
” 8vo. 7. Various lives in the “Biographia Britannica,
” with the signature G, the initial letter of Gray’sInn, where he formerly lived. He mentions, in his notes
on Langbaine, his life of sir George Etherege, of Caxton,
of Thomas May, and of Edward Alleyn, inserted in that
work. He composed the “Life of Atherton;
” which, if
it ever deserved to have had a place in that work, ought
not to have been removed from it any more than the “Life
of Eugene Aram,
” which is inserted in the second edition.
That the publishers of the second edition meant no indignity to Oldys, by their leaving out his “Life of Atherton,
”
appears fram their having transcribed into their work a
much superior quantity of his writings, consisting of notes
and extracts from printed books, styled “Oldys’s Mss.
”
Of these papers no other account is given than that “they
are a large and useful body of biographical materials;
”
but we may infer, from the known industry and narrow
circumstances of the writer, that, if they had been in any
degree prepared for public consideration, they would not
have so long lain dormant. 8. At the importunity of Curll,
he gave him a sketch of the life of Nell Gvvin, to help out
his V History of the Stage.“9. He was concerned with
Des Maizeaux in writing the
” Life of Mr. Richard Carew,“the antiquary of Cornwall, in 1722. 10.
” Observations,
Historical and Critical, on the Catalogue of English Lives.“Whether this was ever printed we know not. 11.
” Tables
of the eminent persons celebrated by English Poets.“This he seems to quote in a manuscript note on Langbaine,
but it does not appear to have been printed. 12. He mentions, ibidem, the first volume of his
” Poetical Characteristics,“on which we may make the same remark. If these
two works continued in ms. during his life-time, it is probable that they were not finished for publication, or that
no bookseller would buy them. 13. O,idys seems to have
been concerned likewise as a writer in the
” General Dictionary,“for he mentions his having been the author of
” The Life of sir-John Talbot,“in that work and in Birch’s
Mss. is a receipt from him for \.L 5s. for writing the article of Fas tolf 14. He mentions likewise, in his notes on
Langbaine, that he was the author of a pamphlet against
Toland, called
” No blind Guides.“15. He says, ibidem,
that he communicated many things to Mrs. Cooper, which
she published in her
” Muse’s Library.“16. In 1746 was
published, in 12mo,
” health’s Improvement; or, Rules
comprising the nature, method, and manner, of preparing
foods used in this nation. Written by that ever famous
Thomas Moffett, doctor in physic; corrected and enlarged
by Christopher Bennet, doctor in physic, and fellow of
the College of Physicians in London. To which is now
prefixed, a short View of the Author’s Life and Writings,
by Mr. Oldys; and an Introduction by R. James, M. D.“17. In the first volume of British Topography,
” page 31,
mention is made of a translation of “Gamden’s Britannia,
”
in 2 vols. 4to, “by W. O. esq.
” which Mr. Gough, with
great probability, ascribes to Mr. Oldys. 18. Among the
Mss. in the British Museum, described in Mr. Ayscough’s
Catalogue, we find p. 24, “Some Considerations upon the
publication of sir Thomas Roe’s Epistolary Collections,
supposed to be written by Mr. Oldys, and by him tendered
to Sam. Boroughs, esq. with proposals, and some notes of
Dr. Birch.
” 19. In p. 736, “Memoirs of the family of
Oldys.
” 20. In p. 741, “Two small pocket books of
short Biographical Anecdotes of many Persons,
” and “some
Fragments of Poetry,
” perhaps collected by Mr. Oldys?
21. In p. 750, and p. 780, are two ms letters “of Mr.
Oldys,
” 1735 and 1751. 22. It is said, in a ms paper,
by Dr. Dticarel, who knew him well, that Oldys had by
him, at the time of his death, some collections towards a
“Life of Shakspeare,
” but not digested into any order,
as he told the doctor a few days before he died. 23. On
the same authority he is said to be a writer in, or the
writer of, “The Scarborough Miscellany,
” The Universal Spectator,
” of which he was some
time the publisher, was a newspaper, a weekly journal,
said; on the top of the paper, which appeared originally in
single sheets, to be “by Henry Stonecastle, in Northumberland,
” 1730 1732. It was afterwards collected into
two volumes 8vo to which a third and fourth were added
in 1747. In one of his Mss. we find the following wellturned anagram
so considerable additions to the duke’s museum, particularly of the collection of Paludanns, a Dutch physician, which the duke sent him to Holland ta purchase; and he drew
, a learned traveller, whose German name was Oelschlager, was born in 1599, or 1600,
at Aschersieben, a small town in the principality of Anhalt.
43is parents were very poor, and scarcely able to maintain
him, yet by some means he was enabled to enter as a student at Leipsic, where he took his degrees in arts and
philosophy, but never was a professor, as some biographers
have asserted. He quitted Leipsic for Holsteiu, where the
duke Frederic, hearing of his merit and capacity, wished to
employ him. This prince having a wish to extend the
commerce of his country to the East, determined to send
an embassy to the Czar Michael Federowitz, and the king of
Persia, and having chosen for this purpose two of his counsellors, Philip Crusius and Otto Bruggeman, he appointed
Olearius to accompany them as secretary. Their travels
lasted six years, during which Olearius collected a great
fund of information respecting the various countries they
visited. The Czar of Moscovy on his return wished to
have retained him in his service, with the appointment of
astronomer and mathematician; not, however, his biographers tell us, so much on account of his skill in these
sciences, as because the Czar knew that Olearius had very
exactly traced the course of the Volga, which the Russians
then wished to keep a secret from foreigners. Olearius
had an inclination, however, to have accepted this offer,
but after his return to the court of Holstein, he was dissuaded from it, and the duke having apologized to the
Czar, attached him to himself as mathematician and antiquary. In 1643, the duke sent him on a commission to
Moscow, where, as before, his ingenuity made him be
taken for a magician, especially as on this occasion he exhibited a camera obscura. In 1650 the duke appointed him
his librarian, and keeper of his curiosities. The library he
enriched with many Oriental Mss. which he had procured
in his travels, and made also considerable additions to the
duke’s museum, particularly of the collection of Paludanns,
a Dutch physician, which the duke sent him to Holland ta
purchase; and he drew up a description of the whole,
which was published at Sleswick in 1666, 4to. He also
constructed the famous globe of Gottorp, and an armillary
sphere of copper, which was not less admired, and proved
how much mathematics had been his study. He died Feb.
22, 1671. He published, in German, his travels, 1647,
1656, 1669, fol. Besides these three editions, they were
translated into English by Davies, and into Dutch and
Italian. The most complete translation is that, in French,
by Wicquefort, Amst. 1727, 2 vols. fol. who also translated
Olearius’s edition of Mandelso’s “Voyages to Persia,
” c.
fol. Among his other and less known works, are some
lives of eminent Germans “The Valley of Persian Roses,
”
from the Persian; “An abridged Chronicle of Holstein,
”
&c
nsilvania, having founded a school at Weissenberg, Opits was recommended by Gaspar Conrade, a famous physician and poet at Breslaw, to that prince, who appointed him the
, in Latin Opitius, reckoned the father of German poetry, was born at Bunzlau, in Silesia,
1597. His parents had but a moderate fortune; but his
father, observing his genius, educated him carefully in
grammar, in which he soon made great proficiency: and,
after some time, went to Breslaw for farther improvement,
and thence to Francfort upon the Oder. He spent a year
in that university, and then removed to Heidelberg, where
fce studied with remarkable assiduity: but the fame of the
celebrated Bernegger drew him, after some time, to Strasbourg and Bernegger was so struck with the learning and
wit of Opits, that he pronounced he would one day become the Virgil of Germany. At length be returned, by
the way of Tubingen, to Heidelberg; but, the plague beginning to appear in the Palatinate, this, together with
the troubles in Bohemia, disposed our. student to travel
with a Danish gentleman into the Low Countries; and
thence he went to Holstein, where he wrote his books of
“Constancy.
” As soon as the troubles of Bohemia were
a little calmed, he returned to his own country and, that
he might not live in obscurity, he frequented the cour$.
Bethlem Gabor, prince of Transilvania, having founded a
school at Weissenberg, Opits was recommended by Gaspar
Conrade, a famous physician and poet at Breslaw, to that
prince, who appointed him the school-master or professor;
and there he read lectures upon Horace and Seneca.
; Puring his residence in Transilvania, he inquired into
the original of the Daci, and the Roman antiquities there.
He made also exact researches after the ancient Roman
inscriptions, which he sometimes recovered, and sent them
to Gruter, Grotius, and Bernegger. Some time after his
return home, he was meditating a journey to France, when
a burgrave, who was in the emperor’s service, made him
his secretary, in which office he contrived to keep up a regular correspondence with Grotius, Heinsius, Salmasius,
Rigaltius, and other learned men; and his employer having not only consented to, but furnished him with all the
necessaries for his journey to France, he became intimate
with Grotius, who then resided at Paris, and in this journey also he collected a good number of manuscripts and
curious medals.
, Julian the Apostate’s physician, was born either at Pergamus or Sardes, in the beginning of
, Julian the Apostate’s physician, was born either at Pergamus or Sardes, in the beginning of the fourth century. He first studied in the school of Zeno the Cyprian at Sardes; and then went to Alexandria in Egypt, where he finished his studies, and afterwards became an eminent professor there, about 150 years after the death of Galen, and was esteemed the greatest scholar and physician of his time.
, an eminent historian, the son of Dr. Alexander Orme, a physician and surgeon in the service of the East India company, was born
, an eminent historian, the son of Dr.
Alexander Orme, a physician and surgeon in the service of
the East India company, was born at Anjengo, in the Travancore country, in 1728. He was sent to England for hi
education, and was entered at Harrow-school when he
was only six years of age. After he left school, he was
a year in the office of the accomptant-general of the African company, to be initiated in commercial transactions,
and then embarked for Calcutta, where he arrived in 1742.
As soon as he engaged in the company’s service, he acquired the highest reputation for the zeal with which he
entered into their interests, and at the same time acquired such knowledge of the institutions, manners, and
customs of the natives of India, that, in 1752, when some
regulations were thought necessary in the police of Calcutta, he was desired to give his opinion on the subject.
He accordingly drew up the greater part of “A general
idea of the Government and People of Indostan.
” In The History' of the Military Transactions
of the British nation in Itidostan, from the year 1745,
” the
first volume of which, bringing down the history to 1756,
was published in 1763, and extremely well received by
the public. The East India company, duly sensible of his
merits, and of the importance of his historical researches,
not only gave him free access to all their records, but appointed him to be their historiographer, with a salary of
400l. per annum. To obtain the most accurate information respecting the war which was to be the subject of
the second volume, he went over to France in 1773, where
he was furnished liberally with various authentic documents, but it was not till 1778 that the work was brought
to its completion. This contained all the events which
took place in the English settlements in India from 1756
to 1763, with an investigation of the rise and progress of
the English commerce in Bengal, and an account of the
Mahommedan government from its establishment in 1200.
In 1782 Mr. Orme published a work entitled “Historical
Fragments of the Mogul empire of the Marattoes, and of
the English concerns in Indostau from the year 1659.
”
This, which was an octavo volume, was his last publication, for though his literary pursuits were unremitted, yet
his health was unequal to the exertions required for the
composition. In 1792 he left the metropolis to enjoy in
retirement the society of. his friends, and the recreation
afforded by a well- assorted library. The place of his retirement was Ealing, where he was often visited by his
friends, who appear to have loved him with great affection.
Amongst these may be mentioned general Richard Smith,
Mr. Robarts, one of the court of directors, Mr. Dairy mple,
sir George Baker, and the late Mr. Owen Cambridge.
But his books were his chief companions; and such was
the active curiosity of his mind, that at the age of seventy
he found in them a constant source of amusement. He
continued his studies to the last month of his life, and a
great many of his books bear interesting evidence of the
strict attention with which he perused them; for their
margins are filled with observations in his own hand writing. In the beginning of January 1801, he fell into a
state of weakness and languor that prognosticated his
speedy dissolution; and he expired on the 14th of that
month, in the seventy-third year of his age.
derminster, to which he was principally led that he might have the advice of a very able and skilful physician (Dr. Johnstone, of Worcester), who always proved himself a faithful
Mr. Orton’s quitting his pastoral connection with the
dissenters at Shrewsbury, was attended with unhappy consequences. A contest arose with respect to the choice of
an assistant to Mr. Fownes, which, at length ended in a
separation. The larger number of the society thought it
their duty to provide themselves with another place of worship; and with these Mr. Orton concurred in opinion. He
esteemed himself, says his biographer, bound to countenance them upon every principle of conscience, as a Christian, a Dissenter, a Minister, and a Friend to Liberty.
Though Mr. Fownes continued at the old chapel, this circumstance did not occasion any diminution in the friendship
and affection subsisting between him and Mr. Orton. One
almost unavoidable effect of the division was, its being accompanied with a bad spirit, in several persons, on both
sides of the question. The height to which the matter was
carried, rendered Mr. Orton’s situation at Shrewsbury
greatly uncomfortable, and materially affected his health.
He found it necessary, therefore, to retire to another place;
and at length, in 1766, he fixed at Kidderminster, to
which he was principally led that he might have the advice
of a very able and skilful physician (Dr. Johnstone, of Worcester), who always proved himself a faithful and tender friend. He continued at Kidderminster for the
remainder of his clays; and although prevented, by the bad
state of his health, from ever again appearing in the pulpit, he still retained the same zeal for promoting the great
objects of the Christian religion. What he could not perform as a preacher, he was solicitous to effect as a practical
writer. Previously to his resignation of the pastoral office
his only publications were, his Funeral Sermon for Dr. Doddridge, printed in 1752; a Fast Sermon in 1756, occasioned by the earthquake at Lisbon; and “Three Discourses on Eternity, and the Importance and Advantage of
looking at Eternal Things,
” published in Memoirs of the Life, Character,
and Writings of Dr. Doddridge.
” In Religious Exercises
recommended: or, Discourses on the Heavenly State, considered under the Idea of a Sabbath.
” In Discourses to the Aged.
” Our author’s next
publication, which appeared in Christian Zeal; or three Discourses on the Importance of seeking the Things of Christ more than our own.
” These
seem to have been intended to check the se!6sh and clamorous zeal which then appeared among the Dissenters
for matters of a worldly kind, and to direct it to the support and advancement of real practical religion. In 1775,
Mr. Orton committed to the press three farther Discourses,
under the title of “Christian Worship,
” which have been,
translated into Welch. Two volumes of “Discourses on
Practical Subjects
” were the production of the next year.
Mr. Orion’s last publication, which appeared in 1777, was
entitled “Sacramental Meditations or, Devout Reflections on various Passages of Scripture, designed to assist
Christians in their attendance on the Lord’s Supper, and
their Improvement of it.
” These meditations, which are
fifty in number, are all founded on different texts of the
Sacred Writings, and are, what the author himself used
in the administration of the sacrament, according to the
method observed among Dissenters from the Church of
England.
illiam Jones. These books and manuscripts then passed into the hands of sir Charles Scarborough, the physician; the latter of which were carefully looked over, and all that
Although, according to Aubrey, he burnt “a world of
papers
” just before his death, yet it is certain that he also
left behind him a great number of papers upon mathematical subjects; and, in most of his Greek and Latin mathematical books there were found notes in his own handwriting, with an abridgment of almost every proposition
and demonstration in the margin, which came into the
museum of the late William Jones, esq. F. R. S. father to
sir William Jones. These books and manuscripts then
passed into the hands of sir Charles Scarborough, the physician; the latter of which were carefully looked over, and
all that were found fit for the press, printed at Oxford,
1676, under the title of “Opuscula Mathematica hactenus
inedita.
” This collection contains the following pieces:
1. “Institutiones mechanics.
” 2. “De variis corporum
generibus gravitate et magnitudine comparatis.
” 3. “Automata.
” 4. “Qusestiones Diophanti Alexandrini, libri
tres.
” 5. “De triangulis planis rectangulis.
” 6. “t)e divisione superficiorum.
” 7. “Musicae elemental 8.
” De
propugnaculornm munitionibus.“9.
” Sectiones angulares.“In 1660, sir Jonas Moore annexed to his arithmetic, then printed in octavo, a treatise entitled
” Conical
sections; or, the several sections of a cone; being an
analysis or methodical contraction of the two first books of
Mydorgius, and whereby the nature of the parabola, hyperbola, and ellipsis, is very clearly laid down. Translated
from the papers of the learned William Oughtred."
Oughtred, says Dr. Hutton, though undoubtedly a very
great mathematician, was yet far from having the happiest
method of treating the subjects he wrote upon. His style
and manner were very concise, obscure, and dry and his
rules and precepts so involved in symbols and abbreviations, as rendered his mathematical writings very troublesome to read, and difficult to be understood.
conveyed away alive by a gang of Mohocks, and carried to Turkey; where, corning into the hands of a physician, he acquired some skill in that faculty; and at length, after
Dying without issue, sir Thomas’s estate came to hi
younger brother, whose son, sir Thomas Overbury, was
also the author of some pieces. These are, I. “A true
and perfect Account of the Examination, Trial, Condemnation, and Execution, of Joan Perry and her two sons,
for the supposed Murder of William Harrison, written by
way of letter to Thomas Shirley, M. D. in London, 1676,
”
4to. This is one of the most remarkable incidents in story.
Harrison was not really murdered, but conveyed away
alive by a gang of Mohocks, and carried to Turkey;
where, corning into the hands of a physician, he acquired
some skill in that faculty; and at length, after many years
absence, found means of getting away, and returned home,
to the great astonishment of every body, since the sufferers for his supposed death had actually confessed the
murder. 2. ' Queries proposed to the serious Consideration of those who impose upon others in things of divine
and supernatural Revelation, and prosecute any upon the
account of Religion with a desire of their candid and
Christian Resolution thereof;“printed in 1677. In answer
to which there came out the same year
” AtaxiaD Obstaculum; an answer to certain queries, intituled, Queries proposed,“&c. Upon this, sir Thomas wrote a reply, entitled, 3.
” Ratiocinium Vernaculum or, a Reply to
Ataxiae Obstaculum," &c.
, an eminent English physician, was born in the diocese of Worcester, and educated at Mertoncollege,
, an eminent English physician, was
born in the diocese of Worcester, and educated at Mertoncollege, Oxford, of which he became probationer-fellow
in 1519. Having studied physic, he took his doctor’s
degree in that faculty in 1527, and soon after was appointed
physician to Henry VIII. and held the same office in the
two succeeding reigns. In 1544 he was constituted a fellow of the college of physicians, and appears to have attained high consequence in his profession. He was a witness to the will of Henry VIII. who left him a legacy of
100l. It is reported that Edward VI. was brought into the
world by Dr. Owen’s means, who performed the Caesarian
operation on his mother, queen Jane Seymour. From this
circumstance, whether truly or falsely related, we may
conclude him to have been a practitioner in midwifery, as
well as in physic. In the first year of queen Mary he was
very instrumental in obtaining an act for the confirmation
and enlargement of the powers granted to the college of
physicians. Some time after, in the same reign, when a
difference took place between the college of physicians
and the university of Oxford, concerning the admission of
an illiterate person to a degree, who was rejected by the
college upon their examination; cardinal Pole, then chancellor of the university, was appealed to, and obliged the
university to consult Dr. Owen and Dr. Thomas Huys, the
queen’s physician, “de instituendis rationibus quibus
Oxoniensis academia in admittendis Medicis uteretur.
”
An agreement was accordingly made, which the chancellor
approved and ratified by his authority. Dr. Owen died
Oct. 10, 1558, of an epidemic intermittent, and was buried
in St. Stephen’s, Walbrook. Leland intimates that he had
written several pieces on medical subjects, but none of
them were preserved. Tanner mentions that he wrote a
work entitled " A meet Diet for the new ague set forth by
Mr. Dr. Owen, Lond. 1558, fol. In 1553, Edward VI.
granted Durham-college, in Oxford, to our George Owen
and William Martyn, which the following year they sold
to sir Thomas Pope, who founded Trinity -college on the
scite. Previous to this, Dr. Owen received a grant of
Godstowe nunnery, with its adjoining estates, and this
nunnery he converted into a dwelling-house with some alterations and improvements.
rtune, which ca.ne into his head. The count at the same time procured his horoscope to be taken by a physician, who was greatly infatuated with astrology, and who followed
We are told that he knew too much of astronomy to give into judicial astrology; and obstinately refused all that was offered him to engage him to calculate nativities. Once indeed he submitted to the importunity of a count of the empire, whom he had sufficiently warned not to believe him. He drew up by astronomy the scheme of his nativity, and then without employing the rules of astrology, foretold him all the instances of good fortune, which ca.ne into his head. The count at the same time procured his horoscope to be taken by a physician, who was greatly infatuated with astrology, and who followed exactly all the rules of that art. Twenty years after the count informed Mr. Ozanam, that all his predictions were come to pass, and that none of the physician’s had their effect. This account gave him a very different satisfaction from what was intended. The count thought to compliment him upon his skill in astrology, but it only served to confirm him in his opinion of the absurdity of that pretended science.
, or in Latin Pavius, a physician and anatomist, born at Amsterdam in 1564, was educated in medical
, or in Latin Pavius, a physician and
anatomist, born at Amsterdam in 1564, was educated in
medical studies at Leyden, whence he proceeded to Paris
for farther improvement. He afterwards spent some time
in Denmark, and at Rostock, where he received the degree
of doctor in 1587, and at Padua. On his return to Leyden,
he was appointed professor of medicine in 15S9, in which
office he acquired the approbation and esteem both of the
public and his colleagues, and died universally regretted,
in August 1617, at the age of fifty-four. Anatomy and
botany were the departments which he most ardently cultivated; and he was the founder of the botanic garden of
Leyden. His works are, 1. “Tractatus de Exercitiis, Lacticim'is, et Bellariis.
” Rost. 2. “Notse in Galen urn, de
cibis boni et mali succi,
” ibid. These two pieces appear
to. have been his inaugural exercises. 3. “Hortus publi-,
cus Academiae Lugduno-Batavae, ejus Ichnographia, descriptio, usus, &c.
” Lugd. Bat. Primitioe Anatomicae de humani corporis Ossibus,
” ibid. Succenturiatus Anatomicus, continens Commentaria in Hip-.
pocratem de Capitis Vulneribus. Additae sunt Anuotationes in aliquot Capita Librioctavi C. Celsi,
” ibid. Notae et Commentarii in Epitomen Anatomicum Aridresa
Vesalii, ibid, 1616. To these we may add some works
which appeared after his death. 7.
” De Valvula Intestini
Epistolaa du33.“Oppenheim, 1619, together with the first
century of the Epistles of Fabric-ills Hildanus. 3.
” De
Peste Tractatus, cum Henrici Florentii additamentis.“Lug.
Bat. 1636. 9.
” Anatomicae Observationes selectiores.“Hafniae, 1657, inserted in the third and fourth centuries
of the anatomical and medical histories of T. Bartholin. He
also left in ms. a
” Methodus Anatomica," which was in
the library of M. de Vick of Amsterdam.
teen. For farther proficiency he was sent to Padua, with his brother Fabius, who afterwards became a physician of eminence, and is mentioned with great honour by the medical
, an eminent lawyer and philosopher, called Pacius de Beriga, from the name of a country seat belonging to his father’s family, near Vicenza, was born at the latter city in 1550. His parents bestowed every pains on his education, and he is said to have made such progress in his first studies as to have composed a treatise on arithmetic at the age of thirteen. For farther proficiency he was sent to Padua, with his brother Fabius, who afterwards became a physician of eminence, and is mentioned with great honour by the medical biographers. Julius, after taking his degree of doctor in law, returned to his own country, where, in the course of his extensive reading, he became acquainted with the sentiments of the reformers, and concealed his attachment to them with so little care, that he was menaced by the horrors of the inquisition, from which he escaped to Geneva. This step being attended with the Joss of his property, he gained a livelihood for some lime by teaching youth, until his character becoming known, he was encouraged to give lectures on civil Jaw, which he did for ten years with great success and reputation. At Geneva also he married a lady whose family had fled from Lncca for the cause of religion, and had a family of ten children by her.
ty and court. He died at Paris, Nov. 18, 1665, having never been married. The king ordered his first physician to attend him in his illness, and gave several marks of the
In 1657 he published “The Theory of the Planets;
cleared from that multiplicity of eccentric circles and
epicycles, which the astronomers had invented to explain
their motions.
” This distinguished him among the astronomers, as much as his work on fortification did among
the engineers; and he printed, in 1658, his “Astronomical Tables,
” which are very succinct and plain. But, as
few great men are without their foible, that of Pagan was
a prejudice in favour of judicial astrology; and, though he
is more reserved than most others, yet what he wrote upon
that subject must not be classed among those productions
which do honour to his understanding. He was beloved
and visited by all persons illustrious for rank, as well as
science; and his house was the rendezvous of all the polite and worthy both in city and court. He died at Paris,
Nov. 18, 1665, having never been married. The king ordered his first physician to attend him in his illness, and
gave several marks of the extraordinary esteem which he
had for his merit.
ey, is too instryctive and admonitory to be omitted. “During the latter part of his life,” says this physician, “though his conversation was equivocal, his conduct was singular.
The closing scene of his life, as related by his medical
attendant, Dr. Manley, is too instryctive and admonitory
to be omitted. “During the latter part of his life,
” says
this physician, “though his conversation was equivocal, his
conduct was singular. He would not be left alone night
or day. He not only required to have some person with
him, but he must see that he or she was there, and would
not allow his curtain to be closed at any time; and if, as
it would sometimes unavoidably happen, he was left alone,
he would scream and holla, until some person came to him.
When relief from pain would admit, he seemed thoughtful
and contemplative, his eyes being generally closed, and
his hands folded upon his breast, although he never slept
without the assistance of an anodyne. There was something remarkable in his conduct about this period (which comprises about two weeks immediately preceding his death), particularly when we reflect, that Thomas Paine was
author of the
” Age of Reason." He would call out during
his paroxysms of distress, without intermission, ‘ O Lord
help -me, God help me, Jesus Christ help me, O Lord help
me,’ &c. repeating the same expression without any the
least var ation, in a tone of voice that would alarm the
house. It was this conduct which induced me to think
that he had abandoned his former opinions; and I was
more inclined to that belief, when I understood from his
nurse (who is a very serious, and, I believe, pious woman,) that he would occasionally inquire, when he saw her
engaged with a book, what she was reading, and being
answered, and at the same time asked whether she should
read aloud, he assented, and would appear to give particular attention. The book she usually read was * Hobart’s
Companion for the Altar/
Vitae,” a poem in twelve books, dedicated to Hercules II. of Este, duke of Ferrara. Some say he was physician to that prince, but this will admit of a doubt; at least it
, an Italian poet, who
flourished in the sixteenth century, was born at Stellada,
in Ferrara, upon the bank of the Po. We are told by
some, that his true name was Pietro Angelo Manzolli, of
which “Marcello Palingenio
” is the anaigram . He is
chiefly known by his “Zodiacus Vitae,
” a poem in twelve
books, dedicated to Hercules II. of Este, duke of Ferrara.
Some say he was physician to that prince, but this will admit of a doubt; at least it is certain he was not so when he
wrote the dedication to his “Zodiac.
” This poem, on
which he had employed several years, brought him into
trouble, as it contained many sarcastic attacks on monks
and church-abuses and his name therefore appears in the
“Index librorum prohibitorum,
” as a Lutheran heretic of
the Brst class, and as an impious author. It is thought, he
carries too far the objections of libertines and scoffers at
religion; otherwise his work is interspersed with judicious
maxims, and some have considered it as a truly philosophical satire against immorality and prejudice. In the
close of the dedication, he declares himself a good catholic,
so far as to submit all his opinions to the censure of the
church; and this declaration might perhaps have secured
him against the inquisition, had the affair related only to
some particular tenet; but it could not acquit him of that
impiety, which Palingenius was, not without reason, suspected to teach. In his third book, for instance, he inculcates the doctrine of Epicurus without the least reserve.
He published this book in 1536, and again at Basil, in1537 ; and seems not to have lived long after that date.
Gyraldus, who wrote about 1543, relates, that, after his
burial, his body was ordered to be dug up, in order to be
burnt; which execution was prevented by the duchess of
Ferrara, who, it is thought, had received him at her court
among the Lutherans.
, a learned physician and historian, was born at Basil June 13, 1522. In his early
, a learned physician and historian, was born at Basil June 13, 1522. In his early education he made very considerable proficiency, but it ap
pears that his friends differed in their opinions as to his
profession, some intending him for a learned profession,
and some for a printer, which they conceived to be connected with it. At length after a due course of the languages and polite literature, he studied divinity according
to the principles of the reformed religion, but changing
that design, he taught dialectics and natural philosophy at
Basil for about forty years. He then, at an advanced age,
studied medicine, took the degree of doctor in that faculty,
and practised with much reputation until his death, March
3, 1595, in the seventy-third year of his age. He composed various works both in medicine and history, some in
Latin and some in German, and translated certain authors
into the latter language. His most useful work, nowscarce, was an account of the eminent men of Germany,
published at Basil in 1565, fol. under the title of “Posographia heroum et illustrium virorum Germanise,
” dedicated to the emperor Maximilian II. who honoured him
with the title of Count Palatin. He published also a Latin
history of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, 1581, folio.
' Historia Militaris ordinis Johannitarum, Rhodiorum aut
Melitensium Equitum;“” Chronographia Ecclesiae Christi,“ibid, 1568;
” Diarium Historicum,“1572; and, in
his youth,
” Comoedia de Zaccheo publicanorum principe,"
1546, 8vo.
, an ingenious physician, the son of Nicholas Papin, also a physician, was born at Blois.
, an ingenious physician, the son of
Nicholas Papin, also a physician, was born at Blois. He
took the degree of doctor, and travelled to England, where
he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, in December
1680. He passed the following year in London, and published in English an account of a machine which he had
invented, and which still bears his name: this was “The
New Digester, or Engine for the softening of Bones,
”
La Maniere d'amollir les Os, et de faire cuire toutes
sortes des Viandes en peu de terns et a peu de fraix,
” Paris, Fasciculus Dissertationum dequibusdam Machinis Physicis,
” Ars nova ad aquam ignis adminiculo efficacissime elevandam.
”
s, he afterwards changed, according to the custom of the age, into Paracelsus. His father, who was a physician, instructed him in that science, but, as it would appear, in
, a man of a strange and paradoxical genius, and classed by Brucker among the Theosophists, was born, as is generally supposed (for his birth-place is a disputed matter), at Einfidlen near Zurick, in 1493. His family name, which was Bombastus, he afterwards changed, according to the custom of the age, into Paracelsus. His father, who was a physician, instructed him in that science, but, as it would appear, in nothing else, for he was almost totally ignorant of the learned languages. So earnest was he, however, to penetrate into the mysteries of nature, that, neglecting books, he undertook long and hazardous journeys through Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Hungary, Moscovy, and probably several parts of Asia and Africa. He not only visited literary and learned men, but frequented the workshops of mechanics, descended into mines, and thought no place mean or hazardous, if it afforded him an opportunity of increasing his knowledge of nature. He also consulted barber-surgeons, monks, conjurors, old women, quacks of every description, and every person who pretended to be possessed of any secret art, particularly such as were skilled in metallurgy. Being in this manner a self-taught philosopher and physician, he despised the medical writings of the ancients, and boasted that the whole contents of his library would not amount to six folios. He appears indeed to have written more than he ever read. His quackery consisted in certain new and secret medicines procured from metallic substances by the chemical art, which he administered with such wonderful success, that he rose to the summit of popular fame, and even obtained the professorship of medicine at Bail. One of his nostrums he called Azoth, which he said was the philosopher’s stone, the medical panacea, and his disciples extolled it as the tincture of life, given through the divine favour to man in these last days. But while his irregular practice, and arrogant invectives against other physicians, created him many enemies, his rewards were by no means adequate to his vanity and ambition; and he met frequently with mortifications, one of which determined him to leave Basil. A wealthy canon who happened to fall sick at that place, offered him a hundred florins to cure his disease, which Paracelsus easily effected with three pills of opium, one of his most powerful medicines. The canon, restored to health so soon, and apparently by such slight means, refused to stand to his engagement. Paracelsus brought the matter before the magistrate, who decreed him only the usual fee. Inflamed with violent indignation at the contempt which was thus thrown upon his art, he railed at the canon, the magistrate, and the whole city, and leaving Basil, withdrew into Alsace, whither his medical fame and success followed him. After two years, during which time he practised medicine in the principal families of the country, about the year 1530 he removed into Switzerland, where he conversed with Bullinger and other divines. From this time, he seems for many years to have roved through various parts of Germany and Bohemia. At last, in the year 1541, he died in the hospital of St. Sebastian, in Saltsburg.
, an excellent physician and polite scholar, was born at Barnstaple, in Devonshire, in
, an excellent physician and polite scholar, was born at Barnstaple, in Devonshire, in March 1705. His father, who was the youngest of nine sons of colonel Parsons, and nearly related to the baronet of that name, being appointed barrack-master at Bolton, in IreJand, removed with his family into that kingdom soon after the birth of his then only son, James, who received at Dublin the early part of his education, and, by the assistance of proper masters, laid a considerable foundation of classical and other useful learning, which enabled him to become tutor to lord Kingston. Turning his attention to the study of medicine, he went afterwards to Paris, where (to use his own words) " he followed the most eminent professors in the several schools, as Astruc, Dubois, Lemery, and others; attended the anatomical lectures of the most famous (Hunaud and Le Caf); and chemicals at the king’s garden at St. Come* He followed the physicians in both hospitals of the Hotel Dieu and La Charite, and the chemical lectures and demonstrations of Lemery and Bonlduc; and in botany, Jussieu. Having finished these studies, his professors gave him honourable attestations of his having followed them with diligence and industry, which entitled him to take the degrees of doctor and professor of the art of medicine, in any university in the dominions of France. Intending to return to England, he judged it unnecessary to take degrees in Paris, unless he had resolved to reside there; and as it was more expensive, he therefore went to the university of Rheims, in Champaign, where, by virtue of his attestations, he was immediately admitted to three examinations, as if he had finished his studies in that academy; and there was honoured with his degrees June 11, 1736. In the July following he came to London, and was first employed by Dr. James Douglas to assist him in his anatomical works, but after some time began to practise. He was elected a member of the royal society in 1740; and, after due examination, was admitted a licentiate of the college of physicians, April 1, 1751.
ncipally employed in midwifery. In 1738, by the interest of his friend Dr. Douglas, he was appointed physician to the public infirmary in St. Giles’s. In 1739 he married miss
On his arrival in London, by the recommendation of his
Paris friends, he was introduced to the acquaintance of Dr.
Mead, sir Hans Sloane, and Dr. James Douglas. This
great anatomist made use of his assistance, not only in his
anatomical preparations, but also in his representations of
morbid and other appearances, a list of several of which
was in the hands of his friend Dr. Maty; who had prepared
an eloge on Dr. Parsons, which was never used, but which,
by the favour of Mrs. Parsons, Mr. Nichols has preserved
at large. Though Dr. Parsons cultivated the several
branches of the profession of physic, he was principally
employed in midwifery. In 1738, by the interest of his
friend Dr. Douglas, he was appointed physician to the
public infirmary in St. Giles’s. In 1739 he married miss
Elizabeth Reynolds, by whom he had two sons and a
daughter, who all died young. Dr. Parsons resided for
many years in Red Lion-square, where he frequently
enjoyed the company and conversation of Dr. Stukeley,
bishop Lyttleton, Mr. Henry Baker, Dr. Knight, and many
other of the most distinguished members of the royal and
antiquarian societies, and that of arts, manufactures, and
commerce; giving weekly an elegant dinner to a large but
select party. He enjoyed also the literary correspondence
of D'Argenville, Button, Le Cat, Beccaria, Amb. Bertrand,
Valltravers, Ascanius, Turberville Needham, Dr. Garden,
and others of the most distinguished rank in science. As
a practitioner he was judicious, careful, honest, and remarkably humane to the poor; as a friend, obliging and
communicative; cheerful and decent in conversation; severe and strict in his morals, and attentive to fill with propriety all the various duties of life. In 1769, finding his
health impaired, he proposed to retire from business and
from London, and with that view disposed of a considerable
number of his books and fossils, and went to Bristol. But
he returned soon after to his old house, and died in it after
a week’s illness, on the 4th of April, 1770, much lamented
by his family and friends. By his last will, dated in October 1766, he gave his whole property to Mrs. Parsons;
and, in case of her death before him, to miss Mary Reynolds, her only sister, “in recompence for her affectionate
attention to him and to his wife, for a long course of years, in
sickness and in health.
” It was his particular request that
he should not be buried till some change should appear in
his corpse; a request which occasioned him to be kept unburied 17 days, and even then scarce the slightest
alterution was perceivable. He was buried at Hen don, in a vault
which he had caused to be built on the ground purchased
on the death of his son James, where his tomb had a very
commendatory inscription. A portrait of Dr. Parsons, by
Mr. Wilson, is now in the British Museum; another, by
Wells, left in the hands of his widow, who died in 1786;
with a third unfinished; and one of his son James; also a
family piece, in which the same son is introduced, with
the doctor and his lady, accompanied by her sister. Among
many other portraits, Mrs. Parsons had some that were
very fine of the illustrious Harvey, of bishop Burnet, and
of Dr. John Freind; a beautiful miniature of Dr. Stukeley;
some good paintings, by her husband’s own hand, particularly the rhinoceros which he described in the “Philosophical Transactions.
” She possessed also his Mss. and
some capital printed books; a large folio volume entitled
“Figure quaedam Miscellaneae qu0e ad rem Anatomicam
Historiamque Naturalem spectant quas propria adumbravit manu Jacobus Parsons, M. D. S S. R. Ant.
” &c.
another, called “Drawings of curious Fossils, Shells,
” &c.
in Dr. Parsons’s Collection, drawn by himself;" &c. &c.
Mrs. Parsons professed herself ready to give, on proper
application, either to the royal or antiquarian society, a
portrait of her husband, and a sum of money to found a
lecture to perpetuate his memory, similar to that established
by his friend Mr. Henry Baker.
, another learned and amiable physician, though less known as an author, the son of major Parsons, of
, another learned and amiable physician, though less known as an author, the son of major Parsons, of the dragoons, was horn in Yorkshire, in 1742. He was educated at Westminster school, whence in 17:. 9 he was elected to a studentship in Christ Church, Oxford. Having made choice of medicine as a profession, he prosecuted the study of it with uncommon assiduity, not only at Oxford, but also at London and Edinburgh. But while he bestowed much attention on every branch of medical knowledge, he at first showed a particular predilection for natural history and botany, and in the latter branch made a very distinguished figure during his stay at Edinburgh. In 1766 he had the honour of obtaining the prize medal given by Dr. Hope for the most extensive and elegant hortus siccus, and the same year took his degree of M. A. This, however, was only a prelude to more distinguished honours. In 1769, when he took his degree of M. B. he was appointed to the anatomy lecture at Oxford, and was also the first reader in anatomy at Christ Church, on the institution of John Freind and Matthew Lee, M. D. and students of that house. In consequence of this appointment, his attention, it may naturally be supposed, was more particularly directed to anatomy, and under his direction a very commodious anatomical theatre was built; and for the instruction of his pupils he provided a set of anatomical preparations, which for neatness and elegance have seldom been surpassed. From the time of his appointment he read two courses of anatomical lectures every year; and although they were calculated rather for the general philosopher than the medical practitioner, yet they were not only highly instructive to all his audience, but afforded incontestable evidence of his genius and abilities. He was soon after elected one of the physicians to the Radcliffe infirmary, and in June 1772 proceeded M. D. He had a considerable share also of private practice, and from his attention and success his reputation with the public kept pace with the esteem in which he was held by the university. In 1780 he was elected the first clinical professor on the foundation instituted in 1772 by George Henry, earl of Lichfield, late chancellor of the university. In this department also he read lectures during the winter months with much credit to himself. But it is not improbable that the various active employments in which he was engaged, and which necessarily exposed him to fatigue and danger, had some share in overthrowing a constitution naturally strong. He was not, however, cut off by any tedious or painful ailment, but died of a fever April 3, 1785, in the forty-fourth year of his age, and was buried in the north transept of the cathedral, where four of his children were buried before him.
iquary and philologer, was born at Gubio in the duchy of Urbino, in Nov. 1694. His father, who was a physician at Todi, designed him for the study of the law, which accordingly
, a learned Italian antiquary
and philologer, was born at Gubio in the duchy of Urbino,
in Nov. 1694. His father, who was a physician at Todi,
designed him for the study of the law, which accordingly
he followed, but pursued with it that of antiquities, for
which he had a strong genius. After residing four years
at Rome he returned to Todi, and began to collect the
antiquities of that city and its environs. In 1726 he turned
his attention chiefly to the Etruscan antiquities, and collected a vast number of lamps, which he arranged in
classes. Having lost his wife in 1738, after twelve years
of happy union, he became an ecclesiastic, and was apostolic prothonotary, and vicar-general of Pesaro. In February 1780, he was overturned in his carriage, and died
in consequence of the fall. His works are, 1. “Lucernae
fictiles Musei Passerii,
” a splendid 4>ook in 3 vols. folio,
He had drawn up a fourth, on the lamps of the Christians,
but this has not been published. These came out in 1739,
1743, and 1751. 2. “Lettere Roncagliesi;
” Letters from
his villa at Roncaglia, on Etruscan antiquities, 1739. There
were seventeen letters, and a continuation was afterwards
published. 3. “In Thorns? Dempsteri Libros de Etruria
regali Paralipomena, quibus tabula? eidem operi additsG
illustrantur. Accedunt dissertatio de re numaria Etruscorum; de nominibus Etruscorum; et notoe in tabulas Eugabinas, auctore I. Baptista Passerio,
” Lucafc,
, a French physician, wit, and free-thinker, was born Aug. 31, 1601, at Hodenc en
, a French physician, wit, and free-thinker, was born Aug. 31, 1601, at Hodenc en Bray, a village jiear Beauvais. He appears to have been at first a corrector of the press at Paris, and in that capacity was noticed by the celebrated Riolan, who became his friend and adviser; and Patin having applied to the study of medicine, acquitted himself so ably in all his academic trials, that he received the degree of doctor in the Paris school of medicine in 1627. in this city he began practice, but became more noted for his wit and humour, both of the most sarcastic kind, while he laid himself open to the wit of others by the peculiarity of his opinions, by his censure of every thing modern, and his utter aversion to all improvement in medicine. Notwithstanding these singularities, his entertaining conversation procured him access to many families of distinction; and the president Lamoignon often diverted the cares of his professional life by the sallies and bon-mots of Patin.' Patin was an excellent Latin scholar, and expressed himself with such elegance in that language, that all Paris flocked to his theses as to a comedy. Some fancied he had the air and countenance of Cicero, but he won more upon them by having the disposition of Rabelais.
, son of the preceding, and an able physician and antiquary, was born at Paris, Feb. 2.i, 1633. He was educated
, son of the preceding, and an able physician and antiquary, was born at Paris, Feb. 2.i, 1633. He was educated with great care by his father, and made such surprizing progress in his studies, that at the age of fourteen he defended Greek and Latin theses in philosophy, with the greatest applause in an assembly composed of thirty-four prelates, the pope’s nuncio, and many other persons of distinction. Being intended for the bar, he completed his law studies, and became an advocate in the parliament of Paris, but he soon relinquished this career for the study of medicine, which in his opinion promised greater advantages. He became afterwards a considerable practitioner, and a teacher of reputation in the medical school of Paris, where he took his doctor’s degree in 1656; but was about this time obliged to leave France for fear of imprisonment. The cause of this is variously related, but the most probable account is, that he had been in some way accessary to the circulation of certain libels which drew upon him the resentment of the court.
, a Danish professor and physician, was born at Rostock, in the circle of Lower Saxony, April 6,
, a Danish professor and physician,
was born at Rostock, in the circle of Lower Saxony, April
6, 1603, and died at Copenhagen, April 25, 1680. He
published some medical treatises, and in 1639 a Latin
quarto, on medicinal plants, entitled Quadripartitum Botanicum; and in 1648 a thicker volume, in Danish, with
wooden cuts, called “Flora Danica,
” which, however, embraces the garden plants as well as the native ones, known
in Denmark at the time of its publication. He wrote also
against tobacco and tea, and his work was translated into
English by the late Dr. James, in 1746. The most remarkable circumstance attending it is his contending, with
the positiveness, usual to those who are in the wrong, that
the Chinese Tea is no other than our European Myrica
gale; an error which Bartholin very cautiously and repectfully corrects, in his Acta Medica, v. 4. 1, where the true
tea is, not very accurately, figured. The Paullinia, in
botany, is so named in honour of him, by Linnæus.
name Palmerius, was born in the territory of Auge, in 1587, th son of Julien ie Paulmier, who was a physician of eminence. He was bred a protestant, embraced a military life,
, more
commonly known to the learned by his Latinized name
Palmerius, was born in the territory of Auge, in 1587, th
son of Julien ie Paulmier, who was a physician of eminence.
He was bred a protestant, embraced a military life, and
served with credit in Holland and in France. After a time,
he retired to Caen, where he gave himself up entirely to
the study of letters and antiquity; and was the first promoter of an academy in that city, which has since been
considered as a valuable institution. He died at Caen,
Oct. 1, 1670, being then eighty-three. His works are, 1.
“Observationes in optimos auctores Graccos,
” Lugd. Bat.
Graeciaj antiquae Descriptio,
” Lugd. Bat.
53; after which, having suffered greatly from the fatigue of his last journey, he was advised by his physician and friend, Dr. Heberden, and prevailed upon, not to attempt
In his parochial cure he was punctually diligent, and
very seldom omitted to preach; but his sermons had not
all the effect which he desired, for his voice was low and
feeble, and could not reach the whole of a numerous congregation. Those whom it did reach were both pleased
and edified with, the good sense and sound doctrine which
he never failed to deliver. When advanced to the honours
of episcopacy, he did not consider himself as placed in a
state that allowed him any remission from the labours of his
ministry. He was not hindered by the distance of Bangor
from annually resorting to that diocese (one year only excepted), and discharging his episcopal duties there, tp
1753; after which, having suffered greatly from the fatigue
of his last journey, he was advised by his physician and
friend, Dr. Heberden, and prevailed upon, not to attempt
another. When he accepted the bishopric of Bangor, he
established in himself a resolution of conferring Welsh preferments or benefices only on Welshmen; and to this resolution he adhered, in defiance of influence or importunity. He twice gave away the deanry, and bestowed
many benefices, but always chose for his patronage the
natives of the country, whatever might be the murmurs of
his relations, or the disappointment of his chaplains. The
diocese of Rochester conjoined, as had been for some time
usual, with tjie deanry of Westminster, afforded him a
course of duty more commodious. He divided his timd
between his public offices, and his solitary studies. He
preached at Bromley or Ealing, and by many years labour
in the explication of the New Testament, produced the
“Commentary,” &c. which was offered to the public after
his decease. It was bequeathed to the care of the rev.
John Derby, his lordship’s chaplain, who published it in
1777, in 2 vols. 4to, underthe title of “A Commentary,
with notes, on the Four Evangelists and the Acts of the
Apostles, together with a new translation of St. Paul’s
first epistle to the Corinthians, with a paraphrase and
notes. To which are added other Theological pieces.
”
Prefixed is an elegant dedication to the king, in the name
of the editor, but from the pen of Dr. Johnson; and a life
written by the bishop himself, and connected in a regular
narrative by paragraphs, evidently by Dr. Johnson’s pen.
This life is highly interesting, and contains many curious
particulars which we have been obliged to omit.
rue friendship, of which he himself afforded a noble example. Pechmeja, and M. du Breuil, an eminent physician of the time, were the Pylades and Orestes of their age. The
, a man of letters in France, who
was for some time professor of eloquence in the royal college of la Fleche, was born in 1741, at Villa Franca in
Rouergue. He was a disinterested scholar, a plain, modest,
and vjrtuous man. His eulogium on the great Colbert received the public approbation of the French academy in
1773. His principal fame has arisen from a poem (as he calls it) in prose, named “Telephus,
” in twelve books.
It was published in octavo in I have,
” said he,
“200 livres a-year.
” Some wonder being expressed how
he could subsist on so little, “Oh,
” said he, “the doctor
has plenty more.
” The doctor died first of a contagious
disorder, through which his friend attended him, and died
only twenty days after, a victim to the strength of his friendship. He died about the end of April 1785, at the age of
only forty-four.
, a celebrated French physician, born at Mans in 1517, was eminent also as a scholar, and became
, a celebrated French physician,
born at Mans in 1517, was eminent also as a scholar, and
became principal of the colleges of Bayeux and Mans at
Paris, where he died in 1582. His writings have not retained all the estimation which they possessed in his time;
but they are numerous. 1. Commentaries on Euclid, written
in Latin, 8vo. 2. “De dimensione circuli,
” Basil. Disquisitiones Geometricae,
” Lugd. Dialogue de
POrtografe e prononciacion Frangoase,
” Lyon,
, a learned physician, mathematician, and mechanist, was born at London, in 1694.
, a learned physician, mathematician, and mechanist, was born at London, in 1694.
After studying grammar at a school, and the higher classics
under Mr. John Ward, afterwards professor of rhetoric at
Gresham college, he went to Leyden, and attended the
lectures of the celebrated Boerhaave, to qualify himself for
the profession of medicine. Here also, as well as in England, he constantly mixed with his professional studies
those of the best mathematical authors, whom he contemplated with great effect. From hence he went to Paris, to
perfect himself in the practice of anatomy, to which he
readily attained, being naturally dexterous in all manual
operations. Having obtained his main object, he returned
to London, enriched also with other branches of scientific
knowledge, and a choice collection of mathematical books,
both ancient and modern, from the sale of the valuable library of the abbe Gallois, which took place during his stay
in Paris. After his return he assiduously attended St.
Thomas’s hospital, to acquire the London practice of
physic, though he seldom afterwards practised, owing to
his delicate state of health. In 1719 he returned to Leyden, to take his degree of M. D where he was kindly entertained by his friend Dr. Boerhaave. After his return to
London, he became more intimately acquainted with Dr.
Mead, sir I. Newton, and other eminent men, with whom
he afterwards cultivated the most friendly connexions.
Hence he was useful in assisting sir I. Newton in preparing
a new edition of his “Principia,
” in writing an account of
his philosophical discoveries, in bringing forward Mr. Robins, and writing some pieces printed in the 2d volume of
that gentleman’s collection of tracts, in Dr. Mead’s * Treatise on the Plague," and in his edition of Cowper on the
Muscles, &c. Being chosen professor of physic in Gresham-college, he undertook to give a course of lectures on
chemistry, which was improved every time he exhibited it,
and was publisned in 1771, by his friend Dr. James Wilson.
In this situation too, at the request of the college of physicians, he revised and reformed their pharmacopoeia, in a
new and much improved edition. After a long and laborious life, spent in improving science, and assisting its
cultivators, Dr. Pemberton died in 1771, at seventy-seven
years of age.
, an eminent physician, was born at Warrington, September 29, 1740. Having lost both
, an eminent physician, was
born at Warrington, September 29, 1740. Having lost
both his parents in one day, he was placed at the age of
four years under the protection of his uncle, Dr. Thomas
Percival, a learned physician, resident at the same place;
but of his parental guidance he was also deprived at the
age of ten, after which his education was directed with the
most kind and judicious attention by his eldest sister. His
literary pursuits commenced at a private school in the
neighbourhood of Warrington, whence he was removed,
at the age of eleven, to the free grammar-school of that
town, where he exhibited great promise of talent, and
much industry. In 1757 he became one of the first pupils
of a dissenting academy then established at Warrington,
where he pursued with unabating diligence the classical
studies in which he had already made considerable progress, and in particular had attained, great facility and elegance in Latin composition, The study of ethics, however,
appears to have principally engaged his attention here, as
it did afterwards throughout the whole of -his life, and
formed the basis of all his works, except those on professional subjects. It appears that before Mr. Perceval
went to Warrington academy, his family was induced to
quit communion with the church of England, and to espouse the tenets of protestant dissent. This was in one
respect peculiarly unfortunate for him who had thoughts of
entering the university of Oxford; but now, after studying
the thirty-nine articles, he determined against subscription, and consequently relinquished the advantages of academical study at either English university. He therefore
went in 1761 to Edinburgh, and commenced his studies in
medical science, which he also carried on for a year in
London. In 1765 he removed to the university of Leyden,
with a view to complete his medical course, and to be admitted to the degree of doctor of physic. Having accordingly defended in the public schools his inaugural
dissertation “De Frigore,
” he was presented with the diploma of
M. D. July 6, 1765. On his return, which was through
France and Holland, at the close of the same year, he
joined his family at Warrington, and soon after married
Elizabeth, the daughter and only surviving child of Nathaniel Bassnett, esq. merchant, of London. In 1767 ho
removed with his family to Manchester, and commenced
his professional career with an uncommon degree of success,
rench architect, was the son of an advocate of parliament, and born at Paris, in 1613. He was bred a physician, but practised only among his relations, his friends, and the
, an eminent French architect,
was the son of an advocate of parliament, and born at Paris,
in 1613. He was bred a physician, but practised only
among his relations, his friends, and the poor. He discovered early a correct taste for the sciences and fine arts; of
which he acquired a consummate knowledge, without the
assistance of a master, and was particularly skilled in architecture, painting, sculpture, and mechanics. He still
continues to be reckoned one of the greatest architects
France ever produced. Louis XIV. who had a good taste
for architecture, sent for Bernini from Rome, and other
architects; but Perrault was preferred to them all; and
what he did at the Louvre justified this preference. The
facade of that palace, which was designed by him, “is,
”
says Voltaire, “one of the most august monuments of architecture in the world. We sometimes,
” adds he, “go
a great way in search of what we have at home. There is
not one of the palaces at Rome, whose entrance is comparable to this of the Louvre; for which we are obliged to
Perrault, whom Boileau has attempted to turn into ridicule.
” Boileau indeed went so far as to deny that Perrault was the real author of those great designs in architecture that passed for his. Perrault was involved in the
quarrel his brother Charles had with Boileau, who, however, when they became reconciled, acknowledged Claude’s
merit.
fterwards in the canton of Berne, where he was born, Nov. 25, 1556. His father, Julian Davy, an able physician, and a man of learning, instructed him till he was ten years
, a cardinal more eminent for great talents and learning than for principle, was descended from ancient and noble families on both sides. His parents, having been educated in the protestiint religion, found it necessary to remove from Lower Normandy to Geneva; and settled afterwards in the canton of Berne, where he was born, Nov. 25, 1556. His father, Julian Davy, an able physician, and a man of learning, instructed him till he was ten years of age, and taught him mathematics and the Latin tongue. Young Perron seems afterwards to have built upon this foundation, for, while his parents were obliged to remove from place to place by civil wars and persecution, he taught himself the Greek tongue and philosophy, beginning that study with the logic of Aristotle: thence he passed to the orators and poets; and afterwards applied to the Hebrew language with such success, that he could read it without points, and lectured on it to the protestant clergy.
oscow, which furnishes medicines to the great cities, and to the armies; whereas before there was no physician but the czar’s, and no apothecary in all his dominions. 7. Public
It would be endless to enumerate all the various establishments, for which the Russians are indebted to this great emperor: Fontenelle has recorded some of the principal, which are, 1. A body of 100,000 foot, under as regular a discipline as any in Europe. 2. A navy of forty ships of the line, and 200 gallies. 3. Fortifications in all main towns, and an excellent civil government in the great cities, which before were as dangerous in the night, as the most unfrequented deserts. 4. An academy for naval affairs and navigation, where all the nobility are obliged to send some of their children. 5. Colleges at Moscow, Petersburgh, and Kiof, for languages, polite literature, and mathematics; and schools in the villages, where the children of the peasants are taught to read and write. 6. A college of physicians, and a noble dispensatory at Moscow, which furnishes medicines to the great cities, and to the armies; whereas before there was no physician but the czar’s, and no apothecary in all his dominions. 7. Public lectures in anatomy, a word never heard before in Russia. Voltaire relates, that the czar had studied this branch of knowledge under Ruysch at Amsterdam; and made such improvements under this master, as to perform even chirurgical operations himself. He afterwards purchased the cabinet of that anatomist, which contained an immense collection of the most curious, instructive, and uncommon preparations. 8. An observatory, not only for the use of astronomers, but as a repository for natural curiosities. 9. A physic garden, to be stocked with plants, not only from all parts of Europe, but from Asia, Persia, and even the distant parts of China. 10. Printing-houses, where he abolished their old barbarous characters, which, through the great number of abbreviations, were almost become unintelligible. 11. Interpreters for all the languages of Europe; and likewise for the Latin, Greek, Turkish, Kalmuc, Mogul, and Chinese. 12. A royal library, composed of three very large collections, which he purchased in England, Holstein, and Germany.
, a learned physician, was born June 24, 1664, at Paris. He attended the hospitals
, a learned physician,
was born June 24, 1664, at Paris. He attended the hospitals of the army, but settled at Paris after the peace of
Utrecht in 1513; was admitted into the academy of sciences in 1722, and acquired great reputation, particularly by
his skill in disorders of the eyes. M. Petit invented an
Ophthalmometer for measuring the parts of the eye, and
several other instruments to direct the hand in its operations upon that delicate organ. He died at Paris June
18, 1741, aged 77. His works, which are written in rather a careless style, are, “Trois Lettres d'un Medecin
des Hospitaux du Roi a un autre Medecin de ses amis,
sur un Nouveau Systeme du Cerveau,
” Namur, 1710, 4to.
“Dissertation sur une Nouvelle Methode de faire l'Operation de la Cataracte,
” Par. Lettre dans
laquelle il est démontré que la Crystailin est fort pres de
l‘Uvee, et ou Ton rapporte de nouvelles preuves de i’Operation de la Cataracte,
” Lettres contenant
des Reflexions sur ce que M. Hecquet, M. D. a fait imprimer touchant les Maladies des Yeux,
” Lettres contenant des Reflexions sur les Decouvertes faites
sur les Yeux,
”
ust be ascribed to a journey they afterwards made to England. There they found sir Theodore Mayerne, physician to Charles T. and a great chemist; who had by his experiments
, a celebrated painter, was born at Geneva in 1607, of a father who was a sculptor and architect, and who, after having passed part of his life in Italy, retired to that city. His son was designed to be a jeweller; and, by frequent employment in enamelling, acquired so fine a taste, and so precious a tone of colouring, that Bordier, who afterwards became his brother-in-law, advised him to attach himself to portrait, believing he might push his art on still to greater lengths; and though both the one and the other wanted several colours which they could not bring to bear the fire, yet they succeeded to admiration. Petitot painted the heads and hands, in which his colouring was excellent; Bordier painted the hair, the draperies, and the grounds. These two friends, agreeing in their work and their projects, set out for Italy. The long stay they made there, frequenting the best chemists, joined to a strong desire of learning, improved them in the preparation of their colours; but the completion of their success must be ascribed to a journey they afterwards made to England. There they found sir Theodore Mayerne, physician to Charles T. and a great chemist; who had by his experiments discovered the principal colours to be used for enamel, and the proper means of vitrifying them. These by their beauty surpassed all the enamelling of Venice and Limoges. Mayerne introduced Petitot, to the king, who retained him in his service, and gave him a lodging in Whitehall. Here he painted several portraits after Vandyck, in which he was guided by that excellent master, who was then in London; and his advice contributed greatly to the ability of Petitot, whose best pieces are after Vandyck. King Charles often went to see him work; as he took a pleasure both in painting and chemical experiments, to which his physician had given him a turn. Petitot painted that monarch and the whole royal family several times. The distinguished favour shewn him by that prince was only interrupted by his unhappy and tragical end. This was a terrible stroke to Petitot, who did not quit the royal family, but followed them in their flight to Paris, where he was looked on as one of their most zealous servants. During the four years that Charles II. stayed in France, he visited Petitot, and often eat with him. Then it was, that his name became eminent, and that all the court of France grew fond of being painted in enamel. When Charles II. returned to England, Louis XIV. retained Petitot in his service, gave him a pension, and a lodging in the gallery of the Louvre. These new favours, added to a considerable fortune he had already acquired, encouraged him to marry in 1661. Afterwards Bordier became his brother-in-law, and ever remained in a firm union with him: they lived together, till their families growing too numerous, obliged them to separate. Their friendship was founded on the harmony of their sentiments and their reciprocal merit, much more than a principle of interest. They had gained, as a reward for their discoveries and their labours, a million of livres, which they divided at Paris; and they continued friends without ever having a quarrel, or even a misunderstanding, in the space of fifty years.
ic professor at Gresham college, by the interest of his friend Dr. Graunt. In 1652, he was appointed physician to the army in Ireland, and he was likewise physician to three
of her pain. After she was in her cof- &c. edit. 1651, and in Morgan’s Phwfin, being observed to breathe, a lusty nix, 4to. and, Feb. 7, music professor at Gresham college, by the interest of his friend Dr. Graunt. In 1652, he was appointed physician to the army in Ireland, and he was likewise physician to three lords lieutenants successively, Lambert, Fleetwood, and Henry Cromwell.
go for Ireland, unto full 500l. Upon the 10th of September, 1652, I landed, at Waterford in Ireland, Physician to the army who had suppressed the rebellion begun in the year
This singular composition bears date May 2, 1685, and
runs thus: “In the name of God, Amen. I, sir William.
Petty, knt. born at Rumsey, in Hantshire, do, revoking
all other and former wills, make this my last will and
testament, premising the ensuing preface to the same,
whereby to express my condition, design, intentions, and
desires, concerning the persons and things contained in,
and relating to, my said will, for the better expounding
any thing which may hereafter seem doubtful therein, and
also for justifying, on behalf of my children, the manner
and means of getting and acquiring the estate, which I
hereby bequeath unto them; exhorting them to improve
the same by no worse negociations. In the first place I
declare and affirm, that at the full age of fifteen years I
had obtained the Latin, Greek, and French tongues, the
whole body of common Arithmetic, the practical Geometry
and Astronomy conducing to Navigation, Dialling, &c.
with the knowledge of several mathematical trades, all
which, and having been at the university of Caen, preferred me to the king’s navy; where, at the age of twenty
years, I had gotten up about threescore pounds, with as
much mathematics as any of my age was known to have
had. With this provision, anno 1643, when the civil wars
between the king and parliament grew hot, I went into the
Netherlands and France for three years, and having vigorously followed my studies, especially that of medicine, at
Utrecht, Leyden, Amsterdam, and Paris, I returned to
Rumsey, where I was born, bringing back with me my
brother Anthony, whom I had bred, with about 10l. more
than I had carried out of England. With this 70l. and my
endeavours, in less than four years more, I obtained my
degree of M. D. in Oxford, and forthwith thereupon to be
admitted into the College of Physicians, London, and into
several clubs of the Virtuous (Virtuosi); after all which
expence defrayed, I had left 28l. and in the next two
years being made Fellow of Brazen -Nose, and Anatomy
Professor in Oxford, and also Reader at Gresham-college,
I advanced my said stock to about 400l. and with 100l.
more advanced and given me to go for Ireland, unto full
500l. Upon the 10th of September, 1652, I landed, at
Waterford in Ireland, Physician to the army who had suppressed the rebellion begun in the year 1641, and to the
general of the same, and the head quarters, at the rate of 20^.
per diem, at which I continued till June 1659, gaining,
by my practice, about 400l. a year above the said salary.
About Sept. 1654, I perceiving that the admeasurement
of the lands, furfrited by the aforementioned rebellion, and
intended to regulate the satisfaction of the soldiers who
hadsuppressed the same, was most insufficiently and absurdly
managed; I obtained a contract, dated llth December,
1654, for making the said admeasurement, and, by God’s
blessing, so performed the same, as that I gained about
9,000l. thereby, which, with the 500l. abovementioned,
and my salary of 20s. per diem, the benefit of my practice,
together with 600l. given me for directing an after survey
of the adventurer’s lands, and 800l. more for two years’
salary as clerk of the council, raised me an estate of about
13,000l. in ready and real money, at a time when, without art, interest, or authority, men bought as much lands
for ten shillings in real money, as in this year, 1685, yields
10s. per annum rent, above his majesty’s quit-rents. Now
I bestowed part of the said 13,000l. in soldier’s debentures, part in purchasing the earl of Arundel’s house and
garden in Lothbury, London, and part I kept in cash to
answer emergencies. Hereupon I. purchased lands inIreland, with soldiers’ debentures , bought at the above
market-rates, a great part whereof I lost by the Court of Innocents, anno 1663; and built the said garden, called Tokenhouse Yard, in Lothbury, which was for the most part destroyed by the dreadful fire, anno 1666. Afterwards, anno
1667, I married Elizabeth, the relict of sir Maurice Fenton,
bart. I set up iron-works and pilchard-fishing in Kerry,
and opened the lead -mines and timber-trade in Kerry: by
all which, and some advantageous bargains, and with living
under my income, I have, at the making this my will, the
real and personal estate following: viz. a large house and
four tenements in Rumsey, with four acres of meadow
upon the causeway, and four acres of arable in the fields,
called Marks and Woollsworths, in all about 30A per ann.;
houses in Token-house Yard, near Lothbury, London,
with a lease in Piccadilly, and the Seven Stars and Blazing
Star in Birching-lane, London, worth about 500l. per
annum, besides mortgages upon certain houses in Hoglane, near Shoreditch, in London, and in Erith, in Kent,
worth about 20l. per annum. I have three fourth parts of
the ship Charles, whereof Derych Paine is master, which
I value at 80l. per annum, as also the copper-plates for
the maps of Ireland with the king’s privilege, which I rate
at lOOl. per annum, in all 730l. per annum. I have in
Ireland, without the county of Kerry, in lands, remainders, and reversions, about 3,100l. per annum. I have of
neat profits, out of the lands and woods of Kerry, above
1,100l. per annum, besides iron-works, fishing, and leadmines, and marble-quarries, worth 600l. per annum; in all
4,800l. I have, as my wife’s jointure, during her life,
about 850l. per annum; and for fourteen years after her
death about 2001. per ann. I have, by 3,300l. money at interest, 20l. per annum; in all about 6,700l. per annum. The
personal estate is as follows, viz. in chest, 6,600l.; in the
hands of Adam Loftus, 1,296l.; of Mr. John Cogs, goldsmith, of London, 1,2 5 1l.; in silver, plate, and jewels,
about 3,000l.; in furniture, goods, pictures, coach-horses,
books, and watches, 1,1 So/.; per estimate in all 12,000l.
I value my three chests of original map and field -books,
the copies of the Downe-survey, with the Barony-maps,
and chest of distribution-books, with two chests of loose
papers relating to the survey, the two great barony-books,
and the book of the History of the Survey, altogether at
2,000l. I have due out of Kerry, for arrears of my rent
and iron, before 24th June, 1685, the sum of 1,912l. for
the next half year’s rent out of my lands in Ireland, my
wife’s jointure, and England, on or before 24th June next,
2,000l. Moreover, by arrears due 30th April, 1685, out
of all my estate, by estimate, and interest of money, 1,800l.
By other good debts, due upon bonds and bills at this
time, per estimate, 900l. By debts which I call bad 4000l.
worth perhaps 800l. By debts which I call doubtful,
50,0007. worth, perhaps, 25,000l. In all, 34,4 12l. and
the total of the whole personal estate, 46,412l.: so as my
present income for the year 1685 may be 6,700l. the profits of the personal estate may be 4,64 \l. and the demonstrable improvement of my Irish estate may be 3,659l. per
ann. to make in all I5,000l. per ann. in and by all manner
of effects, abating for bad debts about 28,000l.; whereupon
I say in gross, that my real estate or income may be 6,600l.
per ann. my personal estate about 45,000l. my bad and
desperate debts 30,000l. and the improvements may be
4,000 /. per ann. in all 15,000l. per ann. ut supra. Now
my opinion and desire is (if I could effect it, and if I were clear from the law, custom, and other impediments)
to add to my wife’s jointure three fourths of what it now
is computed at, viz. 637l. per ann. to make the whole
1,487l. per ann. which addition of 637l. and 850l. being
deducted out of the aforementioned 6,600l. leaves 5,113l.
for my two sons whereof I would my eldest son should
have two-thirds, or 3,408l. and the younger 1,705l. and
that, after their mother’s death, the aforesaid addition of
637l. should be added in like proportion, making for the
eldest 3,S32l. and for the youngest 1,916l. and I would
that the improvement of the estate should be equally divided between my two sons; and that the personal estate
(taking out 10,000l. for my only daughter) that the rest
should be equally divided between my wife and three
children; by which method my wife would have 1,587l.
per ann. and 9,000l. in personal effects; my daughter
would have 10,000l. of the Crame, and 9,000l. more, with
less certainty: my eldest son would have 3,800l. per ann.
and half the expected improvement, with 9,000l. in hopeful effects, over and above his wife’s portion: and my
youngest son would have the same within 1,900l. per ann.
I would advise my wife, in this case, to spend her whole
l,587l. per ann. that is to say, on her own entertainment,
charity, and munificence, without care of increasing her
children’s fortunes: and I would she would give away
one-third of the above mentioned 9,000l. at her death,
even from her children, upon any worthy object, and dispose of the other two-thirds to such of her children and
grand-children as pleased her best, without regard to any
other rule or proportion. In case of either of my three
children’s death under age, I advise as follows; viz. If my
eldest, Charles, die without issue, I would that Henry
should have three-fourths of what he leaves; and my daughter Anne the rest. If Henry die, I would that what he leaves
may be equally divided between Charles and Anne: and if
Anne die, that her share be equally divided between Charles
and Henry. Memorandum, That I think fit to rate the
30,000l. desperate debts at 1,1 Ooj. only, and to give it my
daughter, to make her abovementioned 10,000l. and 9,000l.
to be full 20,000l. which is much short of what I have given
her younger brother; and the elder brother may have
3,800 per ann. and 9,000l. in money, worth 900l. more,
2,0001. by improvements, and 1,300l. by marriage, to make
up the whole to 8,000l. per ann. which is very well for the
eldest son, as 20,000l. for the daughter.
” He then leaves
his wife executrix and guardian during her widowhood,
and, in case of her marriage, her brother James Waller,
and Thomas Dame: recommending to them two, and his
children, to use the same servants and instruments for
management of the estate, as were in his life- time, at certain salaries to continue during their lives, or until his
youngest child should be twenty-one years, which would be
the 22d of October, 1696, after which his children might
put the management of their respective concerns into what
hands they pleased. He then proceeds:
, a celebrated physician and mathematician, was born at Bautzen in Lusatia in 1525, and
, a celebrated physician and mathematician, was born at Bautzen in Lusatia in 1525, and
became a doctor and professor of medicine at Wirtemberg.
He married a daughter of Melancthon, whose principles
he contributed to diffuse, and whose works he published at
Wirtemberg in 1601, in five volumes folio. He had an
extreme ardour for study. Being for ten years in close
imprisonment, on account of his opinions, he wrote his
thoughts on the margins of old books which they gave him
for amusement, making his ink of burnt crusts of bread,
infused in wine. He died at seventy-eight, on the 25th
of September, 1602. He wrote several tracts, 1. “De
praecipuis divinationum generibus,
” Francfort, 1614, 8vo. 3.
” De Febribus,“1614, 4to. 4.
” Vita? illustrium medicowjm.“5.
” Hypotheses astronomicas.“6.
” Les no, us
des Monnoies, des Poids, et Mesures," 8vo. His
character, as drawn by himself, is that of a man who did no injury to any one, but, on the contrary, gave all the aid in
his power to all who might require it. For these things he
calls God to witness.
, a Welsh physician and poet, a native of Pembrokeshire, and the first English translator
, a Welsh physician and poet, a
native of Pembrokeshire, and the first English translator
of Virgil, was educated at Oxford, whence he removed to
LincolnVinn, to undertake the study of the law. So far
was he in earnest, for a time, in this pursuit, that he published two books on subjects of law; one on the nature of
writs, and the other, what is now called a book of precedents. Why he quitted law for physic is unknown, but he
became a bachelor and a doctor in the latter faculty, both
in 1559, and his medical works were collected at London
in 1560. They consist chiefly of compilations and translations from the French. Among his poetical works is “The
Regimen of Life,
” translated from the French, London,
Owen Glendower,
” in the
“Mirror for Magistrates;
” and his translation of the first
nine books, and part of the tenth, of Virgil’s uEneid.
There is a commendatory poem by him prefixed to Philip
Betham’s “Military Precepts.
” Warton mentions also an
entry in the stationers’ books for printing “serten verses of
Cupydo by Mr. Fayre,
” and that he had seen a ballad called
“Gadshill
” by Faire, both which names were probably
intended for that of Phaer. His translation of the first
seven books of Virgil was printed in 1558, by John Kyngston, and dedicated to queen Mary. The two next books,
with part of the tenth, were translated afterwards by him,
and published after his death by William Wightman, in
1562. He has curiously enough marked at the end of each
book the time when it was finished, and the time which it
cost him in translating; which amounts, at separate intervals between the year 1555 and 1560, to 202 days, without reckoning the fragment of the tenth book. It appears,
that during the whole of this period he resided very much
at his patrimonial territory in Kilgerran forest, in South
Wales. The fifth book is said, at the end, to have been
finished on the 4th of May, 1557, “post periculum ejns
Karmerdini,
” which, whether it relates to some particular
event in his life, or means that he made a trial upon it at
Caermarthen, is a little uncertain; probably the former.
Wightman says that he published all he could find among
his papers; but conjectures, nevertheless, that he had proceeded rather further, from the two lines which he translated the very day before his death, and sent to Wightman. They are these,
translation was completed, with the addition of Maphaeus’s thirteenth book, by Thomas Twyne, a young physician, afterwards author of other works: his part is deemed by Warton
He died soon after the 12th of August, 1560, on which
day his will was dated. His translation of Virgil is written,
like the preceding specimen, in long Alexandrines of seven
feet. The translation was completed, with the addition of
Maphaeus’s thirteenth book, by Thomas Twyne, a young
physician, afterwards author of other works: his part is
deemed by Warton evidently inferior to that of his predecessor, though Phaer has omitted, misrepresented, and
paraphrased, many passages. Of what he did of this nature Phaer himself has given an account, in his postscript to the seven books: “Trusting that you, my right
worshipful maisters and studentes of universities, and
such as be teachers of children and readers of this auctour in Latin, will not be to muche offended, though every
verse answere not to your expectation. For (besides the diversitie between a construction and a translation) you
know there be many mistical secretes in this writer, which
uttered in English would shewe little pleasour, and in mine
opinion are better to be untouched than to diminish the
grace of the rest with tediousnes and darknes. I have
therefore followed the counsel of Horace, teaching the
duety of a good interpretour, * qui quae desperat nitescere
posse relinquit;' by which occasion, somwhat I have in
places omitted, somwhat altered, and some things I have
expounded, and al to the ease of inferior readers; for you
that are learned nede not to be instructed.
” A ridiculous
error of the press stands in the opening of the second
Æneid, as reprinted by Twyne, Phaer had translated
“conticuere omnes
” by “they whusted all,
” for “they
whisted,
” or kept silence but Twyne has printed it “they
whistled all.
” Sir Thomas Chaloner, in his Encomia,
printed at London, 1579, 4to, p. 356, has pathetically
lamented Phaer 7 as a most skilful physician. As to his
name, it is written Phayer by Wood, and Phaier by Warton; but as we find it Phaer in every part of the translation
of Virgil, and in the “Mirror for Magistrates,
” we have
so given it. His story of Owen Glendour is in stanzas of
seven lines, the same as Sackville’s Induction, and the
greater part of those narratives.
, an eminent Scotch physician of the mechanical sect, was descended from an ancient family
, an eminent Scotch physician of the mechanical sect, was descended from an
ancient family in the county of Fife, and born at Edinburgh Dec. 25, 1652. After some classical education at the
school of Dalkeith, he was removed in 1668 to the university of Edinburgh; where, having gone through a course
of philosophy, he obtained in 1671 his degree of M. A. and
studied first divinity, which does not appear to have been
to his taste, and then the civil law, which was more seriously the object of his choice, and he pursued it with so
much intenseness as to impair his health. He was then,
advised to travel to Montpelier in France, but found himself recovered by the time he reached Paris. He determined to pursue the study of the law in the university
there; but there being no able professor of it, and meeting
with some of his countrymen, who were students in physic,
he went with them to the lectures and hospitals. A few
months after, he was called home by his father; and now,
having laid in the first elements of all the three professions,
he found himself absolutely undetermined which to follow.
In the mean time he applied himself to the mathematics,
in which he made a very great progress; and an acquaintance which he formed with Dr. David Gregory, the celebrated mathematical professor, probably conduced to cherish his natural aptitude for this study. At length, struck
with the charms of mathematical truth which been lately
introduced into the philosophy of medicine, and hoping to
reduce the healing art to geometrical method, he unalterably determined in favour of medicine as a profession. As
there was however at this time no medical school in Edinburgh, no hospital, nor opportunity of improvement but
the chamber and the shop, he returned to Paris about 1675,
and cultivated the object of his pursuit with diligence and
steadiness. Among his various occupations, the study of
the ancient physicians seems to have had a principal share.
This appears from a treatise which he published some time
after his return, “Solutio problematis de inventoribus,
”
which shews that he wisely determined to know the progress of medicine from its earliest periods, before he attempted to reform and improve that science. In August
1680 he received from the faculty of llheims the degree
of Doctor, which in 1699 was likewise conferred on him
by the university of Aberdeen, and he was likewise appointed a member of the college of surgeons of Edinburgh
in 1701. He was before chosen a member of the royal
college of physicians of Edinburgh from the time it was
established by charter in 1681.
On his return to Edinburgh, which was about the time of
the revolution, he presently came into good business, and
acquired an extensive reputation. Such, however, was his
attachment to the exiled James II. that he became excluded
from public honours and promotion at home, and therefore,
Laving in 1692 received an invitation from the curators of
the university of Leyden, to be professor of physic there,
he accepted it, and went and made his inauguration speech
the 26th of April that year, entitled “Oratio qua ostenditur meclicinam ab omni philosophorum secta esse Jiberam.
” He continued there little more than a year; during
which short space he published several dissertations, chiefly
with a view of shewing the usefulness of mathematics to
physic. Pitcairne was the first who introduced the mechanic principles into that art, now so generally exploded,
but they do not appear to have influenced his practice,
which did not differ essentially from the present. He
returned to Scotland in 1693, to discharge an engagement
to a young lady, who became his second wife, the daughter
of sir Archibald Stephenson, an eminent physician in Edinburgh; and, being soon after married to her, was fully
resolved to set out again for Holland; but, the lady’s parents being unwilling to part with her, he settled at Edinburgh, and wrote a valedictory letter to the university of
Leyden. His lady did not survive her marriage many
years; yet she brought him a daughter, who was in 1731
married to the earl of Kelly.
, an English poet, was born in 1699 at Blandford, the son of a physician much esteemed. He was, in 1714, received as a scholar into Winchester
, an English poet, was born in
1699 at Blandford, the son of a physician much esteemed.
He was, in 1714, received as a scholar into Winchester
college, where he was distinguished by exercises of uncommon elegance; and, at his removal to New college in
1719, presented to the electors, as the product of his private and voluntary studies, a complete version of Lucan’s
poem, which he did not then know to have been translated
by Rowe. This is an instance of early diligence which
well deserves to be recorded. The suppression of such a
work, recommended by such uncommon circumstances,
is to be regretted. It is indeed culpable, to load libraries
with superfluous books; but incitements to early excellence are never superfluous, and from this example the
danger is not great of many imitations. When he had resided at his college three years, he was presented to the
rectory of Pimpern in Dorsetshire, 1722, by his relation,
Mr. Pitt of Stratfeildsea in Hampshire; and, resigning his
fellowship, continued at Oxford two years longer, till he
became M. A. 1724. He probably about this time translated “Vida’s Art of Poetry,
” which Tristram’s elegant
edition had then made popular. In this translation he distinguished himself, both by the general elegance of his
style, and by the skilful adaptation of his numbers to the
images expressed; a beauty which Vida has with great
ardour enforced and exemplified. He then retired to his
living, a place very pleasing by its situation, and therefore
likely to excite the imagination of a poet; where he parsed
the rest of his life, reverenced for his virtue, and beloved
for the softness of his temper, and the easiness of his
manners. Before strangers he had something of the scholar’s
timidity and diffidence; but, when he became familiar, he
was in a very high degree cheerful and entertaining. His
general benevolence procured general respect; and he
passed a life placid and honourable, neither too great for
the kindness of the low, nor too low for the notice of the
great. At what time he composed his “Miscellany,
” published in Vida
” animated him to
a higher undertaking; and in his thirtieth year he published a version of the first book of the Jfeneid. This
being commended by his friends, he some time afterwards
added three or four more; with an advertisement in which
he represents himself as translating with great indifference,
and with a progress of which himself was hardly conscious.
At last, without any further contention with his modesty,
or any awe of the name of Dryden, he gave a complete
English “Æneid,
” which we advise our readers to peruse
with that of Dryden. It will be pleasing to have an opportunity of comparing the two best translations that perhaps were ever produced by one nation of the same author.
Pitt, engaging as a rival with Dryden, naturally observed
his failures and avoided them; and, as he Wrote after Pope’s
Iliad, he had an example of an exact, equable, and splendid versification. With these advantages, seconded by
great diligence, he might successfully labour particular
passages, and escape many errors. If the two versions
are compared, perhaps the result will be, that Dryden
leads the reader forward by his general vigour and sprightliness, and Pitt often stops him to contemplate the excellence of a single couplet; that Dryden’s faults are forgotten in the hurry of delight, and that Pitt’s beauties are neglected in the languor of a cold and listless perusal; that
Pitt pleases the critics, and Dryden the people; that Pitt
is quoted, and Dryden read. He did not long enjoy the
reputation which this great work deservedly conferred; for
he died April 15, 174S, and lies buried under a stone at
Blandford, with an inscription, which celebrates his candour, and primitive si nplicity of manners; and says that
he lived innocent, and died beloved; an encomium neither
slight nor common, though modestly expressed.
gion. Mr. Pitt asked sir Walter, who stood near his bed, “How long do you think I have to live?” The physician answered that he could not say, at the same time he expressed
He did not, however, live to witness that glorious and
wonderful termination which was at last brought about by a
continuance of the same system he all along pursued, and
which finally ended in the conquest of France, the annihilation of her armies, and the banishment of her ruler.
The last event of importance in Mr. Pitt’s life-time was
the fatal battle of Austerlitz, and he was at this time in a
state of health ill calculated to meet this stroke. He had,
from an early period of life, given indications of inheriting
his father’s gouty constitution, with his talents, and it had
been thought necessary to make the liberal use of wine a
part of his ordinary regimen, a stimulant which, added to
the cares and exertions of office during his long and momentous administration, brought on a premature exhaustion of the vital powers. In December 1805, he was recommended to go to Bath, but the change afforded him no
permanent relief. On the 11th of January he returned to
his seat at Putney, in so debilitated a state, as to require
four days for the performance of the journey. The physicians, even yet, saw no danger, and they said there was
no disease, but great weakness, in consequence of an attack of the gout. On the following Sunday he appeared
better, and entered upon some points of public business with
his colleagues in office: the subject was supposed to relate
to the dissolution of the new confederacy, by the peace of
Presburgh, which greatly agitated him. On the 17th, at
a consultation of his physicians, it was agreed, that though
it was not advisable he should attend to business for the
next two months, yet there was hope he would be able to
take a part in the House of Commons in the course of the
winter. On the 20th, however, he grew much worse, and
his medical friends now saw that he was in the most imminent danger, and that, probably, he had not many hours
to live. The bishop of Lincoln, who never left him during
his illness, informed him of the opinion now entertained
by sir Walter Farquhar, and requested to administer to
him the consolations of religion. Mr. Pitt asked sir Walter, who stood near his bed, “How long do you think I
have to live?
” The physician answered that he could not
say, at the same time he expressed a faint hope of his recovery. A half smile on the patient’s countenance shewed
that he placed this language to its true account. In answer to the bishop’s request to pray with him, Mr. Pitt
replied, “I fear I have, like too many other men, neglected prayer too much, to have any ground for hope that
it can be efficacious on a death-bed—but,
” making an
effort to rise as he spoke, “I throw myself entirely on the
mercy of God.
” The bishop then read the prayers, and
Mr. Pitt appeared to join in them with a calm and humble
piety. He desired that the arrangement of his papers and
the settlement of his affairs might be left to his brother
and the bishop of Lincoln. Adverting to his nieces, the
daughters of earl Stanhope by his elder sister, for whom
he had manifested the sincerest affection, he said, “I could
wish a thousand or fifteen hundred a-year to be given
them; if the public should think my long services deserving of it.
” He expressed also much anxiety respecting
major Stanhope, that youthful hero, who fell a sacrifice to
his valour at Corunna, in company with his friend and
patron, general sir John Moore, and his brother, who was
also at Corunna at the same time, and who has been engaged in all the great battles in the peninsula, and more
than once severely wounded in his country’s service. Mr.
Pitt died about four o'clock in the morning of the 23d of
January 1806, in the 47th year of his age. A public funeral was decreed to his honour by parliament, and 40,000l.
to pay those debts which he had incurred in his country’s
service. Public monuments have been since erected to
his memory in Westminster-Abbey, in the Guildhall of
the city of London, and by many public bodies in different
parts of the kingdom.
, an eminent physician, was born at Basle in 1536, and educated upder his father’s
, an eminent physician, was born at
Basle in 1536, and educated upder his father’s eye, who
was likewise an eminent physician, and principal of the
college of Basle. From this place he went to Montpellier,
where he obtained the degree of doctor in 1556, and on
his return to Basle, was admitted ad eundem, and commenced a very successful career of practice. In 15 60 he was
appointed professor of medicine, and became the confidential physician of the princes and nobles of the Upper Rhine.
He possessed an extensive knowledge of anatomy, botany,
natural history, and other branches of science, and contributed much to the celebrity of his native university, in
which he was a teacher upwards of fifty years. He died
in July 1614, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. He
left the following works: “De Corporis humani structura
et usu Libri tres,
” Basle, De Febribus Liber,
” Francfort, Praxeos Medicae Tomi
tres,
” Basle, Observationum Medicinalium Libri
tres,
” ibid. Consilia Medica,
” Francf. De Gangraena Epistola,
”
in the first century of the letters of Hildanus. After his
death were published “Qusestionum Medicarum paradoxarum et eudoxarum Centuria posthuma,
” Basle, Qusestiones Physiologicæ de partium in utero conformatione,
” Leyden,
, an able physician, was born at Chemnitz, in Misnia, in August 1694. He was first
, an able physician, was born at Chemnitz, in Misnia, in August 1694. He was first intended for merchandize, but the rapid progress which he made in his studies, induced his father to consent that he should direct his attention to medicine, for which he had manifested a strong inclination. He studied, therefore, at Leipsic, for three years, and afterwards at Halle, where he received the degree of doctor in September 1716. He then travelled through various parts of Europe, for four years, and finally settled at Leipsic in 1720. In 1721 he was appointed professor extraordinary of anatomy and surgery. In 1724 he obtained the chair of physiology, which had become vacant by the death of Rivinus; in 1737 he was promoted to the professorship of pathology and in 1747 to that of therapeutics. He was also nominated perpetual dean of the faculty, and consulting physician to the court of Saxony. He did not live long, however, to 6njoy these flattering distinctions; for he was carried off suddenly on the 19th of December 1747, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, by a paroxysm of asthma.
, an eminent physician, was born at Amsterdam in December 1601. He studied at Ghent,
, an eminent physician, was born at Amsterdam in December 1601. He studied at Ghent, Louvain, Leyden, Padua, and Bologna, at which last university he took his degree of doctor. On his return to Holland, he began practice, but was induced to accept the vacant professorship of the Institutes of Medicine, at Louvain, of which he took possession in 1633. At the same time he abjured the Protestant faith, became a Catholic, and took a new degree of doctor, in conformity with the rules of the university. In the following year, however, he quitted this chair, for the professorship of pathology. He was soon afterwards nominated principal of the college of Bretigel. He died at Louvain, in December 1671, aged seventy.
ed to botany, under the instruction of father Serjeant, at Romey of Francis de Onuphriis, an Italian physician, and of Sylvius Boccone, a Sicilian. Being recalled by his order
, called Father Plumier, being a
religious, of the order of Minims, was born at Marseilles,
April 20, 1646, and was a botanist not less famous than
his contemporary Plukenet. He entered into his order at
sixteen, and studied mathematics and other sciences at
Toulouse, under father Maignan, of the same society. He
did not only learn the profound sciences, but became an
expert mechanic. In the art of turning he became such a
proficient as to write a book upon it and learned also to
make lenses, mirrors, microscopes, and other mathematical instruments, all which knowledge he gained from
Maignan. He was soon after sent by his superiors to
Rome, where, by his application to mathematics, optics,
and other studies, he nearly destroyed his constitution.
As a relaxation from these severer sciences, he applied to
botany, under the instruction of father Serjeant, at Romey
of Francis de Onuphriis, an Italian physician, and of Sylvius Boccone, a Sicilian. Being recalled by his order
into Provence, he obtained leave to search the neighbouring coasts, and the Alps, for plants; and soon became
acquainted with Tournefort, then on his botanical tour,
and with Garidel, professor of botany at Aix. When he
had thus qualified himself, he was chosen as the associate
of Surian, to explore the French settlements in the West
Indies, as Sloane had lately examined Jamaica. He acquitted himself so well that he was twice afterwards sent
at the expence of the king, whose botanist he was appointed, with an increased salary each time. Plumier
passed two years in those islands, and on the neighbouring
continent, but principally in Domingo; and made designs
of many hundred plants, of the natural size, besides numerous figures of birds, fishes, and insects. On his return
from his second voyage he had his first work published at
the Louvre, at the king’s expence, entitled, 1. “Descriptions des Plantes de PAmerique,
” fol. Nova
Plantarum Americanarum Genera,
” 4to. In the year ensuing he was prevailed upon by M. Fagon to undertake a
voyage to Peru, to discover and delineate the Peruvian
bark. His great zeal for the science, even at that age,
induced him to consent; but while he was waiting for the
ship near Cadiz, he was seized with a pleurisy, and died
in 1704. Sir J. E. Smith says, that as Rousseau’s Swiss
herbalist died of a pleurisy, whilst employed in gathering
a sovereign Alpine remedy for that disorder so it is not
improbable that Plumier was extolling the Polytrichum (see his preface, p. 2.) as “un antipleuritique des plus assurez,
”
when he himself fell a victim to the very same distemper;
leaving his half-printed book to be his monument. This
was, 3. “Traité des Fougeres de l'Amerique,
” on the Ferns
of America, L'Art de Tourner,
” the Art of Turning, Lyons,
, an eminent physician, was born at Nancy, in 1527. He studied medicine at Paris under
, an eminent physician,
was born at Nancy, in 1527. He studied medicine at
Paris under Sylvius, together with his elder brother, Anthony Lepois, who was afterwards first physician to Charles
III. duke of Lorraine, and author of a valuable work on
ancient coins. Nicholas succeeded him as the duke’s physician in 1578. The result of his practice, and of his
very extensive reading, was at first drawn up only for the
use of his sons, Christian and Charles, whom he destined
for the medical profession; but being prevailed on to publish
it, it was printed at Francfort, in 1580, in folio, under
the title of “De cognoscendis et curandis prsecipue interi}is humani corporis morbis, Libri tres, ex clarissimorum
medicorum, turn veterum, turn recentiorum, monumentis
non ita pridem collecti.
” Boerhaave had so high an opinion of this author, that he edited this work, adding a
preface to it, at Leyden, 1736, in two volumes, quarto;
a_nd it was again reprinted at Leipsic in 1766, 2 vols. 8vo.
The time of his death has not been recorded.
e then returned to his native city, where duke Charles III. of Lorraine appointed him his consulting physician, and Duke Henry II. instituted a faculty of medicine at Pont-aMousson,
, son of the preceding, was born at
Nancy in 1563, and educated at the college of Navarre,
at Paris, where he distinguished himself by his rapid advancement in the knowledge of the languages, belles lettres, and philosophy. He received the degree of M. A,
in the university of Paris in 1581, and immediately
commenced his career in the schools of medicine, which
he pursued at Paris, Padua, and other schools of Italy.
When he returned to Paris in 1588 he took his bachelor’s
degree in medicine, and became a licentiate but having
already expended his little income on the previous parts
of his medical progress, he was obliged to leave Paris
without having taken the degree of doctor. He then returned to his native city, where duke Charles III. of Lorraine appointed him his consulting physician, and Duke
Henry II. instituted a faculty of medicine at Pont-aMousson, and nominated him dean and first professor.
Being now enabled to take his doctor’s degree, he went
to Paris for that purpose and, on his return, commenced
the duties of his professorship in November 1598, which
he performed for many years with the highest reputation, and enjoyed very extensive practice until his death,
which was occasioned by the plague, at Nancy, whither
he had gone to administer relief to those afflicted by that
disorder, in 1633. His principal publication is entitled
“Selectiorum Observationum et Consiliorum de proeteritis hactenus morbis, effectibusque praeter naturam ab
aqua, seu scrosa colluvie et deiuvie ortis, Liber singularis,
” Pont-a-Mousson, Piso enucleatus,
” in 12mo. His other works were,
“Physicum Cometae Speculum,
” Ponte ad Montionem,
Discours de la Nature, Causes, et
Remedes, tant curatifs que prevservatifs, des maladies populaires, accompagnees de Dysenteric et autres Flux de
Ventre,
” ibid. Ludovici Mercati Institutiones ad
usum et examen eorum qui artem luxatoriam exercent,
”
Francfort, Caroli III., Serenissimi,
Potentissimique Ducis Lotharingiae, &c., Macarismos, seu
felicitatis et virtutum egregio Principe dignarum coronse,
”
1690.
, a celebrated French physician, was born at Dijon, July 5, 1720. After studying medicine, he
, a celebrated French
physician, was born at Dijon, July 5, 1720. After studying medicine, he succeeded M. Dubois in 1746 as protessor of physic in the college de France. He was one of the
first who gave a course of chemical lectures in Paris. In
1757 he was appointed first physic‘an to the French army,
and the year following went to Russia to attend the empress Elizabeth in her illness. He remained two years in
Russia, and assisted at the famous experiment relative to
the congelation of quicksilver, of which he afterwards gave
an account (inserted in their memoirs), to the Academy of
sciences at Paris, who had elected him a member. Soon
after he returned to France he was promoted to the rank of
counsellor of state; and in 1764 was appointed inspectorgeneral of physic; surgery, and pharmacy, in the ports and
colonies of France. His ingenious method of procuring
fresh from sea-water, by distillation, procured him, in 1765,
a pension of 12,000 livres a-year from the French government. In nil, he resigned his chair at the college of
France; but, in conformity ’to an unanimous vote of the
professors, continued to preside at their public meetings
as long as his health would permit. M. Laiande says, that
he did honour to this office “by a grand and striking figure:
by the dignity of his speech the nobleness of his manner and the deservedly high estimation in which he was
held by the public.
” He was, during the reign of terror,
imprisoned, with his whole family, by Robespierre but
was liberated on the death of that monster. He died in
September 1797 or 179S. He is said to have left behind
him a very valuable collection of natural history, medals,
and other curiosities. He wrote several treatises belonging to his profession, viz. on the fever of St. Domingo,
the diseases of seamen, an abridgment of anatomy, &C.
rancicse,” 4to the “Life of Frederic II. king of Denmark,” published 1737, by Dr. George Kry sing, a physician at Flensburg. Pontanus left several other works in ms.; among
, historiographer to his
Danish majesty, and to the province of Guelderland, was
of a family of Harlem, but was born in Denmark, in 1571,
and died in 1640, aged 69, at Harderwick, where he had
taught physic and mathematics. His works are, “Historia Urbis et Rerum Amstelodamensium,
” folio; “Itinerarium Gallic Narbonensis,
” 12mo; “Rerum Danicarum Historia,
” folio. This history, which is esteemed,
comes dewn to 1548; and M. de Westphal, chancellor of
Holstein, printed the Supplement in vol. II. of his “Monumenta inedita Rerum Germanicarum,
” &c. Leipsic, De Rheni divortiis et accolis populis adversus
Ph. Cluverium,
” Discussiones Historicse,
” 8vo “Historia Geldrica,
” fol.;
“Origines Francicse,
” 4to the “Life of Frederic II. king
of Denmark,
” published 1737, by Dr. George Kry sing, a
physician at Flensburg. Pontanus left several other works
in ms.; among others, an account of women who have distinguished themselves by their learning. He also wrote
some very indifferent verses published at Amsterdam itt
1634, 12mo.
is time occupied by Durham college, which Edward VI. granted to George Owen, of Godstowe, the king’s physician, a man of great learning and eminence, and William Martyn, gentleman,
The site chosen for his new foundation was at this time occupied by Durham college, which Edward VI. granted to George Owen, of Godstowe, the king’s physician, a man of great learning and eminence, and William Martyn, gentleman, in 1552; and sir Thomas purchased the premises of these gentlemen by indenture dated Feb. 20, 1554. On March 8, and March 28, he obtained from Philip and Mary a royal licence and charter to create and erect a college within the university of Oxford, under the title of Collegium Sanctæ Et Individuæ Trinitatis In Universitate Oxon. Ex Fundatione Thomæ Pope Militis. The society was to consist of a president, a priest, twelve fellows, four of whom should be priests, and eight scholars (afterwards increased to twelve) and the whole to be liberally and amply endowed with certain manors, lands, and revenues. They were to be elected out of the diocese and places where the college has benefices, manors, or revenues, more particularly in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Kent. The same charter empowered him to found and endow a school at Hokenorton, in Oxfordshire, to be called Jesus Scholehouse; and to give statutes both to the college and to the first and second masters of the said school. And by deed, dated March 28, 1555, he declared his actual erection and establishment df the said college, and the same day delivered possession, before a large concourse of witnesses, to the president, fellows, and scholars. In May following he supplied his college with necessaries and implements of every kind, books, furniture for the chapel, of the most costly kind; and next year he transmitted a body of statutes to the society, dated May 1, 1556. These statutes he had submitted to the revision of cardinal Pole, from whom he received some valuable hints. On the 8th of the same month, May, he gave them one hundred pounds as a stock for immediate purposes; and the endowment, by thirty-five manors, thirteen advowsons, besides impropriations and pensions, was completed before, or upon the feast of Annunciation, in the same year; and the first president, fellows and scholars, nominated by himself, were formally admitted within the chapel, May 30, on the eve of Trinity Sunday. During his life-time, the founder nominated the fellows and scholars, and afterwards delegated the power to his widow, dame Elizabeth, of nominating the scholars, and presenting to the advowsons, and this she continued to exercise during her long life, but with some interruptions, and some opposition. On one occasion the college rejected her nomination to a scholarship, and chose another candidate; but on an appeal to the visitor, he decided in her favour. She sometimes also nominated the fellows, and once a president. But both she and her husband, sir Hugh Powlett, were so liberal and punctual in fulfilling the founder’s intentions, and in contributing to the prosperity of the college, that she was in general obeyed with respect and gratitude.
, a celebrated anatomist and physician, was born at Mans, and after receiving some education under
, a celebrated anatomist and physician, was born at Mans, and after receiving some education under the fathers of oratory, went to Paris, where he
applied himself, with great assiduity, to natural history
and philosophy. In the study of the former he had been
led to the examination and dissection of insects, which
turned his mind to anatomy and surgery, as the means of
support for which purpose he presented himself at the
Hotel Dieu, and passed his examinations with great
applause, which occasioned the more surprise, as he
avowed that he had had no opportunity of obtaining practical information, and knew no more of surgery than to let
blood. He subsequently received the degree of doctor in
medicine at Rheims, in 1699, and was admitted a member
of the Academy of Sciences. He did not long survive to
receive the rewards of his industry; for he died at Paris,
in October 1708, in a state of considerable poverty, which
he supported with cheerfulness. His success in anatomical
investigation may be estimated from the transmission of his
name, attached to an important ligament. The Memoirs of
the Academy comprize many of his papers, besides a
“Dissertation sur la Sangue,
” published in the Journal des
Savans viz. a “Me*moire sur les Insectes Hermaphrodites
” “L'Histoire du Formica Leo
” that of the “Forrnica Pulex
” “Observations sur les Monies;
” “Dissertation sur PApparition des Esprits,
” on the occasion of
the adventure of St. Maur, and some other papers. He is
also considered as the editor of a “Chirurgie complette,
”
which is a compilation from many works upon that art.
Winchester. He accuses him also of being of an intolerant spirit, and that he persecuted the learned physician, Andrew Borde. Borde, however, was guilty of irregularities,
When queen Mary came to the crown, Povnet, with many others, retired to Strasburgh, where he died April 11, 1556, not quite forty years of age. Dodd says he was obliged to leave England for treasonable practices; as he had not only encouraged Wyat’s rebellion, but personally appeared in the field against the queen and government. This may be true; but no treason was necessary to render England an unsafe place for a man so zealous for the reformation, a professed opponent of Gardiner, and who succeeded that tyrannical prelate in the see of Winchester. Strype informs us, that immediately on the accession of Mary, bishop Poynet was ejected and imprisoned, and deprived of episcopacy, for being married. He doubts whether he ever was concerned with Wyat, but says he was a great friend to the learned Ascham. Milner accuses him of signing away a great number of the most valuable possessions of the see of Winchester. He accuses him also of being of an intolerant spirit, and that he persecuted the learned physician, Andrew Borde. Borde, however, was guilty of irregularities, which it was not unbecoming in his diocesan to punish. If Poynet was intolerant, what shall we say of the favourites of the popish historians?
. Van Swieten was not only Pringle’s acquaintance and fellow-student at the university, but also his physician when he happened to be seized there with a fit of sickness;
, baronet, president of the Royal
Society, was born at Stichel-house, in the county of Roxburgh, North Britain, April 10, 1707. His father was sir
John Pringle, of Stichel, bart. and his mother, whose name
was Magdalen Eliott, was sister to sir Gilbert Eliott of Stobs,
bart. Both the families from which he descended were
very ancient and honourable in the south of Scotland, and
were in great esteem for their attachment to the religion,
and liberties of their country, and for their piety and virtue in private life. He was the youngest of several sons,
three of whom, besides himself, arrived to years of maturity. His grammatical education be received at home,
under a private tutor and after having made such a progress as qualified him for academical studies, he was removed to the university of St. Andrew’s, where he was put
under the immediate care of Mr. Francis Pringle, professor
of Greek in the college, and a near relation of his father.
Having continued there some years, he went to Edinburgh
in Oct. 1727, for the purpose of studying physic, that being
the profession which he now determined to follow. At
Edinburgh, however, he stayed only one year, the reason,
of which was, that he was desirous of going to Leyden, at
that time the most celebrated school of medicine in Europe. Boerhaave, who had brought that university into
reputation, was considerably advanced in years, and Mr.
Pringle was unwilling, by delay, to expose himself to the
danger of losing the benefit of that great man’s lectures.
For Boerhaave he had a high and just respect but it was
not his disposition and character to become the implicit
and systematic follower of any man, however able aod distinguished. While he studied at Leyden, be contracted
an intimate friendship with Van Swieten, who afterwards
became so famous at Vienna, both by his practice and
writings. Van Swieten was not only Pringle’s acquaintance and fellow-student at the university, but also his physician when he happened to be seized there with a fit of
sickness; yet on this occasion he did not owe his recovery
to his friend’s advice; for Van Swieten having refused to
give him the bark, another person prescribed it, and he was
cured. When he had gone through his proper course of
studies at Leyden, he was admitted, July 20, 1730, to his
doctor of physic’s degree. His inaugural dissertation,
“De marcore senili,
” was printed. Upon quitting LeyIen, Dr. Pringle settled as a physician at Edinburgh, where
he gained the esteem of the magistrates of the city, and
of the professors of the college, by his abilities and good
conduct and, such was his known acquaintance with ethical subjects, that, March 28, 1734, he was appointed, by
the magistrates and council of the city of Edinburgh, to be
joint professor of pneumatics and moral philosophy with
Mr. Scott, during that gentleman’s life, and sole professor
after his decease and, in consequence of this appointment,
Dr. Pringle was admitted, on the same day, a member of
the university. In discharging the duties of this new employment, his text-book was “Puffendorff de Officio Hominis et Civis,
” agreeably to the method he pursued
through life, of making fact and experiment the basis of
science. Dr. Pringle continued in the practice of physic
at Edinburgh, and in performing the obligations of his professorship, till 1742, when he was appointed physician to
the earl of Stair, who then commanded the British army.
For this appointment he was chiefly indebted to his friend
Dr. Stevenson, an eminent physician at Edinburgh, who
had an intimate acquaintance with lord Stair. By the interest of this nobleman, Dr. Pringle was constituted, Aug.
24, 1742, physician to the military hospital in Flanders;
and it was provided in the commission, that he should receive a salary of twenty shillings a-day, and be entitled to
half-pay for life. He did not, on this occasion, resign his
professorship of moral philosophy; the university permitted
him to retain it, and Messrs. Muirhead and Cleghorn were
allowed to teach in his absence, us long as he continued to
request it. The exemplary attention which Dr. Pringle
paid to his duty as an army physician is apparent from
every page of his “Treatise on the Diseases of the Army.
”
One thing, however, deserves particularly to be mentioned,
as it is highly probable that it was owing to his suggestion.
It had hitherto been usual, for the security of the sick,
when the enemy was near, to remove them a great way
from the camp the consequence of which was, that many
were lost before they came under the care of the physicians. The earl of Stair, being sensible of this evil, proposed to the duke de Noailles, when the army was encamped at Aschaffenburg, in 1743, that the hospitals on
both sides should be considered as sanctuaries for the sick,
and mutually protected. The French general, who was
distinguished for his humanity, readily agreed to the pro
posal, and took the first opportunity of shewing a proper
regard to his engagement. At the hattle of Dettingen,
Dr. Pringle was in a coach with lord Carteret during the
whole time of the engagement, and the situation they were
placed in was dangerous. They had been taken unawares,
and were kept betwixt the fire of the line in front, a
French battery on the left, and a wood full of hussars on
the right. The coach was occasionally shifted, to avoid
being in the eye of the battery. Soon after this event,
Dr. Pringle met with no small affliction in the retirement
of his great friend, the earl of Stair, from the army. He
offered to resign with his noble patron, but was not permitted. He, therefore, contented himself with testifying
his respect and gratitude to his lordship, by accompanying
him forty miles on his return to England; after which he
took leave of him with the utmost regret.
that, in the spring following, March 11, he had a commission from his royal highness, appointing him physician general to his majesty’s forces in the Low Countries, and parts
But though Dr. Pringle was thus deprived of the immediate protection of a nobleman who knew and esteemed
his worth, his conduct in the duties of his station procured
him effectual support. He attended the army in Flanders,
through the campaign of 1744, and so powerfully recommended himself to the duke of Cumberland, that, in the
spring following, March 11, he had a commission from his
royal highness, appointing him physician general to his
majesty’s forces in the Low Countries, and parts beyond
the seas; and on the next day he received a second commission from the duke, by which he was constituted physician to the royal hospitals in the same countries. On
March 5, he resigned his professorship in consequence of
these promotions. In 1745 he was with the army in Flanders, but was recalled from that country in the latter end
of the year, to attend the forces which were to be sent
against the rebels in Scotland. At this time he had the
honour of being chosen F. R. S. Dr. Pringle, at the beginning of 1746, in his official capacity, accompanied the
duke of Cumberland in his expedition against the rebels,
and remained with the forces, after the battle of Culloden,
till their return to England, in the middle of August. We
do not find that he was in Flanders during any part of that
year. In 1747 and 1748, he again attended the army
abroad and in the autumn of 1748 he embarked with the
forces for England, upon the conclusion of the treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle. From that time he principally resided
in London, where, from his known skill and experience,
and the reputation he had acquired, he might reasonably
expect to succeed as a physician. In April 1749, Drt
Pringle was appointed physician in ordinary to his royal
highness the duke of Cumberland. In 1750 he published,
in a letter to Dr. Mead, “Observations on the Gaol or
Hospital Fever.
” This work, which passed through two
editions, and was occasioned by the gaol-distemper that
broke out at that time in the city of London, was well received by the medical world, though he himself afterwards
considered it as having been hastily written. After supplying some things that were omitted, and rectifying a
few mistakes that were made in it, he included it in his
grand work on the “Diseases of the Army,
” where it constitutes the seventh chapter of the third part of that treatise. It was in the same year that Dr. Pringle began to
communicate to the Royal Society his famous “Experiments upon Septic and Antiseptic substances, with remarks relating to their use in the theory of Medicine
”
These experiments, which comprehended several papers,
were read at different meetings of the society the first in
June, and the two next in the November following three
more in the course of 1751 and the last in Feb. 1752.
Only the three first numbers were printed in the “Philosophical Transactions,
” as Dr. Pringle had subjoined the
whole, by way of appendix, to his “Observations on the
Diseases of the Army.
” These experiments upon septic
and antiseptic substances, which have accompanied every
subsequent edition of the treatise just mentioned, procured for him the honour of sir Godfrey Copley’s gold
medal. Besides this, they gained him a high and just reputation, as an experimental philosopher. In February
1753, he presented to the Royal Society “An Account of
several Persons seized with the Gaol Fever by working in
Newgate and of the manner by which the Infection was
communicated to one entire family.
” This is a very curious paper and was deemed of such importance by the
excellent Dr. Stephen Hales, that he requested the author’s
permission to have it published, for the common good of
the kingdom, in the “Gentleman’s Magazine;
” where it
was accordingly printed, previous to its appearance in the
Transactions. Dr. Pringle’s next communication was,
“A remarkable Case of Fragility, Flexibility, and Dissolution of the Bones.
” In the 49th volume of the “Transactions,
” we meet with accounts which he had given of an
earthquake felt at Brussels; of another at Glasgow and
Dunbarton and of the agitation of the waters, Nov. 1,
1756, in Scotland and at Hamburgh. The 50th volume
contains, Observations by him on the case of lord Walpole,
of Woolterton; and a relation of the virtues of Soap in
dissolving the Stone, as experienced by the reverend Mr.
Matthew Simson. The next volume is enriched with two
of the doctor’s articles, of considerable length, as well as
value. In the first, he has collected, digested, and related the different accounts that had been given of a very
extraordinary fiery meteor, which appeared on Sunday the
26th of November, 1758, between eight and nine at night;
and, in the second, he has made a variety of remarks
upon the whole, in which no small degree of philosophical
sagacity is displayed. It would be tedious to mention the
various papers, which, both before and after he became
president of the Royal Society, were transmitted through
his hands. Besides his communications in the Philosophical Transactions, he wrote, in the Edinburgh Medical
Essays, volume the fifth, an “Account of the success of
the Vitrum ceratum Antimonii.
”
April 14, 1752, Dr. Pringle married Charlotte, the second daughter of Dr. Oliver, an eminent physician at Bath, and who had long been at the head of his profession
April 14, 1752, Dr. Pringle married Charlotte, the second daughter of Dr. Oliver, an eminent physician at
Bath, and who had long been at the head of his profession
in that city. This connection did not last long, the lady
dying in the space of a few years. Nearly about the time
of his marriage, Dr. Pringle gave to the public the first
edition of his “Observations on the Diseases of the Army.
”
It was reprinted in the year following, with some additions.
To the third edition, which was greatly improved from the
further experience the author had gained by attending the
camps, for three seasons, in England, an Appendix was
annexed, in answer to some remarks that professor De
Haen, of Vienna, and M. Gaber, of Turin, had made on
the work. A similar attention was paid to the improvement of the treatise, in every subsequent edition. The
work is divided into three parts; the first of which, being
principally historical, may be read with pleasure by every
gentleman. The latter parts lie more within the province
of physicians, who are the best judges of the merit of the
performance and to its merit the most decisive and ample testimonies have been given. It hath gone through
seven editions at home and abroad it has been translated
into the Fretich, German, and Italian languages. Scarcely
any medical writer hath mentioned it without some tribute
of applause. Ludwig, in the second volume of his “Commentarii de Rebus in Scientia Naturali et Medicina gestis,
”
speaks of it highly; and gives an account of it, which
comprehends sixteen pages. The celebrated and eminent
baron Haller, in his “Bibliotheca Anatomica,
” with a
particular reference to the treatise we are speaking of,
styles the author “Vir illustris de omnibus bonis artibus
bene meritus.
” It is allowed to be a classical book in the
physical line; and has placed the writer of it in a rank
with the famous Sydenham. Like Sydenham, too, he has
become eminent, not by the quantity, but the value of his
productions and has afforded a happy instance of the
great and deserved fame which may sometimes arise from
a single performance. The reputation that Dr. Pringle
gained by his “Observations on the Diseases of the Army,
”
was not of a kind which is ever likely to diminish. The
utility of it, however, was of still greater importance than
its reputation. From the time that he was appointed a
physician to the army, it seems to have been his grand
object to lessen, as far as lay in his power, the calamities
of war; nor was he without considerable success in his
noble and benevolent design. By the instructions received
from this book, the late general Melville, who united with
his military abilities the spirit of philosophy, and the spirit
of humanity, was enabled, when governor of the Neutral
Islands, to be singularly useful. By taking care to have
his men always lodged in large, open, and airy apartments,
and by never letting his forces remain long enough in
swampy places, to be injured by the noxious air of such
places, the general was the happy instrument of saving the
lives of seven hundred soldiers. In 1753, Dr. Pringle was
chosen one of the council of the Royal Society. Though
he had not for some years been called abroad, he still held
his place of physician to the army and, in the war that
began in 1755, attended the camps in England during three
seasons. This enabled him, from further experience, to
correct some of his former observations, and to give adc,Htional perfection to the third edition of his great work. In
1758, he entirely quitted the service of the army; and
being now determined to fix wholly in London, he was
admitted a licentiate of the college of physicians, July 5,
in the same year. The reason why this matter was so long
delayed might probably be, his not having hrtherto come
to a final resolution with regard to his settlement in the
metropolis. After the accession of king George III. to
the throne of Great Britain, Dr. Pringle was appointed, in
1761, physician to the queen’s household and this honour
was succeeded, by his being constituted, in 1763, physician extraordinary to her majesty. In April in the same
year, he had been chosen a member of the Academy of
Sciences at Haarlem and, June following, he was elected
a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London. In
the succeeding November, he was returned on the ballot,
a second time, one of the council of the Royal Society;
and, in 1764, on the decease of Dr. Wollaston, he was
made physician in ordinary to the queen. In Feb. 1766,
he was elected a foreign member, in the physical line, of
the Royal Society of Sciences at Gottingen; and, on the
5th of June in that year, his majesty was graciously pleased
to testify his sense of Dr. Pringle' s abilities and merit, by
raising him to the dignity of a baronet of Great Britain.
In July 1768, sir John Pringie was appointed physician in
ordinary to her late royal highness the princess dowager of
Wales to which office a salary was annexed of lOOl. a-year.
In 1770, he was chosen, a third time, into the council of
the Royal Society as he was, likewise, a fourth time, for
1772.
promotion that was given him in his medical capacity, which was, his being appointed, Nov. 4, 1774, physician extraordinary to his majesty. In the year 1776 he was enrolled
Sir John Pringle, in his next annual dissertation, had an
opportunity of displaying his knowledge in a way in which
it had not hitherto appeared. The discourse took its rise
from, the prize medaPs being adjudged to Mr. Mudge an
eminent surgeon at Plymouth, upon account of his valu*
able paper, containing “Directions for making the best
composition for the metals of Reflecting Telescopes, together with a description of the process for grinding, polishing, and giving the great speculum the true parabolic
form.
” Sir John has accurately related a variety of parti*
culars, concerning the invention of reflecting telescopes,
the subsequent improvements of these instruments, and the
state in which Mr. Mudge found them, when he first set
about working them to a greater perfection, till he had
truly realized the expectation of sir Isaac Newton, who,
above an hundred years ago, presaged that the public
would one day possess a parabolic speculum, not accomplished by mathematical rules, but by mechanical devices.
Sir John Pnngle’s sixth discourse, to which he was led by
the assignment of the gold medal to Mr. (now Dr.) Hutton,
on account of his curious paper, entitled “The Force of
fired Gunpowder, and the initial Velocity of Cannon-balls,
determined by experiments,
” was the theory of gunnery.
Though sir John had so long attended the army, this was
probably a subject to which he had heretofore paid very
little attention. We cannot, however, help admiring with
what perspicuity and judgment he has stated the progress
that was made, from time to time, in the knowledge of
projectiles, and the scientific perfection to which his friend
Mr. Hutton had carried this knowledge. Sir John Pringle
was not one of those who delighted in war, and in the
shedding of human blood; he was happy in being able to
shew that even the study of artillery might be useful to
mankind; and, therefore, this is a topic which he has not
forgotten to mention. Here ended his discourses upon the
delivery of sir Godfrey Copley’s medal. If he had continued to preside in the chair of the Royal Society, he
would, no doubt, have found other occasions of displaying
his acquaintance with the history of philosophy. But the
opportunities which he had of signalizing himself in this
respect were important in themselves, happily varied, and
sufficient to gain him a solid and lasting reputation.
Several marks of literary distinction, as we have already
seen, had been conferred upon sir John Pringle, before he
was raised to the president’s chair; but after that event, they
were bestowed upon him with great abundance and, not
again to resume the subject, we shall here collect them together. Previously, however, to these honours (excepting his having been chosen a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London), he received the last promotion that
was given him in his medical capacity, which was, his
being appointed, Nov. 4, 1774, physician extraordinary
to his majesty. In the year 1776 he was enrolled in the
list of the members of no less than four learned bodies.
These were, the Royal Academy of Sciences at Madrid
the Society of Amsterdam, for the promotion of Agriculture the Royal Academy of Medical Correspondence at
Paris and the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg. In July 1777, sir John Pringle was nominated,
by his serene highness the landgrave of Hesse, an honorary
member of the Society of Antiquaries at Cassel. In 1778
he succeeded the celebrated Linnæus, as one of the foreign
members of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris. This
honour was then extended, by that illustrious body, only
to eight persons, on which account it was justly esteemed
a most eminent mark of distinction; and we believe there
have been few or no instances wherein it has been conferred on any other than men of gceat and acknowledge/1
abilities and reputation. In October in the same year,
our author was chosen a member of the Medical Society at
Hanau. In the succeeding year, March 29, he was
elected a foreign member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Belles Lettres at Naples. The last testimony
of respect which was, in this way, bestowed upon sir John
Pringle, was his being admitted, in 1781, into the number of the fellows of the newly-erected Society of Antiquaries at Edinburgh, the particular design of which is to
investigate the history and antiquities of Scotland.
r several of his valuable relations and friends. Sir John Pringle’s eminent character as a practical physician, as well as a medical author, i sg well known, and so universally
Sir John Pringle, by long practice, had acquired a handsome fortune, which he disposed of with great prudence and propriety. The bulk of it, as might naturally and reasonably be expected, he bequeathed to his worthy nephew and heir, sir James Pringle, of Stichel, bart. whom he appointed his sole executor. But the whole was not immediately to go to sir James; for a sum equal, we believe, to seven hundred pounds a year, was appropriated to annuities, revertible to that gentleman at the decease of the annuitants. By these means, sir John exhibited an important proof of his regard and affection for several of his valuable relations and friends. Sir John Pringle’s eminent character as a practical physician, as well as a medical author, i sg well known, and so universally acknowledged. that an enlargement upon it cannot be necessary. In the exercise of his profession he was not rapacious being ready, on various occasions, to give his advice without pecuniary views. The turn of sir John Pringle’s mind led him chiefly to the love of science, which he built on the firm basis of fact. With regard to philosophy in general, he was as averse to theory, unsupported by experiments, as he was with respect to medicine in particular. Lord Bacon was his favourite author; and to the method of investigating recommended by that great man he steadily adhered. Such being his intellectual character, it will not be thought surprising that he had a dislike to Plato. To metaphysical disquisitions he lost all regard in the latter part of his life; and, though some of his most valued friends had engaged in discussions of this kind, with very different views of things, he did not choose to revert to the studies of his youth, but contented himself with the opinions he had then formed.
, the younger, a Greek physician, mathematical writer, critic, and commentator of the writings
, the younger, a
Greek physician, mathematical writer, critic, and commentator of the writings of the classic ages, flourished
about 1105. He is, for his various and extensive learning,
ranked among the first scholiasts of his time. He commented and explained no less than twenty-four plays of
Menander, which, though now lost, were extant in his
time. The emperor Constantine Ducas made him preceptor to his son Michael, who succeeded to the crown in
1071. His principal works are, 1. “De Quatuor Mathematicis Scientiis,
” Bas. De Lapidum
Virtutibus,
” Tol. De Victus ratione,
”
in 2 books, Bale, 1529, 8vo. 4. “Synopsis Legum, versibus Grsecis edita,
” Paris, Michael Psellus the Elder, who flourished in the
ninth century, was author of
” De Operatione Daemonum,"
Gr. & Lat. Paris, 1623, which has been improperly given
to the preceding author.
, a distinguished botanist and able physician, was born at Loughborough, Feb. 17, 1730. He first settled as
, a distinguished botanist and
able physician, was born at Loughborough, Feb. 17, 1730.
He first settled as a surgeon and apothecary at Leicester but having been educated as a Calvinistic dissenter,
the people of that town, who chanced to have different prejudices, of course gave him but little support. He struggled against pecuniary difficulties with economy, and
shielded his peace of mind against bigotry, in himself or
others, by looking “through nature, up to nature’s God.
”
His remarks and discoveries were communicated first to
the Gentleman’s Magazine, in 1750, as well as several subsequent years and he intermixed antiquarian studies with
his other pursuits. His botanical papers printed by the
royal society, on the Sleep of Plants, and the Rare Plants
of Leicestershire, procured him the honour of election into
that learned body in 1762. In 1764 he obtained a diploma of doctor of physic from Edinburgh, even without accomplishing that period of residence, then usually required,
and now indispensable and his thesis on the cinchona officinalis amply justified the indulgence of the university.
nion of his talents which circumstances induced him to attach himself to that nobleman as travelling physician. His lordship unfortunately died soon after, on which the subject
Soon afterwards, Dr. Pulteney was acknowledged as a relation by the earl of Bath, who had imbibed a favourable opinion of his talents which circumstances induced him to attach himself to that nobleman as travelling physician. His lordship unfortunately died soon after, on which the subject of our memoir, becoming at a loss for a situation, hesitated whether to settle at London or elsewhere but he soon, decided in favour of Blandford, in Dorsetshire, where there happened to be a vacancy. Here he continued in great reputation, and extensive practice, till his death, which happened on the 13th of October 1801, to the deep regret of all who knew him, in the 72d year of his age. His disease was an inflammation in the lungs, of only a week’s duration.
now, I find, I have no other chance for saving my life, but by calling for the help of some regular physician."
The “Craftsman
” involved Pulteney in other controversies, in one of which he wrote his famous pamphlet,
entitled “An Answer to one part of a late infamous libel,
intituled ‘ Remarks on the Craftsman’s vindication of his
two honourable patrons,’ in which the character and conduct of Mr. P. is fully vindicated.
” In this Mr. Pulteney
was so irritated, as to disclose some secret conversation
with Walpole, and some contemptuous expressions which
that statesman uttered against the king, when prince of
Wales; but this, instead of producing the effect which
Pulteney probably expected, only raised his majesty’s
resentment higher against himself. Franklin, the printer
of the pamphlet, was arrested; Pulteney’s name was struck
out of the list of privy-counsellors, and he was put out of
all commissions of the peace; measures which tended to
render the breach irreparable, while they added considerable popularity to Pulteney, It was some time after this
that he made that celebrated speech, in which he compared
the ministry to an empiric, and the constitution of England to his patient. This pretender in physic,“said he,
” being consulted, tells the distempered person, there
were but two or three ways of treating his disease, and be
was afraid that none of them would succeed. A vomit
might throw him into convulsions, that would occasion
immediate death: a purge might bring on a diarrhoea, that
would carry him off in a short time: and he had been
already bled so much, and so often, that he could bear it
no longer. The unfortunate patient, shocked at this decla-,
ration, replies, Sir, you have always pretended to be a
regular doctor, but I now find you are an errant quack,:
I had an excellent constitution when I first fell into your
hands, but you have quite destroyed it; and now, I find,
I have no other chance for saving my life, but by calling
for the help of some regular physician."
, a celebrated French physician, was born at Merey, near Mont fort- Lamaury, a small town of
, a celebrated French physician,
was born at Merey, near Mont fort- Lamaury, a small town
of the isle of France, in the year 1694. He was the son of
a labourer, and worked in the fields till he was sixteen
years of age; though he afterwards became first physician
in ordinary to the king of France, a member of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, and of the Royal Society of
London. He did not even learn to read till the period
above-mentioned, when one of the books in which he first
delighted was the “Maison Rustique.
” The surgeon of
the village gave him a slight knowledge of Greek and Latin, with some of the first principles of his art after which
he repaired to the capital, where he completed his knowledge of it. Having obtained the requisite qualifications,
he first practised his profession at Mantes but M. de la
Peyronie, having discovered his talents, and thinking them
lost in a small town, invited him to Paris, to be secretary to
an academy of surgery, which he was desirous to establish.
To the first collection of memoirs published by this society
Quesnay prefixed a preface, which is considered as one of
the compietest performances of the kind. The gout at
length disqualified him for the practice of surgery, and he
applied himself to medicine, wherein he became no less
eminent. Towards the latter end of life his early taste for
agricultural studies revived, and he became a leading man
in the sect of ceconomists, who afterwards made so bad a
use of their influence, by circulating democratical principles. Quesnay had many good qualities, among which
were humanity and charity, with a strong mind and philosophical equality of temper, under the pains of the gout.
He lived to the age of eighty, and in his very last years
involved himself so deeply in mathematical studies that he
fancied he had discovered at once the two great problems,
of the trisection of an angle, and the quadrature of the
circle. He died in December 1774. Louis XV“. was
much attached to Quesnay, called him
” son penseur,“his thinker; and, in allusion to that name, gave him three
pansies, or
” pensees," for his arms.
the last year of his cootinuance in that place for the year after he went to Lyons, where he became physician to the hospital, and joined lectures with practice for some
In 1532, he published at Lyons some pieces of Hippocrates and Galen, with a dedication to the bishop of Mailezais in which he tells him, that he had read lectures upon
the aphorisms of Hippocrates, and the “ars medica
” of
Galen, before numerous audiences in the university of
Montpellier. This was the last year of his cootinuance in
that place for the year after he went to Lyons, where he
became physician to the hospital, and joined lectures with
practice for some years following. John du Bellay, bishop of Paris, and afterwards cardinal, with whom he had
been acquainted in his early years, going to Rome in?
1534, upon the business of Henry VIITs divorce from Catherine of Spain, and passing through Lyons, carried Rabelais with him, in quality of his physician who returned
home, however, in about six months. He had sometime
before quitted his religious connections for the sake of
leading a life more suitable to his taste and humour; but
now renewed them, and in a second journey to Rome, obtained in 1536, by his interest with some cardinals, a
brief from pope Paul III. to qualify him for holding ecclesiastical benefices. John du Bellay, had procured the
abbey of St. Maur near Paris to be secularized; and into
this was Rabelais, now a Benedictine monk, received as a
secular canon. Here he is supposed to have begun his
famous romance, entitled “The lives, heroic deeds, and
sayings of Gargantua and Pantagruel.
” He continued ifi
this retreat till
, an eminent English physician, was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire, where his father possessed
, an eminent English physician,
was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire, where his father possessed a moderate estate, in 1650. He was taught Greek
and Latin at a school in the same town and, at fifteen
years of age, was sent to University college, in Oxford. In
1669, he took his first degree in arts; but no fellowship
becoming vacant there, he removed to Lincoln college,
where he was elected into one. He applied himself to
physic, and ran through the necessary courses of botany,
chemistry, and anatomy in all which, having excellent
parts, he quickly made a very great progress. He took
the degree of M. A. in 1672, and then proceeded in the
medical faculty. It is remarkable, that he recommended
himself more by ready wit and vivacity, than by any extraordinary acquisitions in learning; and, in the prosecution
of physic, he rarely looked further than to the pieces of
Dr. Willis, who was then practising in London with a very
distinguished character. He had few books of Any kind
so few, that when Dr. Bathurst, head of Trinity college,
asked him once in a surprise, “where his study was
”
RadclifTe, pointing to a few phials, a skeleton, and an
herbal, replied, <* Sir, this is Radclitfe’s library.“In
1675 he proceeded M. B. and immediately began to practise. He never paid any regard to the rules universally
followed, but censured them, as often as he saw occasion,
with great freedom and acrimony which drew all the old
practitioners upon him, with whom he waged an everlasting
war. Yet his reputation increased with his experience and
before he had been two years established, his business was
very extensive, and among those of the highest rank. About
this time, Dr. Marshall, rector of Lincoln college, opposed
his application for a faculty-place in the college, which
was to serve as a dispensation from taking holy orders,
which the statutes required him to do, if he kept his fellowship. This was owing to some witticisms which Raclclirle, according to his manner, had pointed at the doctor.
The church, however, being inconsistent with his present
situation and views, he chose to resign his fellowship, which
he did in 1677. He would have kept his chambers, and
resided there as a commoner; but Dr. Marshall being still
irreconcilable, he quitted the college, and took lodgings
elsewhere, tn 1682 he went out M.D. but continued two
years longer at Oxford, increasing both in wealth and fame.
In 1684 he went to London, and settled in Bow-street,
Covent-garden. Dr. Lower was there the reigning physician but his interest beginning to decline on account of
his whig principles, as they were called, Radcliffe had
almost an open field and, in less than a year, got into
high practice, to which perhaps his conversation contributed as much as his reputed skill in his profession, for
few men had more pleasantry and ready wit. In 1686, the
princess Anne of Denmark made him her physician. In
1687, wealth jlo wing in upon him very plentifully, he had
a mind to testify his gratitude to University college, where
he had received the best part of his education; and, with
this intent, caused the East window, over the altar, to be
put up at his own expence. It is esteemed a beautiful
piece, representing the nativity of our Saviour, painted
upon glass; and appears to be his gift, by the following
inscription under it:
” D. D. Joan. Radcliffe, M. D.
hujus Collegii quondam Socius, A. D. M.DCLXXXVII.“He
is called
” Socius;" not that he was really a fellow, but,
being senior scholar, had the same privileges, though not
an equal revenue, with the fellows. In 1638, when prince
George of Denmark joined the prince of Orange and the
princess, his consort, retired to Nottingham, the doctor
was pressed, by bishop Compton, to attend her in quality
of his office, she being also pregnant of the duke of
Gloucester; but, not choosing to declare himself in that
critical state of public affairs, nor favouring the measures
then in agitation, he excused himself on account of the
multiplicity of his patients.
should be entitled to prescribe to them.' 7 In 1694, queen Mary caught the small-pox and died. “The physician’s part,” says bishop Burnet, u was universally condemned and
After the Revolution, he was often sent for to king William, and the great persons about his court; and this he
must have owed entirely to his reputation, for it does not
appear that he ever inclined to be a courtier. In 1692 he
ventured 5000l. in an interloper, which was bound for the
East Indies, with the prospect of a large return but lost
it, the ship being taken by the French. When the news
was brought him, he said that “he had nothing to do, but
go up so many pair of stairs to make himself whole again/'
In 1693, he entered upon a treaty of marriage with the
only daughter of a wealthy citizen, and was near bringing
the affair to a conclusion, when it was discovered that the
young lady had an intrigue with her father’s book-keeper.
This disappointment in his first love would not suffer him
ever after to think of the sex in that light he even acquired a degree of insensibility, if not aversion for them
and often declared, that
” he wished for an act of parliament, whereby nurses only should be entitled to prescribe
to them.' 7 In 1694, queen Mary caught the small-pox
and died. “The physician’s part,
” says bishop Burnet,
u was universally condemned and her death was imputed
to the negligence or unskilfulness of Dr. Radcliffe. He
was called for; and it appeared, but too evidently, that
his opinion was chiefly considered, and most depended on.
Other physicians were afterwards called, but not till it was
too late."
cess Anne, by neglecting- to obey her call, from his too great attachment to the bottle, and another physician was elected into his place. In 1699, king William returning
Soon after, he lost the favour of the princess Anne, by
neglecting- to obey her call, from his too great attachment
to the bottle, and another physician was elected into his
place. In 1699, king William returning from Holland,
and being indisposed, sent for Radcliffe; and, shewing
him his swoln ancles, while the rest of his body was emaciated and skeleton-like, said, “What think you of these?
”
“Why truly,
” replied the physician, “I would not have
your majesty’s two legs for your three kingdoms
” which
freedom lost the king’s favour, and no intercessions could
ever recover it. When queen Anne came to the throne,
the earl of Godolphin used all his endeavours to reinstate
him in his former post of chief physician but she would
not be prevailed upon, alledging, that Radcliffe would
send her word again, “that her ailments were nothing but
the vapours.
” Still he was consulted in all cases of emergency and. critical conjuncture; and though not admitted
as the queen’s domestic physician, he received large sums
for his prescriptions.
the “Biographia Britannica” “The lady who made the doctor, at this advanced age, stand in need of a physician himself, was, it is said, of great beauty, wealth, and quality
In 1709, he was ridiculed by Steele, in the “Tatler,
”
under the title of “the mourning Æsculapius, the languishing hopeless lover of the divine Hebe, emblem of youth and
beauty.
” After curing the lady of a severe fever, he fell
violently in love with her; but was rejected. The story is
thus related in the “Biographia Britannica
” “The lady
who made the doctor, at this advanced age, stand in need
of a physician himself, was, it is said, of great beauty,
wealth, and quality and too attractive not to inspire the
coldest heart with the warmest sentiments. After he had
made a cure of her, he could not but imagine, as naturally
he might, that her ladyship would entertain a favourable
opinion of him. But the lady, however grateful she might
be for the care he had taken of her health, divulged the
secret, and one of her confidants revealed it to Steele,
who, on account of party, was so ill-natured as to write
the ridicule of it in the Tatler.
”
, an Italian physician, was born of a citizen’s family at Carpi near Modena, Nov. 5,
, an Italian physician, was
born of a citizen’s family at Carpi near Modena, Nov. 5,
1633. When he had laid a foundation in grammar and
classical literature in his own country, he went to Parma
to study philosophy; and, afterwards applying himself to
physic, took a doctor’s degree there in 1659. Then he
went to Rome, for the sake of penetrating still further into
his art; and afterwards settled as a practitioner in the duchy
of Castro. After some time, ill health obliged him to return to Carpi for his native air, where he married, and followed the business of his profession; but in 1671, at the
advice of some friends, he removed to Modena. His brethren of the faculty there conceived at first but meanly of
his learning and abilities; but, when he had undeceived
them by his publications, their contempt is said to have
been changed into jealousy. In 1682, he was made professor of physic in the university of Modena, which was
just founded by duke Francis II.; and he filled this office
for eighteen years, attending in the mean time to practice,
and not neglecting polite literature, to which he was always
partial, and wrote a very elegant Latin style. In 1700, he
went to Padua upon invitation, to be a professor there:
but the infirmities of age began now to come upon him.
He lost his sight, and was forced to read and write with
other people’s eyes and hands. The senate, however, of
Venice made him rector of the college in 1708, and also
raised him from the second professorship in physic to the
first. He would have refused these honourable posts; but, being overruled, performed all the functions of them very diligently to the time of his death, He died Nov. 5, his
birthday, 1714, aged eighty-one. Ramazzini was a member of
several of the academies of science established in Germany, Berlin, &c., and left several works the principal
of which, and one which will ever be held in estimation, is
his treatise on the diseases of artists and manufacturers,
entitled “De Morbis Artificum Diatriba,
” first published
in Ephemerides Barometrical;
” a work on the abuse of Peruvian bark;
and several orations delivered in his professorial capacity.
All his works have been collected and published together
at Padua, Geneva, London, and Naples; the edition of
London, 1716, 4to, is the most correct.
of curious information relative to medical and other rare plants, with several wooden cuts. He died physician to the Austrian army, at Hatvany, in Hungary, in 1606, according
, a skilful botanist, was a native
of Augsburg, and a pupil of Rondelet. He sailed from
Marseilles, in 1573, for the Levant, and performed a laborious and dangerous journey through Syria, Mesopotamia,
Palestine, and Egypt; of which he has left an account in
German, full of curious information relative to medical and
other rare plants, with several wooden cuts. He died physician to the Austrian army, at Hatvany, in Hungary, in 1606,
according to Dryander, Bibl. Banks, v. 395, though Haller
says 1596. The latter writer mentions his being obliged to
quit his country, on account of his religion, which was protestant. His splendid herbarium, once the property of
queen Christina, and of Isaac Vossius, is preserved in the
university of Leyden. From it Gronovius composed his
“Flora Orientalis.
” An English translation of his journey
was published by Staphorst in 1693, 8vo.
, a learned physician and mathematician, was born of a good family in Wales, and flourished
, a learned physician and mathematician, was born of a good family in Wales, and flourished in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Mary. There is no account of the exact time of his birth, though it must have been early in the sixteenth century, as he was entered of the university of Oxford about 1525, where he was elected fellow of All Souls college in 1531, being then B. A. but Wood is doubtful as to the degree of master. Making physic his profession, he went to Cambridge, where he was honoured with the degree of doctor in that faculty, in 1545, and highly esteemed by all that knew him for his great knowledge in several arts and sciences. He afterwards returned to Oxford, where, as he had done before he went to Cambridge, he publicly taught arithmetic, and other branches of the mathematics, with great applause. It seems he afterwards repaired to London, and it has been said he was physician to Edward VI. and Mary, to which princes he dedicates some of his books; and yet he ended his days in the King’s Bench prison, Southwark, where he was confined for debt, in 155.S, at a very immature age. Pits gives him a very high character, as excelling in every branch of knowledge, philosophy, polite literature, astronomy, natural history, &c. &c. And Tanner observes that he had a knowledge of the Saxon language, as appears from his marginal notes on Alexander Essebiens, a ms. in Corpus Christi college, Cambridge.
, an ancient Italian scholar and physician, was born of a noble family at Arezzo, in 1626. He studied at
, an ancient Italian scholar and physician, was born of a noble family at Arezzo, in 1626. He
studied at Padua, where he took the degree of doctor in
philosophy and physic: and very soon afterwards rendered
himself so conspicuous by his talents and acquirements in
these sciences, that he was appointed first physician to the
grand dukes Ferdinand II. and Cosmo III. At this time
the academy del Cimento was occupied in a series of philosophical experiments which gave full scope and employment to Redi’s genius; and at the desire of his noble patron, he undertook the investigation of the salts which are
obtainable from different vegetables. With what success
these experiments were conducted, may be seen by referring to his works. His principal attention, however, was
directed to two more important subjects: viz. the prison of
the viper, and the generation and properties of insects. In
the first of these inquiries he shewed the surprising difference there is between swallowing the viperine poison, and
having it applied to the surface of the body by a wound.
He also proved that, contrary to the assertion of Charas,
the virulence of the poison does not depend upon the rage
or exasperation of the animal, since the poison collected
from a viper killed without being previously irritated, and
dropped into a wound produces the same fatal effects, as
that which is infused into a wound made by the animal
when purposely teazed until it bites. On the subject of
insects, he refuted the doctrine, maintained by all the ancients and by many moderns, of putrefaction being the
cause of their generation; a doctrine which had, indeed,
been attacked some years before by an Italian author named
Aromatari, but not with that weight of facts and force of
argument which are so conspicuous in this treatise and the
rest of Redi’s writings. His observations on various natural
productions brought from the Indies, and on animals that
live within other living animals, “osservazioni intorno agli
animali viventi che si trovano negli animali viventi,
” exhibit
many curious experiments and discoveries. But while he
was thus engaged in philosophical pursuits, he did not neglect the duties of his profession, as a physician. His
letters contain numerous histories of diseases and of their
treatment; for he kept a register of all remarkable cases
and consultations. He was particularly diligent in noticing
the operation of remedies, and in many disorders enjoined
a very abstemious diet. Kedi’s merits, however, were not
confined to philosophy and medicine. He was also an excellent philologist and an elegant poet. His “Bacco in
Toscana
” has lately been edited by Mr. Mathias. All his
writings possess the attraction of a pure and polished style;
and the Academy della Crusca justly regarded him as one
of the best authorities, in the composition of their celebrated
Dictionary. This indefatigable philosopher and amiable
man died at Pisa in 1698, having previously suffered much
from epileptic attacks. After his death, a medal was struck
in honour of his name, by order of Cosmo III. His works
have gone through various editions; but that which was
printed at Naples in 7 vols. 4to, is esteemed the best.
, an English physician and philologist, was born at Llanvaethly in the isle of Anglesea,
, an English physician and philologist, was born at Llanvaethly in the isle of Anglesea,
in 1534. After residing two or three years at Oxford, he
was elected student of Christ church, but inclining to the
study of medicine, went abroad, and took the degree of
doctor in that faculty at Sienna in Tuscany. He acquired
so perfect a knowledge of the Italian language, that he was
appointed public moderator of the school of Pistoia in
Tuscany, and wrote books in that tongue, which were much
esteemed by the Italians themselves. On his return, with
a high reputation for medical and critical learning of all
kinds, he retired to Brecknock, where he passed the
greater part of his life in literary pursuits and the practice
of his profession, and where he died about 1609. Wood
says he died a Roman catholic; and Dodd, upon that authority, has included him among his worthies of that religion, but there seems some reason to doubt this. One of
Rhese’s publications was a Welsh grammar, “CambroBritannicae, Cymeraecaeve, linguse Institutiones et
Rudimenta, &c. ad intelligend. Biblia Sacra iiuper in CambroBritannicum sermonem eleganter versa,
” Lond. 1592, folio.
Prefixed to this is a preface by Humphrey Prichard, in
which he informs us that the author made this book purposely for the better understanding of that excellent translation of the Bible into Welsh, and principally for the sake
of the clergy, and to make the scriptures more intelligible
to them and to the people; a measure which a Roman catholic in those days would scarcely have adopted. Prichard also
says that he was “sincere religionis propaganda avidissimus;
” and as Prichard was a protestant, and a minister of
the church of England, he must surely mean the protestant
religion. Rhese’s other works are, “Rules for obtaining
the Latin Tongue,
” written in the Tuscan language, and
printed at Venice; and “De Italicae linguae pronunciatione,
” in Latin, printed at Padua. There was likewise in
Jesus college library a ms compendium of Aristotle’s Metaphysics in the Welsh language by our author, in which
he asserts, what every ancient Briton will agree to, that this
tongue is as copious and proper for the expression of philosophical terms, as the Greek or any other language. Several other valuable tracts, which are entirely lost, were
written by Dr. Rhese, who was accounted one of the great
luminaries of ancient British literature. By Stradling in
his epigrams, he is styled “novum antiques linguae lumen;
”
and by Camden, “clarissimus et eruditissimus vir Joannes
David,
” for he was sometimes called John David, or Davis.
ncreased greatly after his marriage, in 1740, with Elizabeth, daughter of his uncle Dr. George Reid, physician in London. The accommodating manners of this excellent woman,
Dr. Reid’s popularity at New Machar increased greatly
after his marriage, in 1740, with Elizabeth, daughter of his
uncle Dr. George Reid, physician in London. The accommodating manners of this excellent woman, and her
good offices among the sick and necessitous, were long remembered with gratitude, and so endeared the family to
the neighbourhood, that its removal was regarded as a
general misfortune. The simple and affecting language in
which some old men expressed themselves on this subject
deserves to be recorded: “We fought against Dr. Reid
when he came, and would have fought for him when he
went away.
”
ies of seeing life close.” Dr. Reid’s own opinion of his case was probably the same with that of his physician; as he expressed to him on his first visit, his hope that he
The actual and useful life of Dr. Reid was now drawing
to a conclusion. A violent disorder attacked him about
the end of September 1796; but does not seem to have
occasioned much alarm to those about him, till he was
visited by Dr. Cleghorn, who soon communicated his apprehensions in a letter to Dr. Gregory. Among other
symptoms, he mentioned particularly “that alteration of
voice and features, which, though not easily described, is
so well known to all who have opportunities of seeing life
close.
” Dr. Reid’s own opinion of his case was probably
the same with that of his physician; as he expressed to
him on his first visit, his hope that he was “soon to get his
dismission.
” After a severe struggle, attended with repeated strokes of palsy, he died on the 7th of October following.
, a learned and philosophic German, was born at Gotha, a city of Thuringia, in 1587. He was a physician but applied himself to polite literature, in which he chiefly
, a learned and philosophic German, was born at Gotha, a city of Thuringia, in 1587. He was a physician but applied himself to polite literature, in which he chiefly excelled. After practising physic in other places, he settled at Altenburg for several years, and was made a burgo-master. At last, having been raised to be counsellor to the elector of Saxony, he went to reside at Leipsic; where he also died in 1667. One of his letters relates many circumstances of his life, and shews him to have met with many vexations; though, as will appear afterwards, he was more than ordinarily upon his guard, that he might not be involved in the troubles of the world.
Reinhold left a son, named also Erasmus after himself, an eminent mathematician and physician at Salfeldt. He wrote a small work in the German language, on
Reinhold left a son, named also Erasmus after himself, an eminent mathematician and physician at Salfeldt. He wrote a small work in the German language, on Subterranean Geometry, printed in 4to at Erfurt, 1575. He wrote also concerning the New Star which appeared in Cassiopeia in 1572; with an Astrological Prognostication, published in 1574, in the German language.
entered into the congregation of the oratory, where he did not continue long. His father being first physician to the dauphin, he was early introdued to scenes, where his
, a French writer, very learned
in Oriental history and languages, was born at Paris in
1646; and, being taught classical literature by the Jesuits,
and philosophy in the college of Harcourt, afterwards entered into the congregation of the oratory, where he did
not continue long. His father being first physician to the
dauphin, he was early introdued to scenes, where his parts,
his learning, and his politeness, made him admired. His
reputation was afterwards advanced and established by several learned works, which he published. In 1700, heattended cardinal de Noailles to Rome; and received great
honours, together with the priory of Frossey in Bretagne,
from pope Clement V. Returning by Florence he was
honoured in the same manner by the great duke; and was
also made a member of the academy de la Crusca. On his
return to France he devoted himself entirely to letters,
and composed a great number of learned dissertations,
which are printed in the “Memoirs of the Academy of
Inscriptions,
” of which he was a member, as well as of the
French academy. He died in 1720. Voltaire blames him
for having prevented Bayle’s dictionary from being printed
in France. This is very natural in Voltaire and Voltaire’s
followers; but it is a more serious objection to Renaudot,
that, while his love of learning made him glad to correspond with learned Protestants, his cowardly bigotry
prevented him from avowing the connection. Not long before
Dr. Pocock’s death that eminent orientalist received a letter
from Renaudot, in which he professes a very high esteem
for the doctor, desires the liberty of consulting him in all
the doubts that should occur in preparing his “Collection
of Liturgies,
” &c. and promises, in return for this favour,
to make a public acknowledgment of it, and preserve a
perpetual memory of the obligation; yet, when the above
work appeared, he travelled out of his way to reproach
Dr. Pocock with a mistake, which was perhaps the only one
that could be discovered in his writings.
, a physician, and a man learned in many respects, is said to have been the
, a physician, and a man
learned in many respects, is said to have been the first author of Gazettes in France in 1631. He was born at Loudun in 1583, and died at Paris, where he had spent the
greatest part of his life, in 1653. He left besides his Gazettes, a continuation of the “Mercure Frai^oise
” from
Abre*ge de la Vie et de la mort de Henri
de Bourbon, prince de Conde,
” La vie et la
mort du Marechal de Gassion,
” The Life
of Cardinal Michael de Mazarin,
” brother of the prime
minister of that name,
to London, and attended as pupil at the Middlesex hospital. The following year he became a resident physician at Guildford; and married Miss Wilson, in the month of April
, a late eminent pbysijcian, was born in the county of Nottingham, Sept. 26, 1745; and his father having died about a month before, the care of him devolved on his maternal great-uncle and godfather, Mr. Henry Revell, of Gainsborough; by whom he was sent, at an early age, to a school at Beverley in Yorkshire, then in great repute under the government of Mr. Ward. Having early shewn a disposition for his profession, his uncle placed him, at the age of eighteen, as a commoner at Lincoln college, Oxford. It was in the second year of his residence at this university that he had the misfortune to lose his uncle and benefactor, the memory of whom was ever cherished by him with a pious and grateful affection, and who left him a small landed property in Lincolnshire, by which he was enabled to prosecute the object that he had in view. He continued at Oxford till the early part of 1766, when, in order to the obtaining of his medical degrees sooner, he was admitted, by a benc decessit from Oxford, ad eundem to Trinity college, Cambridge, and he kept a term at that university. In the summer of this year he went to Edinburgh, and resided there two years, and after attending a course of medical studies, returned in 1768 to Cambridge, when the degree of bachelor of physic being conferred upon him, he went to London, and attended as pupil at the Middlesex hospital. The following year he became a resident physician at Guildford; and married Miss Wilson, in the month of April 1770. By the advice, however, of his friend, Dr. Huck, afterwards Dr. Huck Saumders, he settled in London, in Lamb’s Conduit-street, in the summer of 1772. The next year he took the degree of doctor of physic at Cambridge, and was immediately afterwards elected physician to the Middlesex hospital. In 1774 he was chosen a fellow, and at the same time a censor, of tke college of physicians. He soon became the object of particular notice and regard by the eminent physicians of that day, doctors Huck, Fothergill, and sir Richard Jebb; and the high opinion which the latter gentleman had formed of his professional abilities, and personal character and manners, and the consequent expression of that opinion, and recommendation of Dr. Reynolds to his majesty, were the original cause of his being called into attendance upon the king in the memorable period of 1788. In 1776 he was appointed to speak the Harveian oration; and, although, his modesty would not suffer him to print it, it has been thought worthy of being compared with the most classical of these harangues. In the course of it, he exactly described that mode, which he ever observed, of performing the various duties of his profession, and of dispensing its various benefits. In 1777 Dr. Reynolds was elected physician to St. Thomas’s hospital; and from this period his business gradually increased, till, in the progress of a few years, he attained to the highest fame and practice in his profession. In every successive illness of our revered sovereign since 1788, Dr. Reynolds’s attendance on his majesty was always required; and his public examinations before parliament are recorded proofs of his high merits as a physician, a gentleman, and a scholar; while his appointments to the situations of physician extraordinary to the king in 1797, and physician in ordinary in 1806, evince the estimation in which his sovereign held his character and his services. When he was called into attendance at Windsor, he was suffering under a rheumatic affection, which had been oppressing him for some time. The anxiety attached to such an attendance as the illness of his majesty required, had oil this occasion a very powerful, if not a fatal, influence. The first day that he seriously felt the fatigues of mind and body was, after his examination before the House of Lords, the etiquette of this branch of parliament not allowing a witness to sit down, Dr. Reynolds, who, in consequence of his having attended his majesty in all his previous similar illnesses, was examined at greater length than his other brethren were, was kept standing fur two hours, and the riext clay was reluctantly compelled to remain the whole of it in his bed. On the following, however, he returned to Windsor; but from this time his appetite began to fail, and his strength and flesh visibly to diminish. In the month of March, 1811, these symptoms had so much increased, that his friends besought him to retire from his anxious attendance at Windsor, to spare his mind and body entirely, and to devote himself solely to the re-establishment of his own health; but unfortunately for his family, his friends, and the public, he would not be persuaded. While any powers were left, to his majesty’s service he resolved that they should be devoted: and thus he persevered till the 4th of May, when he returned to London extremely ill; and from that day his professional career was stopped. Having been confined to his room for nearly three weeks, he was prevailed upon, by his excellent friends Dr. Latham and Dr. Ainslie, to go to Brighton, where he remained two months. Sometimes during this anxious period he would seem to rally, but the appearances were deceitful; they were the mere struggles of a naturally good constitution, unimpaired by any intemperance, against the inroads of a disease. At the end of the month of July, he returned to his house in Bedford-square, where he lingered Until Oct. 23, on which day he expired, very deeply regretted for his talents, virtues, and professional skill and humanity.
o mentions the use of chemical preparations in medicine. He has a chapter on the qualifications of a physician; and a singular tract on quacks and impostors, who appear to
, called also Albubecar Mohamed, one of the most distinguished of the Arabian physicians, was born at Rei, in the province of Chorosan, about the year 852. He was first much addicted to music, and is said not to have studied medicine until he was thirty years of age, when he removed to Bagdad, became indefatigable in his application, and having obtained the highest reputation, was selected out of a hundred eminent physicians, who were then resident at Bagdad, to superintend the celebrated hospital of that city. His biographers speak of him as the Galen of the Arabians; and from his long life and constant practice, during which he paid the most assiduous attention to the varieties of disease, he obtained the appellation of the experimenter, or the experienced. He was said also to be profoundly skilled in all the sciences, especially in philosophy, astronomy, and music. He travelled much in pursuit of knowledge, and made frequent journies into Persia, his native country, and was much consulted by several princes, particularly by Almanzor, the chief of Chorasan, with whom he frequently corresponded, and to whom he dedicated several of his writings. Two hundred and twenty-six treatises are said to have been composed by Rhazes, among which the ten books addressed to his patron Almanzor, were designed as a complete body of physic, and may be deemed the great magazine of all the Arabian medicine; the ninth book, indeed, which treats of the cure of diseases, was in such general estimation for several centuries, that it was the text-book of the public schools, and was commented upon by the most learned professors. Yet, like the rest of the Arabian writings, it contains very little more than the substance of the works of the Greeks, from whom the Arabians borrowed almost all their medical knowledge. They have, indeed, and Rhazes in particular, given the first distinct account of the small-pox; and Rhazes wrote also the first treatise ever composed respecting the diseases of children. His book on the affections of the joints contains an account of some remarkable cures, effected chiefly by copious blood-letting. He describes the symptoms of hydrophobia very well; and also some diseases peculiar to eastern countries, and first noticed the disease called spina ventosa. Rhazes had the reputation of being a skilful alchemist; and is the first, as Dr. Freind has shewn, who mentions the use of chemical preparations in medicine. He has a chapter on the qualifications of a physician; and a singular tract on quacks and impostors, who appear to have been at least as numerous, and ingenious in their contrivances as in more recent times.
, called Anglicus, was an English physician, who flourished about 1230. He is said to have studied first
, called Anglicus, was an English physician, who flourished about 1230. He is said to have studied first at Oxford, and then at Paris, and attained a high degree of eminence in his profession. Tanner gives a list of his works, none of which appear to have been published. Some of his Mss. are in the New college library, Oxford.
, a very ingenious and learned man, was the son of a physician, and born at Paris in 1577. He was brought up among the Jesuits,
, a very ingenious and learned man, was the son of a physician, and born
at Paris in 1577. He was brought up among the Jesuits,
and afterwards admitted advocate; but, not being able to
conquer the disgust he had conceived to the profession of
the law, he devoted himself entirely to the pursuit of polite
literature The public received the first fruits of his labours in his “Funus Parasiticum,
” printed in Minutius Foelix,
” “Phaedrus,
”
“Martial,
” “Rei accipitrarii scriptores,
” “Rei agrarige
scriptores,
” the works of “Cyprian
” and “Tertullian,
”
&c. His notes upon these last two are learned and critical; but the matter of some of them shews him to have been
not a rigid catholic. He takes occasion to observe, from a
passage in Tertullian’s “Exhortation to Chastity,
” that
Jaymen have a right and power to consecrate the eucharist,
when there is no opportunity of recurring to the regular
ministers; and this, with other opinions of a similar kind,
not only gave offence to those of his own communion, but
even to some- of“ours.
” Rigaltius,“says Mr. Dodwell,
” though an ingenious and learned critic, is by no means
exact upon the subjects he treats of: for, though of the
Roman communion, he is often fou/)d on the side of the
Calvinists; and, when he meets with anything in the authors he publishes that appears contrary to the customs,
not oflly of his own, but of the universal church, he remarks it with great care; perhaps to render his notes more
agreeable to the reader, by presenting him with something
new and unexpected." It is probable, that many persons
may not think the worse of Rigakius, as an editor, for the
censure here passed on him by Mr. Dodtvell. Rigaltius
was also concerned in the edition of Thuanus, published at
Geneva in 1620.
, an able French physician, a native of Amiens, and distinguished by his attainments both
, an able French physician, a native
of Amiens, and distinguished by his attainments both in
literature and science, is said not only to have written
and spoken the learned languages with facility, but to have
been thoroughly intimate with the contents of almost all
the writings of the ancients. We have, however, very
few particulars of his life, unless that he gave lessons in
natural philosophy at the college of Boncour, at Paris,
where he took his degree in 1574, and held the office of
dean of the faculty in 1586 and 1587. He died Oct. 18,
1606. He was a strenuous advocate for the doctrine of
Hippocrates and the ancients, whom he defended with
great ardour against the chemists. His works, which are
indicative of genius, were collected and published, together with some posthumous tracts, at Paris, in 1610,
under the title of “Opera Omnia,
” and some were separately published, particularly one against the ignorance of
the practitioners of surgery in his time, entitled “Ad Impudentiam quorundam Chirurgorum, qui Medicis suquari
et Chirurgiam publice profiteri volunt; proveteri dignitate
Medicinal Apologia philosophica,
” Paris,
stablishment of a botanic garden in the university of Paris. He subsequently held the appointment of physician to queen Mary de Medicis, and accompanied that princess in her
, son of the preceding, was born at Paris in the year 1577. While his father afforded every encouragement to his rising talents, his mind was naturally directed to the study of medicine, in which his progress was uncommonly rapid. He took his degree in 160-1, and a very few years after acquired great reputation as an author. In 1613, he was appointed royal professor of anatomy and botany by Louis XIII.; and in this latter capacity he petitioned the king for the establishment of a botanic garden in the university of Paris. He subsequently held the appointment of physician to queen Mary de Medicis, and accompanied that princess in her travels; he arrived at Cologne after her death, in July 1642, and returned to Paris, where he resumed his profession. After having twice undergone the operation of lithotomy, he lived to the age of eighty years, and died at Paris February 19, 1657.
, an eminent botanist and physician, was the son of a learned physician and critic, Andrew Bachmann,
, an eminent botanist and physician, was the son of a learned physician and critic, Andrew Bachmann, whose name in Latin became Rivinus. He was born at Leipsic in 1652. After a successful course of study he became professor of physiology and botany in his native university. He was also a member of various learned societies, and died in 1723 r aged seventyone.
, a learned physician and botanist, and physician in ordinary to George I. by whom
, a learned physician and botanist, and physician in ordinary to George I. by whom he
was knighted, was the very intimate friend of the celebrated
Ray, who distinguishes him by the title of amicorum alpha.
Of his early history we have not been able to recover
many particulars. He was nearly of an age, and ran his course
for some time with sir Hans Sloane, with whom, when a
student, he travelled to France. He was educated at St.
John’s college, Cambridge, where he took his degree of
bachelor of medicine in 1679, and that of doctor in 1685.
While at Montpellier he wrote a letter to Dr. Martin Lister, dated Aug. 4, 1683, concerning the fabric of the remarkable bridge, called Pont de S. Esprit, on the Rhine,
which was printed in the Philosophical Transactions for
June 1684; and, after his return in lhat year, he was
elected a fellow of the Royal Society. To this learned
body he made various communications, particularly an account of the first four volumes of the “Horius Malabariciis
” on the natural sublimation of sulphur from the pyrites
and limestone at ^tna, &c. an account of Henry Jenkins, who lived 169 years and on other topics of natural
history. The printed correspondence between him and
Ray commenced during Dr. Robinson’s travels, before mentioned, and was continued for upwards of ten years. Seventeen of his letters appear in the “Philosophical Correspondence,
” with all Mr. Ray’s answers. They run much
on the subject of Zoology; but contain also botanical and
philosophical observations. These, and what he communicated to the “Philosophical Transactions,
” prove him to
have been a man well acquainted with various parts of
learning to which he added also an intimate knowledge of
natural history. In this branch Ray had the highest opinion
of him, and placed the greatest confidence in his assistance. He had a seat in the council of the Royal Society
for many years. He died March 29, 1748.
, an eminent physician and great benefactor to Scotland, was born at Sheffield in Yorkshire,
, an eminent physician and great benefactor to Scotland, was born at Sheffield in Yorkshire, in 1718. His father Whs a considerable manufacturer and exporter of Sheffield goods, and intended this his son for the same business, but perceiving his inclination to learning, determined to give him a liberal education, or such as was attainable among the dissenters, of which he was one of the strict sort. After sone school education, therefore, at Sheffield, he sent him to the academy kept by the celebrated Dr. Doddridge at Northampton, where thd young man laid the foundation of that classical taste and knowledge for which he was afterwards much distinguished. From Northampton he was sent to the university of Edinburgh, where he studied medicine, and particularly chemistry. After the usual course of these studies here, he pursued the same at Leyden, then considered as the first medical school in Europe, and took his doctor’s degree in February 1743.
Soon after his return from the continent, some circumstances induced Dr. Roebuck to settle as a physician at Birmingham, where he met with great encouragement, and at
Soon after his return from the continent, some circumstances induced Dr. Roebuck to settle as a physician at Birmingham, where he met with great encouragement, and at his leisure hours was induced to turn his studies and industry to various objects besides those of his profession. Strongly attached to the rising science of chemistry, he conceived high views of extending its usefulness, and rendering it subservient to the improvement of arts and manufactures. With this view he fitted up a small laboratory in his house, in which he spent every moment of his time which he could spare from the duties of his profession. The first efforts of his genius and industry led him to the discovery of certain improved methods of refining gold and silver, and particularly to an ingenious method of collecting the smaller particles of these precious metals, which had formerly been lost in the practical operations of many of the manufacturers. By other chemical processes, carried on about the same time in his little laboratory, he discovered also improved methods of making sublimate, hartshorn, and sundry other articles of equal importance. In order to render these beneficial to himself, and useful to the public, he associated himself with Mr. Samuel Garbet, of Birmingham, a gentleman of abilities and enterprizing spirit, and established a laboratory upon a large scale, which was productive of many advantages to the manufacturers of that place, and of such emolument to themselves, as contributed greatly to the boldness of their future projects.
out this time Dr. Roebuck was urged, by some of his friends, to leave Birmingham, and to settle as a physician at London, where his abilities might have a more extensive field
About this time Dr. Roebuck was urged, by some of his friends, to leave Birmingham, and to settle as a physician at London, where his abilities might have a more extensive field of exertion. But the chemical concerns, with which he was now deeply occupied, holding out to him the prospect of a richer harvest, determined him to give up the practice of medicine altogether, and to fix his residence for the greatest part of the year in Scotland. In the prosecution of his chemical experiments, he had been led to bestow great attention on the processes of smelting iron stone, and had made some discoveries, by which that operation might be greatly facilitated, particularly by using pit-coal in place of charcoal. This led him and his enterprizing partner to project a very extensive manufactory of iron; and such was the confidence which their friends reposed in their abilities and integrity, that a sufficient capital was soon procured. When all previous matters had been concerted, Dr. Roebuck began to look round for a proper situation, and after a careful examination of many places, at length made choice of a spot on the banks of the river Carron, as the most advantageous situation for the establishment of the iron manufacture. Here he found they could easily command abundance of water for the necessary machinery; and in the neighbourhood of it, as uell as every where both along the north and south coasts of the Frith of Forth, were to be found inexhaustible quarries’of iron-stone, liuie-stone, and coal. From Carron also, they could easily transport their manufactures to different countries by sea. The communication with Glasgow at that time by land carriage, which opened to them a ready way to the American market, was short and easy.
neva, 1628, 8vo, but they are not equal to the high reputation their author had acquired. It is this physician whom Rabelais ridicules under the name of Rondibilis. His life
, a celebrated professor of physic at Montpellier, was born in that city, September 27, 1507. After having practised in various places of inferior note, he went to Paris, learned Greek there, and returning to his native city, practised physic with great credit. So ardent was M. de Uondelet’s application to anatomy, that he dissected one of his own children, which gained him the character of an unnatural father. He died at Realmont, in Albigeois, July 18, 1566. He is principally celebrated for his treatise on fishes, in Latin, 1554, 2 torn. fol. and 1558, fol. in French. Of his medical works there is a collection printed at Geneva, 1628, 8vo, but they are not equal to the high reputation their author had acquired. It is this physician whom Rabelais ridicules under the name of Rondibilis. His life may be found in Joubert’s works.
Mr. Rose married in 1791, a. daughter of Dr. Farr, physician to the Royal-hospital, near Plymouth, a lady, who with a moderate
Mr. Rose married in 1791, a. daughter of Dr. Farr, physician to the Royal-hospital, near Plymouth, a lady, who
with a moderate portion, brought him the more valuable
dower of an elevated understanding. By this lady he had
four sons. An ardent love of literature had ever been a
characteristic of Mr. Rose, and he gave a signal proof of
it in the closing scene of his life. He had been requested to
revise the collected works and life of Goldsmith, published
in 1801. In the course of his three weeks confinement to
the bed of death, he corrected some inaccuracies in that
interesting publication, and sent his corrections with the
expressive farewell of a dying man to the publishers. In
1792 he produced an improved edition of lord chief baron
Corny n’s “Reports,
” and in
, an eminent physician, whose treatment df Linna3Us we have already noticed (see Linnaeus,
, an eminent physician, whose
treatment df Linna3Us we have already noticed (see Linnaeus, p; 297), was born Feb. 1, 1706, at a village near
Gottenburgh, and was sent to the college of that place in
1718. His father was a divine, and he was intended for
the same profession, biit gave a decided preference to
medicine, whidh he studied at Lund tinder Kilian Stobseus.
After residing four years at this university he went to
Stockholm, and became tutor in a nobleman’s family. la
1728, when the assessor Martin died at Upsal, Rosen became substitute professor of physic; but before he took
tipon him this office^ he made a tour through Germany,
Switzerland, France, and Holland, and took his doctor’s
degree at Harderwyk in 1730. In the spring of the following year he entered on his professorship at Upsal, became member of the academy of sciences there, and was
received a member of the royal academy of Stockholm in
1739. In 1740 he became ordinary professor in room of
Rudbeck; in 1757, he was created a knight of the order
of the polar star, and was ennobled in 1762, when queen
Louisa Ulrica gave him the name of Rosenstein. He
gairied great celebrity as physician to the royal family of
Sweden, and received in 1769^ for his inoculation of some
of them for the small pox, a reward of 100,000 rix dollars
from the states of the kingdom. In his last illness, his
animosity to Linnreus was so subdued, that he requested
the medical assistance of that celebrated man. He died
July 16, 1773. The academy of Stockholm struck a medal
to his memory, with the inscription, “Sscculi decus incferlibile nostri.
” He had a brother, who was also eminent as
a physician and botanist; and in honour of both, Thunberg
named a plant Rosenia. Dr. Nicholas Rosen’s principal
works, which were all published in the Swedish language,
are, “A medical repository of Domestic Medicine,
” published by order of the queen dowager, &c. “A Treatise
on the Diseases of Children,
” which has been translated into
German, English, Dutch, French, and Italian. He contributed likewise several papers to the memoirs of the academy of Stockholm.
rom Virgil. Granger says it is ingenious, and was deservedly admired. 4.” Medicus medicatus, or, the physician’s religion cured,“ibid. 1645, 8vo. Th;s was one of the pieces
, a voluminous author
of the seventeenth century, was born in 1590 in Scotland,
and became a divine, but left that country in Charles I.'s
reign, and was appointed one of his majesty’s chaplainsj
and master of the free-school at Southampton. He died
in 1654, leaving a handsome bequest to the above school,
from which it is said he had retired for some time before
his death, and passed the remainder of his days in the family of the Henleys of Hampshire, to whom he left a large
library and a considerable sum of money, part of which
was concealed among his books. Echard says “he was a
busy, various, and voluminous writer, who by his pen and
ether ways made a considerable noise and figure in these*
times, and who so managed his affairs, that in the midst of
these storms, he died very rich, as appears from the several
benefactions he made.
” We have a list before us of thirty
pieces by this author, but whether published separately,
each forming a volume, we know not. Most of them occur very seldom. Among them are some whose dates we
have recovered, but cannot vouch for the accuracy of the
list. 1. “Comment, de Terrae motu refutatum/' Lond.
1634, 4to. 2.
” The new Planet no Planet^ or, the earth
no wandering star,“ibid. 1640, 4to, reprinted in 1646.
3.
” Virgilius Evangelizans;“ibid. 1634, 8vo. This is a
cento on the life of Christ, collected entirely from Virgil.
Granger says it is ingenious, and was deservedly admired.
4.
” Medicus medicatus, or, the physician’s religion cured,“ibid. 1645, 8vo. Th;s was one of the pieces in which he
attacked the reputation of sir Thomas Browne in his
” ReJigio Medici.“We find him returning to the charge afterwards in a work entitled, 5.
” Refutation of Dr. Browne’s
Vulgar Errors,“ibid. 1652, 8vo. 6.
” Observations upon
sir Kenelm Digby’s Discourse on the nature of Bodies,“ibid. 1645, 4to. 7.
” The picture of the Conscience,“ibid. 1646, 12mo. 8.
” The Muses’ Interpreter,“ibid.
1646, 8vo. 9.
” Arcana Microcosmi,“ibid. 1651 and
1652, 12mo and 8vo. 10.
” Observations upon Hobbes’s
Leviathan,“ibid. 1653, 12mo. 11.
” Observations upon
sir Walter Raleigh’s History of the World,“ibid. 12mo.
After this he published
” A Continuation“of that history,
which Granger calls his
” great work;“but adds, that it is
like a piece of bad Gothic tacked to a magnificent pile of
Roman architecture, which serves to heighten the effect
of it, while it exposes its own deficiency in strength and
beauty. 12.
” An Epitome“of the same history. 13.
” A View of all Religions,“the work for which he is best
known, and which has passed through variotfs editions, the
sixth in 1683. It had the merit of being the first compilation of the kind in our language, and attained a great degree of popularity. 14.
” Abridgment and translation of
John Wollebius’s Christian divinity,“ibid. 1657, 8vo. 15*
” Three Decades of Divine Meditations,“no date. This
is one of his poetical works, and valued in the
” Bibliotheca Anglo-Poetica“at Si. tis. 16.
” Mel Helreonium,
or, Poetical Honey gathered out of the weeds of Parnassus,
&c.“ibid. 1642, 8vo. This, of which an account is given
by Mr. Park in the
” Censura Literaria,“is an attempt to
spiritualize the Greek and Roman mythology. In moral
and metre it resembles Quarles. Of the following works
we have no dates:
” De rebus Judaicis, libri quatuor,“in
hexameter verse;
” Rasura tonsoris,“prose;
” Chymera
Pythagoria;“”Meditations upon Predestination;“” Questions upon Genesis;“” Melissomachia;“”Four books of
Epigrams,“in Latin elegiacs
” Mystagogus poeticus“”ColloquiaPlantina;“” Chronology,“in English
” Christiados poematis libri tredecim," with others, which seem
of doubtful authority.
s into English metre, printed in 1645, by order of the House of Commons. His son Francis was a young physician of great talents, but died early in life in 1643. When at Merton
, a very conspicuous
racter during the republican state of England, descended
from an ancient family in Devonshire, was the younger son
of sir Anthony Rons, knight, by Elizabeth, his first wife,
daughter of Thomas Southcote, gent. He was born at
Halton, in Cornwall, in 1570, and entered a commoner
of Broadgate-hall, now Pembroke-college, Oxford, where
he took a bachelor’s degree in arts. He afterwards studied
the law, and there is a report that he took orders, and
preached at Saltash; but for this there was probably no
other foundation than what his works afforded, which would
not have disgraced many of the divines of that period. It
is evident that he had studied religious controversy with,
more attention than laymen usually bestow on such subjects. His destination, however, was to make a figure in
political history. In the first parliament called by Charles I,
he was returned for Truro in Cornwall, for Tregony in the
third, and for Truro again in the 15th and 16th of that
reign; in all which he proved one of the most zealous enemies to the established church, and a vehement declaimer.
against what he termed innovations and abuses both in
church and state, and particularly against Arminianism,
which was also the subject of some of his works. He was
one of the few laymen appointed by the Commons to sit in
the Assembly of Divines at Westminster. In the parliament called in 1653, he was one of the representatives for
Devonshire, and at that time was first chosen chairman,
and then speaker for a month; but continued, during the
whole sitting, to forward Cromwell’s plans. He procured
a vote, that Cromwell, Lambert, Harrison, Disbrowe, and
Tomlinson, should sit in that house as members; and afterr
wards proposed, that the parliament should resign the govertment into Cromwell’s hands, with the title of Protector.
His original intention was to form the English commonwealth after the model of the Jewish; but as a theocracy
was rejected, he made the above proposal in favour of
Cromwell, whom he affected to look upon as a compound
of the characters of Moses and Joshua. In gratitude for
this, he was declared one of Jus highness’ s privy-council.
In 1656, he was returned one of the members for Cornwall; and in the year following was seated in the House of
Lords. He had been made provost of Eton in 1643, and
had a college- lease, which together were worth 1200l. per
annum. He died at Acton, near London, Jan, 7, 1659,
and was buried with great pomp at Eton, and a standard-pennon, with other things relating to a baron, were erected
over his grave, but these were taken away at the Restoration. We have omitted to notice, that he was principal
trier and approver of public preachers, and a commissioner
for the ejectment of “scandalous and ignorant ministers.
”
He founded three fellowships in Pembroke college, and
bequeathed other property to pious uses. Lord Clarendon
and other contemporaries undervalue his abilities, which
certainly did not appear to much advantage in parliament,
where his speeches were rude, vulgar, and enthusiastic,
both in style and sentiment, yet perhaps not the worse
adapted to the understandings of his hearers. Wood has
given a long catalogue of his writings, the principal of
which relating to subjects of religions controversy, or general piety, were collected in a folio printed at London
in 1657, under the title of “The Works of Francis Rous,
esq. or treatises and meditations dedicated to the saints,
and to the excellent throughout the three nations.
” This
has Faithorne’s fine print from the picture in Pembroke
college. He published also, a tract, “The Lawfulness of
obeying the present Government,
” Mel la
Patrum,
” a thick octavo, Jnteriora regni Dei,
” Archaeologiae Atticae libri tres,
” Oxon.
uld live till spring, he did not stir out, nor see any one but madam de Warens and M. Salomon, their physician, an honest man, and a great Cartesian, whose conversation was
At Boudry, accidentally meeting a Greek bishop, Archimandrite of Jerusalem, who was making a collection in
Europe to repair the holy sepulchre, our adventurer was
prevailed upon to accompany him as his secretary and interpreter and, in consequence, travelled, alms’-gathering,
through Switzerland; harangued the senate of Berne, &c.
but at Soleure, the French ambassador, the marquis de
Bonac, having made him discover who he was, detained
him in his service, without allowing him even to take leave
of his “poor Archimandrite,
” and sent him (as he desired)
to Paris, to travel with the nephew of M. Goddard, a Swiss
colonel in the French service. This fortnight’s journey
was the happiest time of his life. In his ideas of the magnificence of Paris, Versailles, &c. he greatly mistook. He
was also much flattered, and little served. Colonel Goddard’s
proposals being very inadequate to his expectations, he
was advised to decline accepting them. Hearing that his
dear “Mama
” had been gone two months to Savoy, Turin,
or Switzerland, he determined to follow her; and, on the
road, sent by the post a paper of satirical verses, to the old
avaricious colonel, the only satire that he ever wrote. At
Lyons he visited mademoiselle du Chatelet, a friend of
madam de Warens; but whether that lady was gone to
Savoy or Piedmont, she could not inform him. She urged
him, however, to stay at Lyons, till she wrote and had an
answer, an offer which he accepted, although his purse was
almost exhausted, and he was often reduced to lie in the
streets, yet without concern or apprehension, choosing rather to pay for bread than a lodging. At length, M. Rolichon, an Antonian, accidentally hearing him sing in the
street a cantata of Batistin, employed him some days in
copying music, fed him well, and gave him a crown, which,
he owns, he little deserved, his transcripts were so incorrect and faulty. And, soon after, he heard news of “Mama,
”
who was at Chambery, and received money to enable him
to join her. He found her constant and affectionate, ana 1
she immediately introduced him to the intendant, who had
provided him the place of a secretary to the commissioners
appointed by the king to make a general survey of the
country, a place which, though not very lucrative, afforded
him an honourable maintenance for the first time in his life.
This happened in 1732, he being then near 21. He lodged
with “Mama,
” in whose affection, however, he had a formidable rival in her steward, Claude Anetj yet they all lived
together on the best terms. The succeeding eight or nine
years, viz. till 1741, when he set out for Paris, had few or
no events. His taste for music made him resign his employment for that of teaching that science; and several of
his young female scholars (all charming) he describes and
introduces to his readers. To alienate him from other seducers, at length his “Mama
” (he says) proposed to him
being his mistress, and became so; yet sadness and sorrow embittered his delights, and, from the maternal light
in which he had been accustomed to view this philosophical lady, who sinned, he adds, more through error than
from passion, he deemed himself incestuous. And let it
be remembered that she had a husband, and had had many
other gallants. Such is his “good-hearted
” heroine, the
Aspasia of his Socrates, as he calls tier, and such was he.
This is another of his “Confessions.
” Thus madam de
Warens, Rousseau, and Anet, lived together in the most
perfect union, till a pleurisy deprived him of the latter.
In consequence of the loss of this good manager, all her
affairs were soon in the utmost disorder, though JohnJames succeeded to the stewardship, and though he pawned
his own credit to support hers. Determining now to compose, and for that purpose, first to learn, music, he applied to the abbe Ulancnard, organist of the cathedral of
Besanc,on. But, just as they were going to begin, he
heard that his portmanteau, with all his cloaths, was seized
at Rousses, a French custom-house on the borders of
Switzerland, because he had accidentally, in a new waistcoat-pocket, a Jansenist parody of the first scene of Racine’s “Mithridates,
” of which he had not read ten lines.
This loss made him return to Chambery, totally disappointed, and resolved, in future, to attach himself solely to
“Mama,
” who, by degrees, reinstated his wardrobe. And
still cotitin, ing to study Rameau, he succeeded, at last, in
some compositions, which were much approved by good
judges, and thus did not lose his scholars. From this aera
he dates his connexion with his old friend Gauffeconrt, an
amiable man. since dead, and M. d Conzie, a Savoyard
gentleman, then living. The extra* ityatn-e of his mistr* ss,
in spite of all his remonstrances, made? uim absent himself
from her, which increased their ex pe ices, but at the same
time procured him many respectable friends, whom he
name.-. His uncle Bernard was now dead in Carolina, whither
he went in oruer to build Charles-tow1, as na* his cousin, in
the service of tue king of Prussia. His health at this time
visibly, but unaccountably, declined. “The sword cut
the scabbard.
” Besides his disorderly passions, his illness
was partly occasioned by the tury vv:tn union he studied
chess, shutting hunself up, for that purpose, whole days
and nights, till he looked like a corpse, and partly by his
concern and anxiety for madam de Warens, who by her
maternal care and attention saved his life. Being ordered
by her to drink milk in the country, he prevailed on her to
accompany him, and, aoout the end of the summer of 1736,
they settled at Charmett- j s, near the gate of Chambery, but
solitary and retired, in a house whose situation he describes
with rapture. “Moments dear and regretted.
” However, not
being able to bear milk, having recourse to water, which
almost killed him, and leaving off wine, he lost his appetite, and had a violent nervous affection, which, at the end
of some weeks, left him with a beating of his arteries, and
tingling in his ears, which have lasted from that time to the
present, 30 years after; and, from being a good sleeper,
he became sleepless, and constantly short-breathed. “This
accident, which might have destroyed his body, only destroyed his passions, and produced a happy effect on his
soul.
” “Mama
” too, he says, was religious; yet, though
she believed in purgatory, she did not believe in hell. The
summer passed amidst their garden, their pigeons, their cows,
&c. theauiumn in their vintage and their fruit-gathering;
and in the winter they returned, as from exile, to town. Not
thinking that he should live till spring, he did not stir out,
nor see any one but madam de Warens and M. Salomon,
their physician, an honest man, and a great Cartesian,
whose conversation was better than all his prescriptions. In
short, John-James studied hard, recovered, went abroad,
saw all his acquaintance again, and, to his great surprise and
joy, beheld the buds of the spring, and went with his mistress again to Charmettes. There, being soon fatigued
with digging in the garden, he divided his time between
the pigeon-house (so taming those timid birds as to induce them to perch on his arms and head), bee-hives, and
books of science, beginning with philosophy, and proceeding to elementary geometry, Latin (to him, who had no memory, the most difficult), history, geography, and astronomy. One night, as he was observing the stars in his
garden, with a planisphere, a candle secured in a pai), a
telescope, &c. dressed in a flapped hat, and a wadded
pet-en-V air of “Mama’s,
” he was taken by some peasants
for a conjurer. In future, he observed without a light,
and consulted his planisphere at home. The writings of
Port-royal and of the Oratory had now made him half a
Jansenist. But his confessor and another Jesuit set his
mind at ease, and he had recourse to several ridiculous
expedients to know whether he was in a state of salvation.
In the mean time, their rural felicity continued, and, contrary to his advice, madam de Warens became by degrees
a great farmer, of which he foresaw ruin must be the consequence.
ng that he was ill till he arrived at Montpellier. From abundant precaution he boarded with an Irish physician, named Fitz- Moris, and consulted M. Fizes, as madam N, had
In the ensuing winter he received some music from Italy,
and, being now of age, it was agreed that he should go
in the spring to Geneva, to demand the remains of his
mother’s fortune. He went accordingly, and his father
came also to Geneva, undisturbed, his affair being now
buried in oblivion. No difficulty was occasioned by our
author’s change of religion; his brother’s death not being
legally proved, he could not claim his share, and therefore
readily left it to contribute towards the maintenance of his
father, who enjoyed it as long as be lived. At length he
received his money, turned part of it into livres, and flew
with the rest to “Mama,*' who received it without affectation, and employed most of it for his use. His health,
however, decayed visibly, and he was again horribly oppressed with the vapours. At length his researches into
anatomy made him suspect that his disorder was a polypus
in the heart. Salomon seemed struck with the same idea.
And having heard that M Fizes, of Montpellier, had cured
such a polypus, he went immediately to consult him,
assisted by the supply from Geneva. But two ladies,
whom he met at Moirans, especially the elder, Mad. N. at
once banished his fever, his vapours, his polypus, and all
his palpitations, except those which she herself had excited, and would not cure. Without knowing a word of
English, he here thought proper to pass for an Englishman
and a Jacobite, and called himself Mr Budding. Leaving
the other lady at Romans, with madam N. and an old sick
marquis, he travelled slowly and agreeably to Saint Marcellin, Valence, Montelimar (before which the marquis left them), and at length, after having agreed to pass the
winter together, these lovers (for such they became) parted
with mutual regret. Filled with the ideas of madam N.
and her daughter, whom she idolised, he mused from
Pont St. Esprit to Remoulin. He visited Pont-du Card,
the first work of the Romans that he had seen, and the
Arena of Nimes, a work still more magnificent; in all
these journeys forgetting that he was ill till he arrived at
Montpellier. From abundant precaution he boarded with
an Irish physician, named Fitz- Moris, and consulted M.
Fizes, as madam N, had advised him. Finding that the
doctors Jcnew nothing of his disorder, and only endeavoured to amuse him and make him
” swallow his own
money,“he left Montpellier at the end of November, after
six weeks or two months stay, leaving twelve louis there
for no purpose, save for a course of anatomy, just begun
under M. Fitz-Moris, but which the horrible stench of
dissected bodies rendered insupportable. Whether he
should return to
” Mama,“or go (as he had promised) to
madam N. was now the question. Reason, however, here
turned the scale. At Pont St. Esprit he burnt his direction, and took the road to Chambery,
” for the first time
in his life indebted to his studies, preferring his duty to
pleasure, and deserving his own esteem.“At his return
to madam de Warens, he found his place supplied by a
young man of the Pays de Vaud, named Vintzenried, a
journeyman barber, whom he paints in the most disgusting colours. This name not being noble enough, he
changed it for that of M. de Courtilles, by which he was
afterwards known at Chambery, and in Maurienne, where
he married. He being every thing in the house, and
Rousseau nothing, all his pleasures vanished like a dream,
and at length he determined to quit this abode, once so
dear, to which his
” Mama" readily consented. And being
invited to educate the children of M. de Maiby, grand
provost of Lyons, he set out for that city, without regretting a separation of which the sole idea would formerly
have been painful as death to them both. Unqualified for
a preceptor, both by temper and manners, and much disgusted with his treatment by the provost, he quitted his
family in about a year; and sighing for madam de Warens,
flew once more to throw himself at her feet. She received
him with good nature, but he could not recover the past.
His former happiness, he found, was dead for ever. He
continued there, however, still foreseeing her approaching
ruin, and the seizure of her person; and to retrieve her affairs, forming castles in the air, and having made an improvement (as he thought) in musical notes, from which he
had great expectations, he sold nis books, and set out for
Paris, to communicate his scheme to tht academy.
, a French physician, was born at Ax, in the diocese of Painier, and after a course
, a French physician, was born at
Ax, in the diocese of Painier, and after a course of medical studies, took his degree at Montpellier, and afterwards
practised for some time at Paris. But he became at length
averse to practice, and employed his time chiefly in study,
which produced a work very highly praised by La Harpe,
entitled, “System physique et moral de la Fernm?,
” Systeme physique et moral de I'Homme,
” but
did not live to complete it. He was a man of singular diffidence and mildness of manner, and so much courted obscurity and retirement, that he used to say, that two ages
of fame were not worth two days of quiet. He wrote the
eloge on Bordeu, which was published in 1772, and afterwards prefixed to the works of that physician, and he contributed some memoirs to the literary journals. He died
Sept. 18, 1802, at Chateaudun, on the Loire, to which he
had retired a few months before, on account of bad health.
, a physician of some note in his day, was of a family of Irish extraction,
, a physician of some note in his day, was of a family of Irish extraction, but born in London, Nov. 18, 1743. After a liberal education, he determined to the profession of surgery, and became a pupil at St. Thomas’s Hospital, under Mr. Thomas Baker. Being duly qualified, he went into the king’s service, in which he continued from 1760 to 1763, and was present at the siege of Belleisle, and the taking of the Havannah. By the patronage of admiral Keppel he obtained a confidential situation under the administration, and in obedience to their instructions made a voyage, in the course of which he visited Jamaica, Hispaniola, Cuba, and all the Leewardislands. On his return to England he was liberally rewarded for this service, which he had performed to the entire satisfaction of his employers. In the course of those voyages, as well as during his visits to the continent, he became an excellent French and Italian scholar, and collected many valuable specimens of the fine arts. Having now encouragement to settle in London, he first commenced practice as a surgeon and accoucheur, during which he resided in Holborn, Harley-street, Castle-street, Leicester-fields, and lastly in Savile~row. At what time he digressed so far from practice as to go to Oxford, we know not, but he was entered of St. Alban hall, where he took his degree of M. A. in May 1787, and that of bachelor of medicine in June 1788. He was desirous also of obtaining his doctor’s degree in that faculty, but this was refused, owing probably to his not keeping his regular terms. He obtained, however, a doctor’s diploma from the university of St. Andrew, in Scotland, and was admitted a licentiate of the college of physicians, and from this time his practice as a physician was considerably extensive and lucrative. He was chosen physician to the St. Mary-le-bone infirmary, and consulting physician to the queen’s Lying-in hospital, in both which stations he was distinguished for his humane attention to the poor patients, and his judicious treatment. He died of a cold, caught at a funeral, March 17, 1806.
, the Ephesian, a physician and anatomist in the reign of the emperor Trajan, obtained great
, the Ephesian, a physician and anatomist in the
reign of the emperor Trajan, obtained great reputation by
his extensive knowledge and experience. Galen esteemed
him one of the most able of the physicians who had preceded bin:-. Rufus appears to have cultivated anatomy, by
dissecting brutes, with great zeal and success. He traced
the origin of the nerves in the brain, and considered some
of them as contributing to motion, and others to sensation. He even observed the capsule of the crystalline lens
in the eye. He considered the heart as the seat of life,
and of the animal heat, and as the origin of the pulse,
which he ascribed to the spirit of its left ventricle and of
the arteries; and he remarked the difference in the capacity and thickness of the two ventricles. He deemed the
spleen to be a very useless viscus, and his successors have
never discovered its use. He examined very fully the
organs of generation, and the kidnies and bladder; he has
left, indeed, a very good treatise on the diseases of the
urinary organs, and the methods of cure. He also wrote
a work on purgative medicines, mentioning their different
qualities, the countries from which they were obtained;
and a little treatise on the names given by the Greeks to
the different parts of the body. Galen affirms also that Rufus was the author of an essay on the tnateria medica,
written in verse; and Suidas mentions a treatise of his on
the ' atra bilis, with some other essays; but these are lost.
What remains of his works are to be found in the “Artis
medicse principes
” of Stephens, and printed separately at
London, Gr. and Lat. 4to, by W. Clinch, 172G.
, an eminent American physician, was born near Bristol, in the state of Pennsylvania, Jan. 5,
, an eminent American physician,
was born near Bristol, in the state of Pennsylvania, Jan. 5,
1745. His ancestors, quakers, were of the number of
those who followed the celebrated William Penn to Pennsylvania, in 1683, His father dying while Benjamin was
yet young, his education devolved upon his mother, who
placed him, at an early age, under the direction of the
late rev. Samuel Finley, at West Nottingham, in Chester
county, Pennsylvania, by whom he was taught the rudiments of classical knowledge. From this academy he was
removed to the college of Princeton, where he finished his
classical education, and was admitted to the degree of
A. B. in 1760, when he had not yet completed his sixteenth
year. He was now left to choose a profession, and having
given the preference to the science and practice of medicine, he placed himself under the care of the late Dr. John
Redman, of Philadelphia, a gentleman who had deservedly
obtained an extensive share of professional business, and
who was justly considered an excellent practitioner. With
Dr. Redman young Rush continued some time, zealously
engaged in the acquisition of the several branches of medicine; but as no institution for the purpose of medical instruction was then established in Philadelphia, he came over
to Edinburgh, and there took his doctor’s degree in 1768,
after having performed the usual collegiate duties with
much honour, and published his inaugural dissertation
“De Concoctione Ciborum in Ventriculo.
” In this performance he candidly acknowledged himself indebted, for
many of the opinions which he advanced, to his distinguished teacher Dr. Cullen.
, physician to the English factory at Aleppo, was born at Edinburgh, and
, physician to the English factory
at Aleppo, was born at Edinburgh, and by his father devoted,
at an early period, to medicine. After studying grammar,
he spent two) ears in the university, and was then>laced
under the care of his uncle, an eminent practitioner in
physic. In 1732, 3, and 4, he continued his studies under
the professors of Edinburgh, till the time of his coming to
London, from which place he embarked for Turkey in 1740,
and settled at Aleppo. Here he assiduously applied himself to acquire a knowledge of the language, and to form
an intimate acquaintance with the most experienced practitioners; but he soon attained a superior distinction, and
was consulted by all ranks and professions, Franks, Greeks,
Armenians, Jews, and even Turks themselves. The Pascha of Aleppo particularly admitted him to his familiarity
and confidence, which enabled Dr. Russel to render the
most important services to the factory; the Pascha, indeed,
die] not fail to consult him in every act of importance, and
many of the criminals who were natives owed their lives to
Dr. Russet’s interposition. The Pascha carried his esteem
for him so far, that he sent some valuable presents to his
aged father, saying to him, “I am obliged for your friendship and assistance.
” His valuable “History of Aleppo
”
was first published in
His brother, Dr. Patrick Russel, who died July 2, 1805, in his seventy-ninth year, succeeded him as physician to the English factory at Aleppo. He published a copious “Treatise
His brother, Dr. Patrick Russel, who died July 2,
1805, in his seventy-ninth year, succeeded him as physician to the English factory at Aleppo. He published a
copious “Treatise on the Plague,
” in Descriptions and figures of two hundred Fishes collected
on the coast of Coromandel,
” Natural History of Aleppo,
” upon a very enlarged scale. He
was a man of learning and wit: spoke the Arabic, which he
acquired during his residence at Aleppo, with the fluency
of his mother-tongue: and was, like his brother, of a
friendly and benevolent disposition.
, a learned physician, and one of the founders of the medical school of Edinburgh,
, a learned physician, and one of the founders of the medical school of Edinburgh, was the son of the rev. Rutherford, minister of Yarrow, in the county of Selkirk, Scotland, and was born Aug. 1, 1695. He received his school-education at Selkirk, where there is every reason to believe he made a rapid progress in the knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages. In 1708, or 1710, he went to the university of Edinburgh, and after the regular course of classical studies, mathe^ matics, and natural philosophy, engaged himself as apprentice to Mr. Alexander Nesbit, at that time an eminent surgeon, with whom he remained until 1716, when he went to London. There he attended some of the hospitals, and the lectures read on anatomy by Dr. Douglas, on surgery by Andre, and on materia medica by Strother. He next proceeded to Leyden, which, from the lectures of Boerhaave, was then the most celebrated medical school in Europe. In 1719, he went to France, and about the end of July of that year was admitted to the degree of M. D. in the university of Rheims. He passed the following winter in Paris, chiefly for the sake of Window’s private demonstrations in anatomy, and in 1720 returned to Britain.
In 1721, he settled as a physician at Edinburgh, and soon afterwards Drs. Rutherford, Sinclair,
In 1721, he settled as a physician at Edinburgh, and soon afterwards Drs. Rutherford, Sinclair, Plummer, and Innes, purchased a laboratory, where they prepared compound medicines, an art then little known in Scotland; but, having higher views than the mere profits of such a speculation, they demonstrated, as far as they were the* known, the operations of chemistry, to a numerous audience: and soon afterwards, by the advice of their old tnaster Boerhaave, they extended their lectures to other branches of physic. In 1725, they were appointed joint professors in the university: where, we believe, each, for some time, read lectures in every department of medical science, anatomy exempted, and carried forward their classes in rotation. The anatomical lectures were read by the elder Monro, who had been settled a 3*ear or two before them in Edinburgh. But on the death of Dr. Innes, a particular branch of medical science was allotted to each of the other three professors. Dr. Plummer was appointed professor of chemistry and materia medica, Dr. Sinclair of the institutes of physic, and Dr. Rutherford of the practice; and thus they had the honour to establish the medical school of Edinburgh. The lectures on the institutes and practice of physic were then, and for many years afterwards, delivered in Latin, of which Dr. Rutherford had a great command, and talked the language more fluently than that of his country. This practice, we believe, was afterwards discontinued by the successors of these founders; but Dr. Rutherford lectured in Latin as long as he filled the practical chair.
nd mode of living, a man of great benevolence, and a very useful, as he certainly was a very learned physician.
Dr. Rutty died April 27, 1775; and after his death were
published “Observations on the London and Edinburgh
Dispensatories, with an account of the various subjects of
the Materia Medica, not contained in either of those works,
”
Materia Medica Antiqua et Nova, repurgata et illustrata; sive de Medicamentorum simplicium
officinalium facultatibus tractatus,
” 4to. On this compilation he had bestowed forty years, and calls it “the principal work of his life,
” but it has not acquired the same
estimation with the faculty. Besides being unnecessarily
prolix, there are many symptoms of credulity in the efficacy
of certain medicines, which does no honour to the regular
practitioner. The last of this author’s works which appeared, was his “Spiritual Diary and Soliloquies,
” Confessions.
”
It is scarcely possible, however, to read it or characterize
it with gravity, being a series of pious meditations perpetually interrupted with records of too much whiskey, piggish
or swinish eating, and ill temper. Had his friends been
left to their own judgment, this strange farrago had never
appeared; but by a clause in his will, his executors were
obliged to publish it. Nor, after all, does it exhibit a real
character of the man; who, we are assured by his friends
(in the preface), was correct and temperute in his conduct
and mode of living, a man of great benevolence, and a
very useful, as he certainly was a very learned physician.
, a celebrated anatomist and physician, was born at the Hague, in the month of March 1638, where his
, a celebrated anatomist and physician, was born at the Hague, in the month of March 1638, where his father was commissary of the States-general. Being sent to the university of Leyden, he devoted himself to the study of anatomy, botany, and chemistry, especially to the practical investigation of these sciences, having conceived an early bias to the profession of medicine. He repaired also to Franeker, for the farther pursuit of his studies; but received the degree of doctor at Leyden, in 1664. Even during his pupilage at Leyden, he was applied to by Sylvius and Van Home, to assist them in combating the vanity of Bilsius, who came thither to exhibit his boasted method of preserving dead bodies.
any men of letters. The first, Gaucher de Sainte-Marthe, had a son Charles, born in 1512, who became physician to Francis II. and was remarkable for his eloquence. Queen Margaret
, in Latin Sammartbanus, is the
name of a family in France, which produced many men of letters. The first, Gaucher de Sainte-Marthe, had a son
Charles, born in 1512, who became physician to Francis II.
and was remarkable for his eloquence. Queen Margaret of
Navarre and the duchess of Vendome honoured him with
their particular esteem; and when they died in 1550, he
testified his grief by a funeral oration upon each, published
the same year. That upon the queen was in Latin, the
o.ther in French. There is also some Latin and French
poetry of his in being. He died in 1555. Scevole, or
Sclevola, the nephew of Charles, was born at Lou dun in
1536, and became very distinguished both in learning and
business. He loved letters from his infancy, attained an
intimate acquaintance with the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew
tongues and became an orator, a lawyer, a poet, and an
historian he is also represented as a good friend, zealous
for his country, and of inviolable fidelity to his prince. He
had, in the reigns of Henry III. and Henry IV. several considerable employments, which he filled with great reputation. In 1579, he was governor of Poitiers, and afterwards
treasurer of France for this district. In 1593 and 1594, he
exercised the office of intendant of the finances, in the
army of Breta^ne, commanded by the duke de Montpensier: and, in the latter of these years, he reduced Poitiers
to the subjection of Henry IV, Some time after, he conceived thoughts of retiring to his own country, and devoting the remainder of his life to contemplation: but was
again made governor of Poitiers, in so honourable a manner that he could not decline it. Upon the expiration of
this office, he went to Paris, and thence to Loudun, where
he passed the rest of his days “in otio cum dignitate.
”
This town had been often protected from ruin in the civil
wars merely by his credit, and therefore regarded hiui as
its protector. He died there in 1623, universally regretted;
and his funeral oration was pronounced by the famous
Urban Graudier. He was the author of “La louange de
la ville de Poitiers,
” 1573; “Opera Poetica,
” consisting
of odes, elegies, epigrams, and sacred poems, in French
and Luiin, 1575; “Gallorum doctrina illustrium elogia,
”
hut ins chief work, and that which keeps his lame
still alive in the republic of letters, is his work called
” Paedotrophia, seu de puerorum eciucatione,“printed in 1584,
and dedicated to Henry III. This poem^vent through ten
editions in the author’s life time, and hath gone through, as
many since. It was neatly printed at London in 1708, in
12mo, together with the
” Calliurfdia“of Quillet. It is
also printed with a complete edition of his and his son
Abel’s works, under the title
” Sammarthanorum patris et
lilii opera Latina et Gallica, turn soluta oratione, turn versa
scnpta,“Paris, 16:33, 4to. Scevole left several sons; of
whom Abel, the eldest, born at Loudun in 1570, applied
himself, like his father, to literature. He cultivated
French and Latin poetry; the latter were printed with
those of his father in the edition just mentioned, but are
inferior to them. Lewis XIII. settled on him a pension,
for the services he had -lone him, and made him a counsellor of state. In 1627, he was made librarian to the
king at Fontainebleau; and had after that other commissions of importance. He died at Poitiers in 1652, where
his
” Opuscula Varia“were printed in 1645, 8vo. This
Abe) had a son of his own name, born in 1630, and afterwards distinguished by his learning. He succeeded his father as librarian at Fontainebleau, and in that quality presented to Lewis XIV. in 1668,
” Un Discours pour le r6tablissement de cette Bibliorheque." He died in 1706.
, an eminent physician, and one of the most learned writers in the sixteenth century,
, an eminent physician, and one of
the most learned writers in the sixteenth century, was born
in 1531, at Tirnau in Hungary. He visited the universities
of Germany, Italy, and France, and applied with almost
equal success to the study of medicine, the belles lettres,
poetry, history, and antiquities. His learning and reputation introduced him with great advantage at the courts of
the emperors Maximilian Ji. and Rodolphus II. to whom
he became counsellor and historiographer. Sambucus died
of an apoplexy at Vienna in Austria, June 13, 1584, aged
fifty-three, leaving an excellent “History of Hungary,
”
in the German histories published by Schardius; “Lives
of the Roman Emperors;
” Latin translations of “Hesiod,
Theophylacr, and part of Plato, Ovid, and Thucydides
”
f Commentaries pn Horace’s Art of Poetry“notes on several Greek and Latin authors
” Icones m'edicorum,“Antwerp, 1603, fol.;
” Emblemata," Antwerp, 1576, 16to.
and several other works in verse and prose.
, a learned physician, was born March 7, 1766, at Penna-Macor, in Portugal. His father,
, a learned physician, was born March 7, 1766, at Penna-Macor, in Portugal. His father, who was an opulent merchant, and iritended him for the bar, gave him a liberal education; but, being displeased at finding him, at the age of eighteen, obstinately bent on the profession of physic, withdrew his protection, and he was indebted to Dr. Nunés Ribeiro, his mother’s brother, who was a physician of considerable repute at Lisbon, for the means of prosecuting his medical studies, which he did, first at Coimbra, and afterwards at Salamanca, where he took the degree of M. D. in 1724; and the year following procured the appointment of phvsician to the town of Benevente in Portugal; for which, as is the custom of that country, he had a small pension, His stay at this place, however, was hut short. He was desirous of seeing more of the world, and of improving himself in his profession. With this view he came and passed two years in London, and had even an intention of fixing there; but a bad state of health, which he attributed to the climate, induced him to return to the continent. Soon after, we find him prosecuting his medical studies at Leyden, under the celebrated Boerhaavc; and it will be a sufficient proof of his diligence and merit to observe, that in 1731, when the Empress of Russia (Anne) requested Boerhaave to recommend -to her three physicians, the professor immediately fixed upon Dr. Sanches to be one of the number. Just as he was setting out for Russia, he was informed that his father was lately dead; and that his mother, in an unsuccessful law-suit with the Portuguese admiralty, had lost the greater part of her fortune. He immediately assigned over his own little claims and expectations in Portugal for her support. Soon after his arrival at St. Petersburg, Dr. Bidloo (son of the famous physician of that name), who was at that time first physician to the empress, -ave him an appointment in the hospital at Moscow, where he remained till 1734, when he was employed as physician to the army, in which capacity he was present at the siege of Asoph, where he was attacked with a dangerous fever, and, when he began to recover, found himself in a tent, abandoned by hjs attendants, and plundered of his papers and effects. In 1740, he was appointed one of the physicians to the court, and consulted by the empress, who had for eight years been labouring under a disease, the cause of which had never been satisfactorily ascertained Dr. Sanches, jn a conversation with the prime minister, gave it us his opinion, that the complaint originated from a stone in one of the kidneys, and admitted only of palliation. At the end of six: months the empress died, and the truth of his opinion was confirmed by dissection. Soon after the death of the empress, Dr. Sanche*s was advanced by the regent to the office of first physician; but the revolution of 1742, which placed Elizabeth Petrowna on the throne, deprived him of all his appointments. Hardly a day passed that he did not hear of some of his friends perishing on the scaffold; and it was not without much difficulty that he obtained leave to retire from Russia. His library, which had cost him 1200 pounds sterling, he disposed of to the academy of St. Petersburg, of which he was an honorary member; and, in return, they agreed to give him a pension of forty pounds per annum. During his residence in Russia, he had availed himself of his situation at court, to establish a correspondence with the Jesuits in China, who, in return for books of astronomy and other presents, sent him seeds or plants, together with other articles of natural history. It was from Dr. Sanche*s that the late Mr. Peter Cqllinson first received the seeds of the true rhubarb, but the plants were destroyed by some accident; and it was not till several years afterwards that rhubarb was cultivated with success in this country, from seeds sent over by the late Dr. Mounsey. In 1747, he went to reside at Paris, where he remained till his death. He enjoyed the friendship of the celebrated physicians and philosophers of that capital, and, at the institution of a Royal Medical Society, he was chosen a foreign associate. He was likewise a member of the royal academy of Lisbon, to the establishment of which his advice had probably contributed, as he drew up, at the desire of the court of Portugal, several memorials on the plans necessary to be adopted for the encouragement of science. Some of these papers, relative to the establishment of an university, were printed during his lifetime in Portuguese, and the rest have been found among. his manuscripts. His services in Russia remained for sixteen years unnoticed but, when the late empress Catherine ascended the throne, Dr. Sanches was not forgotten. He had attended her in a dangerous illness when she was very young; and she now rewarded him with a pension of a thousand roubles, which was punctually paid till his death. He likewise received a, pension from the court of Portugal, and another from prince Gallitzin. A great part of this income he employed in acts of benevolence. Of the liberality with with he administered to the wants of his rela T tions and friends, several striking instances, which our limits will not permit us to insert, have been related by Mr. de Magellan. He was naturally of an infirm habit of body, and, during the last thirty years of his life, frequently voided small stones with his urine. The disposition to this disease increased as he advanced in years, and for a considerable time before his death, he was confined to his apartments. The last visit he mad was, in 1782, to the grand duke of Russia, who was then at Paris. In September 1783, he perceived that his end was approaching, and he died on the 14th of October following. His library, which was considerable, he bequeathed to his brother, Dr. Marcello Sanches, who was likewise a pupil of Boerhaave", and who resided at Naples. His manuscripts (amorig which, besides a considerable number of papers on medical subjects, are letters written by him to Boerhaave. Van Swiften, Gaubius, Halter, Werlhof, Pringle, Fothergill, and other learned men) are in. the possession of Dr. An dry. His printed works, on the origin of the venereal disease and other subjects, are well known to medical readers; but his knowledge, it seems, was not confined to his own profession; he possessed a fund of general learning, and is said to have been profoundly versed in politics.
, or Santorius, an ingenious physician, was born in 1561, at Capo dTstria, a town on the borders of
, or Santorius, an ingenious physician, was born in 1561, at Capo dTstria, a town on the borders of the gulf of Trieste. He studied medicine and took his degree at Padua, and then settled at Venice as a practitioner, where he had considerable success. In 1611 he was recalled to Padua, and appointed professor of the theory of medicine in that university; an office which he held with great credit for the space of thirteen years, until his reputation occasioning his being frequently sent for to Venice by the people of distinction in that city, he resigned his chair in order to dedicate all his time to medical practice. His resignation was accepted, but the salary continued; and with this testimony of the public esteem, he removed and settled finally at Venice, where he died in 1636, aged seventy-five. He was buried in the cloisters, and a statue of marble raised to his memory.
ument for measuring the force of the pulse; and several new instruments of surgery. He was the first physician who attempted to measure the heat of the skin by a thermometer,
Sanctorius unquestionably conferred a benefit on medical science, by directing the observation of medical men to the functions of the skin but unfortunately, the doctrines were extended much too far and, coinciding with the mechanical principles, which were coming into vogue after the discovery of the circulation, as well as with the chemical notions, which were not yet exploded, they contributed to complete the establishment of the humoral pathology, under the shackles of which the practice of medicine continued almost to our own times. Sanctorius was also the author of several inventions. Besides his statical chair, he invented an instrument for measuring the force of the pulse; and several new instruments of surgery. He was the first physician who attempted to measure the heat of the skin by a thermometer, in different diseases, and at different periods of thesanie disease; and it is to his credit that he was an avowed enemy to empirics and empirical nostrums, as well as to all occult remedies.
the ecclesiastical profession, he agaiiv entered into the army, and served some time in Piedmont. A physician, whom he knew at Turin, persuaded him to study physic and accordingly
He was taught Latin at home, and, according to his son, had for his preceptor John Jocundus of Verona, whom he himself in various parts of his works mentions as his master; but even this circumstance his opponents are not disposed to credit, and tell us, that as he was the descendant of princes, it was necessary to provide him with a preceptor like Jocundus, who was a man not only of high character, but a gentleman by birth. They also add some circumstances which certainly make it doubtful whether Scaliger really was taught by Jocundus, because it was neither by his knowledge of Latin, nor by philosophy or theology, that Jocundus acquired his reputation, but by his skill in the fine arts. (See Jocundus,) It appears, however, less questionable, that at the age of twelve Scaliger was presented to the emperor Maximilian, who made him one of his pages, and that he served that emperor seventeen years, and gave proofs of his valour and dexterity in several expeditions, in which he attended his master. He was at the battle of Ravenna in 1512, in which he lost his father and brother Titus, whose bodies he conveyed to Ferrara, where his mother resided, who some time after died wkj> grief. His father dying in narrow circumstances, Scaliger found himself almost without a maintenance, and therefore resolved to enter into the Franciscan order, for which purpose he went to Bologna, and applied himself vigorously to study, especially to logic and Scotus’s divinity; but changing his views of the ecclesiastical profession, he agaiiv entered into the army, and served some time in Piedmont. A physician, whom he knew at Turin, persuaded him to study physic and accordingly he prosecuted it at his leisure hours, while he was in the army he likewise learned the Greek language, of which he had been entirely ignorant till then. At length, frequent attacks of the gout determined him, at forty years of age, to abandon a military life, and devote himself entirely to the profession of physic. In this he had already acquired both skill and fame, and the bishop of Agen, being indisposed, and apprehending some need of a physician in his journey to his diocese, requested Scaliger to attend him. Scaliger consented upon condition that he should not stay at Ageu above eight days: there, however, he conceived an attachment for a young lady, said to be not more than thirteen years of age, and remained at Agen waiting for her parents’ consent. That obtained, he married her in 1529, lived with her twenty-nine years, and had fifteen children by her, seven of whom survived him. Whatever his origin, he must have been now a man of some consideration, for this lady was of a noble and opulent family.
at he was the greatest philosopher since Aristotle, the greatest poet since Virgil, and the greatest physician since Hippocrates. Lipsius goes a little farther, and not only
Julius Caesar Scaliger was certainly a man of extraordinary capacity, and of great talents both natural and acquired; but those who were his contemporaries, or who
lived nearest to his times, have spoken of him in language'
too nearly approaching to extravagance. Colerus does not
scruple to say, that he was the greatest philosopher since
Aristotle, the greatest poet since Virgil, and the greatest
physician since Hippocrates. Lipsius goes a little farther,
and not only gives us Homer, Hippocrates, Aristotle, and
Scaliger, as the four greatest men that ever appeared, but
adds, that he prefers Scaliger to the three others. The
elder Vossius ascribes to him a sort of human divinity; and
Huet thinks he was expressly formed by nature as a consolation for our degeneracy in these latter days. From
these, and other encomiums, which might be multiplied
by a reference to the works of his contemporaries and im>
mediate successors, it is evident that his reputation was
great and extensive; and if he began to study and to write
so late in life as has been reported, it is easy to believe that
his endowments and application must have been of the
most extraordinary kind. A list of his principal works,
therefore, seems necessary to illustrate his character. 1.
“Exotericarum exercitationum liber quintus decimus de
subtilitate ad Hieronymum Cardanum,
” Paris, Exercitationes,
” which had no
relation to Cardan. These, however, never were published. 2. “In Theophrasti libros sex de causis plantarum commentarii,
” Geneva, Commentarii in Aristoteli adscriptos libros duos de plantis,
” ibid.
Aristotelis Hist. Animalium liber decimus,
ac versione et commentario,
” Lyons, Aristotelis Hist. Animalium, Gr.
& Lat. ex versione et cum commentaries J. C. Scaligeri.
”
5. “Animadversiones in Theophrasti historias plantarum,
”
Lyons, Commentarii in Hippocratis librum de Insomniis,
” Gr. & Lat. Lyons, De causis lingua? Latinos
libri XIII.
” Lyons, 1540, 4to, &c. This is esteemed one
of his most valuable works. 8. “J. C. Scaligeri adversus
Desiderium Erasmum orationes duae eioquentiae Romance
vindices, cum ejusdem epistolis opusculis,
” Toulouse,
Epistolse,
” Leyden, Epistolce nonnullee ex manuscripto Bibliothecre Z. C. ab Uffenbach,
” printed in the sixth and eighth
volumes of the “Arncenitates Litterarise,
” by Schelhorn.
They all relate to his orations against Erasmus. 11. “De
Analogia sermonis Latini,
” subjoined to Henry Stephen’s
“Appendix ad Terentii Varronis assertiones analogies sermonis Latini,
” Poetices Libri Septem,
”
Heroes,
” or epigrams on various personages
of antiquity, Lyons, 1539, 4to. 14. “Epidorpides, seu
carmen de sapientia et beatitudine,
” ibid, Poemata in duas partes divisa,
” 1.574 and 1600, 8vo.
16. “De comicis dimensionibus,
” prefixed to an edition
of Terence printed at Paris, 1552, fol.
, an eminent physician and mathematician, was born about 1616. After the usual classical
, an eminent physician and mathematician, was born about 1616. After the
usual classical education he was admitted of Caius college,
Cambridge, in 1632, and took his first degree in arts in
1636. He was then elected to a fellowship, and commencing A. M. in 1640, he took pupils. In the mean
time, intending to pursue medicine as his profession, he
applied himself to all the preparatory studies necessary for
that art. Mathematics constituted one of these studies:
and the prosecution of this science having obtained him
the acquaintance of Mr. (afterwards bishop) Seth Ward,
then of Emanuel college, they mutually assisted each other
in their researches. Having met with some difficulties in
Mr. Ougbtred’s “Clavis Mathematical which appeared to
them insuperable, they made a joint visit to the author,
then at his living of Aldbury, in Surrey. Mr. Oughtred
(See Oughtred) treated them with great politeness, being
much gratified to see these ingenious young men apply so
zealously to these studies, and in a short time fully resolved
all their questions. They returned to Cambridge complete
masters of that excellent treatise, and were the first that
read lectures upon it there. In the ensuing civil wars, Mr.
Scarborough became likewise a joint sufferer with his fellow-student for the royal cause, being ejected from his fellowship at Caius. Upon this reverse of fortune he withdrew to Oxford, and entering himself at Merton college,
was incorporated A.M. of that university, 23d of June,
1646. The celebrated Dr. Harvey was then warden of
that college, and being employed in writing his treatise
” De Generatione Animaiium,“gladly accepted the assistance of Mr. Scarborough. The latter also became acquainted with sir Christopher Wren, then a gentleman
commoner of Wadham college, and engaged him to translate
” Oughtred’s Geometrical Dialling" into Latin, which
was printed in 1649.
o conferred on him the order of knighthood in 1669, and at the same time appointed him his principal physician. He was nominated to the same honourable office by his majesty’s
Such extraordinary merit did not escape the notice of
king Charles II., who conferred on him the order of knighthood in 1669, and at the same time appointed him his
principal physician. He was nominated to the same honourable office by his majesty’s brother, which he held both
before and after his accession to the throne; and he also
served king William in the same capacity. He was likewise appointed physician to the Tower of London, and held
that office till his death, which occurred about 1696. Sir
Charles Scarborough was married and left a son, who was
created doctor of civil law at Oxford, in August 1702. In
1705, this gentleman printed in folio, from his father’s
manuscript, “An English Translation of Euclid’s Elements,
with excellent explanatory notes.
” Sir Charles also wrote
<c A Treatise upon Trigonometry;“”A Compendium of
Lily’s Grammar;“and
” An Elegy on Mr. Abraham.
Cowley."
, a celebrated German physician and philosopher, was born March 3, 1649, at Jena,.;ui was son
, a celebrated German physician and philosopher, was born March
3, 1649, at Jena,.;ui was son of Christopher Schelhamm T, a it an- lessor of anatomy and surgery in that
city, and fir where he was also physician to the duke
of Holstei“uthier died January 11, 1716, in his sixtyseventieth year leaving
” Introductio in artem medicam,"
Hali. 1726, 4to, and a great number of valuable and learned wor > physu;, of which it is to be wished that a complete co: v'Jtion was published. He published also some
botanical dissertations, and first described the peculiar
change wliici during germination, takes place in the cotyledon of palms. The Schelhammera, in botany, was so
called in honour of him. His life, by Scheffelius, in Latin,
Visnr*r, 17 % 8vo, is prefixed to the letters written to him
by several of the literati.
, an eminent physician and naturalist, was the son of a very learned physician of the
, an eminent physician
and naturalist, was the son of a very learned physician of
the same mimes at Zurich, where he was born, August 2,
1672. His father dying in the prime of life, he appears
to have been left to the care of his mother, and his maternal grandfather. He was educated at Zurich under the
ablest professors, of whom he has left us a list, but Says
that he might with great propriety add his own name to
the on cber, as he went through the greater part of his
studies with no other guide than his own judgment. In
1692 he commenced his travels, and remained some time
at \ltdorf, attending the lectures of Wagenseil, Hoffman^
father and son, Sturm, &c. In 1693 he went to Utrecht,
where he took his degree of doctor of physic in Jan. 1694,
and Pi 1695 returned to Nuremberg and Altdorf to study
mathematics under Sturm and Eimmart. To Sturm he addressed a learned letter on the generation of fossil shells,
which iie attempted to explain on mathematical principles;
but, discovering the fallacy of this, he adopted the theory
of our Dr. Woodward, whose work on the subject of the
natural history of the earth he translated into Latin, and
published at Zurich in 1704.
Returning to Zurich, before this period, he was appoint-,
ed first physician of the city, with the reversion of the professorship of mathematics. He now began to write various
dissertations on subjects of natural history, particularly that
of Swisserland, and wrote a system of natural history in
German, which he published in parts in the years 1705, 6,
and 7, the whole forming three small 4to volumes. He
published afterwards three more in 1716, 1717, and 1718,
which complete the natural history of Swisserland, with
the exception of the plants, of which he had formed an
herbal of eighteen vast volumes in folio. His “Nova litteraria Helvetica
” began in Itinera Alpina,
” one volume of which
was published at London in Physica sacra,
” in
4 vols. folio, which was immediately republished in French
at Amsterdam, in both instances enriched with a profusion
of fine plates illustrative of the natural history of the Bible.
This had been preceded by some lesser works on the same
subject, which were now incorporated. He did not long
survive this learned publication, dying at Zurich about the
end of June 1733. He was a member of many learned societies, of our Royal Society, and of those of Berlin, Vienna,
&c. and carried on a most extensive correspondence with the
principal literati of Europe. He left a well-chosen and numerous library, a rich museum of natural history, and a collection of medals. Besides the works we have incidentally
noticed, he published, 1. “Herbarium Diluvianum,
” Zurich, Piscium querelse et vindicise,
” Zurich, Oratio cle Matheseos su in Theologia,
” ibid. Museum Diluvianum,
” ibid. Homo
diluvii testis,
” ibid. De Helvetii aeribus,
aquis, locis, specimen,
” ibid. .Sciagraphia lithologica curiosa, seu lapidum figuratorum nomenclator, olim a Jo. Jac. Scheuchzero conscriptus, auctus et
illustratus,
” 4to. Of his “Physica Sacra,
” we have noticed the first edition published at Augsburgh, 1731—1735,
four vols. folio, or rather eight volumes in four, the text
of which is in German; this edition is valued on account of
its having the first impressions of the plates. The Amsterdam edition, 1732 38, 8 vols. has, however, the advantage
of being in French, a language more generally understood,
and has the same plates. Scheuchzer had a brother, professor of natural philosophy at Zurich, who died in 1737,
and is known to all botanists by his laborious and learned
“Agrostographia,
” so valuable for its minute descriptions
of grasses. He had a son with whom we seem more interested, John Gaspak Scheuchzer, who was born at Zurich
in 1702, and after studying at home came over to England,
and received the degree of' M. D. at Cambridge, during the
royal visit of George I. in 1728, and died at London April
13, 1729, only twenty-seven years old. He had much of
the genius and learning of his family, and was a good antiquary, medallist, and natural historian. He translated into
English Koempfec’s history of Japan, 1727, 2 vols. folio, and
had begun a translation 1 of Koempfer’s travels in Muscovy,
Persia, &c. but did not live to complete it. He wrote also
a treatise on inoculation. Some part of the correspondence
of this learned family is in the British Museum.
abroad, which occupation he left, and came and settled in London, where he professed himself to be a physician; and, by art and address, obtained a lucrative situation amidst
, one of a family of physicians of some note in their day, was the son of Dr. Meyer Schomberg, a native of Cologne, a Jew, and, as it was said, librarian to some person of distinction abroad, which occupation he left, and came and settled in London, where he professed himself to be a physician; and, by art and address, obtained a lucrative situation amidst the faculty. In 1740 he had outstripped all the city physicians, and was in the annual receipt of four thousand pounds. He died March 4, 1761. This, his son, was born abroad, and at the age of two or three years was brought to England, where he received a liberal education, and afterwards studied at Leyden. After his return to London he set up in practice, but had a dispute with the college of physicians, as, we are told, his father had before him. The particulars of this dispute are not uninteresting in the history of the college.
After Dr. Schomberg had practised some years as a physician in London, he received a notice from the college of their intention
After Dr. Schomberg had practised some years as a physician in London, he received a notice from the college of their intention to examine him in the usual form, and to admit him a licentiate. This notice he was thought to have treated with contempt; for, instead of submitting tothe examination, he objected to the names of some persons vyho were to be examined at the same time, and behaved, it is said, with some haughtiness to those of the college who, he complained, had used him ill, in ordering him to be examined in such company. The college considering themselves the sole judges of what persons they should upon, refused to attend to the doctor’s objection, but examined the persons against whom he seemed most to except; but this not tending to make up the dispute, they proceeded to interdict the doctor from practice until he had given such satisfaction as his conduct required. In the mean time the doctor submitted to be examined, and in 1750 procured the degree of doctor of physic to be conferred on him by the university of Cambridge; and, thus supported, demanded his admittance a second time, not as a licenciate, but one of the body. This demand was refused to be complied with, and it was objected, that the doctor, though naturalized, could not hold the office of censor of the college, which was an office of trust; and this refusal brought the determination of the business to the decision of the lawyers. A petition was presented to the king, praying him, in the person of the lord chancellor, to exercise his visitatorial power over the college, and restore the licenciates to their rights, which, by their arbitrary proceedings, the president and fellows had for a succession of ages deprived them of. This petition came on to be heard at Lincoln’s Inn hall, before the lord chief justice Willis, baron Smythe, and judge Wilmot, lords commissioners of the great seal; but the allegations therein contained not being established, the same was dismissed. This attack on the college was the most formidable it erer sustained.
e imitated by those who now regret the loss of so good a man, so valuable a friend, and so skilful a physician/'
"His great talents and knowledge in his profession, were universally acknowledged by the gentlemen of the faculty; and his tenderness and humanity recommended him to the friendship and esteem, as well as veneration, of his patients. He was endued with uncommon quickness and sagacity in discovering the sources, and tracing the progress of a disorder; and though in general a friend to prudent regimen, rather than medicine, yet, in emergent cases, he prescribed with a correct and happy boldness equal to the occasiom He was so averse from that sordid avarice generally charged, perhaps often with great injus* tice, on the faculty, that many of his friends in affluent cii> cumstances found it impossible to force on him that reward for his services which he had so fairly earned, and which his attendance so well merited. As a man he was sincere and just in his principles, frank and amiable in his temper, instructive and lively in conversation; his many singulari* ties endearing him still further to his acquaintance, as they proceeded from an honest plainness of manner, and visibly flowed from a benevolent simplicity of heart. He was, for many days, sensible of his approaching end, which he encountered with a calmness and resignation, not easily to be imitated by those who now regret the loss of so good a man, so valuable a friend, and so skilful a physician/'
Dr. Schomberg had a younger brother, Ralph Schomberg, M. D. who first settled at Yarmouth as a physician^ and published some works on professional subjects that indicated
Dr. Schomberg had a younger brother, Ralph Schomberg, M. D. who first settled at Yarmouth as a physician^
and published some works on professional subjects that indicated ability, and others from which he derived little reputation. Of the former kind are, 1. “Aphorismi practici, sive observationes medicse,
” for the use of students,
and in alphabetical order, 1750, 8vo. 2. “Prosperi Martiani Annotationes in csecas praenotationes synopsis,
” Van Swieten’s Commentaries
” abridged. 4. “A
Treatise of the Colica Pictonum, or Dry Belly-ache,
” Duport de signis morborum libri quatuor,
”
An Ode on the present rebellion,
”
An Account of the present rebellion,
” The Life of Maecenas,
” A critical Dissertation on the characters and Writings of Pindar and Horace,
in a letter to the right hon. the earl of B
” also a shame*
ful instance of plagiarism from Blondell’s “Comparison de
Pindare et D' Horace.
” It would have been well if his pilferings had only been from books; but after he had removed
to Bath, and practised there some years with considerable
success, he tried his skill upon the funds of a public charity, and, detection following, was obliged to make a precipitate retreat from Bath, and from public practice. He
appears to have hid himself first at Pangbourn in Berkshire,
and afterwards at Heading, where he died June 29, 1792.
In the obituary he is called “Ralph Schornberg, Esq.
”
r that terminated in a consumption, of which he died in August 1793. Some time before his death, his physician found him reading the latter part of St. John’s gospel, of which
Soon alter his arrival in the United Provinces, he was
chosen professor of oriental languages in the academical
school of Amsterdam, where he resided during five years,
and enjoyed the esteem and friendship of a numerous acquaintance. Besides Latin Lectures to the students, he delivered some in Dutch, on the Jewish antiquities and oriental history, which were much frequented and greatly admired. On the death of his father, in 1773, he was called
to Leyden as his successor. In Nov. 1792, he was attacked by a malignant catarrhal fever that terminated in a consumption, of which he died in August 1793. Some time
before his death, his physician found him reading the latter
part of St. John’s gospel, of which he expressed the warmest
admiration, and added, “It is no small consolation to me,
that, in the vigour of health, I never thought less highly of
the character and religion of Christ, than I do now, in the
debility of sickness. Of the truth and excellence of Christianity I have always been convinced, and have always, as
far as human frailty would allow, endeavoured so to express
this conviction that, in these my last hours, I might with
confidence look forwards to a blessed immortality.
” Schultens, in his private character, was in every respect an
amiable and worthy man.
ip of Van Swieten, if in this instance it can be called friendship, procured him the office of first physician to the Austrian miners of Tirol. In this banishment he continued
, an eminent naturalist, was
born in 1725, at Cavalese, in the bishopric of Trent. He
studied at Inspruck, and at twenty years old obtained the
degree of licentiate in medicine, and afterwards was intrusted with the care of the hospitals of Trent, and of hi*
native town Cavalese; but as this stage was too small for his
ambition, he requested that his parents would permit him
to go to Venice. In that city, under the auspices of Lo
taria Lotti, he extended his knowledge of medicine, and
added to it a more intimate acquaintance with pharmacy,
botany, and natural history. On his return he traversed
the mountains of Tirol and Carniola, where he laid the
foundation of his “Flora
” and “Entomologia Carniolica.
”
In Anni tres Historico-naturales,
”
cs, and medicine. He translated into Latin from the Arabic, the history of animals by the celebrated physician Avicenna. He published the whole works of Aristotle, with notes,
, of Balwirie, a learned Scotch author
of the fifteenth century, made the tour of France and Germany, and was received with some distinction at the court
of the emperor Frederick II. Having travelled enough to
gratify his curiosity, he returned to Scotland, and gave
himself up to study and contemplation. He was skilled in
languages; and, considering the age in which he lived,
was no mean proficient in philosophy, mathematics, and
medicine. He translated into Latin from the Arabic, the
history of animals by the celebrated physician Avicenna.
He published the whole works of Aristotle, with notes, and
affected much to reason on the principles of that great philosopher. He wrote a book concerning “The Secrets of
Nature,
” and a tract on “The nature of the Sun and Moon,
”
in which he shews his belief in the philosopher’s stone.
He likewise published what he called “Mensa Philosophica,
” a treatise replete with astrology and chiromancy.
He was much admired in his day, and was even suspected
of magic, and had Roger Bacon and Cornelius Agrippa
for his panegyrists.
, a Roman physician, lived in the reign of Claudius, and is said to have accompanied
, a Roman physician, lived in
the reign of Claudius, and is said to have accompanied this
emperor in his campaign in Britain. He wrote a treatise
“De Compositione Medicamentorum,
” which is very often
quoted by Galen, but was pillaged by Marcellus the empiric, according to Dr. Freind. At a time when it was the
practice of many physicians to keep their compositions
secret, Scribonius published his, and expressed great confidence in their efficacy; but many of them are trifling,
and founded in superstition, and his language is so inferior
to that of his age, that some have supposed he wrote his
work in Greek, and that it was translated into Latin by
some later hand: but Freind and others seem of a
different opinion. The treatise of Scribonius has been
several times reprinted, and stands among the “Medicse
Artis Principes
” of Henry Stephens,
, a distinguished French physician, wag born in Gascony about the close of the seventeenth century,
, a distinguished French physician, wag born in Gascony about the close of the seventeenth century, and is said to have been a doctor of the faculty of physic of Rheims, and a bachelor of that of Paris; which last degree he obtained in 1724 or 1725. He was a man of profound erudition, united with great modesty, and became possessed, by his industry in the practice of his profession, of much sound medical knowledge. His merits obtained for him the favour of the court, and he was appointed consulting physician to Louis XV. and subsequently succeeded Chicoyneau in the office of first physician to that monarch. He was also a member of the royal academy of sciences at Paris, and of the royal society of Nancy. He died in December 1770, at the age of about Seventy-seven years.
This able physician left some works of great reputation, particularly his “Traite
This able physician left some works of great reputation,
particularly his “Traite de la Structure du Coeur, de son
Action, et de ses Maladies,
” Paris, De recondita febrium intermittentium et
reuiittentium natura,
” Amst. Discours sur la Methode de
Franco, et sur celle de M. Rau touchant l'Operation de la
Taille,
” Traite des Causes, des Accidens, et de
la Cure de la Peste,
” Lettres sur la Choix des
Saignees,
” Nouveau
Cours de Chymie suivant les Principes de Newton et de
Stahl,
” Paris,
, an eminent physician of Germany, was born at Breslaw, where his father was a shoemaker,
, an eminent physician of Germany, was born at Breslaw, where his father was a shoemaker, Nov. 25, 1572. He was sent to the university of Wittemberg in 1593, and there made a great progress in philosophy and physic, after which he visited the universities of Leipsic, Jena, and Francfort upon the Oder; and went to Berlin in 1601, whence he returned to Wittemberg the same year, and was promoted to the degree of doctor in physic, and soon after to a professorship in the same faculty. He was the first who introduced the study of chemistry into that university. He gained great reputation by his writings and practice; patients came to him from all parts, among whom were persons of the first rank; his custom was to take what was offered him for his advice, but demanded nothing, and restored to the poor what they gave him. The plague was about seven times at Wittemberg while he was professor there but he never retired, nor refused to assist the sick: and the elector of Saxony, whom he had cured of a dangerous illness in 1638, though he had appointed him one of his physicians in ordinary, yet gave him leave to continue at Wittemberg. He probably fell a sacrifice to his humanity, for he died of the plague at Wittemberg, July 21, 1637.
, an Italian physician of celebrity, was born at Milan, in February 1552. He evinced
, an Italian physician of celebrity, was born at Milan, in February 1552.
He evinced great talents from his early childhood, and at
the age of sixteen defended some theses on the subject of
natural philosophy with much acuteness. His inclination
leading him to the medical profession,* he repaired to Pavia,
for the study of it, and obtained the degree of doctor in
his twenty-first year, and was even appointed to a chair in
this celebrated university two years after. At the end of
four more years he resigned his professorship to devote
himself entirely to practice at Milan, and while here Philip III. king of Spain, selected him for his historiographer;
but neither this, nor many other honours, that were offered
to him, could induce him to quit his native city, to which
he was ardently attached. The only honour which he accepted was the appointment of chief physician to the state
of Milan, which Philip IV. conferred upon him in 1627, as
a reward for his virtues and talents. In 1628, during the
plague at Milan, Septalius, while attending the infected,
was himself seized with the disease, and although he recovered, he had afterwards a paralytic attack, which greatly
impaired his health. He died in September 1633, at the
age of eighty-one. Septalius was a man of acute powers,
and solid judgment, and was reputed extremely successful
in his practice. He was warmly attached to the doctrines
of Hippocrates, whose work? he never ceased to study.
He was author of various works, among which are <k In
Lihrum Hippocratis Coi, de Aeribus, Aquis, et Locis,
Commentarii quinquc,“1590;
” In Aristotelis Problemata
Commentaria Latina,“torn. I. 1602, II. 1607;
” Animadversionum et Cautionum Meriicarmn Libri duo, septem aliis
additi,“1629; the result of 40 years of practice, and equal
to any of its contemporaries of the seventeenth century.
” De Margaritis Judicium,“1618;
” De Peste et Pestiferis Affectibus Libri V.“1622
” Analyticarum et Animasticarum Dissertationum Libri II." 1626, &c. &c.
, or John the son of Serapion, an Arabian physician, lived between the time of Mesne and Rhazes, and was probably
, or John the son of Serapion, an
Arabian physician, lived between the time of Mesne and
Rhazes, and was probably the first writer on physic in the
Arabic language. Haly Abbas, when giving an account of
the works of his countrymen, describes the writings of Ser.ipion, as containing only an account of the cure of diseases, without any precepts concerning the preservation of
health, or relating to surgery; and he makes many critical
observations, which, Dr. Freind observes, are sufficient
proofs of the genuine existence of the works ascribed to
Serapion, from their truth and correctness. Rhazes also
quotes them frequently in his “Continent.
” Serapion
must have lived towards the middle of the ninth century,
and not in the reign of Leo Isaurus, about the year 730, as
some have stated. One circumstance remarkable in Serapion, Dr. Freind observes, is, that he often transcribes the
writings of Alexander Trailian, an author with whom few of
the other Arabians appear to be much acquainted. This
work of Serapion has been published, in translations, by
Gerard of Cremona, under the title of “Practica, Dicta
Breviarum;
” and by Torinus, under that of “Therapeutica Methodus.
” There is another Serapion, whom
Sprengel calls the younger, and places 180 years later than
the former, and who was probably the author of a work on
the materia medica, entitled “De Medicamentis tarn simplicibus, quam compositis.
” This work hears intrinsic
evidence of being produced at a much later period, since
authors are quoted who lived much posterior to Rhazes.
ervetus by letters, and as he tells us, endeavoured, for the space of sixteen years, to reclaim that physician from his errors. Beza informs us, that Calvin knew Servetus
During this time, Calvin, who was the head of the church at Geneva, kept a constant correspondence with Servetus by letters, and as he tells us, endeavoured, for the space of sixteen years, to reclaim that physician from his errors. Beza informs us, that Calvin knew Servetus at Paris, and opposed his doctrine; and adds, that Servetus, having engaged to dispute with Calvin, dur&t not appear at the time and place appointed. Servetus wrote several letters to Calvin at Geneva from Lyons and Danphine, and consulted him about several points: he also sent him a manuscript for his opinion, which, with some of his private letters, Calvin is said to have produced against him at his trial.
irst that I could ever find, who had a distinct idea of this matter, was Michael Servetus, a Spanish physician, who was bornt for Arianism at Geneva, near 140 years ago. Well
Servetus was a man of great acuteness and learning. He was not only deeply versed in what we usually call sacred and prophane literature, but also an adept in the arts and sciences. He observed upon hjs trial, that he had professed mathematics at Paris; although we do not find when, nor under what circumstances. He was so admirably skilled in his own profession, that he appears to have had some knowledge of the circulation of the blood; although very short of the clear and full discovery made by Harvey. Our learned Wotton says, " The first that I could ever find, who had a distinct idea of this matter, was Michael Servetus, a Spanish physician, who was bornt for Arianism at Geneva, near 140 years ago. Well had it been for the church of Christ, if he had wholly confined himself to his own profession His sagacity in this particular, before so much in the dark, gives us great reason to believe, that the world might then have just cause to have blessed his memory. In a book of his, entitled l Christianismi Restitutio, 7 printed in 1553, he clearly asserts, that the blood passes through the lungs, from the left to the right ventricle of the heart, and not through the partition which divides the two ventricles, as was at that time commonly believed. How he introduces it, or in which of the six discourses, into which Servetus divides his book, it is to be found, I know not, having never seen the book myself. Mr. Charles Bernard, a very learned and eminent surgeon of London, who did *ne the favour to communicate this passage to me, set down at length in the margin, which was transcribed out of Servetus, could inform me no farther, only that he had it from a learned friend of his, who had himself copied it from Servetus.' 7 The original editions of Servetus’s works are very scarce, and they have not been often reprinted, but his doctrines may be traced in various Socinian systems.
, a distinguished physician, was born at Tarsia, in Calabria, in 1580, and having, after
, a distinguished physician, was born at Tarsia, in Calabria, in 1580, and having, after some intention of studying law, given the preference to medicine, he received the degree of doctor in
the university of Naples, where he taught anatomy and
surgery with such reputation, as to attract a crowd of students to the university. As a practitioner, however, his
method was harsh, and he carried the use of the actual
cautery to a great extent. He died at Naples, July 15,
1656, at the age of seventy-six. He was a man of bold
and original mind, but somewhat attached to paradox; and
was the author of several publications, a list of which may
be seen in our authority, and at the time of his death, was
preparing for publication some papers, which he meant to
illustrate by engravings; they were published together,
under the title of “Antiperipatias, hoc est, adversus Aristoteleos de respiratione piscium Diatriba.
” “Commentarius in Theophrastum de piscibtis in sicco viventibus.
”
“Phoca anatomice spectatus,
” Synopseos Chtrurgicge Libri vi.
”
and so late as De AUscessuum recondita natura.
”
, an English poet and physician, was born at Windsor, where his father was treasurer and chapter-clerk
, an English poet and physician,
was born at Windsor, where his father was treasurer and
chapter-clerk of the college; received his education at
Eton-school, and Peter-house, Cambridge; where having
taken the degree of B. M. he went to Leyden, to study
under Boerhaave, and on his return practised physic in
the metropolis with reputation. In the latter part of his
life he retired to Hampstead, where he pursued his profession with some degree of success, till three other physicians came to settle at the same place, when his practice
so far declined as to yield him very little advantage. He
kept no house, but was a boarder. He was much esteemed,
and so frequently invited to the tables of gentlemen in the
neighbourhood., that he had seldom occasion to dine at
home. He died Feb. 8, 1726; and was supposed to be
very indigent at the time of his death, as he was interred
on the 12th of the same month in the meanest manner, his
coffin being little better than those allotted by the parish
to the poor who are buried from the workhouse; neither
did a single friend or relation attend him to the grave. No
memorial was placed over his remains; but they lie just
under a hollow tree which formed a part of a hedge-row
that was once the boundary of the church-yard. He was
greatly esteemed for his amiable disposition; and is represented by some writers as a Tory in his political principles,
but of this there is no other proof given than his writing
some pamphlets against bishop Burnet. It is certain, that
a true spirit of liberty breathes in many of his works; and
he expresses, on many occasions, a warm attachment to
the Hanover succession. Besides seven controversial
pamphlets, he wrote, 1. “The Life of John Philips.
” 2,
“A vindication of the English Stage, exemplified in the
Cato of Mr. Addison, 1716;
” 3. “Sir Walter Raleigh, a
tragedy, acted at Lincoln’s-inn-fields, 1719;
” and part
of another play, intended to be called “Richard the First,
”
the fragments of which were published in Two
moral Essays on the Government of the Thoughts, and on
Death,
” and a collection of “Several poems published in
his life-time^
” Dr. Sewell was an occasional assistant
to Harrison in the fifth volume of “The Tatler; was a,
principal writer in the ninth volume of
” The Spectator;
and published a translation of “Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in
opposition to the edition of Garth and an edition of Shakspeare’s Poems. Jacob and Gibber have enumerated a
considerable number of his single poems; and in Mr. Nichols’s
” Collection" are some valuable ones, unnoticed
by these writers.
, an ancient Greek author, and most acute defender of the Pyrrhonian or sceptical philosophy, was a physician, and seems to have flourished under the reign of Cornmodus,
, an ancient Greek author, and
most acute defender of the Pyrrhonian or sceptical philosophy, was a physician, and seems to have flourished under
the reign of Cornmodus, or perhaps a little later. He was,
against what has usually been imagined, a different person
from Sextus, a Stoic philosopher of Cseronea, and nephew
of Plutarch: but no particular circumstances of his life are
recorded. Of a great many, that have perished, two
works of his are still extant: three books of “Institutes of
Pyrrhonism,
” and ten books against the “Mathematics,
”
by whom he means all kinds of dogmatists. His works
discover great erudition, and an extensive acquaintance
with the ancient systems of philosophy; and, on this account chiefly, Brucker says, merit an attentive perusal.
Henry Stephens first made, and then printed in 1592, 8vo,
a Latin version from the Greek of the former of these
works; and a version of the latter, by Hervetus, had been
printed by Plantin in 1569. Both these versions were
printed again with the Greek; which first appeared at
Geneva in 1621, folio, but the best edition of Sextus Empiricus is that of John Albert Fabricius, in Greek and
Latin, Leipsic, 1718, folio.
Our author’s son, Dr. John Shadwell, was physician to queen Anne, George I. and George II. by the former of whom
Our author’s son, Dr. John Shadwell, was physician to queen Anne, George I. and George II. by the former of whom he was knighted. In August 1609, he attended the earl of Manchester, who then went to Paris as ambassador extraordinary to Louis XIV. and continued there with that nobleman till his return to England in Sept. 1701. He died Dec. 4, 1747.
his age. Susannah, the eldest daughter, and her father’s favourite, was married to Dr. John Hall, a physician, who died Nov. 1635, aged 60. Mrs. Hall died July 11, 1649,
His family consisted of two daughters, and a son named Hamnet, who died in 1596, in the 12th year of his age. Susannah, the eldest daughter, and her father’s favourite, was married to Dr. John Hall, a physician, who died Nov. 1635, aged 60. Mrs. Hall died July 11, 1649, aged 66 They left only one child, Elizabeth, born 1607-8, and married April 22, 1626, to Thomas Nashe, esq. who died in 1647, and afterwards to sir John Barnard of Abmgton, in Northamptonshire, but died without issue by either husband. Jn.iith, Shakspeare' s youngest daughter, was married to a Mr. Thomas Quiney, and died Feb. 1661-62, in her 77th year. By Mr. Quiney she had three sons, Shakspeare, Richard, and Thomas, who all died unmarried. Sir Hugh Ciopton, who was born two years after the death of lady Barnard, which happened in 1669-70, related to Mr. Macklin, in 1742, an old tradition, that she had carried away with her from Stratford many of her grandfather’s papers. On the death of sir John Barnard, Mr. Malone thinks these must have fallen into the hands of Mr. Edward Bagley, lady Barnard’s executor, and if any descendant of that gentleman be now living, in his custody they probably remain. To this account of Shakspeare’s family, we have now to add that among Oldys’s papers, is another traditional story of his having been the father of sir William Davenant. Oldys’s relation is thus given:
m Magdalen-hall to Magdalencollege. In this year Dr. Shaw removed to London, where he practised as a physician. In 1788 some gentlemen, distinguished for their attachment
, an eminent naturalist, the younger of
two sons of the rev. Timothy Shaw, was born Dec. 10, 1751,
at Bienon in Buckinghamshire, of which place his father
was vicar. His propensity for the studies which rendered
him distinguished, discovered itself at the early age of four
years; when, entering into no such amusements as those
with which children are generally delighted, he entertained
himself with books, or wandered by the sides of ditches,
catching insects, and taking them home with him, where
he would spend all his leisure time in watching their motions and examining: their structure. He was educated entirely by his father; and as the precocity of his intellect
gave him an aptitude for acquiring whatever it was wished
that he should acquire, he was, to the credit of the preceptor as well as the pupil, abundantly qualified at the age of
little more than thirteen, to enter upon a course of academical studies. In 1765 he was entered at Magdalen -hall,
Oxford, where he was no less distinguished by the regularity of his conduct than by an uncommonly diligent application to his studies. On May 24, 1769, he was admitted to the degree of bachelor of arts; and on May ^6,
1772, to that of master of arts. That he might assist his
father in his clerical duties, he took orders, and was ordained deacon in 1774, at Buckden, by Green, bishop of
Lincoln, and performed regularly the duty at Stoke and
Buckland, two chapels, each three miles apart from Bierton,
the mother-church. As his predilection for natural science
never forsook him, and feeling a stronger inclination for
studies more connected with it than parochial duties and
theological acquirements, he laid aside the clerical habit,
and went to Edinburgh, where he engaged in a course of
reading, and qualified himself for a profession more congenial with his favourite pursuit. Having directed his views
to medicine, he attended for three years the lectures of
Black and Cullen, and other eminent professors, and then
returned to Oxford, where he obtained an appointment by
which he acquired much celebrity, viz. deputy botanical
lecturer. To this office he was appointed by Dr. Sibthorp,
the botanical professor, who was then upon the eve of setting out upon his travels in Greece, &c. Upon the death of
Dr. Sibthorp, Dr. Shaw was a candidate for the vacant chair
of the professor of botany; and so high did the votes of the
members of the university run in his favour, that he would
have succeeded in his wishes, had it not been discovered
that the statute relating to that professorship enacted that
no person in orders should be deemed eligible. On October 17, 1787, he was admitted to the degrees of bachelor
and doctor of medicine. It appears from the catalogue of
of Oxford graduates that when he took these degrees he
had removed his name from Magdalen-hall to Magdalencollege. In this year Dr. Shaw removed to London, where
he practised as a physician. In 1788 some gentlemen,
distinguished for their attachment to the study of, and eminent for their acquirements in natural history, established a
society for the advancement of this science, under the name of
the Linmean Society. Dr. (now sir James) Smith was elevated
to the chair of president of this society, and Dr. Shaw was
appointed one of the vice-presidents. Among the Linnsean
transactions appear the following articles, contributed by
Dr. Shaw: “Description of the Stylephorus cordatus, a
new fish.
” “Description of the Cancer stagnalis of Linnaeus.
” “Remarks on Scolopendra electrica, and Scolopendra subterranea.
” “A Note to Mr. Kirby’s Description of the new species of Hirudo.
” “Account of a minute
Ichneumon.
” “Description of a species of Mycteria,
”
“Description of the Mus Bursarius, and Tubularia magnifica.
”
this appointment, therefore, he resigned with cheerfulness whatever prospects he might have had as a physician, for the narrow income of an office which afforded him the most
Dr. Shaw’s fame, which had already beamed forth in
Oxford, now began to shine with effulgence in London; for about this time he was becoming popular as a
lecturer, and admired as an author. His lectures at the
Leverian Museum, both before and after that rich and incomparable collection was removed from Leicester-house,
never failed to attract a numerous and scientific audience.
An elegant production, entitled “The Naturalist’s Miscellany,
” made its appearance in Speculum Linnseum, or Linnsean Zoology,
” 4to: one number only appeared. A vacancy happening in the British Museum in 1791, Dr. Shaw
became a candidate for the office of a librarian upon that
great national establishment; and his eminent qualifications
procured him the appointment of assistant keeper of the
Natural History. The melancholy scenes and the disagreeable effluvia of a sick chamber, had given him a disgust for the practice of a profession whose studies he had
pursued with considerable ardour and delight. Upon this
appointment, therefore, he resigned with cheerfulness whatever prospects he might have had as a physician, for the
narrow income of an office which afforded him the most enlarged opportunities of prosecuting his researches into that
science to which he was most devoted. Between the years
1792 and 1796 appeared “Musei Leveriani explicatio Anglica et Latina, opera et studio Georgii Shaw, M.D. R.S.S.
Adduntur figurae eleganter sculptse et coloratas. Irnpensis
Jacobi Parkinson.
” In The Zoology of New Holland;
”
the beautiful and accurate figures which adorned it were
delineated by Mr. Sowerby: the botanical part, which
formed another portion of this work, was written by
sir James Smith, and published under the title of “The
Botany of New Holland.
” Sixty large and beautiful
prints, published by J. Miller, the celebrated editor of the
Gardener’s Dictionary, under the title of “Various subjects
in Natural History, wherein are delineated Birds, Animals,
and many curious Plants,
” not meeting with a quick sale,
from want of letter-press containing descriptions of the
plates, Dr. Shaw was applied to, to supply the deficiency.
This work was published in 1796, under the following title:
“Cimelia Physica: Figures of rare and curious Quadrupeds, Birds, &c. together with several most elegant Plants,
engraved and coloured from the subjects themselves: with
descriptions by Geo. Shaw, M. D. F. R. S.
” This, and the
Museum Leverianum, are amongst the most magnificent
publications England has produced.
, a physician of the last century, was the author of several works which enjoyed
, a physician of the last century, was
the author of several works which enjoyed a considerable
reputation in their day. His first professional publication,
was entitled “New Practice of Physic,
” in two volumes,
and first printed in Enquiry into the Virtues of Scarborough Spaw
Waters,
” which he visited during the season; it was printed
in 1734-. In the same year he published also “Chymical
Lectures publicly read in London 1731, 1732, and Scarborough 1733.
” This was deemed a scientific and valuable
work, and was translated into French. He published some
minor works: “A Portable Laboratory,
” On
Scurvy,
” Essays on Artificial Philosophy,
” On the Juice of the Grape,
” Dispensatory of the College of Physicians of Edinburgh,
”
in Abridgment
of Boyle’s Philosophical works,
” 3 vols. 4to. and of “Lord
Bacon’s
” in the same form: he translated also Hoffman on
Mineral Waters, Strahl’s Chemistry, and Boerhaave’s Elementa Chemica, in conjunction with Chambers. Notwithstanding these multifarious labours, he had an extensive
share of practice, and was physician in ordinary to his present majesty, but resigned in favour of his son-in-law, Dr.
Richard Warren, some time 'before his death, which happened March 15, 1763. He also left Dr. Warren his
fortune.
an his brother, who had acquired opulence by medical practice, first as an apothecary, and then as a physician, in London, had a great fondness for the same pursuit, and reared
What principally attached Sherard to Dillenius, was the
similarity of their tastes respecting those intricate tribes of
vegetables now termed cryptogamic. To these the
attention of both had long been directed, and hence originated
the cultivation, which this line of botanical study has received, from that period, in England and Germany. This
taste, however, was not exclusive; for these friends and
fellow labourers left no department of botany unimproved.
James Sherard, seven years younger than his brother, who
had acquired opulence by medical practice, first as an apothecary, and then as a physician, in London, had a great
fondness for the same pursuit, and reared at his country
seat at Eltham, a number of exotic plants, from every
climate. Hither the more learned subject of our present
article frequently resorted. He had acquired affluence by
his public appointments, but his style of living was simple
and private Devoted to the cultivation of knowledge in
himself, and to the diffusion of that of others, he lent his
aid to all who required it, without coming forward conspicuously as an author. *He assisted Catesby with information and with money, to bring out his natural history of
Carolina, though neither that work, nor the “Hortus
Elthamensis
” of Dillenius, appeared till some time after his
decease, which happened at Eltham Aug. 12, 1728, when
he was 69 years of age. He was buried at Eltham Aug.
19. His brother died Feb. 12, 1738-9, aged/72, and is
buried in Evington church, near Leicester, with his wife,
whose maiden name was Lockwood, by whom he had no
children.
took his degrees in that faculty. On his return he became a very eminent practitioner, and was made physician in ordinary to Charles II. He was immediate heir to his ancestors’
, son of sir Thomas Shirley, ofWiston in Sussex, and related to the Shirleys the travellers, was
born in St. Margaret’s parish, Westminster, in 1638. He
lived with his father in Magdalen-college, Oxford, while
the city was garrisoned by the king’s forces, and was educated at the school adjoining the college. Afterwards he
studied physic abroad, and took his degrees in that faculty.
On his return he became a very eminent practitioner, and
was made physician in ordinary to Charles II. He was immediate heir to his ancestors’ estate of near 3000l. a year
at Wiston, which was seized during the rebellion; but although he applied to parliament, never was able to recover
it. This disappointment is thought to have hastened his
death, which took place April 5, 1678. Besides “Medicinal counsels,
” and “A Treatise of the Gout,
” from the
French of Mayerne, he published “A philosophical essay
of the productions of Stones in the earth, with relation to
the causes and cure of stones in the bladder, &c.
” Lond.
Cochlearia curiosa, or the curiosity of Scurvygrass,
” from the Latin of Molinbrochius of Leipsic. Both
these are noticed in the Philosophical Transactions, No. 81,
and No. 125.
, a physician of the early part of the last century, anci the author of many
, a physician of the early part of the
last century, anci the author of many works relating to chemistry, meteorology, and medicine, was a native of North
Britain, and settled early in life as a physician at Sheffield,
and had considerable reputation and practice, both in the
town and among persons of rank and fortune in the neighbourhood. In 1732 he niaivied Mary, daughter of Mr.
Parkins of Mortimley, near Sheffield, by whom he had two
sons and two daughters, all since dead. On the death of
this wife in 1762, he retired to llotheram, where he died at
an advanced age, Nov. 28, 1772, and was buried at Sheffield. Some time before his decease he requested that his
corpse might not be disturbed in the bed in which he departed, until it was removed into his coffin. He had acquired some property in Pea-street, where he resided, and
in other parts of Sheffield. In his person he was tall, thin,
and hard-featured, affected the Scotch accent in his speech,
and a bluntness and freedom in conversation that were not
always agreeable. He had an utter aversion to swine’s
flesh, was irritable in his temper, and impatient of contradiction. But he had undoubted abilities in his profession,
was indefatigable in his pursuit after knowledge, and irreproachable in his moral conduct. Of his publications, the
most valuable was his “Comparative History of the Increase
and Decrease of Mankind in England, and several countries
abroad, &c.
” published by subscription in Memoir on the Natural History of
Medicinal Waters,
” A Dissertation on Tea,
”
Natural History of the Mineral Waters of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire,
” A General
Chronological History of the Air, Weather, Seasons, Meteors, &c. for the space of 250 Years,
” Discourses
on Tea, Sugar, Miik, made Wines, Spirits, Punch, Tobacco, &c.
” New Observations, Natural, Moral, Civil,
Political, and Medical, on Bills of Mortality,
” Leicestershire,
”
vol. II.
, an eminent physician, naturalist, and antiquary, was a descendant of the Sibbalds
, an eminent physician, naturalist, and antiquary, was a descendant of the Sibbalds of
Balgonie, an ancient family in Fifeshire, Scotland. He
received his education in philosophy and the languages at
the university of Edinburgh, and afterwards studied medicine at Leyden, where, on taking his doctor’s degree in
1661, he published his inaugural dissertation “De variis
tabis speciebus.
” Soon after he returned home, and fixed
his residence at Edinburgh; but for the benefit of study,
often retired to a rural retreat in the neighbourhood, and
cultivated, with much attention, many rare and exotic
plants. His reputation obtained for him the appointment
of natural historian, geographer, and physician, to Charles
II. and he received the royal command to compose a general description of the whole kingdom, and a particular history of the different counties of Scotland. The “History
of Fife,
” however, is the only part of this plan which he
executed. This was at first sold separately, but became
very scarce; a new edition was published at Cupar-Fife in
1803, In 1681, when the royal college of physicians was
incorporated, he was one of the original fellows. In 1684
he published his principal work, “Scotia Illustrata, sive
Prodromus historian naturalis, &c.
” folio, reprinted in De legibus historian naturalis,
” Edit).
We have hitherto considered sir Robert as a physician and naturalist, but his reputation is more securely founded
We have hitherto considered sir Robert as a physician
and naturalist, but his reputation is more securely founded
on his having been the first who illustrated the antiquities
of his native country, in various learned essays, the titles
of which it is unnecessary to give, as the whole were printed in “A collection of several treatises in folio, concerning
Scotland as it was of old, and also in later times. By sir
Robert Sibbald, M. D.
” Edin. The liberty and independency of
the kingdom and church of Scotland asserted, from ancient
records in three parts,
” De Gestis Gul. Valise,
” Edin.
d Italian, was of an ancient family of Modena, and born there in 1524. His father designed him for a physician, and sent him to Bologna with that view; but he soon abandoned
, a learned Italian, was of an ancient family of Modena, and born there in 1524. His father designed him for a physician, and sent him to Bologna
with that view; but he soon abandoned this pursuit, and
studied the Greek and Latin classics, which was more
agreeable to his taste. He taught Greek first at Venice,
then at Padua, and lastly at Bologna. He had some literary disputes with Robortellius and Gruchius upon Roman
antiquities, in which he was exceedingly well versed. Of
his numerous works, the most esteemed are, “De Republica Hebrseorum
” “De Republica Atheniensium;
” “Historia de Occidentali Imperio;
” and “De regno Italize.
”
Lipsius, Casaubon, Turnebus, and all the learned, speak of
him in terms of the profoundest respect; and he was unquestionably one of the first classical antiquaries of his
time, and a man of great judgment as well as learning,
very correct and deep in researches, and of most unwearied
diligence. He died in 1585, aged sixty. His works were
all collected and printed at Milan in 1733 and 1734: they
make six volumes in folio. His “Fasti Consulares
” were
printed with the Oxford Livy in
, a late learned physician, and physician extraordinary to the king, was born March 17,
, a late learned physician,
and physician extraordinary to the king, was born March
17, 1750, at Sandwich, in Kent, where his father, who
followed the profession of the law, was so respected, that,
at the coronation of their present majesties, he was deputed by the cinque ports one of their barons to support
the king’s canopy, according to ancient custom. His mother, whose maiden name was Foart, and whose family
was likewise of Sandwich, died when he was an infant. He
was educated at a seminary in France, where he not only
improved himself in the learned languages, but acquired
such a perfect knowledge of the French tongue, as to be
able to write and speak it with the same facility as his
own. He pursued his medical studies for nearly three
years at Edinburgh, and afterwards went to Holland, and
studied during a season at Leyden, where he was admitted to the degree of doctor of physic: he chose the measles
for the subject of his inaugural discourse, which he inscribed to Cullen, and to Gaubius, both of whom hud
shewn him particular regard. After taking his degree at
Leyden, he visited and became acquainted with professor
Camper in InesKuul, who had at that time one of the finest
anatomical museums in Kurope. From thence he proceeded to Aix-lct-Chapelle and the Spa, and afterwards
visited different parts of Germany; stopped for some time
at the principal universities; and wherever he went cultivated the acquaintance of learned men, especially those
of his own profession, in which he was ever anxious to impr >ve himself. At Berne, in Switzerland, he became
known to the celebrated Haller, who afterwards ranked
him among his friends and correspondents. He came to
reside in London towards the close of 1778, being then
in his 2Stii year, and was admitted a member of the
College of Physicians, and was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society 1779, and of the Society of Antiquaries
1791, as he had been before of different foreign academies
at Nantz, Montpellier, and Madrid: he was afterwards admitted an honorary member of the Literary and Philosophical Society at Manchester, and of the Royal Society of
Medicine at Paris, at which place he was elected one of the
Associes Etrangers de l‘Ecole de Medicine; and in 1807,
Correspondant de la Premiere Classe de I’Institut Imperial. Previous to 1778, he had written an elementary work
on Anatomy, which was greatly enlarged and improved
in its second edition, 1781: and he had communicated to
the Royal Society the History of a curious case, which was
afterwards published in their Transactions, “Phil. Trans.
”
vol. LXIV. He became also the sole editor of the London “Medical Journal;
” a work which, after going through
several volumes, was resumed under the title of “Medical
Facts and Observations’.
” these two works have ever been
distinguished for their correctness, their judicious arrangement, and their candour. About this time he published
an account of the Tape-worm, in which he made known
the specific for this disease, purchased by the king of
France. This account has been enlarged in a subsequent
edition. — He likewise distinguished himself by a practical
work on “Consumptions,
” which, at the time, became
the means of introducing him to considerable practice in
pulmonary complaints. In 1780, he was elected physician
to the Westminster General Dispensary; a situation he
held for many years, and which afforded him ample scope
for observation and experience in the knowledge of disease. These opportunities he did not neglect; and though,
from his appointment soon after to St. Luke’s Hosr
he was led to decline general practice, and to attach himself more particularly to the diseases of th mi-.;,
continued to communicate to the publick such facts and
remarks as he considered likely to promote the extension
of any branch of professional science. With this view, he
published some remarks on the treatment of Hydrocephalus internus (“Med. Comment, of Edinburgh, vol. V.
”),
and in the same work a case of Ulceration of the Œsophagus and Ossification of the Heart. He wrote also an account of a species of Hydrocephalus, which sometimes
takes place in cases of Mania (London Med. Journal, vol. VI.) and an account of the Epidemic Catarrh of the
year 1788, vol. IX. He had given an account also of the
“Life of Dr. William Hunter,
” with whom he was personally acquainted, a work abounding in interesting anecdote, and displaying an ingenuous and impartial review of
the writings and discoveries of that illustrious anatomist.
From the time of his being elected physician to St. Luke’s
Hospital to the period of his death, he devoted himself,
nearly exclusively, to the care and treatment of Insanity;
and his skill in this melancholy department of human disease, became so generally acknowledged, that few, if any,
could be considered his superiors. In the year 1803, it
was deemed expedient to have recourse to Dr. Simmons,
to alleviate the mournful malady of his sovereign, of whom
he had the care for nearly six months, assisted by his
son: the result was as favourable as the public could have
wished; and on taking their leave, his majesty was pleased
to confer a public testimony of his approbation, by appointing Dr. Simmons one of his physicians extraordinary, which took place in May 1804. — In the unfortunate
relapse, which occurred in 1811, Dr. Simmons again attended; and, in conjunction with the other physicians,
suggested those remedies and plans which seemed most
likely to effect a cure. In February of that year he resigned the office of physician to St. Luke’s, in a very elegant letter, in which he assigned his age and state of health
as the reasons for his resignation. The governors were so
sensible of the value of his past services, and the respect
due to him, as immediately to elect him a governor of the
charity. They also proposed his being one of the committee; and, expressly on his account, created the office
of Consulting Physician, in order to have the advantage of
his opinion, not merely in the medical arrangement, but
in the domestic ceconomy of the hospital. His last illness
began on the evening of the 10th. of April, 1813, when
he was seized with sickness, and a violent vomiting of bile,
accompanied with a prostration of strength so sudden, and
so severe, that on the second day of the attack he was
barely able to stand; and a dissolution of the powers of life
seeming to be rapidly coming on, he prepared for his departure with methodical accuracy, anticipated the event
with great calmness, and, on the evening of the 23d of the
same month, expired in the arms of his son. He was buried May 2, at Sandwich in Kent, and, according to the
directions expressed in his will, his remains were deposited
in a vault in the church-yard of St. Clement, next to those
of his mother. In private life, Dr. Simmons was punctiliously correct in all his dealings; mild and unassuming in
his manners, and of rather retired habits, passing Ins time
chiefly in his study and in his professional avocations. He
was one of the earliest proprietors of the Roy;d Institution
and, in 1806, became an hereditary governor of the British Institution for the promotion of the Fine Arts. He
has left one son, who is unmarried, and a widow, to deplore
his loss.
sist the poor with advice and medicines. By this practice, at Fintona, he found that Dr. Gormly, the physician of the place, lost a great part of his business; on which Skelton
At Fintona, he shewed himself the same diligent, kind, and faithful pastor as when on his former livings; but two varieties occurred here very characteristic of the man. Having discovered that most of his protestant parishioners were dissenters, he invited their minister to dine with him, and asked his leave to preach in his meeting on the next Sunday; and consent being given, the people were so pleased with Mr. Skelton, that the greater number of them quitted their own teacher. After some time, Skelton asked him how much he had lost by the desertion of his hearers? He told him 40l. a year, on which he settled that sum on him annually. We mentioned in a former page that Mr. Skelton had studied physic with a view to assist the poor with advice and medicines. By this practice, at Fintona, he found that Dr. Gormly, the physician of the place, lost a great part of his business; on which Skelton settled also 40l. a year on him. In both these instances, his biographer observes, he not only took on him the toil of doing good, but also voluntarily paid for doing it.
, an eminent physician, naturalist, and benefactor to learning, was born at Killileagh,
, an eminent physician, naturalist, and benefactor to learning, was born at Killileagh, in the county of Down, in Ireland, April 16, 1660. He was of Scotch extraction, but his father, Alexander Sloane, being at the head of that colony of Scots which king James I. settled in the north of Ireland, removed to that country, and was collector of the taxes for the county of Down, both before and after the Irish rebellion. He died in 1666.
On September 12, 1687, and in the twenty-eighth year of his age, he embarked for Jamaica, as physician to the duke of Alhemarle; and touched at Madeira, Barbadoes,
On September 12, 1687, and in the twenty-eighth year of his age, he embarked for Jamaica, as physician to the duke of Alhemarle; and touched at Madeira, Barbadoes, Nevis, and Nt. Kitt’s. The duke dying Dec. 19th, soon after their arrival at Jamaica, Dr. Sleane’s stay on the island did noc exceed fifteen months. During this time, however, such was his application, that, in the language of his French eulogist, had he not converted, as it were, his minutes into hours, he could not have made those numerous acquisitions, which contributed so largely to extend the knowledge of nature; while they laid the foundation of his future fame and fortune. Dr. Pulteney remarks, that several circumstances concurred respecting Dr. Sloane’s voyage to Jamaica, which rendered it peculiarly successful to natural history. He was the first man of learning, whom the love of science alone had led from England, to that distant part of the globe, and, consequently, the field was wholly open to him. He was already well acquainted with the discoveries of the age. He had an enthusiasm for his object, and was at an age, when both activity of body, and ardour of mind, concur to vanquish difficulties. Under this happy coincidence of circumstances, it is not strange that Dr. Sloane returned home with a rich harvest. In fact, besides a proportional number of subjects from the animal kingdom, he brought from Jamaica, and the other islands they touched at, no fewer than eight hundred different species pf plants, a number very far beyond what had been imported by any individual into England before.
ned from his voyage, May 29, 1689, and fixing in London, soon became eminent. In 169-1 he was chosen physician to Christ’s hospital, which station he filled until age and
Dr. Sloane returned from his voyage, May 29, 1689, and
fixing in London, soon became eminent. In 169-1 he was
chosen physician to Christ’s hospital, which station he filled
until age and infirmities obliged him to resign in 1730, and
although he punctually received every year the emolument
of his office, because he would not set a precedent that
might be disadvantageous to his successor, he constantly
applied the money to the relief of those belonging to the
hospital who most wanted it. In the preceding year, 1693,
he had been elected secretary to the Royal Society, and
had revived the publication of the “Philosophical Transactions,
” which had been interrupted from the year
was blooded by him. On the accession of George I. he was created a baronet, being the first English physician on whom an hereditary title of honour had been conferred. He
In 1708, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, a distinction of the highest estimation in science, and the greater at that time, as the French nation was at war with England, and the queen’s consent was necessary to the acceptance of it. He was frequently consulted by queen Anne, who, in ber last illness, was blooded by him. On the accession of George I. he was created a baronet, being the first English physician on whom an hereditary title of honour had been conferred. He was appointed physician general to the army, which office he enjoyed till 1727, when he was made physician to George II. He also gained the confidence of queen Caroline, and prescribed for the royal family until his death.
ach station with credit and honour, he also enjoyed the most extensive and dignified employment as a physician. He occupied these important stations from 1719 to 1733, when
In 1719, sir Hans was elected president of the college of physicians, which station he held sixteen years, and during that time he gave signal proofs of his zeal for the interests of that body. On the death cf sir Isaac Newton, in 1727, he was advanced to the presidency of the Royal Society of London, the interest of which no man had ever more uniformly promoted. He made the society a present of 100 guineas and a bust of the founder, Charles II. Thus, in, the zenith of prosperity, he presided, at the same time, over the two most illustrious scientific bodies in the kingdom; and, while he discharged the respective duties of each station with credit and honour, he also enjoyed the most extensive and dignified employment as a physician. He occupied these important stations from 1719 to 1733, when he resigned the presidency of the college of physicians; and, in 1740, at the age of eighty, that of the Royal Society, the members of which accepted his resignation with reluctance, and at a public meeting returned hira thanks for the great and eminent services he had done them, and requested his permission that his name might remain enrolled among the members of their council, as long as he should live.
In the exercise of his function as a physician, sir Hans Sloane is said to have been remarkable for the certainty
In the exercise of his function as a physician, sir Hans Sloane is said to have been remarkable for the certainty of his prognostics; and the hand of the anatomist verified, in a signal manner, the truth of his predictions relating to the seat of diseases. By his practice he not only confirmed the efHcacy of the Peruvian bark in intermittents, but exied its use in favour of other denominations, in nervous disorders, and in gangrenes and hemorrhages. The sanction he gave to inoculation, by performing that operation on some of the royal family, encouraged, and much accelerated its progress throughout the kingdom. His ointment for the leucoma has not yet lost its credit with many reputable names in physic. He published only the works already mentioned, except his papers in the Philosophical Transactions, which are considerably numerous, and may be found in the volumes XVII to XLIX. His valuable museum, it is well known, formed the foundation of that vast national repository known by the name of the British Museum. Sir Hans was naturally very desirous to prevent his collection being dissipated after his death, and bequeathed it to the public on condition that 20,000l. should be paid by parliament to his family. Parliament accordingly passed an act, in 1753, for the purchase of sir Hans Sloane’s collection, and of the Harleian collection of Mss, and for procuring one general repository for their reception, along with the Cottonian collection, &c. Montague-house, in Russel- street Bloomsbury, was purchased as the repository, and statutes and rules having been formed for the use of the collection, and proper officers appointed, the British Museum was opened for the public in 1759. It were unnecessary to expatiate on the utility of an institution, so well known, so easily accessible, and so highly important to the interests of science and general literature. From the vast additions made of late years, however, it may be worthy of the parliament, as soon as the national finances will permit, to consider of the propriety of an entire new building for this immense collection, the present being much decayed, and, as a national ornament, bearing no proportion to its invaluable contents.
idwifery at York, who- attacked him with great acrimony; and Dr. William Douglas, who styles himself physician extraordinary to the prince of Wales, and manmidwife, addressed
This author had the fate of almost all ingenious men, to
excite the indignation of some of his contemporaries. The
most formidable of these wasDr. William Burton, practitioner of midwifery at York, who- attacked him with great
acrimony; and Dr. William Douglas, who styles himself
physician extraordinary to the prince of Wales, and manmidwife, addressed two letters to Dr. Smellie, in 1748, accusing him of degrading the profession, by teaching midwifery at a very low price, and giving certificates to pupils
who had only attended him a few weeks, by which means
the number of practitioners was enormously multiplied,
and many improper persons admitted. Apothecaries, he
says, resorted to the doctor, from various parts of the
country, and at the end of two or three weeks, returned
to their shops, armed with diplomas signed by the professor,
attesting their proficiency in the art. These were framed
and hung up in the most conspicuous parts of their houses,
and were, without doubt, surveyed with veneration by
their patients. “In your bills,
” he says, “you set forth
that you give a universal lecture in midwifery for half a
guinea, or four lectures for a guinea.
” In these universal
lectures, the whole mystery of the art was to be unfolded.
He charges him also with hanging out a paper lanthorn,
with the words “Midwifery taught here for five shillings,
”
each lecture, we presume. This was certainly an humiliating situation for a man of so much real merit. Dr.
Douglas relates these cases, in which he contends that
Smellie had acted unscientifically; and particularly says,
that he suffered one of the women to die by not giving
timely assistance. To the charges of mal-practice, Dr.
Smellie answered, by giving a full recital of the cases, and
referred to Dr. Sands, and other practitioners, who attended
with him. His answer was so satisfactory, that Dr. Douglas
retracted his charges in his second letter. On the other
points, Smellie was silent. It is probable, that, having
practised the first nineteen years at a small town in Scotland, where medical fees may be supposed to be low, he
might not think the price he demanded for his instructions
so insignificant and inadequate as it really was. Smellie is
said to have been coarse in his penron, and aukward and
unpleasing in his manners, so that he never rose into any
great estimation among persons of rank. On the other
hand, he appears to have had an active and ingenious
mind, with a solid understanding and judgment. He had
a peculiar turn to mechanics, which was evinced by
the alterations he made in the forceps, crotchets, and
scissors, which all received considerable improvements
under his hands; but this was more particularly shewn by
the elegant construction of his phantoms, or machines, on
which he demonstrated the various positions of the foetus
in utero, and the different species of labour. That he
was candid and modest appears through every page of his
works; ready on all occasions to acknowledge the merit of
others, and when correcting their errors assuming no superiority over them. We will conclude this account with
the words of one of his pupils, who appears to have been
well acquainted with his disposition and manners. “No
man was more ready than Dr. Smellie to crave advice and
assistance when danger or difficulty occurred, and no man
was more communicative, without the least self-sufficiency
or ostentation. He never officiously intermeddled in the
concerns of others, or strove to insinuate himself into practice by depreciating the character of his neighbour; but
made his way into business by the dint of merit alone, and
maintained his reputation by the most benelicent and disinterested behaviour.
”
five of whom survived him, and whom he remembered in his will. They were all men of note William, a physician, died at Leeds in 1729; Matthew, a Blackwell-hall factor, died
Here he not only repaired the chancel in a handsome and substantial manner, but built a very spacious and ele*gain parsonage-house, entirely at his own expeuce, and laid out considerable sums on his prebendal house, and on other occasions shewed much of a liberal and charitable spirit. But his chief delight was in his studies, to which he applied with an industry which greatly impaired his health, so that he began to decline about two years before his death, which took place July 30, 1715, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. He died at Cambridge, where he had resided for some time in order to complete his edition of the works of the venerable Bede; and was interred in the chapel of St. John’s college, in which a handsome marble monument was erected to him, with a Latin inscription by his learned friend Thomas Baker; the antiquary. His character seems in all respects to have been estimable. He was learned, generous, and strict in the duties of his profession. He was one of ten brothers, five of whom survived him, and whom he remembered in his will. They were all men of note William, a physician, died at Leeds in 1729; Matthew, a Blackwell-hall factor, died at Newcastle in 1721; George, a clergyman and chaplain general to the army, died in 1725; Joseph, provost of Queen’s-college, Oxford, of whom hereafter; Benjamin, remembered also in his brother’s will, but died before him, a student of the Temple; and Posthumus Smith, an eminent civilian, who died 1725.
ing to the usual practice, was bound apprentice to Mr. John Gordon, then a surgeon, and afterwards a physician of considerable eminence, whom he was unjustly accused of ridiculing
The scenery amidst which he passed his early years, and cultivated the muses, he has described, in Humphrey Clinker, with picturesque enthusiasm. He was first instructed in classical learning at the school of Dumbarton, by Mr. John Love, one of the ablest schoolmasters of that country, and to whom Mr. Chalmers has done ample justice in his life of lluddiman. While at this school, Smollett exhibited symptoms of what more or less predominated through life, a disposition to prove his superiority of understanding at the expence of those whose weaknesses and failings he thought he could turn'into ridicule with impunity. The verses which he wrote at this early age were principally satires on such of his schoolfellows as happened to displease him. He wrote also a poem to the memory of the celebrated Wallace, whose praises he found in the story-books and ballads of every cottage. From Dumbarton he was removed to Glasgow, where, after some hesitation, he determined in favour of the study of medicine, and, according to the usual practice, was bound apprentice to Mr. John Gordon, then a surgeon, and afterwards a physician of considerable eminence, whom he was unjustly accused of ridiculing under the name of Potion, in his novel of Roderic Random.
, a good medical writer, a native of Hainaut, was physician to the imperial court, and professor of medicine at Vienna for
, a good medical writer, a native of
Hainaut, was physician to the imperial court, and professor of medicine at Vienna for twenty-four years. He died
in 1691, at an advanced age. He has left, 1. “Commentaries on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates,
” in Latin, Medicina universalis, theoretica et practica,
”
Consilium medicutn, sive
dialogus loimicus, de peste Viennensi,
” Ephemerides of the Curious in Nature.
”
year before him, he had twelve sons, and six daughters. One of his sons, named John, was an eminent physician; of whom we shall give some account. As to Speed himself, “he
He died July 28, 1629, and was buried in the church of
St Giles, Cripplegate, London, where a monument was
erected to his memory. By his wife Susanna, with whom
he lived fifty-seven years, and who died almost a year before him, he had twelve sons, and six daughters. One of
his sons, named John, was an eminent physician; of
whom we shall give some account. As to Speed himself,
“he must be acknowledged,
” says Nicolson, “to have had
a head the best disposed towards history of any of our writers; and would certainly have outdone himself, as far as
he has gone beyond the rest of his profession, if the advantages of his education had been answerable to those of
his natural genius. But what could be expected from a
taylor? However, we may boldly say, that his chronicle
is the largest and best we have hitherto extant.
” In another place, “John Speed was a person of extraordinary
industry and attainments in the study of antiquities; and
seems not altogether unworthy the name of `summus &
eruditus antiquarius,' given him by Sheringham, who was
certainly so himself
”
r, was born at Brussels in 1578, and studied at Louvain and Padua. He was afterwards appointed state- physician in Moravia, which, in 1616, he quitted for the professorship
, an
eminent medical writer, was born at Brussels in 1578, and
studied at Louvain and Padua. He was afterwards appointed state-physician in Moravia, which, in 1616, he
quitted for the professorship of anatomy and surgery at
Padua. There he acquired a high refutation, was made a
knight of St. Mark, and decorated with a collar of gold.
He died April 7, 1625. His most valuable works are “De
formato Fosiu, liber singularis
” and “De Humani Cor
poris Fabrica,
” fol. It appears from the collected edition of
his works by Vander Linden, 1645, 2 vols. fol. that he was
well acquainted with every branch of the medical science.
rchant, who was originally a Portuguese; and was born at Amsterdam about 1633. He learned Latin of a physician, who taught it at Amsterdam; and who is supposed to have been
, an atheistical philosopher, was the son of a merchant, who was originally a Portuguese; and was born at Amsterdam about 1633. He learned Latin of a physician, who taught it at Amsterdam; and who is supposed to have been but loose in the principles of religion. He also studied divinity for many years; and afterwards devoted himself entirely to philosophy. He was a Jew by birth; but soon began to dislike the doctrine of the Rabbins; and discovered this dislike to the synagogue. It is said that the Jews offered to tolerate him, provided he would comply outwardly with their ceremonies, and even promised him a yearly pension, being unwilling to lose a man who was capable of doing such credit to their profession; but he could not comply, and by degrees left their synagogue; and was excommunicated. Afterwards he professed to be a Christian, and not only went himself to the churches of the Calvin i>t., or Lutherans, but likewise frequently exhorted others to go, and greatly recommended some particular preachers. His tirst apostacy was to Mennonism, on embracing which, he exchanged his original name, Baruch, for that of Benedict. He removed from Amsterdam, whither he had gone to avoid the Jews, to the Hague, where he subsisted as an optical-instrument-maker, and led a frugal and retired life, the leisure of which he devoted to study. While known only as a deserter from Judaism, he was invited by the elector Palatine to fill the chair of philosophy at Heidelberg; but from an apprehension that his liberty would, in that situation, be abridged, he declined the proposal. He lived in retirement, with great sobriety and decency of manners, till a consumption brought him to an early end, in 1677.
reat success in his profession, till the time of his death. He was made, in 1645, a kind of honorary physician to the king. He maintained a correspondence with all the learned
, a learned Frenchman, was the son of
a merchant, and born at Lyons Dec. 25, 1609. He. was
sent early to learn Latin, at Ulm in Germany, whence- his
grandfather had removed for the sake of settling in commerce, and he made a proficiency suitable to his uncommon parts. He gained some reputation by a Latin poem
on the deluge and last conflagration, composed by him at
fourteen, which Bayle says would have done honour to an
adult. At his return from Germany, he was sent to Paris;
and studied philosophy under Rodon, and mathematics and
astronomy under John Baptist Morin. From 1627, he applied himself to medicine for three or four years; and quitting Paris in 1632, went to Montpellier, where he was
.
received a doctor in that faculty. Two years after, he was
admitted a member of the college of physic at Lyons: at
which place be practised with great success in his profession, till the time of his death. He was made, in 1645, a
kind of honorary physician to the king. He maintained a
correspondence with all the learned of Europe, and especially with Guy Patin, professor of physic at Paris: above
150 of whose letters to Spon were published after his death.
He was perfectly skilled in the Greek language, and understood the German as well as his own. He always cultivated his talent for Latin poetry, and even versified the
aphorisms of Hippocrates, but did not publish them. He
published, however, in 1661, the prognostics of Hippocrates in hexameter verse, which he entitled “Sibylla Medica;
” and dedicated them to his friend Guy Patin. He
was a benefactor to the republic of letters, by occasioning
many productions of less opulent authors to be published
at Lyons, under his inspection and care. He died Feb. 21,
16S4, after an illness of about two months.
Henry Stubbe, the physician of War- and in another piece printed at Oxfoul,
Henry Stubbe, the physician of War- and in another piece printed at Oxfoul,
f his practice, was soon very highly advanced: and in 1716 he was invited to Berlin, where he became physician to the king, and even a counsellor of state. He lived in great
, a very eminent German chemist, was born in Franconia in 1660, and educated in the
science of medicine, of which he was made professor in
1694, when the university of Hall was founded. His reputation, by means of his lectures, his publications, and
the success of his practice, was soon very highly advanced:
and in 1716 he was invited to Berlin, where he became
physician to the king, and even a counsellor of state. He
lived in great celebrity to the age of seventy-five, when he
died, in 1734. As a chemist, Stahl was unrivalled in his
day, and was the inventor of the doctrine of phlogiston,
which, though it may yield to the newer theory of Lavoisier and the French chemists, was admitted by the best
philosophers for nearly half a century. As a physician he
bad some fancies, and was particularly remarkable for his
doctrine of the absolute power of the soul over the body.
He maintained that every muscular action, whether attended with consciousness or not, proceeds from a
voluntary act of the mind. This theory he, as well as his folJowers, carried too far; but from it he derived many cautions of real importance to physicians, for attending to the
state of the mind in every patient. His works are very
numerous, but the principal of them are these, 1. “Experimenta et observationes Chemicae et Physicoe,
” Berlin,
Dissertationes Medica,
” Hall, 2 vols. 4to.
3. Theoria medica vera,“Hall, 1703, 4to. 4.
” Opusculum chemico-physico-medicum,“Hall, 1715, 8vo. 5.
” Thoughts on Sulphur,“Hall, 1718, 8vo, written in German. 6.
” Negotium otiosum, seu skiamachia adversus
positiones aliquas fundamentales Theorise verae Medicina?,
a viro quodam celeberrimo intenta, sed enervata,“Hall,
1720, 4to. Here he chiefly defends his theory of the soul’s
action on the body. 7.
” Fundamenta chymiae,“Norimb.
1723, 4to. 8. A treatise in German,
” On Salts,“Hall,
1723, 8vo. He was also deeply skilled in metallurgy, and
wrote, 9.
” Commentarium in Metallurgiam Beccheri,“1723, and 10.
” Instructions on Metallurgy," in German,
Leipsic, 1720, 8vo.
, a learned physician of Ireland, was born at Ardbraccan in the county of Meath. in
, a learned physician
of Ireland, was born at Ardbraccan in the county of Meath.
in 1622, in tfie house of his uncle, the celebrated archbishop Usher, but then bishop of Meath. He was educated in the college of Dublin, of which he became a fellow, but was ejected by the usurping powers for his loyalty.
At the restoration he was reinstated, and advanced to the
place of senior fellow by nomination, together with Joshua
Cowley, Richard Lingard, William Vincent, and Patrick
Sheridan, masters of arts, in order to give a legal form to
the college, all the senior fellows being dead, and it being
requisite by the statutes, that all elections should be made
by the provost and four senior fellows at least. He was
M. D. and LL. D. and public professor of the university.
He was a very learned man, but more fond of the study
of divinity, than that of his own profession, in which,
however, he had great knowledge. He died in 1669, aged
forty-six, and was buried in the college chapel, where a
monument was erected to his memory. His writings are,
J. “Aphorismi de frclicitate,
” Dublin, De morte dissertatio,
” ibid. Animi medela, seu de bearitudine et miseria,
”
ibid. Adriani Heerboordii disputation um
de concwrsu examen,
” ibid. De electione
et reprobatione,
” ibid. Manuductio ad vitam probam.
” 6. “De Obstinatione,
opus posthumum, pietatem Christiano-Stoicam Scholastico
more suadens.
” This was published in
preceding, and an eminent naturalist and poet, was the son of Edward Stillingfleet, who was first a physician, but afterwards entered into holy orders. He died in 1708. Hia
, grandson to the preceding, and an eminent naturalist and poet, was the son of
Edward Stillingfleet, who was first a physician, but afterwards entered into holy orders. He died in 1708. Hia
only son, Benjamin, was born in 1702, and educated at
Norwich school, where he made a considerable proficiency
in classical literature. In 1720 he entered as a subsizar at
Trinity-college, Cambridge, where, while he improved his
classical knowledge, he attached himself with success to
mathematical studies. On May 3, 1723, he was admitted
a scholar, and the same year took the degree of B. A.
Soon after this he left the university, and in 1724 lived in
the family of Ashe Windham, esq. of Felbrig, as preceptor
to William, his only son, then about seven years old. In
the beginning of 1726, he returned to Cambridge, in
hopes of succeeding to a fellowship, there being then four
vacancies. But in this he was disappointed, “by the influence, it is said, of Dr. Bentley, who has been accused
of repaying with this instance of ingratitude the obligations
he had received from the father of the unprotected candidate.
” Although we are unwilling to credit so serious a
charge, it appears that Mr. Stillingfleet considered it as
just, and “seldom afterwards omitted an opportunity of
testifying his resentment against Bentley,
” a circumstance
which we are sorry to hear, even if the charge had been
proved.
, a pious and worthy baronet, originally a physician and afterwards a divine, was the son of Richard and Caroline
, a pious and worthy baronet,
originally a physician and afterwards a divine, was the son
of Richard and Caroline Stonhouse, of Tubney, near Abingdon, in Berkshire, and was born July 20, 1716. His
father, who died when his son was ten years old, was, as
sir James informs us, “a country squire, kept a pack of
hounds, and was a violent Jacobite.
” Our author succeeded to the title of baronet late in life, by the death of
his collateral relation sir James Stonhouse cf Radley.
, a very skilful German physician and writer, was born at Mentz, Feb. 14, 1722, and educated in
, a very skilful German physician
and writer, was born at Mentz, Feb. 14, 1722, and educated in his native city. He then having chosen physic as
a profession, came to Paris, and after employing six years
in medical studies, took his degree of doctor at Erfurth, in
September 1747. Returning to Mentz, he practised with
great reputation, and in 1754 was appointed professor of
surgery, in 1763 professor of physiology and pathology,
and in 1782 professor of chemistry. About this time, when
the university of Mentz had sufficient funds for the
purpose, Strack was appointed to renovate the medical department, in performing which he acquitted himself with
such credit as to be honoured with the title of counsellor of
the electorate court. His writings likewise were so much
admired by the faculty throughout Europe, that he was
chosen a member of the learned societies of Paris, Madrid,
Erfurth, and Giessen, and carried off several prizes, the
rewards of the treatises he communicated. He died Oct.
18, 1806, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. His principal writings are, 1. “De dysenteria tentamen medicum,
”
De coiica pictonum,
” De tussi
convuUiva infantum,
” De crusta lactea infantum,
” and other treatises on the diseases of children and
lying-in women, to both which he appears to have devoted
much of his attention. 5. “Observationes rnedicinales de
febribus intermittentibus,
” Nova theoria pleuritidis,
” De diversa. febris continuce remittentis
causa,
” De ratione novandi, et pururn reddendi aerem intra nosocornia carceresque,
” De custodia aegrorum,
” De fraudibus conductorum nutricum,
” Oratio qua matres hortatur ut proles suas ipsa? lactent,
”
e hands of his diocesan. In 1661, he went to Jamaica, being honoured with the title of his majesty’s physician for that island; but the climate not agreeing with him, he returned
After his ejection, he retired to Stratford upon Avon in Warwickshire, in order to practise physic, which he had studied some years; and upon the Restoration applied to Dr. Morley, soon after bishop of Winchester, for protection in his retirement. He assured him of an inviolable passive obedience, which was all he could or would pay, till the covenant was renounced; and, upon the re-establishment of episcopacy, received confirmation from the hands of his diocesan. In 1661, he went to Jamaica, being honoured with the title of his majesty’s physician for that island; but the climate not agreeing with him, he returned and settled at Stratford. Afterwards he removed to Warwick, where he gained very considerable practice, as likewise at Bath, which he frequented in the summer season. He did not, however, apply so closely to the business of his profession, as to neglect every thing else: on the contrary, he was ever attentive to the transactions of the literary world, and was often a principal party concerned. Before the Restoration, he had joined Mr. Hobbes, with whom he was intimately acquainted, against Dr. Wallis, and other mathematicians; and had published a very smart tract or two in that controversy, in which he was regarded as second to Hobbes. After the. Restoration, he was engaged in a controversy with some members of the Royal Society, or rather with the Royal Society itself; in which, far from being a second, he was now a principal, and indeed alone.
s funeral sermon; but, as it is natural to imagine, without saying much in his favour. Soon after, a physician of that place made the following epitaph, which, though never
After a life of almost perpetual war and conflict in various ways, this extraordinary man came to an untimely
end: yet not from any contrivance or designs of his enemies, although his impetuous and furious zeal hurried him
to say that they often put him in fear of his life. Being at
Bath in the summer season, he had a call from thence to a
patient at Bristol; and whether because it was desired, or
from the excessive heat of the weather, he set out in the
evening, and went a by-way. Mr. Wood says that “his
head was then intoxicated with bibbing, but more with
talking and snuffing of powder:
” be that as it may, he was
drowned in passing a river about two miles from Bath, on
the 12th of July, 1676. His body was taken up the next
morning, and the day after buried in the great church at
Bath; when his old antagonist Glanvill, who was the rector, preached his funeral sermon; but, as it is natural to
imagine, without saying much in his favour. Soon after, a
physician of that place made the following epitaph, which,
though never put over him, deserves to be recorded:
“Memorise sacrum. Post varies casus, et magna rerum
discrimina, tandem hie quiescunt mortalitatis exuviae Henrici Stubbe, medici Wanvicensis, quondam ex cede Christi
Oxoniensis, rei medicae, historicse, ac mathematics peritissimi, judkii vivi, & librorum heliuonis qui, quum multa
scripserat, & plures sanaverat, aliorum saluti sedulo prospiciens, propriam neglexit. Obiit aquis frigidissuffocatus,
12 die Julii, A.D. 1679.
”
n high generous nature, scorned money and riches, and the adorers of them; was accounted a very good physician, and excellent in the things belonging to that profession, as
Wood was contemporary with Stubbe at Oxford, and
has given him this character: that, “he was a person of
most admirable parts, and had a most prodigious memory;
was the most noted Latinist and Grecian of his age; was
a singular mathematician, and thoroughly read in all political matters, councils, ecclesiastical and profane histories;
had a voluble tongue, and seldom hesitated either in public disputes or common discourse; had a voice big and magisterial, and a mind equal to it; was of an high generous
nature, scorned money and riches, and the adorers of them;
was accounted a very good physician, and excellent in the
things belonging to that profession, as botany, anatomy,
and chemistry. Yet, with all these noble accomplishments,
he was extremely rash and imprudent, and even wanted
common discretion. He was a very bold man, uttered
any thing that came into his mind, not only among his
companions, but in public coffee-houses, of which he was
a great frequenter: and would often speak freely of persons then present, for which he used to be threatened with
kicking and beating. He had a hot and restless head, his
hair being carrot-coloured, and was ever ready to undergo any enterprise, which was the chief reason that
macerated his body almost to a skeleton. He was also a
person of no fixed principles; and whether he believed
those things which every good Christian doth, is not for me
to resolve. Had he been endowed with common sobriety
and discretion, and not have made himself and his learning:
mercenary and cheap to every ordinary and ignorant fellow,
he would have been admired by all, and might have picked
and chused his preferment; but all these things being wanting, he became a ridicule, and undervalued by sober and
knowing scholars, and others too.
”
During his residence here, he declined an invitation from Algernon earl of Hertford, to settle as a physician at Marlborough, and another to succeed Dr. Hunter at Newark.
, an antiquary of much celebrity,
descended from an antient family in Lincolnshire, was born
at Holbech in that county, November 7, 1687. After having had the first part of his education at the free-school of
that place, under the care of Mr. Edward Kelsal, he was
admitted into Bene't-college in Cambridge, Nov. 7, 1703,
under the tuition of Mr. Thomas Favvcett, and chosen a
scholar there in April following. While an under-graduate,
he often indulged a strong propensity for drawing and designing; and began to form a collection of antiquarian
books. He made physic, however, his principal study, and
with that view took frequent perambulations through the
neighbouring country, with the famous Dr. Hales, Dr. John
Gray of Canterbury, and others, in search of plants; and
made great additions to Ray’s “Catalogus Plantarum circa
Cantabrigiam;
” which, with a map of the county, he was
solicited to print; but his father’s death, and various domestic avocations, prevented it. He studied anatomy under
Mr. Rolfe the surgeon attended the chemical lectures of
signor Vigani and taking the degree of M. B. in 1709,
made himself acquainted with the practical part of medicine
under the great Dr. Mead at St. Thomas’s hospital. He
first began to practise at Boston in his native county, where
he strongly recommended the chalybeate waters of Stanfield
near Folkingham. In 1717 he removed to London, where,
on the recommendation of his friend Dr. Mead, he was soon
after elected F. R. S. and was one of the first who revived
that of the Antiquaries in 1718, to which last he was secretary for many years during his residence in town. He was
also one of the earliest members of the Spalding society.
He took the degree of M. D. at Cambridge in 1719, and
was admitted a fellow of the College of Physicians in the
year following, about which time (1720) he published an
account of “Arthur’s Oon
” in Scotland, and of “Graham’s
dyke,
” with plates, 4to. In the year Itinerarium Curiosum; or, an Account of the Antiquities and Curiosities in his Travels
through Great Britain, Centuria I.
” adorned with one hundred copper-plates, and published in folio, London, 1724.
This was reprinted after his death, in 1776, with two additional plates; as was also published the second volume,
(consisting of his description of the Brill, or Caesar’s camp at Pancras,“IterBoreale,
” A Treatise on the Cause
and Cure of the Gout, from a new Rationale;
” which, with
an abstract of it, has passed through several editions. He
collected some remarkable particulars at Stamford in relation
to his predecessor bishop Cumberland; and, in 1736, printed
an explanation, with an engraving, of a curious silver plate
of Roman workmanship in basso relievo, found underground
at Risley Park in Derbyshire; wherein he traces its journey thither, from the church of Bourges, to which it had
been given by Exsuperius, called St. Swithin, bishop of
Toulouse, about the year 205. He published also the
same yea.- his “Palæographia Sacra, No. I. or, Discourses
on the Monuments of Antiquity that relate to Sacred History,
” in 4to, which he dedicated to sir Richard Kllys, bart.
“from whom he had received many favours.
” In this
work (uhich was to have been continued in succeeding numbers) he undertakes to shew, how Heathen Mythology
is derived from Sacred History, and that the Bacchus in the
Poets is no other than the Jehovah in the Scripture, the
conductor of the Israelites through the wilderness. In his
country retirement he disposed his collection of Greek and
Roman coins according to the order of the Scripture History; and cut out a machine in wood (on the plan of an Orrery), which shews the motion of the heavenly bodies,
the course of the tide, &c. In 1737 he lost his wife and
in 1738, married Elizabeth, the only daughter of Dr. Gale,
dean of York, and sister to his intimate friends Roger
and Samuel Gale, esquires; and from this time he often
spent his winters in London. In 1740, he published an
account of Stonehenge, dedicated to the duke of Ancaster,
who had made him one of his chaplains, and given him the
living of Somerby near Grantham the year before. In
1741, he preached the Thirtieth of January Sermon before
the House of Commons; and in that year became one of
the founders of the Egyptian society, composed of gentlemen who had visited Egypt. In 1743 he printed an account
of lady Roisia’s sepulchral cell, lately discovered at Royston, in a tract, entitled “Palseographia Britannica, No. I.
”
to which an answer was published by Mr. Charles Parkin,
in 1744. The doctor replied in “Palasographia Britannica,
No. II.
” 1746, giving an account of the origin of the universities of Cambridge and Stamford, both from Croylandabbey; of the Roman city Granta, on the north-side of
the river, of the beginning of Cardike near Waterbeach,
&c. To this Mr. Parkin again replied in 1748; but it
does not appear that the doctor took any further notice of
him. In 1747, the benevolent duke of Montagu (with whom he had become acquainted at the Egyptian society)
prevailed on him to vacate his preferments in the country,
by giving him the rectory of St. George, Queen-square,
whence he frequently retired to Kentish-town, where the
following inscription was placed over his door:
, a very eminent physician, and one of the most eminent as an improver of the art that
, a very eminent physician, and one of the most eminent as an improver of the art that England has produced, was born in 1624 at Winford Eagle in Dorsetshire, where his father William Sydenham, esq. had a large fortune. Under whose care he was educated, or in what manner he passed his childhood, is not known. At the age of eighteen, in 1642, he entered* as a commoner of Magdalen -hall, Oxford, where it is not probable that he continued long; for he informs us himself, that he was withheld from the university by the commencement of the war; nor is it very clearly known in what state of life he engaged, or where he resided during that long series of public commotion. It is indeed reported, that he had a commission in the king’s army*, but no particular account is given of his military conduct; nor are we told what rank he obtained (unless that of a captain), when he entered into the army, or when or on what occasion he retired from it. It is certain, however, that if ever he took upon him the profession of arms, he spent but few years in the camp; for in 1648 he obtained at Oxford the degree of bachelor of physic, for which, as some medical knowledge is necessary, it may be imagined that he spent some time in qualifying himself.
e study of physic was, as he himself relates, produced by an accidental acquaintance with Dr. Cox, a physician eminent at that time in London, who in some sickness prescribed
His application to the study of physic was, as he himself relates, produced by an accidental acquaintance with Dr. Cox, a physician eminent at that time in London, who in some sickness prescribed to his brother, and, attending him frequently on that occasion, inquired of him what profession he designed to follow. The young man answering that he was undetermined, the doctor recommended physic to him, and Sydenham having determined to follow his advice, retired to Oxford for leisure and opportunity to pursue his studies.
been confidently inculcated, and implicitly believed. It is the general opinion, that he was made a physician by accident and necessity; and sir Richard Blackmore reports
It is evident, says his biographer, that this conversation must have happened before his promotion to any degree in physic, because he himself fixes it in the interval of his absence from the university, a circumstance which will enable us to confute many false reports relating to Dr. Sydenham, which have been confidently inculcated, and implicitly believed. It is the general opinion, that he was made a physician by accident and necessity; and sir Richard Blackmore reports in plain terms (in the preface to his "Treatise on the Small-Pox 1 *), that he engaged in practice without any preparatory study, or previous knowledge,
ches, lord Bacon, had pointed out; and its being more closely pursued by Sydenham than by any modern physician before him, is what has justly entitled him to those high encomiums
His works have been collected and frequently printed at
London in one volume 8vo. The last edition is that by
John Swan, M. D. of Newcastle in Staffordshire, 1742.
To this is prefixed a life of Dr. Sydenham, by Dr. Johnson,
which we have chiefly followed in the preceding account.
His works were also printed at Leipsic in J 711, at Geneva
in 1716, in 2 vols. 4to, and at Leyden in 8vo. They were
written by himself in English, but translated afterwards
into Latin, of which it is our opinion he was fully capable,
although these translations, as already noticed, have been
attributed to Dr. Mapletoft and others. The last English
edition is that by Dr. George Wallis, 1788, 2 vols. 8vo, with
notes and opinions of subsequent medical writers.
Sydenham has frequently been called the father of physic among the moderns. He tells us, in the preface to his
works, that “the increase and perfection of the medical
art is to be advanced by these two means: by composing
an history of distempers, or a natural and exact description of distempers and their symptoms; and by deducing
and establishing a method of cure from thence.
” This is
the way which that great delineator of the right road to
real knowledge in all its various branches, lord Bacon, had
pointed out; and its being more closely pursued by Sydenham than by any modern physician before him, is what has
justly entitled him to those high encomiums which have
ever been paid him. Sir Richard Blackmore allows, and
all are now convinced, that Sydenham, “who built all his
maxims and rules of practice upon repeated observations
on the nature and properties of diseases, and the power of
remedies, has compiled so good an history of distempers,
and so prevalent a method of cure, that he has improved
and advanced the healing art much more than Dr. Willis
with all his curious speculations and fanciful hypotheses.
”
He relates of himself, in his dedication to Dr. Mapletoft,
that ever since he had applied himself to the practice of
physic, he had been of opinion, and the opinion had been
every day more and more confirmed in him, that the medical art could not be learned so surely as by use and experience; and that he, who should pay the nicest and
most accurate attention to the symptoms of distempers,
would infallibly succeed best in searching out the true
means of cure. “For this reason,
” says he, “I gave myself up entirely to thjs method of proceeding, perfectly secure and confident, that, while 1 followed nature as my
guide, I could never err.
” He tells him afterwards, that
Mr. Locke approved his method, which he considered as
no small sanction to it; and what he says upon this occasion of Mr. Locke is worth transcribing: “Nosti prseterea, quern huic meiE methodo suffragantem habeam, qui
earn intimius per omnia perspexerat, utrique nostrum conjunctissimum dominum Joannem Locke; quo quidem viro,
sive ingenio judicioque acri & subacto, sive etiam antiquis,
hoc est, optimis moribus, vix superiorem quenquam, inter
eos qui nunc.sunt homines repertum in confido; paucissimns rertci pares.
” There are some Latin elegiac verses by
Mr. Locke, addressed to Sydenham, prefixed to his 4< Treatise upon Severs."
Mr. Granger has remarked that Sydenham received
higher honours from foreign physicians than from his countrymen. This, however, applies only to his contemporaries, for no modern English physician has ever mentioned
Sydenham unless in terms of high veneration. The encomiums of Boerhaave and Haller are well known to medical
readers. His great merit consists in the accurate descriptions which he has left us of several diseases which first
became conspicuous in his time. His account of the smallpox, and of his medical treatment of that disease, is admirable, and contributed in no small degree to establish his
celebrity. He was the first person who introduced the
cooling regimen in fevers, a method of treatment frequently
attended with the happiest effects, though it must be acknowledged that he did not sufficiently distinguish between
the typhus and the inflammatory fever, and on that account he sometimes carried his bleedings to an excess. He
contributed also essentially to introduce the Peruvian bark
as a cure for intermittents.
own principles and former engagements, would probably hinder Dr. Sydenham from being a very popular physician, during the period of his flourishing, that is, in the reigns
He had an elder brother William, who was some time gentleman commoner of Trinity college in Oxford, and, entering into the parliament’s army, acquitted himself so well, that he rose, by several gradations, to the highest post and dignities. In 1649, he was appointed governor of the Isle of Wight, and made vice-admiral of that isle and Hampshire. In 1653, he was summoned to parliament for Dorsetshire; in 1654, made commissioner of the treasury, and member of the privy-council; and in 1658, summoned to parliament by the protector Richard Cromwell. This connection, together with his own principles and former engagements, would probably hinder Dr. Sydenham from being a very popular physician, during the period of his flourishing, that is, in the reigns of Charles II. and James II.; yet he seems to hare owed more of his neglect to the envy of his contemporary brethren.
, a celebrated physician of France, was the son of Nicholas du Bois, a camblet-weaver,
, a celebrated physician of France, was the son of Nicholas du
Bois, a camblet-weaver, who had eleven sons and four
daughters. He was born at Amiens in Picardy, in 1478,
and went through a course of classical learning, under his
elder brother Francis Sylvius; who was principal of the
college of Tournay at Paris, and was a great promoter of
letters in that age of barbarism. There he learned the
Latin language, in much greater purity than it had been
taught for a long time; and hence it was, that his writings
are distinguished to such advantage by the elegance of the
style. He became a very accomplished scholar in Latin
and Greek, and had some little knowledge of the Hebrew;
and applied himself also to mathematics and mechanics so
successfully, as to invent machines, which deserved public
notice. When the time was come for giving himself entirely up to physic, to which study his inclination had
always led him, he traced it to its sources; and engaged
so deeply in the reading of Hippocrates and Galen, that
he scarcely did any thing but examine and translate those
two authors. He discovered from thence the importance
of anatomy, and applied himself to it so ardently, that he
became as great a master as that age would permit. He
studied pharmacy with no less care, and took several journeys to see, upon the spot, the medicines which different
countries produce. Upon his return to Paris, he read
lectures, and explained in two years a course of physic
from Hippocrates and Galen; which so much extended his
reputation, that scholars from all parts of Europe resorted
to him. But being prohibited at last from teaching as not
having taken his degree, he went to Montpellier in 1520
for that purpose, but not being willing to pay the expences
of graduation, he returned to Paris, and by an agreement
with the faculty, recommenced his lectures, although only
a bachelor of physic. In 1535 he taught in the college of
Treguier, while Fernelius taught in tbat of Cornouailles;
but the latter had few scholars, while the former had about
five hundred. The reason of this difference was, that
Sylvius dissected bodies, and read lectures upon botany
and the preparation of medicines, advantages which the
scholars of Fernelius had not. The professorship of physic
in the royal college becoming vacant in 1548, Sylvius was
nominated to fill it; which he did, after hesitating about
it two years. He continued in it till his death, which
happened Jan. 13, 1555. He was never married, and shewed
even an aversion to women. His personal character was
particularly obnoxious. His behaviour was rude and barbarous. He had nothing social in his temper, or ever departed from a certain pompous stiffness; and it was observed
that when he attempted to relax, he did it aukwardly.
The only witticism related of him is, that “he had parted
with three beasts, his cat, his mule, and his maid.
” His
avarice was extreme, and he lived in the most sordid manner: he allowed his servants nothing but dry bread, and
had no fire all the winter. Two things served him as a
remedy against cold; he played at foot-ball, and carried
a great log upon his shoulders: and he said that the heat
which he gained by this exercise was more beneficial to
his health than that of a fire. He was most rigid in demanding his fees from his scholars, yet was puzzled often
what to do with his money, for when, in 1616, his house
in the rue de St. Jacques was pulled down, the workmen
found many pieces of gold, which he had probably hid and
knew not where to find. This avarice, which was his ruling passion, exposed him to the wit of his contemporaries.
Buchanan has a distich on him, beginning “Sylvius hie
situs est, gratis qui nil dedit unquam, &c.
” and a dialogue
was published under the title of “Sylvius ocreatus,
” or
“Sylvius booted,
” of which it was thought that Henry
Stephens was the author, by the assumed name of Ludovicus Arrivabenus Mantuanus. It is founded on the supposition that Sylvius, wishing to pass Acheron without
paying anything, went in boots that he might ford it.
This satire was answered by John Melet, one of his pupils,
who adopted the name of Claudius Burgensis, and entitled
his performance “Apologia in Lud. Arrivabenum pro D. J.
Silvio.
”
ers. He also furnished archbishop Parker with many Saxon books, some of which he had from Dr. Ovvtn, physician to Henry VIII. He left his Mss. to New college. He was the first
, one of our earliest antiquaries, was
born at Thorp, in Northamptonshire, and was educated at
Winchester school, whence he was admitted of New college,
Oxford, in 1525. He left the university in 1530, but
took the degree of D. D. either there or in some other
place. In 1541 he was made a prebendary of Wells, and
April 9, 1547, treasurer of the cathedral church of Norwich, which he possessed at the time of his death, Aug.
27, 1558. He was a very diligent searcher into the antiquities of his country, and his collections proved of great
service to Leland, Bale, Caius, Camden, and others. He
also furnished archbishop Parker with many Saxon books,
some of which he had from Dr. Ovvtn, physician to Henry
VIII. He left his Mss. to New college. He was the first
of our countrymen who illustrated Antoniiins’s Itinerary
with various readings and notes, which were of great use
to Camuen, and are printed by Hearne at the end of the
third volume of Leland’s Itinerary from a ms in the Bodleian library, which belonged to John Stowe, and is in his
ha 1 iwriting; but Talbot’s notes reach only to the sixth
her. Two other copies are in Bene't college library a
fourth is in Caius college library, with additions by Dr.
Caius; and a fifth in the Cotton library. Camden followed
his settlement of the stations in most instances, but William B 1 ir ton frequently differs from him in his “Commentary on Antoninus his Itinerary.
” His other Mss. are “Aurum ex Stercore vel de Ænigmaticis et PropliL j ticis,
” in
Corpus college, Oxford; and “De chartis quibusdamRegnm Britannorurn,
” in Bene't college, Cambridge.