V>\\;' V'
 
 CP<
 
 MEDICAL PORTRAIT GALLERY. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS 
 
 OF THE MOST CELEBRATED 
 
 PHYSICIANS, SURGEONS, 
 
 WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO 
 
 THE ADVANCEMENT OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 THOMAS JOSEPH PETTIGREW, F.R.S. F.A.S. F.L.S. 
 
 Member of the Royal College of Surgeons ; Surgeon to the Asylum for Female Orphans ; Late Senior Surgeon 
 of the Charing Cross Hospital ; Lecturer on Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathology; and on the Principles 
 and Practice of Surgery; Doctor of PhUosophy of the University of Gottingen; Member of the Royal 
 Asiatic, Entomological, Numismatic, and other Societies; Corresponding Member of the Academy of 
 Arts, Sciences, and Belles Lettres, Dijon ; Societe Academique de Medecine of Marseilles ; &'c. &c. 
 
 APOLLINEO NOMINA DIGNA CHORO." 
 
 VOL. T. 
 
 FISHER, SON, & CO., 
 NEWGATE STREET, LONDON: QUAI DE LECOLE, PARIS.
 
 " I hold every man a debtor to his profession ; from the which as men of course do seek to receive countenance 
 and profit, so ought they of duty to endeavour themselves, by way of amends, to be a help and ornament thereunto. 
 This is performed, in some degree, by the honest and liberal practice of a profession ; where men shall carry a 
 respect not to descend into any course that is corrupt and unworthy thereof, and preserve themselves free from the 
 abuses wherewith the same profession is noted to be infected : but much more is this performed, if a man be able 
 to visit and strengthen the roots and foundation of the science itself; thereby not only gracing it in reputation and 
 dignity, but also amplifying it in profession and substance." — Bacon.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The biography of Medical Men is admitted to be very generally defective. 
 Of those from whose researches mankind has reaped so much benefit, it is 
 not a little remarkable, that few particulars of their lives are known ; and 
 that which has been said of men of letters, may perhaps apply with especial 
 force to members of the Medical Profession, that their lives are to be found 
 ill their writings. Men extensively engaged in the duties of an arduous 
 profession, have little leisure to mix with the world, or take part in the 
 transactions of public life : they are, nevertheless, objects of great attention ; 
 their pursuits enable them to obtain an insight into the springs of action, 
 and to view man under all the sufferings of pain and disease, and thus 
 afford opportunities of discerning the strength or the weakness of the human 
 character. The biography of Men of Science may not in its perusal be 
 calculated so to awaken the spirit, or to excite such powerful emotions, as a 
 narrative of the exploits of warriors, or the subtleties of statesmen; but it 
 is more likely to afford delight and instruction, inasmuch as it offers to us 
 objects of imitation and emulation ; and it should never be forgotten, that 
 in extending the boundaries of science, we also contribute to the happiness 
 of mankind. 
 
 The History of the Progress of Medicine, it is presumed, cannot be 
 more agreeably displayed, than in a detail of the researches of the most 
 celebrated professional men, who have successfully toiled in the pursuit of 
 science. It is pleasing to contemplate the conduct and character of those 
 whose labours have tended to the amelioration of the miseries and sufferings 
 of their fellow-creatures; and it will afford much gratification to find, 
 enrolled among the members of the Medical Profession, some of the chief 
 philanthropists of the age in which they lived. The variety of anecdote 
 afforded by the mode adopted in this work of Illustrated Professional 
 Biography, admits of the combination of the idile diilci, and obviates the 
 fatigue which would accompany a more detailed or consecutive narrative, or 
 chronological order of the History of the Science. 
 
 3
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 s 
 
 In the proposed series, the History of the Profession is intended to be 
 given ; its progress displayed, and the varioxis discoveries in Anatomical and 
 Physiological Science, which have formed the basis of the improvements in 
 the Practice of Medicine, recorded. To each individual it has been, and will 
 continue to be, my endeavour faithfully to assign that which is due, and to 
 award the just meed of praise. The science of Medicine is, even at this 
 dav, in a very imperfect state — it is the work of Art in the field of 
 Nature ; and patient observation and laborious research, for a very length- 
 ened period, are absolutely necessary to bring it to any thing like per- 
 fection. 
 
 Many eminent physicians, it will be found, have by their writings 
 advanced the literature as well as promoted the science of their countries, 
 and have been the bosom friends of the wise and good. In this country. 
 Pope, Johnson, Parr, and others, have borne testimony to their talents and 
 virtues. Pope has said, " They are in general the most amiable com- 
 panions, and the best friends, as well as the most learned men, I know." 
 Dr. Johnson remarks, " 1 believe every man has found in physicians great 
 liberality and dignity of sentiment, vei'y prompt effusion of beneficence, and 
 M'illingness to exert a lucrative art where there is no hope of lucre." The 
 Rev. Dr. Parr observes, ** I have long been in the habit of reading on 
 medical subjects, and the great advantage I have derived from this circum- 
 stance is, that I have found opportunities for conversation and friendship 
 with a class of men whom, after a long and attentive survey of literary 
 characters, I hold to be the most enlightened professional persons in the 
 whole circle of human arts and sciences." " In no order, (says Dr. Knox,) 
 are there to be found individuals better informed, more polite, humane, and 
 ingenious, than among the physicians." Such have been the feelings and 
 opinions of men renowned for their learning, and deservedly eminent for 
 their knowledge of mankind •, and such testimony ought to make a deep 
 impression upon the minds of the members of the profession, and stimulate 
 them to diligence in the pursuit of their studies. 
 
 To facilitate this object, as well as to conduce to the pleasure of the 
 general reader, by laying before him the various incidents in professional 
 life, and the satisfaction derived from a constant study of the welfare of 
 mankind, has been ray aim in the present work ; the publication of which is 
 intended to give a complete portraiture of the Progress of Medical Science ; 
 and as the subjects embraced by it will include notices of the living as well 
 as the dead, it may not, perhaps, be unreasonably supposed, that panegyric 
 may, in some instances, be found to supply the place of truth, or that con- 
 troversy and angry feeling may ensue from an exposition of faults and 
 errors. Neither of these suspicions, it is presumed, has, or will be verified, 
 as it will be my studious endeavour faithfully to portray all points connected 
 
 4
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 with the professional character of the various subjects of the Memoirs, and 
 none will be admitted into this " Portrait Gallery," who have not promoted 
 the advancement of Medical Science. For the opinions given upon the 
 writings of the respective authors, I feel myself to be responsible, and will 
 willingly incur the risk of censure for the judgment I may pronounce, 
 which will not be made without due consideration, and be the fruit of a 
 long-continued course of severe study, united to the advantages derived 
 from considerable practical experience. 
 
 Various opinions have already been expressed upon the subject of this 
 work. Objections have been raised to the introduction of living characters, 
 and it seems to me, in the arguments that have been urged against this 
 department, to have entirely escaped the attention of the critics, that I have 
 not undertaken to write personal but professional biography. The greatest 
 fear seems to be entertained that the Memoirs may be too panegyrical. 
 My plan, it must be recollected, is only to embrace the notice of those who, 
 by their researches, have contributed to the advancement of medical science, 
 and of these, it would be very difficult to speak but in terms of a gratifica- 
 tion naturally and unavoidably felt at the improvements they have intro- 
 duced ; but this, I trust, has been done with proper discrimination. I will 
 confidently venture to say, that no undue praise has been lavished upon any 
 individual whose memoir I have inserted in this publication. No one can 
 entertain a stronger aversion to adulation than 1 do. I think it inconsistent 
 with either good sense, propriety, or the freedom which in this country we 
 all happily enjoy. " Assentatio, vitiorum adjutrix, procul amoveatur; qua; 
 non modo amico, sed me libero quidem digna est."* And I agree with 
 Felltham,t when he says that " there is no detraction worse than to over- 
 praise a man ; for if his worth prove short of what report doth speak him, 
 his own actions are ever giving the lie to his honour." 
 
 One writer laments the want of a more independent plan. What, 
 I would ask, can be more independent than that which embraces in distinct 
 articles the labours of each professional man ? The Memoirs are separate — 
 thev are distinctly paged — they may be arranged chronologically, or alpha- 
 betically, or according to the departments of the profession to w^hich the 
 members respectively belonged. I feel the greatest and most reasonable 
 objection to my plan is, that it is,not pursued according to the order of time; 
 •I wish that it had been otherwise ; but, interesting and useful as the memoirs 
 of the earlier physicians and surgeons may be to a few professional readers, 
 T am sure they will see that it would be impossible to continue the work in 
 such an order, for the expense attending the execution of the portraits 
 of the ancient dead would not have found an equivalent in the extent of 
 patronage atlbrded by the living. But, as a chronological or any other 
 * Cicero de Amicitia. f Resolves by Owen Felltham.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 arrangement is not put aside, the memoirs can be placed in the order that 
 may suit the inclination or disposition of the possessor : physicians may be 
 separated from surgeons — foreign3rs from those of our own country — or the 
 living from the dead. Whatever may be the plan adopted, it is likely that 
 some objection will offer. I have endeavoured to adopt that which I have 
 thought best calculated to effect my object, and for the execution of it I am 
 ready to submit to the opinion of the profession and the public. I have 
 freely given the results of my own reading and my own practice, and I 
 trust that I have not in an unbecoming manner expressed my opinions in 
 opposition to those of longer standing in the profession than myself, 
 and those who may have greater claims upon the respect and gratitude of 
 mankind. 
 
 The portraits have been selected from the most approved and authentic 
 sources, and executed by the ablest artists. The greater number have never 
 before appeared, and many have been expressly painted for the M^ork by 
 Mr. Henry Room, a very able, and most promising artist. As the counte- 
 nance is the " index of the mind," portraits of distinguished men have ever 
 been looked upon with pleasure, and faithful resemblances have been eagerly 
 sought after. By a survey of the features of the " human face divine," we 
 distinguish the man of science from the man of pleasure — the philosopher, 
 the moralist, and the student, from the inane, the insipid, and the vulgar. 
 " A real portrait," says Lord Orford, " is truth itself, and calls up so many 
 collateral ideas as to fill an intelligent mind more than any other species." 
 Eminent men represented with all the charms of the pencil, and with the 
 true and real expression of their countenances, must ever animate the bosom 
 with a love of their excellence. 
 
 In the memoir of Li nacre, 1 have omitted to acknowledge my obligation 
 to the Royal College of Physicians for their permission, most kindly given, 
 to copy their portrait of the founder of their college, and its first president. 
 The picture in the college is taken from one which was formerly in Ken- 
 sington Palace, and has been attributed to the pencil of Quintin Matsys, 
 The accuracy of this 1 am disposed to question, and should rather refer to it 
 as a production by the celebrated Holbein. The former artist is, however, 
 stated by the Rev. James Dallaway, in his edition of Horace Walpole's 
 Anecdotes of Painting in England, to have drawn the picture of Dr. Linacre 
 in the year 1521, which agrees with the date attached to this portrait, yet 
 Linacre was abroad only in some period between 14B0 and 1487, at which 
 time he was but little more than twenty years of age. Holbein, it is known, 
 was patronized by Henry VIII., and painted most, if not all, the celebrated 
 people of his court. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Dyce has kindly acquainted me with some particulars 
 relative to Akenside, which [ notice in this place, to render the memoir 
 
 G
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 of the poet and physician more complete. The " Hymn to Science'' was 
 written at Newcastle, not at Edinburgh, and is inserted in the Gentleman's 
 Magazine for October, 1739; but the "Ode on the Winter Solstice" was 
 composed at Edinburgh. The "Pleasures of Imagination" was published 
 before his visit to Leyden, and was put forth anonymously in January, 1744, 
 price 4s. in 4to., and in the May following at 2s. in 8vo. In a letter to 
 Mr. Dyson, August 18, 1742, he calls himself " surgeon" in Newcastle- 
 upon-Tyne. He commenced practice at Northampton in June, 1744. He 
 had a house in Bloomsbury-Square, whence he removed to Craven-Street, 
 and thence to Burlington-Street, where he died. He received a Doctor's 
 degree at Cambridge in 1753, having been admitted a licentiate of the College 
 of Physicians June 20, 1751, and a Fellow of that body April 8, 1754. His 
 lectures on the lymphatic system were delivered May 28, 29, and 30, 1755. 
 He was elected Physician to St. Thomas's Hospital, October 18, 1759. 
 Upon the authority of Dr. F. Hawkins, the registrar of the College of Phy- 
 sicians, Dr. Akenside was thanked by the college in 176G, for his trouble in 
 preparing Harvey's Works for the press, and for prefixing a preface which 
 was printed in that edition, together with a Life of Harvey by Dr. Law- 
 rence. 
 
 In the enumeration of the Works by the late Dr. John Clarke, I had 
 relied upon the authority of Watt, and inserted two works of which he could 
 not have been the author, as they appeared in 1751. They are tracts relating 
 to the employment of male practitioners in midwifery. 
 
 The portrait of Caius is from a mezzotint by Faber, taken from a picture 
 in Gonville and Caius College. The autograph affixed is from a deed belong- 
 ing to the college, and for the fac-simile of which I am indebted to the 
 learned master of the college. 
 
 The portrait of Dr. Uadcliffe is from a painting by Sir Godfrey 
 Kneller, purchased from the collection of Dr. Mead by Dr. William Hunter, 
 and now preserved in the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow, The autograph 
 affixed to this plate is taken from a book in which he inserted his name when 
 he first entered at the University of Oxford. 
 
 The autograph of Albinus is taken from a letter in the possession of 
 Mr. Stone, jun., at the Royal College of Surgeons. 
 
 T. J. PETTIGREW. 
 Saville Row.
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 1. ^scuLAPius and Telesphorus, Statue of. — Frontispiece. 
 
 2. Akenside, Mark, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 3. Albinus, Bernard Siegfried, M.D. 
 
 4. BiCHAT, INIarie Francois Xavier, M.D. 
 
 5. Bldndell, James, M.D. 
 
 6. Caius, John, M.D. 
 
 7. Carlisle, Sir Anthony, F.R.S. 
 
 8. Clarke, Sir Charles Mansfield, Bart., M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 9. Cooke, John, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 10. Cooper, Sir Astley Paston, Bart., G.C.H. D.C.L. F.R.S. 
 
 11. Copland, James, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 12. Halford, Sir Henry, Bart., G.C.H. M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 13. Haller, Albert de, INI.D. F.R.S. 
 
 14. Linacre, Thomas, M.D. 
 
 15. Mead, Richard, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 16. Morgagni, John Baptist, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 17. Radcliffe, John, M.D. 
 
 18. RuTscH, Frederic, M.D. F.R.S.
 
 iESCULAPIUS. 
 
 " Homines ad Deos niJla re propriis accedunt, quam salutem 
 hominibus dando." Cicero. 
 
 The History of Medicine has been advantageously divided into four 
 periods ; the first of which embraces not less than 3000 years, extending 
 from the time of the deluge to that of the Arabian physicians. 
 
 The medical art, including both Physic and Surgery, a distinction of 
 later times, is generally admitted to have taken its rise among the Egyp- 
 tians, but to have been brought to considerable perfection by the cultivation 
 of the Greeks. All the facts connected with the earliest period of the 
 history of medicine must be regarded with great doubt, being involved in 
 the mystery of fabulous narration. The existence, however, of certain 
 practices employed as remedial agents, have been handed down to us, and 
 the records of them are to be considered as entitled to some degree of 
 credit. 
 
 Medicine was divided into various kinds ; and these divisions had their 
 respective followers — Dietetical, Pharmaceutical, and Chirurgical. 
 The professors were divided into sects : Empirics, Dogmatists, Methodists. 
 Many of the works of those whose names are preserved to us have perished 
 by the hand of time. 
 
 In the first period, omitting all that may be regarded as belonging to 
 the fabulous age, are the celebrated names of Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle, 
 Callisthenes, Epicurus, Erasistratus, Herophilus, Themison, Thessalus, 
 Leonidas, Plutarch, Celsus, Aretseus, Coelius Aurelianus, Galen, Oribasius, 
 ^tius, Alexander de Tralles, Paulus de JEg'in-d, and Actuarius. 
 
 The second period embraces the Arabian physicians, who must be 
 looked upon chiefly as servile copyists of Galen and Aristotle. Many 
 remedies were, however, added by these physicians, and some diseases, as, 
 for example, the small-pox and the measles, have been, for the first time, 
 well described ; so accurate, indeed, have been the descriptions of these 
 maladies, that little, if any thing, has been since added to their history. 
 Among the Arabian physicians, the most renowned are Mesne, Rhazes, 
 
 1
 
 iESCULAPIUS. 
 
 Avicenna, Averroes, Haly-Abbas, Albucasis ; and in this period, in Europe, 
 Arnoldus de Villa Nova, Roger Bacon, and Basil Valentine, celebrated for 
 his alchemical knowledge. This will be sufficient to show how much in its 
 infancy medicine w^as, as a science, at this period. The foundation of the 
 schools of Salerno and Montpellier seemed to diffuse knowledge ; but the 
 art of healing was truly given up to the empirics and to the monks. The 
 second period did therefore but little for the advancement of medicine. 
 
 The THIRD period delivered medicine from the hands of the Arabs to 
 those of the Europeans. Europe, however, was but slowly emerging from 
 the ignorance which a state of barbarism had produced, and was, about the 
 middle of the 15th century, recovering from the effects of the bloody wars 
 in Italy, and the boundless luxury of the Roman empire. Efforts were now 
 made to bring to light the productions of former times ; princes gave encou- 
 ragement to the learned to translate the MSS. of former ages ; and these 
 translations, disseminated by the invention of printing, promoted the civili- 
 zation of Europe, and extended the knowledge of the medical art. Many 
 eminent men belong to this period, as Celsus, Mercurialis, and ISIartianus, 
 among the Italians ; and Fernelius, Ballon, Duret, Houlier, and Jacot, among 
 the French. Paracelsus must be mentioned as belonging to this era, 
 although his speculations scarcely entitle him to be named as a benefactor 
 to, or promoter of, medical science. 
 
 It is in the fourth period that we find the respected names of Harvey, 
 Sydenham, Sanctorius, Gorter, Baglivi, Morton, Hoffman, Iliverius, 
 Etmuller, Stahl, Boerhaave, Mead, Freind, and others, who are familiar to 
 us at this day, and whose observations are entitled to the most serious 
 attention and regard. 
 
 The zeal now manifested in anatomical researches, the physiological 
 views based upon them, and the consequent improvement of medical prac- 
 tice, the natural result of so correct and judicious a system, deserves the 
 most fixed contemplation of the practitioner. The labours of Morgagni, 
 Desault, Sabatier, Chaussier, Vicq d'Azyr, Sauvauges, Cullen, Astruc, 
 Stoll, Fothergill, the Hunters, Jenner, &c., have contributed much to the 
 advancement of professional knowledge ; and the skill of the chemist, by 
 the researches of Lavoisier, Fourcroy, Davy, and others, have assisted in 
 promoting the march of science. In later times, that is, during the present 
 century, every branch of science has rapidly advanced ; and the manner in 
 which anatomical and physiological pursuits are now conducted, the zeal 
 with which the several tissues of which the body is composed, are deve- 
 loped, and the general views entertained of the whole system of nature, 
 promise greatly for the future perfection of the science of medicine. What 
 
 2
 
 ^SCULAPIUS. 
 
 c^n be more interesting to, or more worthy the observation of the philo- 
 sopher, than to contemplate the progress of the human mind, as exhibited 
 in the advancement of a science, the object of which is the reUef of the 
 sick, and the preservation of our fellow-creatures. Every man was, pro- 
 bably, at the commencement of the world, a physician ; every one would 
 study that which was calculated to assuage pain, or guard against disorder. 
 In this sense, a French writer has marked the first, or earliest period, of 
 medical science, as popular ; that it was empirical there can be no doubt; 
 it must necessarily have been founded on experience and imitation : it 
 would descend from generation to generation, as we find it to have done m 
 savage nations, from the accounts which have been handed down to us by 
 various travellers. But their remedial agents extend little beyond those 
 which are derived from the vegetable kingdom of nature, and are neces- 
 sarily limited in their operation. 
 
 Among the Babylonians and the Egyptians, according to Herodotus 
 and other authorities, the sick were exposed to the passers-by, who were 
 expected not only to discover the ills of the afflicted, but to prescribe the 
 remedies that .might be necessary for their cure. These means for the 
 relief of disease, we learn, were afterwards collected together, and inscribed 
 either in the sacred books of the priests, or, as lamblichus reports, upon 
 columns, and preserved in the temples. Of the antiquity of medicine there 
 cannot exist a doubt; but its earliest history is so enveloped in fable, that it 
 is impossible to unravel it. Menes is the most ancient king of Egypt of 
 whom we possess any records. His son Athotis is mentioned by Manetho 
 as the author of several books on anatomy ; which would of itself demon- 
 strate some progress in the science, and a removal from that empirical 
 character with which it must necessarily have commenced. Next to 
 this illustrious professor of the medical art, must be mentioned Hermes 
 Trismegistus, who has been confounded with the Thoth of the Egyptians— 
 the Egyptian Mercury— who is reported to have been the inventor of all the 
 arts and sciences. The priests of Egypt were the possessors of all the 
 knowledge and learning of the Egyptians : this knowledge is said to have 
 been contained in the Hermetic books, forty-two in number, (accordiifg to 
 Clement of Alexandria), of which the last six related to medicine. 
 
 The Egyptians divided the human body into thirty-six parts, each of 
 which they beheved to be under the particular government of one of the 
 decans, or aerial demons, who presided over the triple divisions of the 
 twelve signs; and Origen says, that when any part of the body was dis- 
 eased, a cure was effected by invoking the demon to whose province it 
 belonged. A kind of theological anatomy has thus been made out by the 
 
 3
 
 ^SCULAPIUS. 
 
 late Mr. Champollion,* from the great funereal ritual, or book of the Mani- 
 festations. This is expressed, on various mummy-cases, in hieroglyphieal 
 characters ; and may we not in this trace the first attempt to assign the 
 different parts of the body to the several planets, which has been continued 
 down to the present day in the renowned and popular astrological almanack 
 of Francis Moore, physician? 
 
 The Egyptian Horus, son of Osiris and Isis, has been looked upon as 
 the Grecian Apollo, f and usually regarded as the god of physic; and from 
 Apollo, ^sculapius springs. Bacon says, " The variable composition of 
 man's body hath made it as an instrument easy to distemper ; and therefore 
 the poets did well to conjoin music and medicine in Apollo : because the 
 office of medicine is but to tune this curious harp of man's body, and to 
 reduce it to harmony." 
 
 The Egyptian must not be confounded with the Grecian ^sculapius. 
 The history attaching to the former is exceedingly obscure. Mr. Salt first 
 discovered ^sculapius as a deity in the island of Philae, where there was a 
 small sanctuary, having a Greek inscription dedicating the temple to him. 
 Mr. Wilkinson informs us:}: that he was worshipped at Memphis, and on a 
 certain mountain on the Libyan side of the Nile, near the City of Croco- 
 diles, where he was reported to have been buried, if he were the first 
 ^sculapius, the reputed inventor of medicine. But it must be recollected 
 that the Egyptians admitted two deities of this name. Macrobius makes 
 ^sculapius the beneficent force of the sun, which pervaded the souls and 
 bodies of man ; but Mr. Wilkinson thinks it more probable that he was the 
 healing power of the Creator, which averted misfortunes and illness from 
 mankind. 
 
 Hermes is looked upon, in the Egyptian mythology, as the god of letters. 
 He is the same as Taut or Thoth, Mercury or the Moon. He has been 
 confounded with Hermes Trismegistus;§ but Trismegistiis does not in any 
 way apply to letters, but simply means, " thrice great." There is great 
 difficulty in making out this Egyptian deity, from the variety of appellations 
 he bears, in accordance with the different characters ascribed to him. It 
 would occupy too much space, and at the same time, be inconsistent with 
 the design of the sketches in this work, to enter upon an enumeration of 
 them in this place ; but that mentioned by HorapoUo must be noticed, 
 
 * See Pettigrew's History of Egyptian Mummies. 
 
 f Millin says, (Mem. Med. Soc. d'Emulation, t. 5. p. 344.) Apollo is first 
 mentioned as the god of medicine, in the Orphic Hymns, (xxxiii. 1. Argon. 173.) 
 i Materia Hieroglyphica. § Tourtelle Hist. Phil, de la Medecine. 
 
 4
 
 iESCULAPIUS. 
 
 for this author describes Thoth, or Hermes, as holding a palm-branch, emble- 
 matic of a year and a month ; and to this is attached the symbol of life and 
 man in embryo, under the form of a frog. 
 
 The mythological veil under which all traces of the history of Egyptian 
 medicine are to be found, serves only to demonstrate that the whole is to 
 be regarded as allegorical, as far as relates to the personages mentioned. 
 No human being was ever admitted into the order of the Egyptian gods, 
 and no Egyptian god could ever have lived upon earth. The whole matter, 
 then, reduces itself to fabulous history. Medicine, however, took its rise in 
 the East, passed into Egypt, thence into Greece, and so was disseminated 
 throughout the civilized world. The profession of medicine in Egypt was 
 confined to the priests, and it descended hereditarily with them. If the 
 account of the Hermetic books is to be relied on, there were treatises on 
 different parts of the body, the structure and diseases of the eye, and the 
 operations necessary for their cure. Every Egyptian was required to follow 
 the profession of his father ; and Herodotus tells us,* that the science of 
 medicine was distributed into different parts ; every physician was for one 
 disease — not more : so that every place was full of physicians ; for some 
 were doctors for the eyes, others for the head ; some for the teeth, others 
 for the belly ; and some for occult disorders. Their number must neces- 
 sarily have been very great. Herodotus says, iravra h irjTpiov fpnrXea. The 
 ^sculapius of Greece must date at least 1 000 years posterior to the Egyp- 
 tian. The celebrated mythologist, Jacob Bryant, makes him to be the same 
 as Jupiter and Apollo — the same as Osiris, Hermes, Thoth, and Apis the 
 physician. Many temples were dedicated to him in Asia Minor : he 
 had several temples at Pergamus ; f and Aristides reports that he was 
 worshipped under the title of Zevg AarxXwioQ, or Jupiter ^sculapius. 
 At Memphis, the ancient Misr, the capital of Egypt, a Hve serpent, as the 
 ^sculapian emblem, was kept, and treated with religious reverence. Serpent 
 worship, however, was very general, not confined to one part of the globe, 
 and it may be traced in almost every religion, through ancient Asia, Europe, 
 Africa, and America.;]: The serpent has been employed as the symbol both 
 of Good and Evil: the Egyptians used it as typical of the good demon 
 (Agathodaemon). Thoth is not the only Egyptian deity symbolized by the 
 serpent ; Kneph, and Isis, and many others, were also distinguished by it. 
 How the serpent applied to Hygaeia, is to be considered as the symbol of 
 
 * Euterpe. f Lucian. 
 
 X See the Rev. J. B Deane's excellent work on the Worship of the Serpent, 8vo. 
 2d edit. Lond. 1833. 
 
 5
 
 iESCULAPIUS. 
 
 health, is not easy of explanation. Pliny states the reason of its consecra- 
 tion to be from the use formerly made of the flesh of these animals in 
 medicine. But the more probable conjecture is, I think, that which refers it 
 to the renovation of life and vigour, t}'pified by the periodical change of its 
 skin. In the Grecian mytholog}^, as in the Egyptian, the symbol of the 
 serpent is sacred to nearly all the gods and goddesses, to Saturn, Jupiter, 
 Apollo, Bacchus, Mars, ^sculapius, Rhea, Juno, Minerva, Diana, Ceres, 
 and Proserpine. 
 
 The Egyptian origin of j^sculapius, and the connexion between the 
 Serpent and the god of medicine, are questions of little interest at the 
 present day ; but that the hereditary claims of the wise reptile should be 
 still maintained among a people professing the Mohammedan religion, so 
 hostile as it has always been to the least semblance of idolatry, is a remark- 
 able and curious fact, and one which the traveller is surprised to find 
 in the Valley of the Nile, though ever the cradle of superstition, and of so 
 many fables of paganism. The juggling performances of the Ha wees, or 
 snake-players, may be traced to the feats of the Psylli; but the object of 
 these, like similar contrivances in India, or the sleight-of-hand of European 
 conjurers, is little more than to obtain money ; and whatever notions may 
 be connected with the disgusting ceremony of tearing live snakes with 
 the teeth, during the TFoohd, or birth-day festival of the Prophet, this is 
 not directly attributable to any superstitious respect for the reptile, nor in 
 in any way referable to the emblem of the son of Apollo. 
 
 At the tomb of Shekh Hereedee, in Upper Egypt, the case is other- 
 wise; and the cures believed to be performed there are attributed to the 
 influence or direct agency of a sacred serpent. The name of the saint has 
 extended from his tomb to the whole mountain on which it stands; and 
 between E'Siout and E'Khmim, and nearly opposite Tahta, the projecting 
 corner of the Mokuttum chain, is known by the appellation of Gebele 
 'Shekh Hereedee. Ascending near the centre of these precipitous cliffs, 
 a celebrated Egyptian traveller informs me, you arrive at a tomb concealed 
 from the view of those below by a projecting eminence, where the saint is 
 said to be buried, and whither the sick are invited, by the well-known repu- 
 tation of that holy personage and his miraculous powers, to repair, to obtain 
 alleviation of their sufferings. To gain permission to consult him, or rather 
 to invoke his aid, is readily granted by the guardian of the sepulchre, who 
 is, at the same time, supposed to be entrusted with the power and privilege 
 of interpreting his patron's wishes ; and the pious devotee anxiously 
 expects the manifestation, or the promises of the saint. An awful silence 
 is preserved ; he takes the shoes off" his feet, and nothing is heard save the 
 
 6
 
 iESCULAPlUS. 
 
 repetition of the Fat-hah (or evening prayer of the Koran), which the 
 suppHcant recites at the door of the tomb. At length, the guardian, 
 having a knobbed staff fancifully decorated with tattered shreds of coloured 
 cloth, approaches from the interior of the sepulchre, and unites with him 
 in repeating the Fat-hah. The Shekh is supposed to be propitious — the 
 snake, his emblem, under whose form he is believed to appear, glides from 
 a dark recess — and thus, by his manifestation, having promised the wished- 
 for boon, the credulous man humbles himself before it, and withdraws with 
 the full persuasion of his own incipient cure, or of the recovery of the 
 afflicted friend who had sent him to offer his adoration and presents to the 
 all-potent saint. 
 
 The Grecian ^Esculapius is generally esteemed as the son of Apollo 
 and the nymph Coronis : — 
 
 Ytoi' AttoWwj'oc ov eyeiyaro oia Kopwvtc. HoMER. 
 
 Pausanias says, no woman of mortal race was his mother: Qvr]Ti]v ywaiKu 
 ahiiiav fxrjrepa* Coronis was worshipped at Sicyon, where, also, was a 
 temple dedicated to Apollo, in which two live serpents were maintained. 
 The serpent is to be regarded as the ordinary emblem of ^sculapius ; but 
 he is frequently depicted with a cock, as typical of vigilance ; with an 
 eagle, as denoting judgment and length of life. With the eagle, the head 
 of a ram is also found, the former being placed on the right, and the latter 
 on his left hand. The ram's head is conceived to have reference to the 
 divinations of the deity. The serpent usually entwined around a club, to 
 represent the exercise of prudence and discretion, as necessary to the 
 sustaining of life. But to return to the Egyptians. 
 
 The Egyptians have been held forth for their knowledge of Anatomy, 
 Botany, and Chemistry. With respect to the former, it has been inferred, 
 rather than shewn, to have existed from the practice of embalming. The 
 operations, however, embraced in this process, are scarcely entitled to the 
 appellation of dissection ; they consisted of little more than an evisceration 
 of the contents of the head, chest, and belly, and a knowledge of the 
 distinctive characters of most of the organs contained in these cavities, 
 would be acquired without the aid of much anatomical research. The 
 Botanical knowledge of the Egyptians is entitled to greater distinction. 
 They were well acquainted with the use of various medicinal plants. Pliny, 
 Dioscorides, and Theophrastus, mention several as worthy of notice, and 
 demonstrative of the learning and civiUzation of the Egyptians. 
 
 * L vii. p. 583. 
 7
 
 iESCULAPIUS. 
 
 Their knowledge of Chemistry is worthy of consideration. It is evi- 
 denced in the embalments ; and it has been endeavoured to be shewn that 
 the word, Chemistry, is derived from a hieroglyphical name by which Egypt 
 has been distinguished: Khemi, the tail of the crocodile. Chame lite- 
 rally means " the black colour." 
 
 Bleeding in the veins, and also in some of the arteries, the application 
 of the actual cautery, the administration of enemata, the operation ot 
 paracentesis of the abdomen for a dropsy — these are given upon the autho- 
 rity of Prosper Alpinus, a writer of good credit, but probably refer to the 
 more modern practices of the Egyptians. 
 
 The engraving which accompanies this sketch is taken from the cele- 
 brated statue in the Louvre, where the god ^sculapius is seen attended 
 by Telesphorus, the god of recovery. 
 
 8
 
 €^yr 
 
 ^n
 
 MARK AKENSIDE, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 " QuEE tibi, quae tali reddam pro carmine dona ?" — V'irg. 
 
 Mark Akenside was a native of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and born on the 
 9th of November, 1721. He was the son of a butcher; the recollection of 
 which he was always anxious to suppress. To such an extent did he carry 
 this ridiculous feeling, that, as it is reported, he could never regard a 
 lameness, which impeded his walking with facihty, otherwise than as an 
 unpleasant memento of a cut of the foot which he received from the fall of 
 one of his father's cleavers when about seven years of age. His parents 
 were Presbyterians, and strict in the observance of their religious duties. 
 Akenside was destined for the ministry, and placed under the care of 
 Mr. Wilson, a dissenting minister at Newcastle. In a MS. dedication* of 
 his poem, " The Pleasures of Imagination," to his friend, Mr. Jeremiah 
 Dyson, he writes his name Akinside ; so, also, in his " Ode to the Earl 
 
 * Viro conjunctissimo 
 
 JEREMI^ DYSON, 
 
 Vitse, Morumqiie suorum Duci, 
 
 Rerum bonarum Socio, 
 
 Studiorum judici, 
 
 Cujus Amicitia 
 
 Neque sanctius habet quicquam, 
 
 Neque optat carius ; 
 
 Hocce Opusculum 
 
 (Vos, 6 Tyrannorum impura laudes 
 
 Et servilium blandimenta Poetarum, 
 
 Abeste procui) 
 
 Dat, Dicat, Consecratque 
 
 Marcus Akinside, 
 
 xvii Caleudas Jan. a. ^. c. mdccxliv. 
 
 I
 
 MARK AKENSIDE, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 of Huntingdon ;" in his Thesis, and in some of the earlier editions of his 
 works. After the sixth, pubUshed in 1763, by Dodsley, (who purchased 
 the MS. of the poem for the sum of £120, a very large price in those days, 
 and only given, on this occasion, upon the opinion and advice of Pope, who 
 told the bookseller that the author was "no every-day writer,") he is 
 printed Akenside. His genius for poetry manifested itself at an early age. 
 When only sixteen years old, he sent to the Editor of the Gentleman's 
 Magazine a poem, written after the manner of Spenser, entitled, " The 
 Virtuoso," in which there is exhibited much of the future talent and power 
 of the author. " A Rhapsody on the Miseries of a Poet born to a low 
 Estate," and a Fable illustrative of Content and Ambition, followed — and 
 preceded that which may, perhaps, be pronounced one of the finest didactic 
 poems in the English language, and upon which the poetical character of 
 the author may safely rest. 
 
 Akenside entered himself a pupil in medicine at Edinburgh, in his nine- 
 teenth year, and then most honourably returned a sum of money he had 
 received from the Dissenter's Society, which it was customary for them to 
 allow to young men destined for the ministry. He resided in Edinburgh for 
 two years, and was very zealous in the pursuit of medical knowledge. He 
 became a member of the Medical Society, and particularly distinguished 
 himself by his oratorical powers. Dr. Robertson told Dr. Stewart, the 
 author of the Elements of the Principles of the Human Mind,* that he 
 was frequently led to attend their meetings chiefly to hear the speeches of 
 Akenside. The " Hymn to Science," was written at Edinburgh ; also the 
 " Ode on the Winter Solstice." The former has passages of extraordinary 
 merit and beauty : — 
 
 " That last best effort of thy skill. 
 To form the life and rule the will, 
 
 Propitious Power ! impart. 
 Teach me to cool my passion's fires. 
 Make me the judge of my desires. 
 
 The master of my heart. 
 
 " Raise me above the vulgar's breath. 
 Pursuit of fortune, fear of death. 
 
 And all in life that's mean ; 
 Still true to reason, be my plan. 
 Still let my actions speak the man. 
 Through every various scene." 
 
 Stanzas 12 and 13. 
 * III. 501. 
 2
 
 MARK AKP:NSIDE, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 From Edinburgh he removed to Leyden, then the great seat of medical 
 science. Here, it is probable, he began to methodize his great poem. 
 Here, also, he wrote many minor pieces : " Hymn to Cheerfulness, &c. ; 
 and having studied for three years, he took his degree of Doctor of Physic, 
 May 16, 1744, and on this occasion w^rote a Thesis on the " Origin and 
 Growth of the Human Foetus" (De Ortu et Incremento Foetus Humani), 
 which was inscribed to Dr. Richard Mead.* 
 
 "The Pleasures of Imagination" was published in 1744, and imme- 
 diately procured for its author, who had not yet reached his twenty-third 
 year, a niche in the Temple of Fame. Akenside and Armstrong, both 
 " twofold disciples of Apollo," published their chief works in the same year; 
 and it has been well observed,! that, " they appealed to the consent of man- 
 kind in opposite directions ;" for, " The Pleasures of Imagination" is rich 
 in materials, and brilliant in imagery and versification ; whilst the " Art of 
 Preserving Health" is remarkable for its simplicity of style, and a total 
 rejection of ornament. As poets, they eminently excelled — as physicians, 
 they to no great extent succeeded ; not from lack of medical knowledge, or 
 zealous attention in its pursuit — but literary exertions have, most unac- 
 countably, always been looked upon as incompatible with the duties of an 
 arduous profession. 
 
 " The Pleasures of Imagination" has been translated into other languages : 
 
 into French, by the Baron d'Holbach ; and into Italian, by the Abbati 
 
 Angelo Mazza. Neither of these translations do justice to the original. 
 The extraordinary condensation of the subject matter of the poem, will 
 satisfactorily account for these failures. 
 
 Akenside started as a physician at Northampton, where he resided for 
 about a year and a half only, the chief practice being engrossed by 
 Dr. Stonehouse. During this time he probably composed many of his Odes. 
 He came to London under the protection of his generous friend, Mr. Dyson, 
 afterwards Clerk of the House of Commons ; resided at North End, Hamp- 
 stead ; and frequented the clubs and assemblies of the metropoHs. About 
 1747, he took up his abode in Bloomsbury Square, where he continued for 
 the remainder of his life. He was admitted, by mandamus, to a Doctor's 
 degree at Cambridge ; he was chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society ; and 
 ekcted a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Mr. Dyson assigned 
 to him an annual income of £300, to enable him to make his way as a phy- 
 
 * According to Chalmers, he also took a degree at Edinburgh; but I am disposed 
 to think this a mistake. 
 
 ,f Buckes Life of Akenside, p. 30.
 
 MARK AKENSIDE, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 sician. This liberal man and constant friend is alluded to by the poet in 
 the bea\itiful Invocation to his poem : — 
 
 " O, my faithful friend ! 
 
 O eaily chosen, ever found the same, 
 
 And trusted and beloved ! Once more, the verse 
 
 Long destined, always obvious to thine ear, 
 
 Attend indulgent : so in latest years. 
 
 When time thy head with honours shall have clothed. 
 
 Sacred to even virtue, may thy mind. 
 
 Amid the calm review of seasons past. 
 
 Fair offices of friendship, or kind peace. 
 
 Or public zeal : — may then thy mind, well pleased. 
 
 Recall those happy studies of our prime." 
 
 Akenside became a candidate for the situation of physician to the Charter 
 House, but was unsuccessful. In July, 1755, he was appointed to deliver 
 the Gulstonian Lectures before the Royal College of Physicians. These 
 have not been printed. The subject selected was the Function of the 
 Lymphatic or Absorbent System. The real constitution of this system was 
 unknown until a comparatively late period. Galen, and the ancients, looked 
 upon the lymphatics as forming a part of the sanguiferous, or rather venous, 
 system : hence the opinions relative to venous absorption ; in support of 
 which the illustrious names of Ruysch, Boerhaave, Meckel, Swammerdam, 
 and Haller, may be cited. Dr. William Hunter and Dr. Monro (secundus) 
 have denied, altogether, the doctrine of venous absorption, and contended 
 for the sole power of the lymphatics in the performance of that important 
 function. The controversy between Hunter and Monro, for the priority in 
 the promulgation of this opinion, is well known ; but it will appear that 
 Akenside is entitled to this distinction, since his opinions were delivered 
 before the Royal College of Physicians in 1755, whereas those of Hunter 
 and Monro did not appear until 1757. It is reasonable to presume that 
 Akenside had the Extracts from his Gulstonian Lectures read at the Royal 
 Society, and inserted in the Philosophical Transactions,* in consequence of 
 this dispute ; and adopted this method of laying his claim to the doctrine, 
 though he carefully abstained from any notice of the pretensions of others. 
 In these " Extracts" he states his objections to the doctrine of Boerhaave 
 and the mechanical philosophers, and advocates the independency of the 
 lymphatic system.f 
 
 * Vol. L. p. 3-22. Read Nov. 10, 1757. 
 
 f The insertion of these Extracts occasioned Dr. Monro to attach a postscript to 
 his " Observations, Anatomical and Physiological." Upon which Akenside, according
 
 MARK AKENSIDE, M.D. RR.S. 
 
 In January, 1759, Akenside was chosen Assistant Physician to 
 St. Thomas's Hospital ; and in two months afterwards one of the physicians. 
 He was also, in the same year, appointed Assistant Physician to Christ's 
 Hospital ; by which it would appear that his character as a physician, in 
 London, must have been by this time established. In 1761, through the 
 interest of Mr. Dyson, he was appointed one of the physicians to the 
 Queen. Akenside was associated with two most distinguished physicians at 
 St. Thomas's Hospital— Drs. Russell and Grieve. It is very much to be 
 lamented that we have so few personal accounts of Akenside. Mr. Dyson, 
 who could have said more upon the subject than any one else, is remarkably 
 silent on this head. He has not, indeed, " revealed a solitary feature in the 
 character of the poet." The late Dr. Lettsom was a pupil at St. Thomas's 
 Hospital in the year 1766; and, in a MS. in the possession of the writer 
 of this sketch, he has drawn the characters and depicted the conduct of his 
 teachers. The picture is unfavourable to Akenside, who is stated to have 
 been most supercilious and unfeeling. " If the poor affrighted patients did not 
 return a direct answer to his queries, he would often instantly discharge them 
 from the hospital. He evinced a particular disgust to females, and generally 
 treated them with harshness.* It was stated, that this moroseness was occa- 
 
 to Chalmers, printed some remarks in 1756. I have not been able to meet with 
 these in any library, public or private. At all events, they could not have been printed 
 before 1758. 
 
 * ISIany passages from the writings of Akenside might be quoted in contradiction 
 to this statement ; which, however, as far as regards the testunony of Lettsom, is 
 imquestionable. In the ode, " At Study," we read — 
 
 " Love is native to the heart. 
 Guide its wishes as you will. 
 Without love you'll find it still 
 Void in one essential part." 
 
 Again : 
 
 " Though the day have smoothly gone. 
 Or to letter'd leisure known, 
 Or in social duty spent. 
 Yet, at eve, my lonely breast, 
 Seeks in vain for perfect rest. 
 Languishes for true content." 
 
 In another place he depicts woman — 
 
 " powerful with beaming smiles, 
 
 Chief of terrestrial nature !" 
 5
 
 MARK AKENSIDE, M.D. F.R.S, 
 
 sioned by disappointment in love ; but hapless must have been that female 
 who should have been placed under his tyranny." Lettsom was inexpressibly 
 shocked at an instance of Dr. Akenside's inhumanity, exercised towards a 
 patient in Abraham's ward, who had been ordered bark in boluses ; who, in 
 consequence of not being able to swallow them, so irritated Akenside, as to 
 order the sister of the ward to discharge him from the hospital; adding, 
 " He shall not die under my care." As the sister was removing him, in 
 obedience to the Doctor, the patient expired. 
 
 " One leg of Akenside was considerably shorter than the other ; which 
 was in some measure remedied by the aid of a false heel. He had a pale, 
 strumous countenance, but was always very neat and elegant in his dress. 
 He wore a large white wig, and carried a long sword." Lettsom never 
 knew him to spit ; nor would he suffer any pupil to spit in his presence. 
 One of them once accidentally did so, yet standing at some distance behind 
 him ; the Doctor instantly spun round on his artificial heel, and hastily 
 demanded who was the person that spit in his face. Sometimes he would 
 order some of the patients, on his visiting days, to precede him with brooms, 
 to clear the way, and prevent the patients from too nearly approaching him. 
 On one of these occasions, Richard Chester, one of the Governors, up- 
 braided him for his cruel behaviour : " Know," said he, " thou art a servant 
 of this charity." On one occasion his anger was excited to a very high 
 pitch, by the answer which Mr. Baker, the surgeon, gave to a question the 
 Doctor put to him respecting one of his sons, who was subject to epilepsy, 
 which had somewhat impaired his understanding. ' To what study do you 
 propose to place him ?' said Akenside to Baker. ' I find,' replied Baker, 
 " he is not capable of making a surgeon, so I have sent him to Edinburgh 
 to make a physician of him.' Akenside turned round from Baker with 
 impetuosity, and would not speak to him for a considerable time after- 
 wards. 
 
 " Dr. Russell was as condescending as Akenside was petulant. Akenside, 
 however, would sometimes condescend to explain a case of disease to the 
 pupils, which always appeared sagacious ; and, notwithstanding his irri- 
 table temper, he was more followed than Russell by the pupils. 
 
 " Dr. Grieve lived in the Charter House, to which he was physician. 
 He was an amiable man, and an unassuming scholar. He was the translator 
 of Celsus." 
 
 Mr. Meyrick's testimony is much in accordance with that of Dr. Lettso*. 
 Mr. M. was a surgeon and apothecary; and frequently called in Akenside, 
 with whom he was in habits of intimacy. " We were not very much like, 
 either (says Mr. M.) ; for he was stiff and set; and I, all life and spirits. He 
 
 6
 
 MARK AKENSIDE, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 often frowned upon me in a sick-room. He could not bear to see any one 
 smile in the presence of an invalid ; and I think he lost a good deal of 
 business by the solemn sententiousness of his air and manner. I wanted to 
 cheer patients up !"* 
 
 One year after his appointment to St. Thomas's Hospital he was chosen 
 to deliver the Harvacian Oration at the Royal College of Physicians ; and it 
 was published, by Dodsley, in 1760, with a dedication to the President, 
 Dr. Reeve. From this time to the period of his death he published various 
 papers in the Philosophical Transactions, the Transactions of the Royal 
 College of Physicians, and separate tracts. He communicated, in 1 763, 
 to the Royal Society, the account of a very curious case of an " Affection 
 of the Heart," which appeared to be the result of a blow received six 
 months previous to death, and which drove the edge of a plate forcibly 
 between the ribs. The appearances, upon dissection, warranted the opinion 
 of Dr. A. as to the cause of death ; but there is mention made of the patient 
 having been crippled with rheumatism a year previously to the accident, 
 which the researches of modern practitioners would tend to shew had some 
 connexion with the case. He also printed " Observations on Cancers," and 
 " On the Use of Ipecacuanha in Asthmas ;" also, a " Method of treating 
 White Swellings of the Joints ;" all of which are among the papers con- 
 tained in the first volume of the Transactions of the Royal College of 
 Physicians.f The style of those papers is lucid, and entirely devoid of 
 affectation ; plain, concise, and unassuming. His doctrine, in the paper on 
 Cancers, will not be admitted in the present day ; and the remedy recom- 
 mended by him (the hemlock, as lauded by Dr. Storck of Vienna,) in this 
 disorder, has been too frequently employed without any beneficial effect 
 The value of Ipecacuanha, in some cases of asthma, is now generally 
 admitted. The remarks on the use of blisters in white swellings of the 
 joints, are judicious. His principal medical work is entitled, " De Dysenteria 
 Commentarius," and was published in 1764. It was well received; and 
 translated by Dr. Ryan in 1766, and by Mr. Motteux in 1768, though 
 neither of these versions do justice to the original. The Latinity of the 
 Harvseian Oration and the work on Dysenteiy is much esteemed for its 
 purity and elegance. The medical character of Akenside may be estimated by 
 
 * Bucke's Life of Akenside, p. 29. 
 
 f Akenside read some observations on the " Putrid Erysipelas" before the College, 
 which were intended to have been printed in the second vohime of the Transactions. 
 He had them home, for the purpose of correction, at the time of his decease, and 
 they were never returned to the College, 
 
 7
 
 MARK AKENSIDE, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 this latter publication. It is a clear and succinct account of the disease, much 
 more satisfactory than any that had preceded it ; and the mode of treatment, 
 by the exhibition of Ipecacuanha, has been adopted to the present time. 
 Few diseases have attracted more the attention of medical practitioners; 
 but it is only of late years that the necessary distinctions have been made 
 of its several types, and the varied measures necessary for their cure. The 
 opinion now entertained of the disease, is that of its being an inflammatory 
 action seated in the mucous membrane of the intestines, chiefly of the larger 
 ones, and producing more or less constitutional disturbance, according to 
 the extent of the disease. Akenside does not look upon dysentery as an 
 inflammatory disorder; and he assumes this point from the circumstance 
 that often there is very little fever attending the disease ; which, he observes, 
 is not the case in an inflammation of the bowels. No distinction, in his 
 time, was made between inflammation affecting the serous or the mucous 
 surfaces of the intestines ; nor were the symptoms indicative of either, then 
 discriminated. Modern practitioners have marked these, and the disease is 
 consequently much better understood than formerly. It is unnecessary to 
 dwell longer on this topic than to say, that the remedy most approved by 
 Akenside is that which, indeed, seems best calculated to afford relief to 
 most of its stages and conditions, and to be extensively used at the pre- 
 sent time. 
 
 Akenside was appointed to deliver the Croonian Lectures at the Royal 
 College of Physicians; and he singularly made choice of a subject, though 
 connected with medicine, yet in a very partial degree ; and, after having 
 deUvered three lectures on the " History of the Revival of Learnins-," he 
 discontinued the course; the subject being considered by the Fellows as 
 foreign to the intention of the founder of the lectures and the purposes 
 of the institution. These appear to have been his concluding medical 
 labours (if such they may be called) ; for shortly after, namely, on the 
 23d of June, 1770, his death took place, occasioned by a putrid sore 
 throat. He was buried in St. James's Church; and he left all his effects, 
 books, &c., to his constant friend Mr. Dyson. 
 
 Thus died Akenside, in the 49th year of his age — in the full possession 
 of his intellectual powers — surrounded by numerous friends, of great excel- 
 lence and high character — in the enjoyment of a select, not an exten- 
 sive, practice — and celebrated as a poet, a philosopher, attd an elegant 
 scholar. His critical powers were highly estimated by his contemporaries 
 and by the public ; yet he does not appear to have enjoyed any particular 
 intimacy with the poets of his day. among whom are to be found Armstrong, 
 Thomson, Young, Glover, Somerville, Collins, Lyttelton, Gray, Mason,
 
 MARK AKENSIDE, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 Butler, and others. His manners seem to have been solemn and reserved, 
 and his temper irritable ; but there is scarcely reason to question the bene- 
 volence of his heart. George Hardinge says, " He had, in general society, 
 a pomp and stiffness of manner^ not of expression — in \A\\ch last he was no 
 less chaste than flowing and correct. But the misfortune of this manner 
 was in some degree connected with his figure and appearance. He looked 
 as if he never could be undressed; and the hitch in his gait, compared witii 
 a solemn cast in his features, was, at the best, of a kind that was not com- 
 panionable, and rather kept strangers at a distance from him. Though his 
 features were good, manly, and expressive, a pale complexion of rather a 
 sickly hue, and the laboured primness of a powdered wig in stiff curl, made 
 his appearance altogether unpromising, if not grotesque. But, where he 
 was intimate, was admired, and was pleased with his party, he conversed 
 most eloquently and gracefully."* He was not a wit, and had no patience 
 for jests. He is said to have been of the absurd opinion of Lord Walde- 
 grave, that " a true gentleman never jests." He had great satirical powers, 
 as his Epistle to Curio manifests This is a severe invective on Mr. Pulteney, 
 afterwards Earl of Bath. In this Epistle, Akenside severely reproaches 
 him for his treachery ; and represents, in lively colours, the charms of freedom 
 and virtue, and the infamy attendant upon principles founded on despotism 
 and slavery. 
 
 In early life Akenside was distinguished by his oratorical powers, his 
 historical knowledge, and his philosophical taste. His memory was very 
 powerful. It is saidf that, in the society of those mild and gentle spirits 
 who admired his genius and respected his virtues, he was kindness itself. 
 His language flowed chastely, gracefully, and eloquently; and his varied 
 knowledge, argumentative reasonings, and nice distinctions, his fine appre- 
 ciation of philosophical allusions, and keen relish for the beauties of the 
 creation, would display themselves in pure and copious streams of eloquence, 
 never, perhaps, surpassed by the greatest masters of social Ufe the world 
 ever knew. His life is marked by a course of undeviating rectitude. His 
 love of liberty, his hatred of tyranny, bigotry, and hypocrisy, constant; 
 his admiration of virtue and integrity, exalted and uniform. His politics 
 may be gathered from his *' Ode to the Earl of Huntingdon," one of his 
 finest compositions. As an English lyric poem, it stands pre-eminently 
 great. Akenside must be regarded as a Whig. He espoused the principles 
 of the Revolution. He was not a republican. He equally detested tyranny 
 and bigotry. His great poem demonstrates this in every page. He was a 
 
 * Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. viii. f Biicke, p. 221. 
 
 9
 
 MARK AKENSIDE, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 great admirer of the writings of Plato, Cicero, and other ancient philosophers ; 
 and his religious opinions were probably influenced by the estimation in 
 which he held these great authors of antiquity. He is to be looked upon 
 as a Theist. Religion was a subject upon which he seldom conversed. P'rom 
 various passages in his writings, it is manifest he had great reverence for the 
 Christian doctrine. The wisdom and benevolence of the Deity are constant 
 themes for the veneration of the poet throughout the " Pleasures of Imagina- 
 tion." Mr. Bucke has given an extract* from a letter of Akenside's, supposed 
 to have been addressed to Dr. Grainger, so highly commended by Dr. Percy, 
 Bishop of Dromore, and which, after noticing the various opinions that have 
 been entertained by philosophers respecting the nature of the human soul, 
 concludes thus : — " It is a great satisfaction, however, that we live in a 
 world presenting, every moment, something to exercise our faculties; and 
 that the Grand Mover of the whole will, no doubt, make ample allowances 
 for human infirmity." The fame of Akenside, it must be obvious, rests 
 more upon his poetical than his medical character. The excellence of his 
 " Pleasures of Imagination" is universally admitted ; though differences of 
 opinion^ as to its particular merits, have been entertained. Cooper f 
 regards it as "the most beautiful didactic poem that ever adorned the 
 English language." The writers of the Biographia Britannica look upon 
 it as "a noble and beautiful poem; exhibiting many bright displays of 
 genius and fancy, and holding out subUme views of nature, providence, and 
 morality." Dr. Johnson says, " I could not read it through." His opinion 
 of the Odes was not more favourable: — "One bad ode maybe suffered; 
 but a number of them makes one sick." But Akenside, be it remembered, 
 was a Whig; and Johnson carried his strong prejudices, theological and 
 political, into nearly all his criticisms. 
 
 It was the intention of Akenside to correct, or rather re-write., his 
 " Pleasures of Imagination." He printed the first and second books, and 
 transcribed a portion of the third ; and he also wrote an introduction to an 
 intended fourth book. Those have been published by Mr. Dyson ; who 
 considered them too valuable, even in their imperfect state, to be withheld 
 from the public. Mr. Pinkerton became the possessor of Akenside's copy 
 of his original poem with his marginal alterations, many of which are great 
 improvements. Mr. P. put these in a collection of " Letters of Literature, 
 by Robert Heron, Esq." 8vo. Lond. 1785. 
 
 The Portrait accompanying this Memoir was painted by Pond when the 
 poet was in the thirty-fifth year of his age. The Autograph is from the 
 statute-hook of the Royal Society. 
 
 * Life, p. 18i. f Letters on Taste. 
 
 10
 
 ^ 
 
 '/u^Q^ c(L S Tc-LAi^lle-^ 
 
 Eisui-.R, SON i cs r>jxt>o:
 
 BERNARD SIEGFRIED ALBINUS, M.D. 
 
 " Omni miraculo quod sit par hominem majus miraculura est homo." 
 
 St. August, de Civit. 1. 10, c. 3. 
 
 Bernard Siegfried Albinus was the son of an eminent physician, Bernard 
 Albinus, and a professor at the university of Leyden. He was born at 
 Frankfort, Feb. 24, 1697 He was instructed in latin by Sommers and 
 NesterhofF; in philosophy, by Person and Gronovius; and professionally 
 educated by his father, by Rau, Bidloo, Decker, and Boerhaave. In 
 1718 he visited Paris, and made the acquaintance of Winslow and Senac. 
 At the expiration of six months he was recalled to Leyden, in consequence 
 of the death of Rau, and was appointed his successor as teacher in anatomy 
 and surgery ; and he received a degree of Doctor of Medicine without 
 examination. Upon the death of his father, in 1721, he was chosen to suc- 
 ceed him as professor of anatomy ; and upon his admission to the chair, he 
 read a paper, entitled, " De Vera Via ad Fabricas Humani Corporis Cog- 
 nitionem ducente," in which he forcibly demonstrated the importance of 
 Comparative Anatomy ; and by the excellence of this installation address, he 
 obtained much reputation. 
 
 His first publication, in which he pays a just and elegant tribute to the 
 memory of his teacher and predecessor, Rau, was made in 1725, under the 
 title of " Index Supellectilis Anatomias Ravianse." The following year he 
 put forth his well-known work on the Bones, which was reprinted in 1 762, 
 accompanied by plates of extraordinary fidelity and elegance. His " Historia 
 Musculorum Hominis" appeared in 1734. The descriptions are most faithful, 
 and the plates wonderfully accurate. Haller declared this work to be " the 
 best ever executed in anatomy." To these publications succeeded his " Dis- 
 sertatio de Arteriis et Venis Intestinorum Hominis," in 1736, accompanied 
 by a coloured plate, shewing the anastomosis of the arteries ; and his tract 
 " De Sede et Causa Colons ^thiopum," appeared in 1737. Also his 
 " Icones Ossium Foetus Humani" with a brief history of the growth of bone. 
 
 1
 
 BERNARD SIEGFRIED ALBINUS. 
 
 In 1741 he published " Explicatio Tabularum Anatomicarum," and in 1744 
 the plates of Bart. Eustaehius, with explanations. He published " Tabul* 
 Sceleti et Musculorum Corporis Humani," in 1749, in large folio, at London. 
 He published also " Annotationes Academicae" in 1760, in four vols. 4to. 
 which are illustrated by beautiful plates ; and he likewise edited the works of 
 Harvey, Vesalius, and Fabricius de Aquapendente. These various publica- 
 tions are held in high esteem to the present day, and the fidelity of the 
 delineations and descriptions is universally allowed. 
 
 Albinus is to be regarded as the first anatomist of his age, and he held 
 the chair of anatomy at the university of Leyden during nearly fifty years. 
 He died Sept 9, 1 770, at the age of 73 years. His zealous application to 
 anatomical researches is perhaps to be attributed to his being a strong 
 advocate of the mechanical theory of Boerhaave. In accordance with this 
 doctrine, he necessarily devoted himself to the study of minute anatomy. 
 He is one of the first to have followed up the views of his celebrated teacher, 
 and to have noted with great precision the intimate structure and disposi- 
 tion of the several parts of the human body. No other individual can be 
 said to have paid equal attention to the arts of design, to illustrate his 
 works. He took uncommon pains to ornament and render attractive his 
 various anatomical productions, but he is never found to have sacrificed 
 the truth of nature to the beauty of delineation. 
 
 The autograph of B. S. Albinus is of very great rarity. I am assured 
 by the director of the Anatomical Collection at Leyden, of which Albinus 
 was himself, for many years, the conservator, that among all the documents 
 belonging to that department, it is not to be found. I have, however, been 
 fortunate enough to meet with a Letter of this celebrated Anatomist, 
 addressed to Dr. Robert Nesbitt, the author of a well-known work on 
 Osteogeny. The letter announces the transmission of copies of the second 
 volume of Albinus's edition of the Works of Vesalius to Dr. Nesbitt, Mr. 
 (Dr.) Mead, Mr. Douglas, Mr. Cheselden, and Mr, Barrett. The signature 
 affixed to the portrait of Albinus is taken from this letter. The fac-simile 
 of his writing given beneath the autograph is taken from a MS. entitled 
 Prima Delineationes Tabularum Sceleti et Musculorum Corporis Humani., 
 in the library of the Leyden University, and may be depended upon as the 
 genuine handwriting of this celebrated professor. 
 
 2
 
 ^Vr^t/^ • Atc4^^-
 
 MARIE FRANCOIS XAVIER BICHAT, M.D. 
 
 Oh early ripe ! to thy abundant store. 
 
 What could advancing age have added more ?" 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 Xavier Bichat was born on the 11th of November, 1771, at Thoirette, in the 
 department of the Ain. His father, Jean Baptiste, was a Doctor of Medicine 
 of the University of Montpellier; and to his instruction, Xavier Bichat's 
 early knowledge of medicine is to be attributed. He is said to have distin- 
 guished himself among his fellow-collegians, in the common course of study; 
 and he is noticed as having been especially versed in the Latin language, 
 and to have excelled in the mathematics. Natural history was also with him 
 a favourite pursuit He received his anatomical instruction at Lyons, and 
 was remarkable for his general views of the science, for new methods of 
 treating which, he was afterwards so peculiarly characterised. At this 
 time the study of surgery had acquired a preponderating influence, owing 
 to the deserved celebrity of Desault. To this science, Bichat first applied 
 himself, and studied under the chief surgeon of the Hotel Dieu of Lyons, 
 Marc Antoine Petit. The revolution obliged Bichat to quit Lyons for 
 Paris, where a larger field, and one more adapted to his powers, was 
 presented. At this time his views were directed to military surgery. 
 He accordingly attended the Hotel Dieu of Paris, and heard the lectures 
 of Desault. An exceedingly instructive practice was estabUshed among 
 the attendants of this surgical course : pupils were selected to make an 
 abstract of the lecture of the day, and this was delivered in the presence of 
 the second surgeon. An accident in a great measure determined the future 
 fortunes of Bichat, for the pupil whose turn it was to have delivered the 
 abstract of a long and important lecture on the fractures of the clavicle, 
 being absent, Bichat offered to supply his place. He was blessed with a 
 powerful memory, and Buisson tells us, that his abstract created the most 
 lively sensation ; the purity of his style, the precision, the clearness of his 
 ideas, the scrupulous exactness of his conclusions, announced the pro- 
 
 1
 
 M. F. XAVIER BICHAT, M.D. 
 
 fessor, rather than the scholar. He was heard with much attention, and 
 retired from the theatre applauded and admired. Intelligence of this 
 talented display reached the ears of Desault, through his colleague 
 Manoury; upon which he desired to be made acquainted with Bichat, and 
 was delighted with his sagacity. It is highly creditable to the character 
 and to the judgment of Desault, that he immediately offered to direct his 
 studies, to receive him into his house, and to treat him as a son. The 
 foundation for his future reputation was laid. Desault took him every 
 where, to his public and his private patients, Bichat became his assistant 
 at his operations, and was also engaged in the prosecution of his patron's 
 literary labours. No individual could possibly devote himself with greater 
 ardour to acquire information, than Bichat; it knew no bounds, he acknow- 
 ledged no obstacle ; by incessant application he accumulated an extra- 
 ordinary fund of information, which was highly important, as it enabled 
 him to hold up against the almost sudden death with which Desault was 
 attacked in 1795.* 
 
 Bichat was now left to depend upon his own resources, and his views 
 began to be developed. In the winter of 1797, he commenced his career 
 as a lecturer, and, not calculating upon a large class, he restricted himself 
 to a small suite of chambers. He had not even a dissecting-room; he 
 confined himself to simple demonstrations ; but in these his physiological 
 views extended so naturally from the great discoveries he had made, the 
 result of his genius and observation, and the experiments he performed 
 upon living animals, to demonstrate their truth, excited attention, though 
 not in a degree sufficient to suppress a charge of rashness, when he 
 announced a course of operations at the end of his anatomy ; a proceeding 
 at that time very unusual, and only undertaken by the most practised 
 surgeons. His success, however, was complete; but the labour attending 
 such exertions undermined his health, and the necessity of frequent speak- 
 ing produced a dangerous attack of haemoptysis. Having somewhat 
 recovered from this, he established a theatre for dissections, which was 
 attended by upwards of eighty pupils. He dissected for the lectures him- 
 self, performed his experiments on living animals, and retired in the evening 
 fatigued by the exertions of the day, almost overcome with lassitude and 
 languor — but not to rest ; he was engaged, during a great part of the night, 
 in putting Desault's surgical works into proper order, and thus manifested 
 his gratitude to his friend and patron. 
 
 * In the fourth volume of the Journal de Chirurgie, Bichat paid a deserved 
 tribute of gratitude to his master and friend. 
 
 2
 
 M. F. XAVIER mCHAT, M.D. 
 
 When we consider that every part of the human body has been most 
 minutely examined, and as minutely described, we may reasonably despair 
 of arriving at any further knowledge on the subject Any new view, there- 
 fore, of the structure of the frame, founded on just observations, entitles its 
 author to the gratitude of posterity. Bichat's system of anatomy, and his 
 mode of considering the subject, originated in his views directed to the 
 membranous system. The observation of M. Pinel, that disease consisted 
 of an alteration in the tissue of an organ, seems to have given to Bichat the 
 idea of studying anatomy by a separate consideration of those structures 
 which enter into the formation of the different parts. Pinel profited much 
 by these anatomical researches, as, in a subsequent edition of his Noso- 
 graphie Philosophique, whence the observation referred to was made, he 
 has corrected his classification of the diseases of the fibrous, sjnovial, and 
 cellular systems. 
 
 Bichat's examination of the synovial membranes led him to inquire with 
 the same spirit into all other parts of a similar tissue, and ultimately pro- 
 duced his arrangement of the membranes according to their intimate organi- 
 zation, which must be regarded as one of the most complete systems of 
 classification of the kind that has ever been made. Prior to the time 
 of Bichat, the membranes had not formed any special subject of investiga- 
 tion ; they had been examined and described in connexion with the different 
 organs, but never independently of their association with other parts. From 
 the days of Haller to this time, the whole of the membranes were referred 
 to a common origin, and this was traced to the cellular membrane. Bichat 
 saw that, however true in a general relation this arrangement might be, yet 
 that, upon examination, it was found to be under various circumstances 
 very erroneous. He is the first author who has ventured to treat of the 
 subject under different points of view, and he has considered them in rela- 
 tion to their form, organization, vital properties, functions, and sympathies, 
 and classed them in the following manner: — 1. Mucous memhra7ies. 
 2. Serous membranes. 3. Fibrous membranes. These are the simple 
 membranes. Then come the compound, being either — 1. Sero-fibroiis ; 
 2. Sero-mucous ; or, 3. Fibro-mucous. There are also membranes, cojitre 
 nature, or accidental membranes. The Arachnoid and the Synovial form 
 also separate divisions from the little knowledge at present possessed of 
 their organization. Abandoning artificial methods, Bichat had recourse to 
 nature for the establishment of his classification, and has seen grounds for 
 the arrangement in a conformity of structure, and a similarity in the func- 
 tions of the parts embraced in these divisions. He thus divided them 
 according to the nature of their tissues, their extent, and their uses, and
 
 M. F. XAVIER BICHAT, M.D. 
 
 shewed their mode of distribution, and classed them in the most ingenious 
 manner. Their intimate structure he fully developed — he sought into their 
 nature, the degrees of vital force possessed by them ; this he demonstrated 
 by experiments on living animals, and in this way he elucidated the diseases 
 with which they severally may be aflfected. Anatomy, physiology, and 
 pathology have been all equally advanced by the labours of Bichat, and the 
 improvements in these departments of science during the last half century 
 are in no little degree attributable to the researches and classifications of 
 this able philosopher. The whole of his views on this subject have been 
 published in a distinct treatise, entitled, Traite des Membranes. The 
 first edition was published in 1800. The 2d volume of the Memoires de la 
 Societe Medicale d" Emulation, of which Society he was an active and zealous 
 member, and one of the founders, contains his early papers upon this im- 
 portant subject. Three other memoirs by Bichat are inserted in this work; 
 the first on a new trepan, so arranged as to elevate or depress the crown at 
 pleasure by means of a screw ; the second, on the impossibility of any dis- 
 placement occurring when the humeral extremity of the clavicle is fractured ; 
 hence the inutility of Desault's bandage : and the third, on a new manner of 
 removing polypi by the ligature. 
 
 We must now look at Bichat as a physiologist. His proposed distribu- 
 tion of the two lives of an animal must be looked upon as the foundation of 
 his labours in this department. He says, there is an organic life, and an 
 animal life. These have their seats in the ganglions, and in the brain. 
 The statement upon this subject will be found in his Recherches sur la Vie 
 et la Mort, published in 1799. This work is divided into two parts, one 
 containing the general exposition of his physiological views, the other 
 demonstrating the connexion which exists between the three principal 
 organs of life, the brain, heart, and lungs. The whole work cannot fail 
 to excite the admiration of the reader, although he may not be prepared to 
 admit, to the full extent, all the opinions advanced by the author on the 
 subject of life. Bichat indeed proposed, in a second edition, making 
 several alterations, and giving to the whole a greater degree of precision. 
 He demonstrated the connexion of life with respiration, and showed that 
 black as well as red blood was capable of exciting the contractions of the 
 left cavities of the heart, and he showed that the red blood only was calcu- 
 lated to produce the necessary changes in the tissue of organs for the 
 maintenance of life. 
 
 The Tiaite des Membranes, and the liecherches Physiologiqiies sur la 
 Tie et la Mort, rendered an entirely new system of anatomy necessary, and 
 this extraordinary work was effected in the Anatomie Generate. Bichat 
 
 4
 
 M. F. XAVIER BICHAT, M.D. 
 
 arranged the various organs of the body as comprised in twenty-one different 
 tissues: — 1. the cellular system; 2. the nervous system of the animal 
 functions ; 3. the nervous system of the organic functions ; 4. the arte- 
 rial ; 5. the venous; 6. the exhalent ; 7« l^^ absorbent; 8. the osseous; 
 9. the medullary; 10. the cartilaginous; 11. the Jihrous', 12. the fibro- 
 cartilaginous ; 13, 14. the muscular of the animal ayid the organic func- 
 tions ; 15. the mucous; 16. the serous ; \'J. the synovial; 18. the system 
 of the secreting glands ; 19. the dermoid; 20. the epidermoid; 21. the 
 pilous system. ■ Of these he made two classes: 1. the common or gene- 
 rating systems distributed throughout the body, and entering into the 
 composition of the other tissues; and, 2. the organic tissues found only in 
 certain and determinate situatiqns, and never contributing to the organiza- 
 tion of each other, or of the general tissues. Of the former are, the cellular, 
 arterial, venous, exhalent, absorbent, and nervous; and of the latter, the 
 osseous, cartilaginous, fibrous, and muscular systems. Although this 
 arrangement cannot be looked upon as perfect, or free from objection, it is 
 not a little remarkable, that no system since offered, although formed prin- 
 cipally on the basis of that of Bichat, has been well received by anatomists 
 and physiologists. 
 
 This great undertaking is said to have been composed in the course of 
 one year, (printed chapter by chapter as it was written,) a circumstance 
 almost incredible, when the other labours of Bichat in teaching, dissecting, 
 &c- are considered. A system of descriptive anatomy {Trait e d^ Anatomic 
 Descriptive) followed. The first two volumes were pubUshed by Bichat; 
 the remaining three volumes were left imperfect, but have been completed 
 and published by Buisson and Roux. Then an edition of the works of 
 Desault, with many additions by the editor. He was also engaged in pre- 
 paring a system of pathological anatomy, founded upon his experiments on 
 living animals, containing researches of the deepest interest and the greatest 
 ingenuity. 
 
 Bichat was appointed physician to the Hotel Dieu in 1800, the duties 
 of which were considerable. He did not, however, allow them to interfere 
 with his other engagements, nor did he show any neglect in the performance 
 of what was required of him at the hospital. In giving clinical instruction, 
 he is described as pre-eminent — the pupils regarded his opinions as oracles, 
 and treasured them up accordingly. He was indefatigable in the examina- 
 tion of the bodies of those who died under his care, and also of that of his 
 colleagues. He is said to have examined upwards of six hundred bodies 
 during one winter; and by this, his store of pathological information was 
 greatly increased. He was able to show the correctness of his views
 
 M. F. XAVIER BICHAT, M.D. 
 
 relative to the independence of the tissues by investigating the diseases with 
 which they were separately affected, and to this method much of the pre- 
 cision of modern pathology must unquestionably be attributed. He even 
 contemplated a new classification of diseases. The Materia Medica formed 
 also a subject of Bichat's attention. His appointment to the Hotel Dieu 
 enabled him to prosecute this branch of science. He felt the necessity of 
 classing medicines, from the influence which they exercise over the vital 
 properties; and he was desirous of demonstrating their sympathetic and 
 direct actions upon the diflferent organic systems. He was assisted in 
 this important and diflficult inquiry by no less than forty pupils, who, under 
 his directions, gave daily reports upon the same, the progress of which was 
 announced in a regular public lecture delivered daily by Bichat. Pairier, 
 in his " Dissertation sur les Emetiques, precedee de considerations generales 
 sur la matiere medicale," Paris, 1805, 8vo., and Gondret, in his " Disserta- 
 tion sur Taction des Purgatifs," Paris, 1803, 8vo., have given some of Bichat's 
 views on the subject of the materia medica generally. 
 
 But the labours of Bichat were to be brought to a close. Death, whose 
 nature, physically speaking, he had so well described, was now to visit him. 
 He sustained a fall in descending a staircase at the Hotel Dieu, from a 
 room in which he had been for a considerable time examining preparations 
 in maceration, and from which, of course, putrid emanations were being 
 sent forth. He was taken up suffering under a shght concussion of the 
 lirain, and he was much bruised. He was subject to a disordered condition 
 of the stomach and bowels ; fever succeeded ; his usual gastric derangement 
 ensued ; he became comatose, and died on the fourteenth day of the disease, 
 on the 22nd of July, 1802, in the 31st year of his age. That any one 
 should have accomplished so much, and of such a nature, so original, so 
 vast, so practical, and, it may be added, so perfect, in such a short period 
 of existence, is only to be attributed to the possession of genius, accom- 
 panied by the most patient and indefatigable industry. He may be said 
 to have purchased learning at the expense of the richest soil of human 
 happiness, and, having impaired his health, prematurely deprived society of 
 a man whose greatest fault was, an activity of mind disproportionate to 
 
 his strength, 
 
 " Upon such sacrifices 
 The gods themselves throw incense." 
 
 Lear, Act v. scene 3. 
 
 The period of his life was no doubt curtailed by his great exertions ; 
 but if the age of a man is to be estimated by what he has done, rather than 
 the number of years that have passed over his head — and Lord Bacon tells 
 
 6
 
 M. F. XAVIER BICHAT, M.D. 
 
 us, *< a man that is young in years, may be old in hours, if he have lost no 
 time"— then Xavier Bichat had attained an extreme longevity. 
 
 " That life is long, which answers life's great end, 
 Tlie time that bears no fruit, deserves no name ; 
 The man of wisdom is the man of years." 
 
 Young. 
 
 His works will live, though their author be no more ; but his memory will 
 ever be cherished as one of the benefactors of the human race. Deeply to 
 deplore the death of any individual occurring in the meridian of life, and in 
 the midst of his sphere of usefulness, is, perhaps, a just as it is a natural 
 consequence of such an event ; but how much is the intensity of this feeUng 
 increased, when the subject of it is one by whose exertions mankind have 
 been so greatly benefited. Bichat fell a victim to his zeal for science and 
 his profession, and died in the height of his prosperity and reputation. 
 No one was ever more sincerely mourned ; his loss was a national one, and 
 such it was felt to be. Corvisart communicated the intelligence of the 
 death of Bichat to the first consul. Napoleon Buonaparte, in the following 
 words : " Bichat vient de mourir sur un champ de bataille qui compte 
 aussi plus d'une victime : personne en si peu de temps n'a fait tant de 
 choses et aussi bien." Ten days after this, the government caused his 
 name to be inscribed, together with that of Desault, on a memorial erected 
 at the Hotel Dieu in honour of these most distinguished men. The fol- 
 lowing is the inscription : 
 
 " Ce Marbre dedie a la Memoirs des Citoyens Desault et 
 Bichat a ete pose pour attester la reconnoissance de leur con- 
 temporains, pour les services qu'ils ont rendus, le premier a la 
 Chirurgie Franfoise dont il est le restaurateur, le second h. la 
 Medecine qu'il a enrichee de plusieurs ouvrages utiles, et dont il 
 eut aggrandi le domains si I'impitoyable mort ne I'eut frappe dans 
 sa 31 annee." 
 
 More than five hundred students followed Bichat's remains to the tomb, 
 and M. Le Preux pronounced a discourse at his interment. 
 
 The life of Bichat has been written by Buisson and by Husson. An 
 historical notice has also been published by Sc. Pinel. Halle delivered an 
 Eloge before the Faculty of Medicine of Paris ; and Sue, at the commence- 
 ment of his course of Medical Bibliography. 
 
 In all the relations of life, Bichat was most amiable. He was a stranger 
 to envy, or any other hateful passion. Modest in his demeanour, but lively 
 in his manners, which were open and free. He was much beloved. To his 
 
 7
 
 M. F. XAVIER BICHAT, M.D. 
 
 father he was most devotedly attached, and to him his work is dedicated in 
 the following simple but expressive manner: '•^A mon Pere et man meilleur 
 Ami." He was of middling stature, and his countenance was agreeable ; 
 his eyes were piercing and expressive. The portraits of him generally 
 fail of giving a precise resemblance ; that which accompanies this memoir 
 is admitted, by all who knew him, to be the best likeness, and in every point 
 satisfactory. 
 
 His head was very remarkable, and Cloquet (Traite d'Anatomie, tom. i. 
 p. 82, planche xxix.) has given a representation of his skull, as a specimen 
 of the Caucasian variety of the human race. It is singularly irregular as 
 to its formation, the left side projecting much beyond that of the opposite. 
 The sutures are also irregular, and the defect of symmetry is as evident in 
 the interior as it is on the exterior of the skull. The forehead is particu- 
 larly large and capacious. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the works of Bichat have been 
 translated into various languages, and have gone through many editions. 
 They may be arranged in the following order : 
 
 1. Notice Historique sur Desaiilt, Paris, 1795, 8vo, 
 
 2. Description d'un nouveau Trepan, Paris, 1799, 8vo., in the Mem. de la Soc. 
 Med. d'Einulation, tom. ii. p. 277. 
 
 3. Memoire sur la Fracture de I'extremite scapulaire de la Clavicule. Ibid. p. 309. 
 
 4. Description d'un precede nouveau pour la ligature des polypes. Ibid. p. 339. 
 
 5. Memoire siu" la membrane synoviale des articulations. Ibid. p. 3.50. 
 
 6. Dissertation sur les Membranes, et sur leurs rapports generaux d'organisation. 
 Ibid. p. 371. 
 
 7. Memoire sur les rapports qui existent entre les organes a forme symetrique et 
 sur ceux a forme irreguliere. Ibid. p. 477. 
 
 8. Traite des Membranes en general, et de diverses membranes en paniculier, 
 Paris, 1800, 8vo. 
 
 9. Recherches Physiologiques sur la Vie et la Mort, Paris, 1800, 8vo. 
 
 10. Anatomie Generale, appliquee a la Physiologic et a la Medicine, Paris, 1801, 
 2 tom. 8vo. — 1812, 4 tom. 8vo. Beclard published additions to this work in 1821. 
 
 11. Traite d'Anatomie Desciiptive, Paris, 1801, 2 tom. 8vo. Completed by 
 Buisson and Roux, in 6 vols 8vo. 
 
 12. Pathological Anatomy: the last course, from an autogi'aph MS. of P. A. 
 Beclard, 8vo. 
 
 13. (Euvres Chirurgicales de P. J. Desault, Paris, 1812, 3 tom. 8vo.
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 " Animo vidit ; ingenio complexus est; eloquentia illiiminavit," 
 
 Paterculus. 
 
 Lv the preceding Memoirs, it hath been the writer's aim to dwell upon the 
 quahfications essential to a practitioner of the medical art, and to illustrate 
 the several points by reference to particular individuals. To accomplish 
 this object, a Biographical History of Medicine, embracing a notice of all 
 those who have contributed to the advancement of Medical Science, seems 
 peculiarly fitted. A late venerable prelate,* no less characterized by his 
 great piety and erudition than by the sweetness of his disposition and the 
 entire harmony of his nature, whom to have known is esteemed by the 
 writer of this article a high honour and great gratification, has given it as 
 his opinion, that " Biography is certainly one of the most amusing, and may 
 be made one of the most useful, species of literary composition, when the 
 subject of it is a person very eminent, either in point of talents or of situ- 
 ation, because the sentiments and conduct of such a person cannot but 
 have considerable weight with others." These observations apply with 
 especial force to the physician whose name is affixed to this memoir, for in 
 him are to be found all that is requisite to form the physician, the physi- 
 ologist, and the man of science. His classical attainments are of a high 
 order, and his professional not less distinguished. The proper education 
 of a physician leads not only to a full acquaintance with the knowledge of 
 his particular science, but to the cultivation and improvement of the highest 
 faculties of his mind, the formation of a perfect taste and a sound judgment. 
 In no science is metaphysics of greater aid than in that of physiology; but 
 few physiologists are metaphysicians, or even logicians. Yet how is it 
 possible, without this knowledge, to distinguish between true and erroneous 
 reasonings, to mark probabilities from facts, or hypothesis from theory ? 
 
 • Bishop of Norwich. 
 1
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 Dr. Blundell has directed his researches chiefly to physiological science, 
 and applied them to the practice of medicine and surgery in general. 
 He has been no less distinguished by his cultivation of obstetric science, 
 and for many years enjoyed the highest reputation as a lecturer on this 
 branch of medical knowledge. A certain knowledge of the leading prin- 
 ciples of midwifery is necessary to the physician in general practice, as he 
 is frequently called upon to treat many disorders incidental to the partu- 
 rient state, or that are subjected to such a condition of the system. It is 
 no less necessary, indeed it is more essential, to the physician accoucheur, 
 to be intimately acquainted with all the branches of study which ought to 
 be familiar to the general physician. The treatment of diseases must be 
 regulated by a knowledge of the structure of the human frame, and an 
 acquaintance with the laws of the animal economy, and these are of equal 
 importance to both classes of practitioners. Formerly the obstetric prac- 
 titioner possessed but little knowledge beyond that which he derived from 
 manual practice, or an ordinary routine of similar cases, needing, in tlie 
 majority of instances, but little erudition, and the exercise of little judg- 
 ment. The case is now different, and happily so, for the care of the par- 
 turient female, and the diseases connected with the gravid state, are placed 
 under the most competent and judicious hands, and receive all the assist- 
 ance which humanity and science can afford, in the most trying, and often 
 the most perilous, of situations. The importance of this is most strikingly 
 shown in the influence of the moral on the physical faculties of the human 
 species, and the reaction of the physical on the moral in many of the 
 changes and diseases incidental to the female sex, and these are points 
 which have been carefully observed and conspicuously illustrated by the 
 subject of this memoir. 
 
 Dr. James Blundell was born in London, on the 27th of December, 
 1790. He received an excellent classical education, principally under the 
 tuition of the Rev. Thomas Thomason, A.M. Cantab., a man eminent for 
 his benignity, piety, and erudition, and of whose care and attention Dr. B. 
 always speaks with the most grateful remembrance. His professional 
 education was chiefly obtained at the United Southwark Hospitals, where 
 he studied anatomy under Mr. Chne, Sir A. Cooper, and Mr. H. Cline, and 
 attended the demonstrations by Mr. Saunders. He attended the lectures 
 of Dr. Cholmeley on Therapeutics ; Dr. Curry and Dr. Babington, on the 
 Practice of Medicine ; Dr. Marcet, Dr. Babington, and Mr. Allen, on 
 Chemistry and Experimental Philosophy ; Sir A. Cooper, on Surgery ; and 
 Di*. Haighton, on Midwifery and on Physiology. To the latter, (his 
 maternal uncle,) Dr. Blundell is anxious to seize every opportunity of
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 expressing his obligations. In a letter addressed to the writer of this, he 
 most feelingly says, " To Dr. Haighton I owe all a man can owe, both in 
 the way of precept and example. I had the inestimable advantage of 
 residing with him for years. He was a man of the kindest heart, and of a 
 very generous disposition ; of moral character unspotted ; of first-rate 
 physiological attainments in his day ; an excellent anatomist ; a cautious, 
 safe, and able physician ; a man who had that remarkable regard for the 
 sanctity of truth, which made him exact in all his observations ; most vera- 
 cious in his statements, and a guide that may confidently be relied upon 
 wherever he speaks to facts. He was a little irritable, but it was only 
 a * hasty spark;' and how could a man up at nights, worried with cough, 
 &c., be otherwise ? There was this very remarkable in his character, that, 
 of all things, folly used to vex him ; he could not laugh at her cap and 
 bells." This is a just and an estimable testimony to the merits and cha- 
 racter of a distinguished physiologist and physician, one who was 
 
 " For deep discernment praised, 
 And sound integiity, not more than famed 
 For sanctity of manners undefiled." 
 
 COWPEK. 
 
 Having received the course of education thus stated, Dr. Blundell went 
 to Edinburgh, and there had the advantage of attending the lectures given 
 by Dr. Monro, Drs. Duncan, sen. and jun., Dr. Home, Dr. Rutherford, 
 Dr. Hamilton, Dr. Hope, Dr. Gregory, and Mr. Fyfe. He acquired infor- 
 mation also on botany and medical jurisprudence, subjects of which little 
 notice was taken in London thirty years ago. Thus prepared. Dr. Blundell 
 took his degree. He graduated at Edinburgh in June, 1813, and the 
 subject of his inaugural thesis was " De sensu quo melos sentitur,^' in which 
 he endeavoured to prove that the senses for music and of hearing were 
 distinct, though dependent. He returned to London, and in August, 1814, 
 then only twenty-four years of age, began to lecture, in conjunction with 
 Dr. Haighton, on midwifery, and two or three years afterwards commenced 
 a course on physiology. He was admitted a licentiate of the Royal College 
 of Physicians in 1818. He succeeded Dr. Haighton as Lecturer upon 
 Physiology and Midwifery in the united schools of St. Thomas and Guy's 
 Hospitals. He has regarded the term physiology in its most extensive 
 acceptation, as signifying the science which has for its object natural sub- 
 stances generally ; the powers with which these substances are invested ; 
 the laws which regulate these powers; and, where they are cognizable by«the 
 human intellect, the causes upon which these laws and powers depend.
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 As applying, however, to living substances, (the ordinary signification 
 of the term,) it naturally falls under the division of human and compa- 
 rative ; the former appertaining to man alone, the latter to the inferior or 
 brute animals and to plants. Dr. Blundell has arranged the animal powers 
 luider the heads of assimilation, organization, ventilation, motion, generation, 
 the powers of the mind, and those powers which are operative in the two 
 states of vitality, passive as well as active. He considers all that has 
 hitherto been written on the subject of organization, to be merely super- 
 ficial and ill-ascertained, and that the knowledge we possess of the sensorial 
 powers, or the powers of the mind, is in a very confused state. He has 
 powerfully delineated the two distinct classes of men, as it relates to their 
 intellectual powers ; those who rather receive knowledge and communicate 
 it, and those of more vigorous powers, capable of thinking for themselves, 
 fond of thinking for themselves, men who take more pleasure in the opera- 
 tions of the intellect, than in the Circean styes of sensuality. This class 
 of men are not satisfied with merely acquiring those parts of science 
 which are already known, but they make incursions into \niknown region^, 
 and subjugate, as it were, fresh territories of the intellectual world. To the 
 former he recommends assiduity ; to the latter, whom he styles the " demi- 
 gods of the human species, the cementing link between man and superior 
 intelligences," he holds a different language. And, he adds, " 1 love 
 physiology for the good it has done for the human race, but I am ashamed 
 to confess how full the system is of errors, how full of false opinions, how 
 fettered with prejudices, by which, like Enceladus under ^ILtna, even the 
 most vigorous minds are oppressed. Think for yourselves, is the first 
 lesson which I would inculcate : do not let my opinions, or the opinions of 
 any of my distinguished colleagues, have more weight with you than truth 
 and nature entitle them to. In religion, faith is essential ; in physiology, 
 a philosophical scepticism." 
 
 In a preceding Memoir, (Baron Haller.) the subject of inflicting pain 
 upon, and occasioning the death of animals for scientific purposes, has 
 been considered. Dr. Blundell has argued this matter in a most able 
 manner, and it cannot be better stated than in his own words : — " They 
 who object to the putting of animals to death for a scientific purpose, do 
 not reflect that the death of an animal is a very different thing from that 
 of man. To an animal, death is an eternal sleep ; to man, it is the com- 
 mencement of a new and untried state of existence. Can no object what- 
 ever justify U3 in putting animals to pain ? Are not the very persons who 
 raise these objections, in the habit of torturing animals in hunting? Do 
 they not murder pheasants and massacre partridges? Is not pain daily 
 
 4
 
 JAMES I3LUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 and hourly inflicted on the inferior animals, to contribute to the support or 
 pleasure of man ; and shall it be fastidiously objected to, when inflicted for 
 the purpose of advancing physiological and medical knowledge? Shall it 
 be said that the objects of physiological science are not worth the sacrifice 
 of a few animals ? Men are constantly forming the most erroneous 
 estimates of the comparative importance of objects in this world. What 
 influence, I ask, has the battle of Actium now on the destinies of mankind? 
 what will the battle of Trafalgar have a thousand years hence ? Of what 
 importance is it now to mankind, whether Antony or Augustus filled the 
 imperial chair? and what will it matter, a few centuries hence, whether 
 England or France swept the ocean with her fleets ? But mankind will 
 always be equally interested in the great truths deducible from science, 
 and in the inferences derived from physiological expei'imeuts. The fact 
 that life may be saved by the transfusion of blood into the veins, will be 
 as beneficial a thousand years hence as it is at this day. I will ask, then, 
 whether the infliction of pain on the lower animals, in experiments, is not 
 justified by the object for which those experiments are instituted, namely, 
 the advancement of physiological knowledge? Is not the infliction of 
 pain, or even of death, on man, often justified by the end for which it is 
 inflicted? does not the judge sacrifice the criminal for the good of society? 
 and the general lead his troops to slaughter, to preserve the liberties of his 
 country? It is not the infliction of pain or death for justifiable objects, 
 but it is the taking a savage pleasure in the infliction of pain or death, 
 which is reprehensible. The lagos and Zelucos of the human race, the 
 man-tigers, who delight in cruelty, are just objects of abhorrence; but 
 when animals are sacrificed on the altar of science, that nature may reveal 
 her secrets, the means are consecrated by the end for which alone experi- 
 ments are instituted by the votaries of knowledge, and the friends of the 
 human race. Here, then, we take our stand ; and we defy the puny 
 <h-ivellers of the press, the declamatory and spurious orators of the day, 
 to drive us from it. We defend the sacrifice of animals, in so far as it is 
 calculated to contribute to the improvement of science ; and, in those 
 parts of physiological science immediately applicable to medical practice, 
 we maintain that such a sacrifice is not only justifiable, but a sacred 
 duty." 
 
 The argument contained in the foregoing passage is pursued by refer- 
 ence to the importance of transfusion, and other experiments by which 
 human life has been saved, and most completely repels the abuse, and 
 exposes the weakness, of that reasoning by which it has been attempted 
 to ciieck the progress of physiological knowledge, by raising an idle cry
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D 
 
 Rfainst those who, by experiments upon animals, have contributed so much 
 to the advancement of our knowledge of the manner in which the functions 
 of the animal economy are performed. 
 
 In 1825 Dr. Blundell published a volume of " Researches, Physio- 
 logical and Pathological ; instituted principally with a view to the Improve- 
 ment of Medical and Surgical Practice." These bear reference chiefly to 
 abdominal surgery, to the physiology of generation, and the transfusion 
 of blood. On the former head, the experiments and facts were read 
 before the Medico - Chirurgical Society in 1823, and they were made 
 principally on rabbits, selected because the tenderness of the abdomen in 
 these animals appears to be equally great with that of the human species. 
 Dr. Blundell shews that the great dread of committing injury to the 
 peritoneum, is not well founded, and he infers that a bolder abdominal 
 surgery may fairly be practised, and has submitted a list of various 
 abdominal operations to the consideration of future surgeons. These 
 experiments, and other circumstances connected with various operations that 
 have been since performed, have contributed very much to remove the fears 
 formerly entertained ; and it is the opinion of most of our best qualified 
 surgeons, that the injuries anticipated from wounds of the peritoneum, are 
 not of a nature so formidable as generally estimated. In the operations 
 for paracentesis, (tapping,) hernial operations, &c., it is seldom that inflam- 
 mation of any extent ensues, and more serious lesions of the membrane 
 have in many cases been known to occur, without symptoms of important 
 injury having succeeded them. It is sufficient to state, that the Caesarean 
 section has been frequently performed with success. 
 
 Dr. Blundell has carried the opinions expressed by him, in relation to a 
 bolder system of abdominal surgery, into practice. The extirpation of the 
 uterus has been justly designated as " the most formidable to which the 
 human frame has submitted, or modern surgery dared to relieve ;" and this 
 has been successfully performed by Dr. Blundell. The operation was 
 vmdertaken in the month of February, 1828, in the presence of Dr. 
 Elliotson, Mr. Key, Mr. Morgan, and Mr. B. Cooper. It was a case of 
 malignant bleeding ulceration of the uterus, a disease uniformly fatal in its 
 result. The patient was exceedingly exhausted by the long continuance of 
 the disease ; but as no other organ appeared to partake of the malady, 
 Dr. Blundell resolved upon proposing the extirpation of the diseased part ; 
 and to this the poor woman readily assented. The record of this extra- 
 ordinary operation has never yet been given at large : it was performed 
 February the 12th, 1828: the death of the patient occurred February 
 the 7th, 1829; so that she hved twelve months within a few days. During 
 
 6
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 this period, she became plump and well, and, for a woman about fifty, 
 enjoyed most excellent health. Her death was clearly occasioned by 
 enteritis, following constipation, produced mechanically from constriction 
 and altered position of the bowel. An account of the method of operating 
 is given in the Medical Gazette and the Lancet: and a pretty full account of 
 the autopsia, by Dr. Hodgkin, appeared in the Medical Gazette. (Vol. iii., 
 p. 797.) Dr. Blundell has operated in three other cases, but the results 
 have been unfavourable : one dying two or three hours after the operation ; 
 another, nine hours; a third, about forty hours. They were all cases 
 without other hope. The successful case came second in order; and 
 without its occurrence, the other two would not have been attempted. 
 Mr. Banner, of Liverpool, has also extirpated the uterus, but the patient 
 died on the fourth day after the operation. Dr. Siebold, of Berlin, extir- 
 pated the uterus in 1815, but the patient lived only sixty-five hours. 
 Dr. Holscher performed it in 1824, and the woman died twenty-four hours 
 after the operation. Professor Recamier, of the Hotel Dieu, performed it 
 in 1829 ; the account of the case is given up to the 12th day only, at which 
 time the woman was improving. Solitary instances of success are scarcely 
 sufficient to justify the performance of the most dangerous operations. 
 They excite so great a dread, that patients, strong as the desire of life may 
 be, will be deterred from submitting to operations which may safely and 
 necessarily be performed. There are but few cases in which so forniidable 
 an operation can be justly proposed or performed. Dr. Blundell's was, 
 however, an instance of this kind, as the issue demonstrates. The chances 
 of recovery are too small to render its performance a matter of frequent 
 occurrence. Few professional men will venture their reputation upon such 
 slight ground for hope of success. And it is the opinion of Dr. B. himself 
 that the case derives its chief value from the proof which it aff'ords of the 
 solidity of the general principle upon which it was grounded— namely, that 
 the power which the abdomen possesses of sustaining the operations of the 
 surgeon, is greater than might have been supposed. 
 
 On the subject of generation, the second in the volume of « Researches," 
 Dr. Blundell has shewn that the corpus luteum is not necessarily an evidence 
 of female impregnation, as it has been found in cases where complete concep- 
 tion has not and could not have taken place. The importance of this fact, and 
 the statements upon which it is founded in a medico-legal point of view, must 
 forcibly strike every person. The experiments were completed before the year 
 1819, and published in the tenth volume of the Medico-Chirurgical Trans- 
 actions. The third part of the work relates to transfusion. In former times an 
 opinion prevailed that the majority of diseases originated in, or were essentially
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 connected with, a morbid or peculiar condition of the blood ; and Dr. Lower in 
 16G0 proposed to establish a new method of cure by transferring the blood of 
 animals into that of the human species in such a way as to abstract all that was 
 morbid or diseased, and to substitute in its place that which was healthy. 
 This subject excited very great attention, and the happiest results were an- 
 ticipated from its introduction : but, alas I in the instances in which it was 
 resorted to, it proved fatal ; and the practice excited such serious appre- 
 hensions for the safety of the individuals on whom it was proposed to be 
 employed, that we find the French legislature absolutely publishing an edict 
 to forbid the having recourse to it. The earliest experiments are said to 
 have been made in France, and the first attempt by Hansheau in 1658. 
 Lower perfected it in 16G5. Denis, a physician described as "plus occupe 
 des jeurc de hazards, que des jeux de la machine animale," subjected a man 
 to the experiment. The Italians repeated it in 10(58, Biva and Manfredi 
 making the experiments. In Flanders, Sinnabaldus did the same. The first 
 four volumes of the Philosophical Transactions relate the cases in which 
 it had been employed, and with such unsuccessful results. It remained for 
 our own day to demonstrate that the practice may be, under some particular 
 circumstances, resorted to with perfect safety and success, and to Dr. Blundell 
 chiefly the merit of this discovery is owing. From his experiments, it 
 appears that blood may be transferred from one animal into another, provided 
 it be of the same species ; but if of one animal into another of a different 
 species, then the result is fatal. The experiments of M.M. Prevost and 
 Dumas have confirmed those of Dr. Blundell. The manner in which he 
 arrived at this knowledge deserves to be particularly noticed. The numerous 
 cases of recovery from suspended animation, or rather respiration, in instances 
 of suspension, or of hanging, sufficiently attest that death is at first apyarent^ 
 not real ; and Dr. Blundell very fairly presumes the same to hold good in cases 
 of asphyxia from the loss of blood ; and to these, in particular, he proposes 
 to resort, to the practice of transfusion. This reasoning and the following 
 circumstance, led him to consider of and to institute a series of experiments 
 upon the subject. He was called to a case of uterine haemorrhagy, which not- 
 withstanding every exertion on the part of the medical attendants, proved 
 fatal. There were circumstances which gave to the case a peculiar interest, 
 and Dr. Blundell, reflecting upon the operations performed by himself upon 
 animals, as w^ell as some interesting experiments made by his pupil Dr. 
 Leacock, and detailed in his thesis, could not forbear considering, that by 
 the ancient process of transfusion the woman might probably have been saved. 
 The apparatus formerly employed was of such an elaborate and complicated 
 character, that sufficient time could not have been obtained for its perform- 
 
 8
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 ance, that he thought the vessels might be replenished by the syringe with 
 facility and promptitude. It was not, however, yet ascertained how far blood 
 would be fitted for the purposes of the animal economy, after passing through 
 such an instrument, and he therefore resolved to put the matter to the test 
 of experiment. With this view, he instituted a series of experiments upon 
 dogs, and he satisfactorily proved that the transfusion of blood through the 
 syringe does not unfit it for the animal purposes. Blood taken from the 
 femoral artery was directed into the femoral vein, and this was done durnig 
 the lengthened period of twenty-four minutes, the blood throughout the whole 
 period °ushing from the artery, entering the cup, passing the syringe, and 
 returning to the vein, without the animal sustaining any material injury. It 
 was ascertained that from the femoral artery about half a pint of blood 
 would be discharged in the course of two minutes, and as the artery was 
 allowed to give off its blood during the whole time of the experiment, not 
 less than twelve pints of blood must have been received into the cup, and 
 thence transmitted through the syringe to the vein. The whole weight of the 
 animal did not amount to twelve pounds, hence the same blood must have 
 passed through the syringe repeatedly ; and the point therefore as to the fit- 
 ness of the blood for the purposes of life after passing through the instrument 
 must be considered as perfectly established. 
 
 Venous blood, Dr. Blundell has shewn, will revive or resuscitate an animal; 
 a point of great importance as it respects the practice of transfusion in the 
 human species. There is reason, however, to suspect that arterial blood would 
 be more beneficial; but the difficulties which present themselves in obtaining 
 a supply, are too great to be readily overcome. Dr. B. has, however, recom- 
 mended a recourse to the temporal artery. A few months after the publication 
 of the experiments to which allusion has been made (Sept. 26, 1818,) Dr. B. 
 had an opportunity of transfusing blood into — Brazier, a patient in Guy's 
 Hospital, under the care of Dr. Cholmeley for an incurable scirrhous disease 
 of the pyloric orifice of the stomach. Such a case presents a most unfavourable 
 subject for the treatment; yet the man was dying from inanition, and, to pro- 
 long life, he was himself anxious that it should be tried. The transfusion of 
 between twelve and fourteen ounces of blood into the cephalic vein of his arm, 
 in the course of 30 or 40 minutes appears to have produced temporary benefit; 
 his strength was somewhat recruited by it, and his pulse became larger, and the 
 temperature of his body higher. The man stated himself to be revived by it, 
 and to be "better, much better." Yet the operation not being repeated, he again 
 sunk into a state of great exhaustion, and died fifty-six hours after the blood 
 had been supplied. This case served to establish the safety of the operation, 
 and to shew that under other circumstances it might be attended with more 
 
 9
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 favourable results ; and, in Aug, 1825, Dr. Blundell had the great satisfaction 
 of operating on a woman who was sinking from after-flooding, and on which 
 occasion the operation was crowned with signal success. 
 
 The example of Dr. B. has had its influence upon the profession, though 
 not to the extent that might reasonably have been expected. EmboFdened 
 by the preceding case, however, Mr. Doubleday operated a short time after- 
 wards, and he has the merit, and the inexpressible gratification, of having been 
 the means of saving by the transfusion of blood the life of a female, who but 
 for its use must have been numbered with the dead, from the consequences of 
 an uterine haemorrhage. Brandy, laudanum, ammonia, and other stimuli usu- 
 ally employed in such cases, were found to be of no avail. Fourteen ounces 
 of blood were injected from the arm of her husband, and she recovered. The 
 case is circumstantially detailed by Mr. Doubleday, in the London Medical 
 and Physical Journal for Nov. 1825. It appears that the pulse, some time 
 previous to the operation, wlien it could be numbered, was 140, but was 
 now reduced to lO-l. A quarter of an hour after the operation it was 98, in 
 half an hour 90. The pulse, for the most part, was strong, soft, and full, but 
 somewhat irregular, and continued so for upwards of two hours. At about 
 the expiration of an hour after the blood was injected, she sat up, antl 
 assisted the nurse in undressing, and in making herself more comfortable, as 
 if nothing had occurred beyond what is to be observed in ordinary cases ! 
 
 Acting upon the two successful cases referred to above, Dr. Blundell 
 succeeded in restoring Mrs. B. of Fleet-street, Nov. 10, 1825, from asphyxia, 
 tlie consequence of uterine hsemorrhage. Twelve ounces of blood taken 
 from the arms of Dr. Uwins and Mr. Wright, her medical attendants, were 
 injected into the venous system. It is now thirteen years since the ope- 
 ration, and the lady is still living. 
 
 In 1827, Mr. Brown, a practitioner in Southwark,had a case similar to 
 the preceding. Transfusion was resorted to, and from a state of apparent 
 dissolution she completely recovered. Dr. Blundell does not consider it 
 necessary to inject any large quantity of blood in these cases. The average has 
 not been ascertained ; but a small quantity is sufficient to turn the balanc^e 
 in favour of life. He thinks from half a pint to a pint an ample supply in 
 all cases of asphyxia from uterine haemorrhage. He candidly states, that in 
 nineteen out of twenty cases of this description, transfusion will not be 
 needed ; but he boldly maintains that, " under the best and most judicious 
 treatment, and certainly under treatment of average excellence, dissolution 
 may occur, sometimes so suddenly that you have not time to act; more 
 frequently in a gradual manner, so that you see the patient sinking slowly, 
 little by little, into the grave." 
 
 10
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 In some of these cases, life may he restored by (ratisfusion. It never 
 can be necessary to throw in a quantity of blood equal to that which has 
 been lost ; a sufficiency to enable the heart and arteries to control and to 
 support the patient long enough to allow the vessels to accommodate them- 
 selves to the quantity in circulation, is all that will be requisite. 
 
 Dr. Blundell states, that although the blood of the mammalia may be 
 essentially the same in all the genera, the different kinds of blood differ 
 very importantly from each other. He suggests an inquiry, whether any genus 
 of animals be furnished with a kind of blood congenial to the human veins? 
 From recent experiments made in France, this can hardly be expected to 
 be resolved in the affirmative. The odour of blood is very remarkable, and 
 M. Barruel (Journal de Science N.S. vi. 187.) has declared this fluid to 
 contain a volatile principle peculiar to each species of animal. He states 
 this principle to have an odour resembling that of the cutaneous or pul- 
 monary exhalation of the animal, and to serve as a distinctive character by 
 which the blood of different animals may be recognized. This principle 
 is dissolved in the blood, and the odour may be perceived when the blood or 
 its serum is mixed with strong sulphuric acid. The odour is said to be 
 stronger in the male than in the female — in man, to resemble the human 
 perspiration— in the ox, to smell like a cow-house — and in horses, to be 
 similar to their perspiration. This is a subject of curious inquiry, and liighly 
 deserving of attention, as it may become an aid in some cases of medical 
 jurisprudence. 
 
 A summary of Dr. Blundell's personal experience in transfusion may 
 thus be stated : the operation has been performed eleveii times by his own 
 hand, ten times in cases of most pressing danger from loss of blood, and 
 once in a case of inanition from scirrhosity of the pylorus, and consequent 
 starvation. Of these ten cases, in nine only was there any reasonable 
 prospect of success, one of them being a case in which the patient had 
 ceased to respire five minutes before the first supply of blood was thrown 
 in. Of the nine operations, five failed, and four succeeded. Of the five 
 failures, one might be reasonably imputed to an insufficient supply of blood, 
 six ounces only having been injected; but the other four failures most 
 clearly arose from the insufficiency of the remedy, the patients sinking 
 within half an hour or an hour from the performance of the operation. In 
 all the ten cases, venous blood was employed. In four of the cases of failure 
 Dr. Blundell thinks it highly probable that arterial blood would have been 
 more successful. Of the four cases which succeeded, in three the success 
 was complete, one of the patients being still living, thirteen years after the 
 operation, and the other two he presumes to be living still. The fourth 
 
 II
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 case was successful in part only ; the patient was completely resuscitated, 
 lived for two or three days, and seemed to be doing well, but sank from 
 effusion into the thorax, where extensive old thoracic adhesions were found. 
 In all these four cases the operation was not performed till, with large 
 experience in these matters, he felt that there was no other hope for 
 the patient. Of all the ten cases, in two only did the operation seem to 
 distress; its general effect was cordial; and of these two cases, in one 
 only, where, in his zeal to save the patient, a more than ordinary quantity 
 of blood was injected, was the distress considerable. In the second case, 
 however, the distress was painful to witness. After all his experience, he 
 has assured the writer of this, that, were a friend of his own sinking from 
 the effects of flooding, he would strongly recommend the remedy, and, if to 
 be had, arterial blood. 
 
 At the close of each physiological course. Dr. Blundell was in the habit 
 of pubUshing in the class-room a list of the more interesting problems 
 relative to the animal economy, which had furnished subjects for investiga- 
 tion. Very few of these have been printed, and the notice of some of them 
 cannot but be highly interesting to the physiologist. 
 
 1. On Chi/liiicution.—A set of experimojits designed to ascertain wlietlier the bile 
 must mix wi'tli the chyme in order that the white chyle may a])pear. From these 
 experiments it was found, — 1. That white chyle does nut make its appearance wlien 
 the bile is excluded from the chyme, as, for e'xample, by tying the ductus communis 
 choledochus. 2. That the white chyle does make its appearance when the bile mixes 
 with the chyme. These experiments were completed before the commencement of 
 the year 1817, were first published in the class-room a year or two afterwards, and 
 were annually brought forward in the lectures till the course ceased abruptly in 1834, 
 when Dr. Blundell quitted the school. One of the most striking experiments was 
 repeated before his physiological class year after year. Chyme was enclosed in a 
 bag of black silk : fluid 'from the chyme was then expressed through the pores, and 
 was found not to become white ; the bag was then dabbed upon a plate moistened 
 with cvstic bile, which it immediately absorbed ; the fluid of the chyme was then 
 again pressed tlirough the silk, when "it immediately became white : where tlie bile 
 was, a fixed white stain remained. 
 
 2. On Cnngulafioii of the Blood.— A set of experiments designed to ascertain the 
 nature of tliat vascular power which resists the coagulation of the blood. From these 
 experiments it was tound, so far as experiments were made, — 1st. That whatever 
 destroys the vitality of the vessel destroys also equally the power of resisting coagu- 
 lation ; and, 2d, That whatever does not destroy the vitality of the vessel, does not 
 destroy the power of resisting coagulation ; whence it was inferred to be probable that 
 the power of resisting coagulation is the life in the coats of the vessel, and that this 
 power is exerted by the communication of the vitality to the blood ; the latter clause 
 of the conclusion especially being advanced as a probability only. These experiments 
 were brought to a close before the commencement of the year 1818, and, like the 
 former, were published in the class-room annually, in the physiological lectures. 
 
 3. On the Blood as Aliment.— Ar\ experiment designed to shew that the necessity of 
 food may be superseded by supplying blood to the vessels of an animal in a direct 
 manner. In this experiment a dog was sustained for three whole weeks without the 
 help of any food whatever ; its drink was water, and its nourishment a few ounces of 
 blood from another dog every day, or every other day, injected into the external 
 jugular vein. The dog never appeared hungry ; at the end of the three weeks, though 
 
 12
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 unwell, it seemed still in no danger of sinkin^r. And, on the whole, the great point 
 of investigation appeared to be in good measure ascertained, namely, that the 
 necessity lor eating may be superseded by regular injections of blood into the veins ; 
 in other words, that it is possible to live for a length of time without food. This 
 experiment was made in the spring of 1819, in the hope that it might be of use in 
 saving life in cases similar to that of Brazier, the patient wlio died in Guy's Hospital 
 from the impossibility of retaining and digesting supplies of aliment. The purpose 
 of the experiment is mentioned, to shew tliat it was not wantonly made. The particu- 
 lars are to be found in Dr. Blundell's " Researches." 
 
 4. On the Life of the Fwtus. — Certain ol)servatioiis made to prove that the foetus tn 
 titero feels, that it has apparently sensibility, some desire of nourishment, volition, 
 perhaps instinct, and, in a word, that it possesses in utcro most, if not all, the powers 
 of active life which it enjoys immediately after birth. These observations were made 
 before the year 1820, and were i)ublished in the class-room soon after. 
 
 5. On the Coagulabiliti/ of the Fatal Blood —The blood obtained for the purpose was 
 generally taken from the umbilical vein of tlie funis of the human subject. From 
 these experiments it v.'us found, — 1st. That this blood generally coagulates ; 2d. That 
 in the main it separates in the ordinary manner into serum and crassamentum ; and, 
 3. That the upper part of the clots exposed to the air brightens, and becomes of a more 
 scarlet arterial colour than the lower; in a word, that in all that is essential, the 
 blood of the human foetus coagulates like the blood of the human adult. Two curious 
 observations Avere made in the course of these experiments, — 1. That the blood of the 
 foetus of only seven months obeys the general law, that it coagulates, tliat it separates 
 the serum, though in sparing quantity, and that the upper surface of the crassamen- 
 tum brightens on exposure to air; and, 2. That the blood of the nine-months' foetus 
 sometimes, though rarely, coagulates in apjjearance only ; the serum separating fully, 
 the crassamentum, to the eye at least, forming distinctly in the usual manner, but 
 this aj)parent crassamentum being destitute of solidity, and falling to pieces immedi- 
 ately under the touch. The last of the experiments was made before the year 1823. 
 
 6. A set of experumnts to prove thai large raptures in the body of the bladder may occasion- 
 ally be cured by laying open the peritoneal cavity, closing the aperture in the bladder by meunx 
 of a ligature, withdrawing the urine from the cavity of the peritoneum into which the rupture 
 discharges it, and washing out the peritoneum ivith tepid distilled water. — In some of these 
 experiments, it was found, that in rabbits one-third of the bladder might be cut 
 away, and that the huge aperture remaining might be closed up by ligature ; that 
 several of the animals recovered afterwards, and that the bladder of reduced size con- 
 tinued to perform its functions. An eminent surgeon, acting (as he himself told 
 Dr. Blundell) on the principle of these experiments, once tied up an aperture in the 
 stomach, and thereby saved the life of a patient. This fact should be recorded, and 
 the particulars of the case published, as it deserves the candid consideration of those 
 who object altogether to experiments upon animals. The life of the man was here 
 probably saved by the sacrifice of rabbits, which would Jiave been killed to supply 
 his physical wants, had they not thus been rendered subsidiary to the higher office of 
 contributing to his intellectual improvement. The experiments were completed 
 before the year 1823. 
 
 7. On the Poiver whereby the Muscular Structure of the Heart contracts. — The experi- 
 ments were six or seven in number, and in them the heart taken from a dog newly 
 drowned, was laid upon a plate, and a pipe was introduced into the coronary vein, 
 preferred to the arteries on account of its larger capacity, its single trunk, and the 
 opportunity of ascertaining the eifect of a reversed circulation. The arterial blood of 
 another dog was then made to circulate through the coronary system of vessels, the 
 blood entering by the vein, which performed the office of an artery, and escaping by 
 the two arteries which performed the office of the vein ; the circulation becoming 
 reversed. In one of the experiments only was the circulation fully established, when 
 it continued for more than ten minutes, and the heart, before pale, flaccid, lifeless, 
 and without any visible contraction, became of a full red, firm and active; all the 
 fibres were in a quiver, and, when grasped by the hand, a strong throbbing action of 
 the ventricles, the left especially, might be felt, though the cavities were empty, and 
 the heart was hanging from the tube which supplied it, like an apple from the sprig : 
 the labouring of the ventricles was obvious, but not attended with the full systole and 
 
 13
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 fliastole which accompany the true circulation of blood. These experiments were 
 completed before the year 1H2-'), (the last was made in October, 1B24,) and were 
 published annually in the class-room afterwards. Besides throwing light on various 
 other j)oints of pliysiology, they go far to prove the superiority of arterial blood for 
 the purposes of restoring the powers of the heart, when failing from flooding, &c. ; in 
 other words, the superiority of this blood for the purposes of transfusion. 
 
 8. A set of Erperiments designed to refute the erroneous opinion of Barry and others, that 
 the Blood enters the Heart through the great veins during iiisptralion only. — One of the most 
 striking of these experiments was made in a diving-bell, at the bottom of the Thames ; 
 the atmosphere of the bell being, at the time, nearly of double density. " With a 
 minute watch in my hand, I found that for nearly two minutes together, I could 
 suspend respiration without material distress or disorder of body or mind, the pulse 
 beating all the time in the radial artery with tlie utmost regularity. Now, as several 
 pints of blood must have passed the heart in tlie course of the two minutes, allowing 
 only three half ounces for each stroke of the left ventricle, it was cb-ar that several 
 pints must have entered from the veins ; and as neither the circulation nor other 
 functions were disturbed during the experiment, it was evident that the blood must 
 have been flowing from the veins into the heart in the usual manner during the whole 
 period, and yet throughout this whole period, the inspiration was comjdetely sus- 
 pended, whence it follows that the blood flows from the great veins into the heart 
 in the usual manner, witliout the aid of inspiration." This experiment was made at 
 the time of the irruption of water into the tunnel, when the first catastrophe occurred, 
 ill tlie year 1827. 
 
 9. Experiments to prove that in Poisoning by nur vomica, and probably other poisons of 
 similar operation, the poisonous dose irhich destroys life, is not contained in the circulating 
 blood of the animal. — In three experiments it was found, 1. Tliat if a dog be poisoned 
 with the minimum dose of strychnine sufficient for the purpose, its life cannot be 
 saved by drawing off its blood when the poison is getting into full action, and 
 replenishing it witli blood from another and healthy dog. The vessels in some experi- 
 ments were three times washed out, as it were, by drawing away tlie poisoned blood 
 from the same animal when under the influence of the poison, and as frequently 
 replenishing it, yet without preserving life. 2. Tliat if a doc: be drained of its blood, 
 and replenished from another dog under the influence of the poison, tlie dog which 
 receives is not poisoned by the blood thrown in, nor does it in general manifest any 
 obvious signs of the presence of the poison : in one experiment, however, characteristic 
 spasms were observed in the dog receiving blood from another dog under the full 
 influence of the strychnine, though even in this case the animal speedily recovered. 
 An interesting observation was made in conducting these exjieriments, namely, that a 
 dog cannot be poisoned by very large doses of opium in its different forms. 
 
 From the whole of these experiments it was found, that when an animal is poisoned 
 by strychnine, some of the poison is contained in the circulating blood, but the 
 quantity there contained is not sufficient to destroy life. The poison was inserted by 
 an arrow passed into the muscles of the neck. These experiments were completed 
 l)efore the year 1828. 
 
 In the Lancet for 1827-8, reports of Dr. Blundell's lectures on Mid- 
 wifery made their appearance. These were afterwards collected together, 
 arranged, subdivided, and commented upon by Dr. Castle, and in 1834 pub- 
 lished imder the title of " The Principles and Practice of Obstetricy." ITiis 
 work has acquired a very just celebrity. Dr. B. lectured on Midwifery in 
 the neighbourhood, and afterwards in connexion with, the Medical School 
 of Guy's Hospital, from the year 1816 to 18.34; and his withdrawal at this 
 period was a matter of very deep regret to a large body of medical students. 
 The circumstances which induced him to retire from the chair of Midwifery, 
 ga\e rise to the publication of some pamphlets which reflect no credit on 
 
 14
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 those who acted in opposition to Dr. Blundell upon this occasion. Dr. B.'s 
 conduct in this affair has been marked by that high sense of honour and 
 independence which should characterize a professional man in such matters. 
 " Transeat in exemplwn" 
 
 It appears that an attempt was made on the part of the Treasurer or 
 Director of Guy's Hospital, to associate a gentleman with Dr. Blundell in 
 the performance of his duties as a teacher, and that advantage was taken 
 of his absence from England, to advertise this person as a colleague, with- 
 out the sanction of Dr. B. The Doctor has publicly charged the Trea- 
 surer with being " a party to an unwarranted use of his name, under circum- 
 stances of deliberate assumption and broken engagement." This conduct 
 will be seen to be most extraordinary when it is made known that the course 
 of Lectures was in its origin private, and established long before the Medical 
 School of Guy's^ Hospital had an existence. It was purchased by Dr. B.'s 
 labour; illustrated by his private museum ; supplied with practice from his 
 private institution, (till the last year or two wholly;) and though annually 
 advertised with the other Hospital lectures, yet, as far as right was con- 
 cerned, it was advertisable when and where he thought fit. The conduct 
 on the part of the Treasurer induced Dr. Blundell to withdraw his museum 
 from the Hospital, and to conclude his labours as a teacher; a resolution 
 much to be regretted, on account of his great abilities to instruct, and the 
 vast professional acquirements he possesses ; but it was a step for which no 
 one can censure, but, on the contrary, must applaud him, for it shews a 
 proper sense of what is due to himself and the honour of the profession. 
 
 The Lectures of Dr Blundell display considerable sagacity, and acquaint- 
 ance with his profession. They shew him to be an intelhgent and keen 
 observer; and to be a most faithful reporter, devoid of all prejudices, and 
 anxious to give to every one the merit that is due to them, by the most 
 honest and liberal conduct. The work is divided into five parts: the first 
 two of which relate to the anatomy and physiology of the Female System; 
 the third, to the signs and diseases of Pregnancy; the fourth, to the art of 
 Delivery; and the fifth, to the after-management of the Puerperal State. 
 Upon all these subjects Dr. Blundell communicates the extent of knowledge 
 already acquired, and illustrates it by his own researches and experience. 
 He takes every opportunity of doing justice to the physiological inquiries 
 of his predecessor and relation, Dr. Haighton, one of the best experimen- 
 ters of his day. Any analysis of the work must be entirely out of the 
 question; it must be referred to, and read, with the greatest care. Of its 
 merits, it is sufficient to observe, that a very competent authority has spoken 
 of it as « a mine of gold— a treasure of literature, science, and practical know- 
 
 15
 
 JAMES BLUNDELL, M.D. 
 
 ledge for the student, which it would be suicidal madness in him to neglect, 
 or fail to have constantly in his possession for reference." (Johnson's Med. 
 Chir. llev. No. 43.) In the last division of the work, a disease is noticed, of 
 very considerable importance. Dr. Blundell has named it Hidrosis or 
 Hidrotic Fever. There are various types of this disease ; the severe ones 
 are dangerous, and the malignant almost uniformly fatal. In its commence- 
 ment it resembles the puerperal fever, and is ushered in by a shivering 
 or shuddering with a sense of cold more or less severe ; the pulse changes 
 in its frequency in a most remarkable manner, rising up from 90 to 1 40 or 
 \oO suddenly, without any evident cause. Dr. B. observes, that there is 
 not unfrequently a morbid state of the nervous system, which shews itself 
 in a certain quickness of manner, a rapidity of utterance, or a disposition 
 wayward, pettish, or passionate ; sometimes, also, the patient becomes the 
 subject of whimsical impulses, either of a comic or tragic character, so 
 tliat there is an evident tendency to })uerperal mania, which may ultimately, 
 though not generally, occur. On the other hand, the patient's manner is 
 now and then marked v ith a sort of forced coolness, and in some cases there 
 is no very obvious disorder of the nervous system, for these symptoms are 
 not constant" 
 
 From the preceding sketch, it will be evident that the career of Dr. Blundell 
 has been one of great assiduity and usefulness, and it is gratifying to add, 
 that his talents and zeal are no less appreciated by the public, than his 
 abilities and integrity are admired by the profession. He has faithfully 
 noted in his "Adversaria" the various physiological experiments he has made, 
 and has accurately minuted the particulars of cases which have been entrusted 
 to his care. It is ardently to be hoped that he will be able to find leisure 
 to arrange these, and submit them to the notice of his profession, and thus 
 confer additional obligations on its members, and contribute to the further 
 advancement of medical knowledge. *' Non enim vox ilia praeceptoris, ut 
 coena, minus pluribus sufficit ; sed ut sol, universis idem lucis calorisque 
 largitur." — Qidntiliait. 
 
 16
 
 u
 
 JOHN CAIUS, M.D. 
 
 Unde Doctoris titulo gloriantur, nisi ut doceant ?" — Erasmi Epist. 
 
 John Caius, or, in English, Kaye or Key, may justly be regarded as the 
 successor of Linacre, having been appointed to the presidency of the Royal 
 College of Physicians, and also physician to the court during the reigns of 
 Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. He was no less his 
 successor in his tastes and pursuits, for they alike cultivated letters, medi- 
 cine, and natural history. He was the son of Robert Kaye, of a Norfolk 
 family, and born on October 6, 1510, in the city of Norwich; where he 
 received his earliest education, and was thence sent to Gonvil Hall, Cam- 
 bridge in 1529. At this college he took the degrees of Bachelor and 
 Master of Arts, and in 1533 was elected one of the Fellows. At the early 
 age of twenty-one he is said to have translated out of Greek into Latin, 
 Nicephorus Callistus's treatise of " Confession in Prayer ;" also Chrysostom 
 on the " Manner of Prayer," and Erasmus's Paraphrase on Jude, fi-om the 
 Latin into English. He also made an Epitome of Erasmus's " De Vera 
 Theologia." From these exercises, it might have been expected that he 
 had selected divinity for his profession ; but, like to his predecessor Linacre, 
 he travelled for improvement, and visited Italy, France, Flanders, and 
 Germany. At the university of Padua he studied under John Baptist 
 Montanus, a most eminent scholar; and in 1541 he took a Doctor's degree 
 in physic. When at Padua, Caius lived during eight months in the same 
 house with Vesalius, together studying anatomy. Upon his return to 
 England, he taught this science to the surgeons, soon after their incorpora- 
 tion in 1540, and he continued to do so for twenty years, even after his 
 election to the chair of the College of Physicians, and appointment of 
 physician to the court. He read lectures on physic at the university of 
 Padua for some years, and also lectures on Aristotle, (about the year 1542,) 
 but it is said he took his degree at Bologna. 
 
 He returned to England in 1544, and commenced practice at Cam- 
 bridge, then at Shrewsbury, and afterwards at Norwich. He was admitted 
 a Fellow of the London College of Physicians, and, from the records of 
 the college, it appears that he passed through all the offices, for he was 
 
 1
 
 JOHN CAIUS, M.D. 
 
 appointed censor, registrar, treasurer, and, for seven years and upwards, 
 president of the college. He kept a record of the proceedings forming the 
 annals of the college from the year 1555 to 1572. This is written in Latin, 
 in his own hand, very clear and precise in its style, and forms the earliest 
 account of the transactions of that body. He is said to have been so precise 
 in his attendance at the college, as never to have been absent from the 
 committee or meetings without a dispensation. 
 
 His skill in practice acquired for him great reputation, and his celebrity 
 reaching the knowledge of the court, he was summoned thither, and made 
 physician to Edward VI., and, after that king's death, he was appointed to 
 the Queens Mary and Elizabeth, and remained in this elevation until the 
 year 1568, when, it is said, he was dismissed, under a suspicion of being 
 too much attached to the Popish religion. His religious principles have 
 been questioned. He is supposed to have conformed in his latter years, at 
 least in outward observances, to the Reformation, but that his inclination 
 was to the principles of his early days. 
 
 Upon his retirement, he fixed himself at Cambridge, where he died, 
 July 29, 1573; and having by his practice amassed a considerable estate, 
 he left the same at his decease to build a new college to Gonvil Hall, and 
 thus became the co-founder of Gonvil and Caius College, in the chapel of 
 which he was buried; and a monument is there erected to his memory, 
 with the laconic inscription, as directed by himself, of 
 
 " Fui Caius — Vivit post funera virtus. 
 Obiit 1573, ^Et. 63." 
 
 His intentions towards his college did not spnng up after his withdrawal 
 from the court, for it appears that, having considerable influence with the 
 Queen INIary, he obtained from her majesty a license to advance Gonvil 
 Hall into a college, and that he then made arrangements for suitably 
 endowing it, providing adequately for the maintenance of three fellows and 
 twenty scholars. This was accomplished in the years 1557 and 1558. 
 He framed a new body of laws for the government of the college, and was 
 himself the master of it in 1559, and remained in that office until a short 
 time previous to his decease. The erection of the new square of the college 
 was called Caius Court in 1565, and finished in 1570, having cost in its 
 completion the sum of £1834, a very considerable amount at that period, 
 nearly the whole of which was defrayed by Caius. The character of Caius 
 is somewhat developed by the arrangements made in this new building; 
 they exhibit a quaintness in accordance with that shewn in his monumental 
 inscription, and they also serve to depict the general feehng and taste of the 
 
 2
 
 JOHN CAIUS, M.D. 
 
 a-e in which he lived. Thus, over one of the gates, which was small and 
 low, is inscribed, " HumiUtatis ;" another, of finer and more noble structure, 
 is called, « Virtutis;" and on the opposite side is written, « Jo. Cams posmt 
 sapientise." The gate which leads to the pubhc schools, through which all 
 must pass to obtain their degrees, is styled, " Honoris." Thus did Cams 
 found the most celebrated of the colleges of Cambridge for medical learnmg 
 of the present day; and in this academic retreat did he spend the latter 
 days of his life, far removed fi'om the noise and intrigues of the court. 
 A short time before his decease, he caused a new master to be appointed, 
 but continued as a fellow-commoner, assisting daily at divine service in a 
 private seat in the chapel built for himself. 
 
 The simplicity of the tastes and pursuits of Caius and Linacre have 
 been already adverted to. They were both masters of the Greek language, 
 with which there were but few at that time conversant, and they both 
 translated from the works of that master of physic, Galen. The writings 
 of this author translated by Caius will be seen at the close of this memoir. 
 But Caius was also an original writer, and he always composed in the Latin 
 language, with the exception of one early tract which he wrote in the 
 Enghsh tongue, and the subject of which is of considerable interest and 
 curiosity. It relates to the « Sweating Sickness," of which a few particulars 
 may not be unacceptable to the reader. 
 
 The title of the tract to which allusion has been made is, " A Boke or 
 Counseill against the Disease commonly called the Sweate or Sweatynge 
 Sickness." It was printed by II. Grafton, at London, in 1552, in 8vo. 
 The sweating sickness. Dr. Freind informs us, was originally a native of 
 our own island. Dr. Mead did not admit its indigenous origin; but there 
 are other authorities in its favour. Lord Bacon was of this opinion, and 
 so also was Caius, who has given to us the best account of this singular 
 malady. Its importance to Englishmen occasioned Caius to write upon it 
 in the Enghsh language, which we may presume was considered infra 
 dignitate, from an apology he thought it necessary to make in his tract 
 upon the subject. 
 
 The disease began in 1483, in the army of Henry VII., upon liis 
 landing at Milford Haven, whence it spread to London, and there continued 
 from September 21st to the end of October. It singularly returned in this 
 country >e times, and this always in the summer months, and in the years 
 1485, 1506, 1517, 1528, and 1551. In 1529 it was confined to the Nether- 
 lands and Germany, where its prevalence was so great and so fatal, as to 
 occasion the breaking up of the conference at Marpurgh, between the 
 celebrated reformers Luther and Zwingle, on the subject of the Eucharist. 
 
 3
 
 JOHN CAIUS, M.D. 
 
 In 1507, it was so severe, as to kill many in the space of three hours from 
 the commencement of the attack. In 1 528, it proved fatal to many in the 
 course of six hours. Several of the English nobihty became its victims, 
 and Henry VIII. had well nigh succumbed to the pestilence. The last 
 visitation of this disease carried off in Westminster alone one hundred and 
 twenty in one day, and the two sons of Charles Brandon, both Dukes of 
 Suffolk, died of it. 
 
 Caius was in practice at Shrewsbury at this time, when the disease was 
 raging with great violence, and he has given the best description we possess 
 of this epidemic. He compares it to the plague of Athens. He calls it a 
 pestilent contagious fever of one natural day (ephemera) ; the sweat itself 
 he reckons only as a symptom or crisis of this fever. The manner of its 
 seizure was thus : first it affected some particular part, attended with inward 
 heat and burning, unquenchable thirst, restlessnees, sickness at stomach 
 and heat, (though seldom vomiting,) head-ache, delirium, then faintness, 
 and excessive drowsiness, the pulse quick and vehement, and the breath 
 short and labouring. Children, poor and old people, less subject to it 
 Of others, scarce any escaped the attack, and most died; in that town, 
 where it lasted seve7i months, perished near a thousand. Even by travelling 
 into France, or Flanders, they did not escape : and what is stranger, even 
 the Scotch were free, and abroad the Ens^lish only affected, and foreigners 
 not affected in England. None recovered under twenty-four hours : at 
 first the physicians were much puzzled how to treat it ; the only cure was 
 to carry on the sweat, which was necessary for a long time, for if stopped, 
 it was dangerous or fatal. The way, therefore, was to be patient, and lie 
 still, and not to take cold. If nature was not strong enough to do it, art 
 should assist her in promoting the sweat by clothes, medicines, wines, Sec. 
 The violence of it was over in fifteen hours; but no security till twenty-four 
 were passed. In some there was a necessity to repeat the sweating; in 
 strong constitutions, twelve times. Great danger to remove out of bed ; 
 some who had not sweated enough, fell into very ill fevers. No flesh in all 
 the time, nor drink for the Jirst five hours, for in the seventh, the dis- 
 temper increases; about the ninth, delirium: sleep to be avoided by all 
 means. Caius is particular in the remedial part, to insist upon the main- 
 tenance of the perspiration and the absence of sleep. For the former he 
 recommends a variety of means ; as to the latter, he says, " do not let them 
 on any account sleep, but pull them by the ears, nose, or hair, suffering 
 them in no wise to sleep, until such time as they have no taste to sleep ; 
 except to a learned man in physic, the case appears to bear the contrary. 
 If under this discipline they happily recover, and find their strength be
 
 JOHN CAIUS, M.D. 
 
 sore wasted, let them smell to an old sweet apple, and use other restoratives 
 of similar efficacy; for there is nothing more comfortable to the spirits, 
 than good and sweet odours." 
 
 The malignancy and fatal character of the disease, were of the severest 
 description, and it is said to have immediately killed some " upon opening 
 their windows ; some in one hour, many in two, and at the longest to them 
 that merrily dined, it gave a sorrowful supper." Armstrong's description 
 of this disease, the combined effort of the physician and the poet, is most 
 powerful and interesting.* It is of too great length for entire insertion 
 here, but the following passages may not be considered obtrusive. 
 
 " First through the shoulders, or whatever part 
 Was seiz'd the first, a fervid vapour sprung. 
 With rash combustion thence, the quivering spark 
 Shot to the heart, and kindled all within ; 
 And soon the sui'face caught the spreading fires. 
 Through all the yielding pores, the melted blood 
 Gush'd out in smoky sweats ; but nought assuag'd 
 The ton-id heat within, nor aught reliev'd 
 The stomach's anguish. With incessant toil. 
 Desperate of ease, impatient of their pain. 
 They toss'd from side to side. In vain the stream 
 Ran full and clear, they burnt and thirsted still. 
 The restless arteries with rapid blood 
 Beat strong and frequent. Thick and pantingly 
 The breath was fetch'd, and with huge lab 'rings heav'd. 
 At last a heavy pahi oppress'd the head, 
 A wild delirium came ; their weeping friends 
 Were strangers now, and this no home of theirs. 
 Harass'd with toil on toil, the sinking powers 
 Lay prostrate and o'erthrown ; a ponderous sleep 
 Wrapt all the senses up : they slept, and died. 
 
 " In some a gentle horror crept at first 
 O'er all the limbs ; the sluices of the skin 
 Withheld their moisture, till by art provok'd 
 The sweats o'erflow'd ; but in a clammy tide : 
 Now free and copious, now restrain'd and slow ; 
 Of tinctures various, as the temperature 
 Had mix'd the blood ; and rank with fetid steams : 
 As if the pent-up humours by delay 
 Were grown more fell, more putrid, and malign. 
 Here lay their hopes, (though little hope remain 'd,) 
 
 * Art of Preserving Health, book iii. 
 5
 
 JOHN CAIUS, M.D. 
 
 "With full oflfusion of perpetual sweats 
 To (hive the venom out. And here the fates 
 Were kind, that long they linger'd not in pain. 
 For who surviv'd the sun's diurnal race, 
 Rose from the dreary gates of hell redeem'd : 
 Some the sixth hour oppress'd, and some the third. 
 
 " Of many thousands, few untainted 'scap'd ; 
 Of those infected, fewer 'scap'd alive ; 
 Of those who liv'd, some felt a second blow ; 
 And whom the second spar'd, a third destroy d. 
 Frantic with fear, they sought by flight to shun 
 The fierce contagion." 
 
 The causes of this disease, like to most epidemics, are involved in 
 obscurity. That it was nourished by the uncleanly habits and tilthy abodes 
 of the Eno'lish in the sixteenth century, is certain. Caius attributes it to 
 the " evil diet of the country, which destroyeth more meats and drinks, 
 without all order, convenient time, reason, or necessity, than either Scot- 
 land, or all other countries under the sun, to the great annoyance of their 
 own bodies and wits, hinderance of those which have need, and great 
 dearth and scarcity in the commonwealth. Wherefore, if /Esculapius, the 
 inventor of physic, the saver of man from death, and restorer to life, should 
 return again to this world, he could not save those sorts of men ;" and, ho 
 adds, " that those who had the disease, sore with peril or death, were 
 either men of wealth, ease, and welfare, or of the poorer sort, such as were 
 idle persons, good ale drinkers, and tavern haunters — the laborious and 
 thin dieted escaped." 
 
 The year following the publication of this tract, Caius put it into a 
 Latin dress, and revised the whole, publishing it under the title of " De 
 Ephemera Britannica." In this edition he enters upon the consideration 
 of many points not noticed in the original tract, and digresses largely upon 
 the article of diet, giving directions for the making of different kinds of 
 malt liquor. 
 
 The arbitrary distinction attempted to be made between medicine and 
 surgery, prevailed at an early period, and the jealousy of tho practitioners 
 in each department has been often evinced. Caius was a zealous defender 
 of what he considered the rights and privileges of the physicians ; and in a 
 difference arising between these and the surgeons, in the time of Elizabeth, 
 as to the propriety or lawfulness of the latter to administer internal remedies 
 for the sciatica, Caius appeared before the Lord Mayor and other Queen's 
 delegates, in his character of President of the College of Physicians, where 
 he contended so stoutly and so learnedly in favour of the members of his 
 
 6
 
 JOHN CAIUS, M.D. 
 
 own body, that it was determined by the Queen's commissioners, to be 
 unlawful for the surgeons to practise in such cases. The Bishop of 
 London, the Master of the Rolls, and others, unsuccessfully advocated the 
 cause of the surgeons on this occasion. 
 
 This conduct on the part of Caius, it is natural to suppose, created for 
 him many enemies, and it has been suggested as likely to have been the 
 cause of the selection by Shakspeare, of his Dr. Caius in « The Merry 
 Wives of Windsor." But, our great bard most probably intended, by his 
 character of the French doctor, to typify a class of pretenders too common 
 in his and other days, rather than to throw ridicule upon the manners of a 
 really learned and scientific physician. 
 
 His knowledge of Greek has been alluded to. His Latin has always 
 been admired, and he wrote a treatise on the pronunciation of the Greek 
 and Latin languages. Having travelled and studied abroad, Caius was in 
 favour of the foreign mode of pronunciation of the Latin vowels, and of the 
 manner of the modern Greeks as it respected their language. 
 
 His attachment to his Alma Mater led him into a silly controversy 
 with one Thomas Key, a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, who, incited 
 by a speech delivered by the public orator, and addressed to Queen 
 Elizabeth upon her visit to Cambridge in 1564— in which the antiquity of 
 Cambridge was particularly extolled— undertook to vindicate the priority 
 of Oxford, which he asserted had been founded by some Greek philo- 
 sophers, the companions of Brutus, and restored by Alfred about the 
 year 870. Caius, at the instigation, it is said, of Archbishop Parker, 
 entered the lists against the Oxonian, and contended for the foundation of 
 Cambridge by one Cantaber, 394 years before Christ. But to turn from 
 these antiquarian speculations, let us view him as a naturalist. That his 
 researches should at the present day be entitled to translation and insertion, 
 at their entire length, in the Zoology of Pennant, is sufficient evidence of 
 their value. He enjoyed great intimacy with the celebrated Gesner, with 
 whom he maintained a . correspondence. Gesner speaks of him in his 
 «Icones Animalium," as a man of consummate erudition, judgment, 
 fidelity, and diligence, and in an epistle to Queen Elizabeth, he calls him 
 the most learned man of his age. It is said, that, at the request of Gesner, 
 Caius wrote his treatise on British dogs, (De Canibus Britannicis,) oi 
 which several editions have appeared. As the descriptions are to be found 
 in Pennant, it is unnecessary here to enter upon them ; they will amply 
 repay the reader the trouble of their perusal. 
 
 Caius also published some other works on natural history, on some 
 rare plants and animals, and on the hot-springs of England. From the
 
 JOHN CAIUS, M.D. 
 
 particulars thus noticed, it will be seen that Caius's love of learning dis- 
 tinguished him throughout life. He erected a monument to the memory 
 of Linacre in St. Paul's cathedral ; thus marking his zeal and devotion to 
 learning and science. It would seem, that prior to his death, he must 
 have been in a state of extreme weakness, for under the article " Milk," 
 in Dr. MofFet's curious book, entitled, " Health's Improvement, or Rules 
 comprising the Nature, Method, and Manner of Preparing all sorts of 
 Foods," &c., we find the following curious notice :* " What made Dr. Caius 
 in his last sickness so peevish and so full of frets at Cambridge, when he 
 suck'd one woman, whom I spare to name, froward of conditions and of 
 bad diet; and contrariwise so quiet and well, when he suck'd another of 
 contrary disposition ? Verily the diversity of their milks and conditions, 
 which being contrary one to the other, wrought also in him that sucked 
 them contrary effects." 
 
 The following list comprises the works of this distinguished physician : 
 
 1. Hippocrates de Medicamentis — De Virtus Ratione. Caius was the lirst who 
 found in MS. the Dissertation of Hippocrates De Medicamentis. 
 
 2. De Medendi Methodo, lib. ii. ex CI. Galeni, Pergani. et J. B. Montani 
 Sentenlia. Basil, 1544, 8vo. 
 
 3. CI. Galeni Perg. Libri aliquot Graeci, partim hactenus non visi, partim a 
 mendis repurg. Aniiot. illustr. Basil, 1544, 8vo.; 1574, 4to. 
 
 4. A Boke, or Counseill against the Sweat, or Sweatynge Sickness. Lond. 
 R. Grafton, 1552, 12mo. 
 
 5. De Ephemera Britannica, lib. i. Lovan. 1556. Et. summa cura recog. 
 Lond. 1721, bvo. This is the best edition. 
 
 6. Opera aliquot et versiones, partim jam nata, partim recognita atque aucta. 
 Lovan. 1556, 12mo. A wood-cut of Caius with a large beard is affixed to this work. 
 
 7. De Antiquitate Cantabrigiensis Acadcmiic, lib. ii. Adjunximus Aportionem 
 Antiquitatis Oxoniensis Academiee : ab Oxon. quodam. Lond. 1568, 12mo. 1574, 4to. 
 
 8. De Rariorum Animalium et Stirjiium historiu. Lond. 1570, 4to. 
 
 9. I nstitutionmn Liber Posterior de Rebus. Lovan. 1570, 16mo. 
 
 10. De Canibus Britannicis, lib. i. De Rarior. Animal. &c. lib. i. De Libris 
 Propriis, lib. i. Lond. 1570, 1574, 1576, 1699, 1721, 8vo. Lugd. 1728, 4to. 
 
 1 1. Of Englishe Dogges, the diversities, the names, the natures, and the properties. 
 Translated by Abraham Fleming. Lond. 1576, 4to. 
 
 12. Commentarii in CI. Galeni de Administrationibus Anatomicis : in C. de Motu 
 Musculonnn : in L. de Ossibus. Basil, 1574, 4to. 
 
 13. Do Pronunciatione Graecse et Latinse Linguae. Lond. 1574, 4to 
 
 14. Opuscula, a S. J ebb. Lond. 1729, 8vo. 
 
 15. De Thermis Britannicis 
 
 * P. 210.
 
 O'A^^i.Od^/l 

 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 ETC., ETC., ETC. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. 
 
 Sir Anthony Carlisle, the present President of the Royal College of 
 Surgeons, is a native of the county of Durham. He is a descendant of 
 an ancient noble family; Sir James Carlisle having married Margaret 
 Bruce, whose successors obtained a peerage, with the barony of Tortthorald. 
 He is the third of four sons, and was born in 1768. His professional 
 education commenced with an uncle at York ; upon whose death he was 
 transferred to Mr. Green, founder of the hospital in the city of Durham. 
 Having here acquired general information preparatory to the more par- 
 ticular study of his profession, he came to London, and attended the 
 lectures at the Hunterian school, under Mr. Cruikshank and Dr. Baillie, 
 where his diligence and ingenuity soon attracted the attention of the 
 celebrated John Hunter, so that a proposition was made to Mr. Carlisle 
 to conduct the dissections, and undertake the arrangement of his museum. 
 This, however, was not accepted, and Mr. C. became a resident pupil of 
 Mr. Henry Watson, at that time one of the Court of Examiners, and one 
 of the Surgeons to the Westminster Hospital. Upon the decease of this 
 gentleman in 179.S, Mr. Carlisle became his successor at the hospital. Of 
 this institution, the oldest of the kind in this country, supported entirely by 
 voluntary contributions, he is now the senior surgeon ; and the whole of 
 his life, as the following narrative will shew, has been devoted to the 
 performance of the duties connected with his profession. He for many years 
 delivered regular courses of lectures on surgery, and he continues to give 
 clinical lectures to the pupils of the Westminster Hospital. Upon the 
 minds of the students he has always been anxious to impress the necessity 
 of attending to the ordinary duties of their profession, and repressing the 
 zeal which usually animates them in search of the severer operations of 
 
 1
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 surgery. This practice is of little service to the pupil as an operator 
 himself, and is detrimental to him as a general practitioner, as he must 
 unavoidably neglect those cases, which, from their frequent occurrence, are 
 of more importance in his avocations. He has urged, with no less force 
 than propriety, the advantages arising from the skilful application of 
 bandages, or the neatness and precision with which ordinary phlebotomy 
 should be practised. Of these every by-stander is capable of forming an 
 opinion ; and not unfrequently the fame and fortune of a surgeon will be 
 found materially to rest upon such circumstances. Sir A. Carlisle is the 
 first to have introduced the important practice of public consultations upon 
 the propriety of operating at the Westminster Hospital ; a practice which 
 has been found to be productive of very beneficial results, and to have 
 been since adopted at various other similar establishments. He has ever 
 professed his anxiety to advance his profession, and the interests of humanity. 
 With the most laudable motive, he submitted, in 1829, a plan relative to 
 the publication of hospital reports, to be collected together from all general 
 medical hospitals, metropolitan and provincial, and addressed to the Royal 
 College of Surgeons, and published by them half-yearly. The plan, how- 
 ever, was not supported by his colleagues in the council, and fell to the 
 ground. The separate publication of the Reports of St. Thomas's and 
 Guy's Hospitals, and the establishment of provincial journals, have, in some 
 measure, though imperfectly, supplied the desideratum Sir Anthony pointed 
 out. 
 
 The importance of comparative anatomy and physiology, in an inquiry 
 into the structure and functions of the human system, no one of the 
 present day will for a moment question, yet few are to be found who 
 have sufficient leisure to devote from the more active pursuits of the 
 profession, to obtain that particular knowledge which is essential to the 
 elucidation of general views connected with medical science. Sir Anthony 
 is one of the earliest labourers in this field in this country ; and he 
 appears to have been animated by the spirit of Hunter, and to have 
 recognized with ardour the glorious career of that most distinguished 
 naturalist and physiologist. The papers he has pubhshed in the Trans- 
 actions of the Royal, (of which he became a Fellow in 1800,) Linnaean, 
 and Horticultural Societies, afford evidence of the truth of this remark. 
 In the Philosophical Transactions some communications of importance 
 have appeared : the first is entitled, " An Account of a Peculiar Arrange- 
 ment in the Arteries distributed on the Muscles of slow-moving Animals."* 
 
 * Phil. Trans. 1800 and 1804.
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 In the year 1799, John Symmons, Esq., F.R.S., presented to Mr. Carlisle 
 a maucauco for dissection. It was the species known to naturalists as the 
 Lemur tardigradus, remarkable for the slowness of its movements. Its 
 blood-vessels being injected, a very extraordinary distribution of the arteries 
 was observed, differing very materially from the ordinary course in animals 
 generally. The deviation was observable in the axillary and iliac arteries ; 
 the main trunks supplying the extremities. At their entrance into these parts 
 of the animal, the trunk of the vessel did not branch out in an arborescent 
 form, but immediately divided into a number of equal-sized cylinders, which 
 occasionally anastomosed with each other. They were all directed to the 
 muscles or moving organs ; and our anatomist counted twenty-three of 
 these cylinders in the fore, and seventeen in the hinder limb. This 
 discovery was so remarkable, that Mr. C. was almost disposed to consider 
 it as an accidental variety, and therefore did not attempt any physiological 
 explanation of such a condition, until he should have had opportunities of 
 observing the structure of the arteries in some other animals of similar 
 habits. The Bradypus tridactylus, or great American sloth, was found 
 to have a like distribution ; and the communications between the cylinders 
 in this animal were found to exceed in number those of the Lemur tardi- 
 gradus. No less than forty-two separate cylinders were counted upon the 
 superficies of the brachial fasciculus ; and these did not constitute the 
 whole of the number which existed there. The arteries of the lower 
 limbs were less divided, and of larger diameter ; thirty-four branches only 
 were detected in the middle of the thigh. The Bradypus didactylus is a 
 quicker-moving animal than the tridactylus, and the arteries were found 
 to be less divided. The effect of such an arrangement of the arteries 
 must be to retard the velocity of the circulating fluid : and this is, in the 
 animals mentioned, in relation to the muscles of their limbs. Mr. Carlisle 
 was not clear as to whether the slow movement of the blood sent to these 
 muscles was a subordinate convenience to other primary causes of their 
 slow contraction, or whether it formed of itself the immediate and prin- 
 cipal cause. The relation of the vascular system to the operation of 
 muscular contraction is not yet sufficiently ascertained. It is, however, 
 obvious, as Mr. C. at once saw, that the effect of this peculiar distribution was 
 to enable the animal to cling to the boughs of trees, &c. for a great length 
 of time ; to accommodate itself, in short, to the habits of life of the animal, 
 which give occasion for the long-continued contraction of some of the 
 muscles of their Umbs, for these animals have been known to cling to 
 trees for several hours without changing in any way their position. The 
 author of this anatomical discovery has not lost sight of something analogous 
 
 3
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 remarked in the carotid artery of the lion, known by the name of the 
 rete mirabile, and described by Galen ; and by which it is presumed the 
 animal is enabled firmly to hold his prey for a great length of time without 
 fatiguing the muscles of his jaws, to which these blood-vessels are trans- 
 mitted. Examination of the arteries supplying the muscles of the jaws 
 of the ruminating and the carnivorous animals, proved them to be arbo- 
 rescent, and did not therefore maintain the conjecture which had been 
 carefully thrown out. llie rete mirabile, and the circuitous course of the 
 vessels going to the brain, appeared to check the velocity of the blood 
 going to that organ. Many slow-moving muscles are found to be furnished 
 with long cylindrical arteries ; and in the heart, whose muscular motions 
 are of exceeding rapidity, they are more quickly subdivided than those of 
 any other part of the body. A greater collection of facts is necessary before 
 the subject can be considered as satisfactorily accounted for. 
 
 Sir A. Carlisle has given an account of " A Monstrous Lamb." * The 
 peculiarity relates to the formation of the head, and the absence of cere- 
 brum. 
 
 In 1804 he wrote the "Croonian Lecture on Muscular Motion." f 
 
 The papers above noticed have shewn how the author's attention 
 had been directed to the connexion between the conditions of the vascular 
 and muscular systems; and this lecture is directed to a consideration of 
 this subject, as well as the dependence on the respiratory and nervous 
 systems. The changes which take place during the contraction or relax- 
 ation of muscles, are exceedingly difiicult of solution. Many physiologists 
 have endeavoured to account for them in various ways, but hitherto the 
 subject may be regarded as an unsettled one in physiological science. It is, 
 therefore, highly important to collect facts, and to institute well-arranged 
 experiments ; and Sir A. Carlisle has at least the merit of having aided in 
 the research. His experiments to shew the properties of the irritable 
 muscular fibre, and on the cohesive attraction of muscles, are very inte- 
 resting. In a second Croonian Lecture, the arrangement and mechanical 
 action of the muscles of fishes were particularly considered. J 
 
 Physiology of the Stapes. § This is an attempt to illustrate some cir- 
 cumstances connected with the organ of hearing, from an examination of 
 one of the bones of the ear, in man and various animals. In man it is 
 exceedingly minute, measuring only, according to Sir A., -^ of an inch in 
 height, and -£^ in breadth at the basis, and weighing only 3^^ of a grain. 
 In this paper, Sir Anthony displays the discovery of an osseous bolt, which 
 
 * Phil. Trans. 1801. f Ibid. 1804. : Ibid. 1806. § Ibid. 1805. 
 
 4
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 he calls pessulus, passing between the arch of the stapes in several animals, 
 viz. the guinea-pig, the mole, &c. 
 
 " Account of a family having hands and feet with supernumerary 
 fingers and toes."* No subject is more difficult of solution than the here- 
 ditary transmission of peculiarities from parents to their offspring. All the 
 processes connected with the generative functions are enveloped in much 
 obscurity ; and it is important to collect and accurately record all the variety 
 of phenomena observable in the reproduction of the species. The supernu- 
 merary fingers and toes, in the case narrated by Sir Anthony Carlisle, had 
 been traced to occur even to the fourth generation ; and what is rather 
 remarkable, both the male and female branches of the original parent were 
 capable of transmitting the peculiarity. 
 
 In the Linnaean Transactions t are, " Observations on the Structure and 
 Economy of those Intestinal Worms called Teniae," in which an ingenious 
 attempt is made to explain the mechanism and physiology of those curious 
 animals. Their food the author presumes to be the chyle, and their struc- 
 ture, therefore, peculiarly simple, inasmuch as no complication of digestive 
 apparatus is necessary for assimilating nourishment already prepared for 
 them. 
 
 In the Horticultural Transactions, Sir Anthony Carlisle has printed some 
 "Preliminary Observations to the second volume of the Transactions;"^ 
 also an " Account of a Walnut Tree which bore fi'uit at an early period 
 from seed;"§ and "On the connexion between the leaves and fruit of 
 Vegetables." II 
 
 The earliest production of Sir A. Carlisle's pen appears to be the rela- 
 tion of a " Case of unusual formation in a part of the brain. "5F The falci- 
 form process of the dura mater was deficient, a very uncommon, if not 
 unique occurrence. The brain was not divided into hemispheres as usual, 
 but completely formed of one substance. No peculiar condition or character 
 of intellectual power was observable in this case during hfe ; the functions 
 of the organ appear to have been exercised as in the ordinary conformation 
 of that most important part of the human frame. 
 
 In the Medical and Physical Journal are seven papers: — " 1. A new 
 method of applying the tourniquet to restrain arterial haemorrhages from 
 the lower extremities."** 2. "Account of the use of an instrument for 
 
 * Ibid. 1814. t Vol. ii. X For tlie year 1814. • 
 
 § Ibid. Ii Hort. Trans. 1816. 
 
 ^ Transactions of a Society for the Improvement of Medical and Chirm'gical 
 Knowledge, Vol. i. ** Vol. i p. 23. 
 
 5
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 cutting the cornea in the operation of extracting a cataract;"* this is of 
 Parisian invention ; it is open to objection, and less preferable than the 
 mode now adopted by all expert operators. 3. " Description of the use of 
 the Bistoire Cache for Lithotomy." f- The improvements in modern surgery; 
 and the able employment of the knife by most operators, have superseded 
 the use of this instrument in one of the most important of surgical opera- 
 tions. 4. "On the indiscriminate use of bougies armed with caustic.";}: 
 5. "Observations on Simple Fractures, where the union fails." § The 
 deficiency of ossific union is imputed by the author to a sluggish and 
 inactive condition of the vascular system ; and he suggests the necessity of 
 watching the progress of inflammatory symptoms, and moderating them only 
 when actually present, rather than anticipating their appearance ; and after 
 the thirtieth day to commence with a generous regimen. 6. " On the Radical 
 Cure of Bubonocele." II 7. " Case of Strangulated Umbilical Hernia."^ 
 
 In the 7th volume of " Medical Facts and Observations," Sir A. Carlisle 
 printed some " Observations on the nature of Corns, and the means of 
 removing them." A large proportion of the misery we endure, as well as 
 the happiness we enjoy in this world, is occasioned by trifles; and this 
 observation is strikingly illustrated by the subject of this paper. Continued 
 pressure calls forth the protecting power of nature ; and thus by the forma- 
 tion of successive layers of cuticle, a corn is produced. The degree of 
 pressure occasioned by this thickening, however, disturbs the formation of 
 the true skin beneath, sinks below its proper level, forms a cone which 
 presses upon the sensible parts, and occasions considerable pain and incon- 
 venience. Sir Anthony recommends dissolving the corn by warm applica- 
 tions, followed by the caustic alkali. He recommends blistering where the 
 corns are soft, that is, when they occur at a perspiring surface. 
 
 In the New Medical and Physical Journal,** Sir A. has given a " De- 
 scription of the Symptoms and Treatment following the Bite of a Viper." 
 In the London Medical Repository are six papers. Four of these comprise 
 " Observations on the Properties and Uses of Cathartics ;"tt and embrace 
 a practical and theoretical statement of the different kinds of cathartic 
 medicines, probably the most important remedial agents in the whole 
 Materia Medica, possessing various powers, and adapted to very different 
 circumstances, though too frequently administered without due regard to 
 their qualities, or discrimination as to their effects. The fifth paper J J 
 consists of " Remarks on the present unsettled state of opinion about the 
 
 * lb. p. 332. t Vol. iii. p. 193. t Vol. iii. p. 289. 
 
 § Vol. vi. p. 201. II Vol. ix. p. 396. HVol. xii. p. 337. 
 
 ** Vol. i. p. 89. ft Vol. i. pp. 97, 185, 277,453. 1 1 Vol. vii. 
 
 6
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 Venereal Disease." After noticing a variety of appearances of a doubtful 
 nature, as characteristic of the disease, and shewing its manifestation under 
 difi'erent forms, the author very justly enters his protest against the modern 
 subdivisions of surgery for the pretended special treatment of particular 
 disorders. It is a " quackish delusion," foreseen by the great Lord Bacon, 
 who says, " And in particular sciences, we see, that if men fall to subdivide 
 their labours, as to be an oculist in physick, or to be perfect in some one 
 title of the law, or the like, they may prove ready and subtle, but not deep 
 or sufficient, no, not in that subject which they do particularly attend, because 
 of that consent which it hath with the rest." The other paper consists of 
 " Facts and Observations relative to the connexion between Vascular and 
 Extra- Vascular Parts, in the structure of hving organized bodies.* In this 
 memoir the author purposely avoids going into any metaphysical disquisi- 
 tion as to the mysterv of vitality, confessing himself wholly incompetent to 
 reduce that power within the rules of physical science. He is satisfied with 
 attempting to benefit physiology, by establishing accurate discriminations 
 between the several substances of living bodies, especially as to the relative 
 dominion of vitality or of physical causes on those substances respectively. 
 
 A series of preparations illustrative of the union between vital and 
 extra-vital parts, as exhibited in the testaceous tribe of animals, has been 
 deposited by the author in the Hunterian Museum, and will amply repay 
 the student and the naturalist for any trouble in their investigation. By 
 extra-vital. Sir A. C. means those parts of organic bodies which have no 
 power of self-repair, which hold no continuity with the circulating fluid 
 material destined to replenish the waste, to augment the bulk, or repair the 
 accidents of the living fabric. 
 
 In the London Medical Gazette for March 8, 1828, there is a paper on 
 Erysipelas. Sir A. looks upon this disease as " a humoral and constitu- 
 tional inflammation, occasioned by alimentary crudities, because certain 
 vegetable acids and acidifiable viands are often the notorious antecedents 
 of the disease." This paper presents the results of a long and extensive 
 practice, and contains some very judicious remarks on the subject of diet. 
 
 In Nicholson's Journal there is a paper on " Galvanic Electricity, and 
 its Chemical Agencies."t This was published in July, 1800. Sir A. C. 
 had obtained from Sir Joseph Banks a perusal of a part of Signor Volta's 
 paper, describing the formation of what is now well known as the Voltaic 
 Pile, and, with Mr. Nicholson, he proceeded to make some experiments 
 with an instrument composed according to the direction of the Italian pro- 
 
 * Vol. iv. pp. 89, 166. t Vol. iv. p. 179. 4to. eiVii.
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 fessor. The pile was placed upon the gold-leaf metrometer, but no signs 
 of electricity appeared. The action of the instrument was observed to be 
 freely transmitted through the usual conductors of electricity, but stopped 
 by glass and non-conductors. Very early in this course, the contacts being 
 made sure by placing a drop of water on the upper plate, (Mr. N. remarks,) 
 that Mr. C. observed a disengagement of gas round the touching-wire. 
 This appeared to Mr. N. to have the smell of hydrogen whenever the wire 
 of communication was of steel. The experiment was varied, and the circuit 
 was broken by the substitution of a tube of water between two wires. 
 A compound discharge being applied, so that the external ends of its wire 
 were in contact with the two extreme plates of a pile of thirty-six half- 
 crowns, with the correspondent pieces of zinc and pasteboard, a fine stream 
 of minute bubbles immediately began to flow from the point of the lower 
 wire in the tube which communicated with the silver, and the opposite 
 point of the upper wire became tarnished, first deep orange, and then 
 black. Experiments of this nature having continued, two-thirtieths of a 
 cubic inch of gas was obtained, and this being mixed with an equal quantity 
 of air, it was exploded by the application of a lighted waxed thread. Other 
 instances of the decomposition of water are given in this paper, to which 
 the reader is referred for much curious and interesting information. Here it 
 is proved, that Sir A. C. was not only the first to observe the chemical effects 
 of galvanism, but also to indicate the future applications of that agent. 
 
 " On the Discoloration of Silver by Birds' Eggs."* The sulphuretted 
 hydrogen gas, to which this effect is attributable, Sir A. found could not be 
 formed by the albumen of eggs without the addition of water. 
 
 The Philosophical Magazine contains papers " On the Breeding of 
 Eels,"f and "A Tabular View of the State of Health of the Workmen 
 employed by the Commissioners of Sewers in Westminster."! From this 
 statement, the men generally do not appear to have suffered from their 
 occupation beyond the casual occurrence of accidents. 
 
 To the newspapers of the day. Sir Anthony has made several communi- 
 cations of interest. These are principally addressed to the Times, and em- 
 brace the subjects of the Salt Duties — the Importance of Salt to the Health 
 of Human Beings — Military Flogging — Hygaeian Quackery, &c. The 
 following deserves to be particularly attended to : "A Letter to Lord Robert 
 Seymour, on the Establishment of a County Pauper Lunatic Asylum." The 
 suggestions contained in this paper, unfortunately, have not been adopted. 
 Until insanity is looked upon and treated as fever, or any other disease, it is 
 
 * Ibid. vol. V. p. 178. t Vol. lix. Feb. 1822 I Ibid. 1832. 
 
 8
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 likely we shall remain ignorant of the proper modes of treatment. Sir A. 
 proposed that the asylum should be open, like other public hospitals, for the 
 instruction of pupils, and the public communication of the methods of 
 practice adopted. Every physician, surgeon, or apothecary possesses the 
 power, by their signature, of consigning a fellow-creature to the confinement 
 of a mad-house, yet there are no public institutions in which instruction 
 relative to insanity is to be obtained. No one will question the importance 
 of this subject, and no one will deny the difficulty attendant upon determin- 
 ing the physical as well as moral treatment necessary to be pursued in cases 
 of mental derangement. 
 
 In the Archaeologia are two papers; one, « A Description of Five Maces 
 discovered on the capture of the Fort at Agra;" the other, "An Account 
 of some Coins found in certain Tumuli in the Southern District of the 
 Peninsula of India,": in which paper Sir A. C. points out the methods used 
 for raising huge stones, such as those at Stonehenge. 
 
 Sir Anthony CarUsle has made several communications to the publica- 
 tions of various authors. The subject of Hydrophobia has engaged his 
 attention, and in Mr. Gillman's essay on this subject will be found a case of 
 this horrid disease, which occurred in a httle girl three and a half years 
 old. It is exceedingly well related, and presents a case of canine madness 
 completely uninfluenced by moral causes. In the same wo k is a relation 
 of the symptoms observed in a rabid dog. In an oration delivered before 
 the Medico-Botanical Society, are some judicious observations on the impor- 
 tance of attending to medical botany, and in « Enquiries into the effects of 
 fermented hquors," some remarks on diet and regimen observed in training 
 pugilists, or persons for athletic games, &c. Sir Anthony Carlisle has also 
 made many valuable contributions to the illustrated catalogue of the Hunterian 
 Museum, particularly on the subject of the comparative anatomy of the 
 organ of Hearing. The plates were engraved at the Author's expense, 
 and are admirably adapted to their object. They were originally intended 
 to accompany an essay on sound, and on the organs of hearing generally, 
 which formed part of a course of lectures delivered by Sir Anthony Carlisle, 
 when Professor of Anatomy and Surgery to the Royal College of Surgeons, 
 in 1818. An abstract of this essay is affixed to the illustrated catalogue, 
 and our Author's views on the subject of sound in reference to the Stetho- 
 scope may be seen in Dr. Wolff's "Treatise on the use of Auscultation," 
 lately published.— It remains to notice the works separately published by 
 Sir Anthony Carlisle. These consist of :— 
 
 * Vols. xvi. & xxii. 
 9
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, RR.S. 
 
 " 1. An Essay on the Disorders of Old Age, and on the Means of Prolong- 
 ing Human Life." The first edition appeared in quarto, in 1817, the second 
 in octavo, in 1818. This Essay is principally addressed to the Aged, and 
 is chiefly intended to point out the diet most proper to the advanced period 
 of life, as want of attention in this respect frequently abridges the duration 
 of existence. The author inclines to the opinion, that the disorders of 
 senility may often be relieved, and human life prolonged beyond the ordi- 
 nary time, by judicious management. This is comprised in the regulation 
 of diet, clothing, exercise, and air, rather than by the emplojment of drugs 
 or pharmaceutical preparations. The commencement of old age, Sir Anthony 
 Carlisle fixes at sixty. At this period he thinks some symptoms of disorder 
 usually manifest themselves. These are chiefly connected with the function 
 of digestion ; hence the importance of dietetic precepts. For these, and the 
 several modes of treatment adapted to the various disorders incidental to 
 age, the reader is referred to the " Essay," which concludes with some 
 observations upon a subject of great importance : — " The Moral Propriety 
 of Surgical Operations upon Old Persons." This is a question in medical 
 ethics deserving of the serious attention of every practitioner. Sir Anthony 
 Carlisle justly remarks, that dangerous operations are rarely advisable in 
 advanced age, because the living powers are then diminished, and old persons 
 are seldom exempt from constitutional disorders. 
 
 2. In 1829, Sir Anthony Carlisle submitted a Paper to one of the Evening 
 Meetings of the Royal College of Physicians, being an account of an 
 " Alleged discovery of the use of the Spleen, and of the Thyroid Gland." 
 The physiology of these organs has engaged the attention of all anatomists, 
 and still remains in obscurity. Our author's object was to demonstrate the 
 connexions, and the physical eff'ects produced by these organs upon more 
 important contiguous parts, and thus to offer an explanation of their respect- 
 ive offices. The quantity of blood sent to the spleen has always been 
 remarked, and some peculiar secretion has been sought for, to explain its use; 
 but no excretory duct has been found. Sir Charles Bell has well said, that 
 « The spleen is privileged ground for speculation," and a history of the vari- 
 ous opinions that have been entertained, would be more amusing than useful. 
 The spleen has been compared to a sand-bath, fitted to foment the stomach, 
 and promote the digestion. It has been regarded as the organ to secrete an 
 acid juice, and so excite an appetite— it has been looked upon as the seat of 
 the soul! — the cause of venereal desire — the receptacle of aferment — the seat 
 of luxury— the abode of joy, or indolence, or sleep, the seat of melancholy, 
 
 " that moping here doth Hypochondria sit," 
 or, " Laughter holding both his sides." 
 
 10
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 And Sir Charles Bell tells us we have authority for the excision of the 
 .pleen from those who are otherwise incurable in their propensity to 
 laucrhter. Hewson imagined that the spleen added the flat vesicle of the 
 globules of the blood ; and another opinion has been, that it counterbalanced 
 the mass of the Uver seated to the right side of the abdomen. It has been 
 considered as preparing the blood for the secretion of the bile ; but Doctor 
 Saunders made some experiments which appear to .hew that the bile in 
 animals from whom the spleen has been removed, is not different from those 
 in whom it remained ; and that the liver, in the exercise of its function, is 
 perfectly independent of that viscus. Dr. Haighton's experiments confirm 
 these views. Some physiologists have modestly asserted that the spleen 
 v.as of no use at all, and they have founded their opinion upon the absence 
 of any ill effects following its extirpation in animals. It has been removed 
 from man himself. At the battle of Dettingen a soldier had his side 
 pierced by a bayonet ; he lay during the night on the ground, and when 
 discovered by the surgeon in the morning, the spleen was found hanging 
 out of the abdomen. It was so much enlarged, that the surgeon thought 
 proper not to return it, but removed it, and no inconvenience was after- 
 wards experienced in the animal functions. The majority of physiologists 
 favour the opinion of its being an organ subservient to the stomach. Sir 
 C Bell looks upon it as a provision for giving the vessels of the stomach 
 an occasional power and greater activity, enabhng them to pour out a 
 quantity of fluid proportioned to the necessity of the digestion. Dr. Kusli 
 regarded the spleen as an organ of defence against the eff-ects of sudden 
 accident upon the important viscera of the abdomen. Sir A. Carlisle s 
 opinions accord most with those of Dr. Stukeley as to the physiological 
 influence of the organ ; but they differ as to the parts upon which that 
 influence is bestowed, and the effects produced. The temperature of 
 animal bodies is regulated by the proportion of red blood circulating 
 throu-h them. An unequal dispensation of animal heat, Sir A. remarks, 
 exposes many parts to a passive reduction of temperature; the eff-ects of 
 which are, a dimunition of sensibility, and an abatement of muscular power. 
 By the introduction of cold drinks and food, the stomach appears to be 
 peculiarly subjected to change of temperature; and our author views the 
 spleen as the organ for compensating heat, and the natural provision 
 acrainst the torporizing influence of low temperature suddenly applied to 
 the nervous and muscular structures of the stomach. He has pomted out 
 the constant aUiance between temperature and the sensorial functions and 
 muscular motions, and called to his aid many ingenious illustrations derived 
 from his extended knowledge of comparative anatomy. The thyroid gland
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 is similar in its structure to the spleen ; and its office he regards as of a 
 similar character. He considers that " the local adaptations of the thyroid 
 gland to the trachea and larynx, must necessarily furnish heat to the nerves 
 and muscles of the organ of voice, whose bloodless cartilages are exposed, 
 both within and without, to the effects of atmospheric changes." 
 
 3. In 1826, Sir A. Carhsle addressed a "Letter to Sir Gilbert Blane 
 on the employment of Blisters, Rubifacients, and Escharotics," and recom- 
 mended an instrument called " the Blisterer," adapted to transmit a 
 defined degree of heat to effect these several purposes. 
 
 Sir A. Carlisle has delivered two " Hunterian Orations ;" the first in 
 1820, the second in 1826. The former is dedicated to George IV., to 
 whom Sir Anthony was Surgeon Extraordinary. In this he sagaciously 
 predicts that which is now being rapidly fulfilled, and will be best 
 expressed in his own words : — "The constitution of organized bodies is yet 
 imperfectly understood ; but, if we patiently wait until the inward history 
 of living creatures is more extensively shown, and until chymistry has 
 developed the essentials of their composition, we or our followers must be 
 rewarded by more satisfactory views:" and in allusion to the Hunterian 
 museum, to which so many additions have been since made, he remarks, 
 " It may be the destiny of this college to execute the glorious scheme of 
 Aristotle ; to draw together the creatures of the earth ; to unravel their 
 natures, and to display with perspicuity their several applications for the 
 services of all sensitive beings." Few members of the College are better, 
 if so well adapted to display the importance of a knowledge of natural 
 history in connexion with anatomical and physiological science. Sir 
 Anthony from his earliest days has been a devoted enthusiast in the 
 examination of the treasures of nature in all her kingdoms, and an active 
 seeker into the mystery of her operations. He is, therefore, well calculated 
 to do justice to the merits and views of John Hunter. His knowledge of 
 the complex phenomena of living bodies, and the difficulty of tracing the 
 causes which regulate them, led him to insist upon the necessity of making 
 examination into the diversity of textures observable throughout the animal 
 kingdom, and carefully distinguishing the supposed connecting links by 
 which they are severally bound together. " In some animals (he observes) 
 the parts ordained to perform definite offices, are simple, distinct, and 
 homogeneous ; in others, they occur intermixed with adventitious, auxiliary, 
 or subordinate structures ; so that nothing short of a copious and particular 
 knowledge of these facts can warrant any physiological theory. The whole 
 of these contemplations invariably lead to conclusive proofs of the strict 
 adaptation between animal structures and their functions ; and while the 
 
 12
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 wisdom of this moral governance, and the supreme order of Providence 
 command our adoration, we may be permitted to advance our researches 
 and cogitations respecting those natural events, which comprehend the 
 most important information for the improvement of surgery." The second 
 Hunterian oration relates to the connexion between vascular and extra- 
 vascular parts. 
 
 From the preceding statement, it will be evident that Sir A. C. has for 
 many years been ardently and usefully engaged in professional researches. 
 He has for many years been one of the Council of the Royal College of 
 Surgeons, one of the Board of Examiners, and one of the Curators of the 
 Hunterian Museum, He has been one of its Professors of Anatomy and 
 Surcrery, and in 1829 he filled the office of President. He occupies the same 
 distinguished position at the present time. He has for many years been 
 one of the Surgeons of the Westminster Hospital, and was Surgeon Extra- 
 ordinary to his late Majesty George IV., from whom he received the honour 
 of knighthood at the first levee of that monarch, he being recommended for 
 that honour by the privy council, on the ground of his professional merits. 
 He was also appointed surgeon to the late Duke of Gloucester, at a personal 
 interview, to which he was introduced by the learned Dr. Samuel Parr. 
 
 He has enjoyed an. extensive practice, and his experience has enabled 
 him to make many improvements: one, not the least in importance, has 
 been in the alteration of some of the instruments used in surgical opera- 
 tions, and it should be known, that to Sir Anthony's ingenuity and applica- 
 tion we are indebted for the introduction of the present excellent amputating 
 instruments. He first substituted the thin-bladed, straight-edged ampu- 
 tating knife, approaching, in its kind, to the ordinary carving knife, for the 
 clumsy crooked knife of former days; and also was the first to employ the 
 carpenter's saw, simple in its construction compared with that formerly 
 employed. He was the first to use the Bistoire Cache in this country, and 
 he has, by the aid of Mr. Stodart, introduced various improvements in 
 surgical apparatus. The ingenuity of Sir Anthony in early days enabled 
 him to accomphsh what Mr. Hunter considered to be a desideratum in 
 anatomical research. He succeeded in making the first perfect cast of the 
 labyrinth of the ear, and had the gratification of presenting the model to 
 that celebrated man, who was highly delighted with the acquisition. 
 
 But Sir Anthony's labours have not been confined to the application of 
 anatomical science to the relief of the diseases and disorders of mankind : 
 he has considered it in relation to the arts of design, and the display of taste 
 by painters and sculptors. In 1808, upon the death of Mr. Sheldon, 
 Sir Anthony succeeded him as Professor of Anatomy to the Royal Academy. 
 
 13
 
 SIR ANTHONY CARLISLE, F.R.S. 
 
 The first professor was Dr. William Hunter, who was succeeded by Mr. 
 Sheldon. Sir Anthony was, therefore, the third anatomical professor of this 
 institution. He held the appointment for sixteen years, varying the courses 
 every year, but devoting the first two lectures to an especial exposition 
 of the connexion between anatomy and the fine arts, embracing a philo- 
 sophical view of the passing state of anatomical knowledge. Upon his 
 retirement he carried with him the good wishes and sincere thanks of 
 all the members of the Academy, who, to testify the sense they enter- 
 tained of his distinguished services, presented to him a handsome salver, 
 with the following inscription : viz. " Presented to Sir Anthony Carlisle, Kt. 
 with the unanimous thanks of the President and Members of the Royal 
 Academy of Arts, for the zeal, attention, and ability with which, during 
 sixteen years, he fulfilled the duties of Professor of Anatomy to that institu- 
 tion, and as a Testimony of their respect and esteem. London, 1825." 
 
 Sir Anthony had been admitted a student at the Royal Academy upon 
 the recommendation of Sir Joshua Reynolds, given in consequence of a 
 conversation which took place at the celebrated painter's one evening, 
 between Sir Joshua, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Burke, and Mr. Carhsle. By this, 
 he became the fellow-student of Hoppner, Westall, and other justly cele- 
 brated artists. In the periodical called « The Artist," Sir Anthony printed 
 an " Essay on the Connexion between Anatomy and the Fine Arts," the 
 object of which is to show that minute details of human structure are not 
 necessary in historical painting and sculpture. The dissection of human 
 bodies was not permitted at the period when the Greek schools enjoyed 
 their greatest popularity, and had reached their highest excellence. When 
 the fine arts flourished most, anatomy was not cultivated by artists as a 
 particular object of study. Sir Anthony regards anatomy as principally 
 useful to the artist by fixing his attention upon the most difiicult of all the 
 forms in nature — those of the human body. " Anatomy (he says) is sub- 
 servient to precision and truth in design ; it may secretly give correctness 
 to drawing, but, if urged further, it will create disgust." 
 
 It is to be regretted that neither the lectures delivered at the Royal 
 Academy or the Royal College of Surgeons, have been published. To the 
 merits of the latter, many have borne their testimony, particularly his 
 learned and eloquent colleague, Wilham Lawrence, Esq., in his lectures on 
 Physiology, Zoology, and the Natural History of Man, (pp. 40—678.) 
 
 The Portrait prefixed to this Memoir was painted by Sir M. A. Shee, 
 P.R.A., at the time Sir Anthony was Professor of Anatomy at the Royal 
 Academy. 
 
 14
 
 2^^<
 
 SIR CHARLES MANSFIELD CLARKE, BART. 
 
 M.D. F.Il.S. ETC. ETC. ETC. 
 
 " Rite matures aperire partus/' — Horat. 
 
 Whatever relates to the condition, safety, or happiness of that sex so 
 beautifully described by the immortal poet as, 
 
 " last and best 
 
 Of all God's works, creature in whom excell'd 
 Whatever can to sight or thought be form'd 
 Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet !" 
 
 and upon whom our greatest happiness may justly be said to depend, must 
 merit the deepest attention and regard. The study of midwifery claims for 
 its assistance the sciences of anatomy, physiology, surgery, and medicine, 
 inasmuch as they relate to the formation and growth of the foetus, the 
 changes which the several organs undergo during the process of gestation, 
 and the various diseases incidental to the gravid state and to the earliest 
 days of the infant. It is a branch of the most intense interest — involving, 
 as it does, the safety of the fairest and most amiable part of creation. It 
 was a study deemed by the ancients not unworthy of their regard. Hippo- 
 crates wrote several treatises on this subject: — De Morhis Mulieriim ; Be 
 Superfcetatione ; De Virginihus ; &c. Aristotle, Galen, iEtius, Albucasis 
 Avicenna, and others, have followed this illustrious example. The first 
 physiological work, however, of real value, relating to the origin and growth 
 of the human foetus, is to be found in the writings of the celebrated 
 Dr. Harvey. That men of high and exalted attainments — such as possessed 
 by those already named, and others of minor character, that might easily be 
 enumerated — should have bent their thoughts to the subject of midwifery, 
 cannot be a matter of surprise — seeing, as we do, that, in all ages, nature, 
 however powerful in general, has not always been able to support and 
 maintain her own laws ; and that, but for the interposition and assistance of 
 the medical practitioner, many individuals must have been lost to society. 
 It has been well said, that no science leads'us so immediately to a survey 
 of our own origin as this ; that it presents to our view the rudiments of the 
 
 1^
 
 SIR CHARLES MANSFIELD CLARKE, BART. 
 
 foetus, and shows how they gradually unfold themselves, in magnitude and 
 figure, from conception to the time of birth ; illustrating what Garth so well 
 expressed in those memorable lines in " The Dispensary :" — 
 
 " How the dim speck of entity began 
 T'extend its recent form, and stretch to man. 
 To how minute an origin we owe 
 Young Animon, Ciesar, and the great Nassau." 
 
 The French have excelled the English in the advancement of obstetric 
 knowledge ; and the labours of Pare, Guillemeau, Mauriceau, Deventer, and 
 others, have justly become distinguished. They had lying-in hospitals 
 established at a much earlier period than in England ; and to the advantages 
 of instruction offered by these institutions, must be attributed much of the 
 perfection of the science of midwifery at the present day. Dr. John Moubray, 
 the author of " The Female Physician, or the Whole Art of New Improved 
 Midwifery," and " Midwifery brought to Perfection," was the first public 
 teacher of midwifery in Britain, and delivered his lectures at his house in 
 Bond Street; and Sir Richard Manningham, in 1739, established a ward or 
 small hospital, attached to the Parochial Infirmary of St. James's, West- 
 minster, for the exclusive reception of lying-in women ; and this offers the 
 first public hospital for obstetric cases in England. 
 
 It may not be unacceptable to the reader to have, in this place, some 
 account of the earliest known work, in the English language, upon midwifery ; 
 the original manuscript of which, presented by the translator (for it is a 
 foreign work) to Katherine, queen of Henry VIII., is in the possession of the 
 writer of this Memoir. It is entitled, " The Byrth of Mankynde newlye 
 translated oute of Laten into Englysshe. In the whiche is entreated of all suche 
 thynges the whiche chaunce to women in their labor, and all suche infirmi- 
 ties whiche happen unto the Infantes after they be delyvered. And also at 
 the latter ende or in the thyrde or laste booke is entreated of the conception 
 of mankynde, and howe manye wayes it maye be letted or furtherj'd, with 
 diverse other frutefuU thynges, as dothe appere in the table before the 
 booke." Following this title is, " An Admonicion to the Reader : For so 
 muche as we have enterprysed the interpretation of this present booke, 
 oflTerynge and dedycatynge it unto our mooste gracious and vertuous Quene 
 Katherin onely ; by it myndynge and tenderynge the utilite and wealthe 
 of all women, as touchynge the greate parell and dangours, whiche mooste 
 comonlye oppresseth them in their paynfull labours. I requyre all suche 
 men in the name of God whiche at any tyme shall chaunce to have this 
 booke, that they use it godlye and onely to the profight of their neighbours.
 
 SIR CHARLES MANSFIELD CLARKE, BART. 
 
 utterly enschuynge all rebawde and unsemelye communicacion of any 
 thynges contayned in the same, as they wyllanswere before God; whiche as 
 witJiessyth Christ wyll requyre a counte of all ydell wordes, and muehe 
 more then of all rebawde and uncharitable wordes. Every thynge as saithe 
 Solomon hathe his tyme, and truelye that is farre out of tyme, yea and farre 
 from all good honestie, that some use at the commune tables, and without 
 any difference befyre all companyes rudelye and leudelye to talke of suche 
 thynges, in the whiche they ought rather to knowe muche and to sayelittel, 
 but onelye where it maye do goode, magnifyeing the myghtye God of nature 
 in all his workes, copassionatynge and pytyinge oure even Christians the 
 women whiche sustayne and endure for the tjTne so greate dolor and payne 
 for the byrthe of mankynde and delyveraunce of the same in to the worlde. 
 Pravse God in all his workes." 
 After this " Admonicion" is the Dedication :- " Unto the most gracious 
 and in all goodnesse most excellent vertuous Lady Queue Katheryne wyfe 
 and most derely belovyd spouse unto the most myghty sapient Clu-isten 
 prynce Kynge Henry the Eighte Rychard Jonas wyssheth |)petuall joye 
 andfelycyte;" in which the translator speaks of his original as being "a 
 boke entitled De Partu Hominis, that is to saye, of the byrth of mankynde 
 compyled by a famous doctor in Physyke, called Eucharius, the whiche he 
 wrote in his owne mother tunge, that is, beynge a Germayne, in the Ger- 
 mayne speche, afterwarde by an other clarke, at the requeste and desyre of 
 his'frende transposed into Laten, the whiche boke for the singular utihte 
 and profete that ensueth unto all suche as rede it, and mooste specially 
 unto all women (for whose onely cause it was written) hathe ben sythe in 
 the Doutche and Frenche Speche sett forthe and emprynted in greate 
 nober, so that ther be fewe matrones and women in that partes but (if they 
 can rede) wyll have this boke alwayes in readynesse," &c. The work is 
 arranged in three books, which are subdivided into chapters, and treats of 
 various things relating to the formation, development, and bringing forth of 
 the child, and of the diseases incidental both to the mother and child. The 
 first book contains sixteen figures, representing the child in various positions, 
 far more fanciful than true. The date of this MS. must be about the year 
 1540. A copy of the original work in German, by Eucharius RbssLiN 
 (httle Rose), is in the possession of J. B. Inglis, Esq. Ko copy of the Latin 
 edition, described as by Eucharius Rhodion, is to be met with in any of 
 our public libraries. Dr.Denman, in the preface to his "Introduction to he 
 Practice of Midwifery," notices the English work only, and states its pubh- 
 cation to have been in 1540, and to have been executed by " Thomas 
 Raynold Physition." The greater number of copies have Uie name of 
 
 3
 
 SIR CHARLES MANSFIELD CLARKE, BART. 
 
 this physician attached to them; and there are \ery numerous editions. 
 That by Richard Jonas is exceedingly scarce, and it differs from that which 
 bears the name of Raynglde. It is the first medical work which has prints 
 reasonably-well executed from neat drawings. 
 
 EucHARius RossLiN, or Rhodion, as he graecised his name, a practice 
 not uncommon in the sixteenth century, was a native of Frankfort on the 
 Main, celebrated for his knowledge of botany, upon which science he 
 published a work in folio, in 1533, and again in 1566. This work belonged 
 properly to Cuba ; and the only merit Rosslin has in the performance, is, 
 having made additions to it, augmenting it by all that Jerome of Brunswick 
 had published, and illustrating the whole by better figures. It is, strictly 
 speaking, a kind of Hortus Sanitatis, treating alike of plants and metals 
 useful in medicine, and is called " Kreuterbuch {Book of Plants) von aller 
 Kreuter, Gethier, Gesteinen und Metal, Nutz und Gebranche." Eloy 
 mentions* the work on midwifery, and gives as its title, " De Partu Ilominis 
 et quae circa ipsum accidunt, adeoque de parturiendum et Infantium morbis 
 atque cura libellus. Parisiis, 1535. 8vo. ;"but he erroneously places the 
 first German edition as belonging to the year 1532, four years posterior to 
 the date of Mr. Inglis's copy. The writer of this sketch has examined this 
 copy, and finds its title to be, " Der Schwanngeren frawen und Hebammen 
 Rosegarten." A wood-cut, on the title-page, represents the mother in bed, 
 attended by two females, whilst the infant is being bathed by the nurse. 
 On the reverse of the title is also another wood-cut, representing the delivery. 
 The work is dedicated by the author to Katherine of Saxony, Duchess of 
 Brunswick and Lunenburgh, with " Ermannung zuden Schwangeren frawen 
 und Hebammen," a poem in five pages, dated " Wurms, 20 Hornung, 1513," 
 which may therefore be considered as the date of the earliest edition of the 
 work. The cuts mentioned in the English copies are to be found in the 
 original ; the place of printing, and date of which, are thus expressed : — 
 "Gedriickt und vollendet inn der Keyserlichen statt Augspurg, durch 
 Heinrich Steyner, 19 Novem. 1528." 
 
 Raynolde's translation is to be regarded as different from that by Jonas, 
 of which only one printed edition is mentioned by Ames as having been 
 executed in 1540, and which is of exceeding rarity. Raynolde's first edition 
 seems to be of the date of 1545, and is said to be printed by Thomas Ray. 
 As he is not known as a printer, it is probably a contraction of the transla- 
 tor's name, and he may have undertaken the printing of the work. Of this 
 translation many editions are extant, printed by Jugge, and other well-known 
 
 * Diet. Hist, de Medicine, ii. 166, 
 4
 
 SIR CHARLES MANSFIELD CLARKE, BART. 
 
 printers; and the work, according to Dr. Denman, was the text-book of 
 midwifery for nearly a century. 
 
 From this digression let us now more immediately revert to the distm- 
 guished physician whose name is placed at the head of this article. With 
 unmixed delight we must view the exercise of the talents of such men as 
 William Hunter, Denman, Osborn, Smellie, Blundell, Merriman, Ley, and 
 others, to the relief of the sufferings of women in the hour of childbirth. 
 No names, however, stand more conspicuously among modern philanthropists 
 of this class, than the Clarkes. Dr. John Clarke, an elder brother of Sir 
 Charles, must here be specially mentioned. He was highly celebrated for 
 his sound and judicious views in whatever related to the practice of mid- 
 wifery, or the diseases of lying-in women and infant children. He brought 
 to the exercise of a department, which had, in former times, been assigned 
 chiefly to the care of women, a knowledge necessary to the practice of a 
 physician. He laboured with assiduity to develope the mysterious processes 
 of generation ; and demonstrated that the consideration of these phenomena 
 were connected generally with the functions of the animal economy, and 
 equally worthy of the study of the philosopher and the physician. He was 
 a fellow-student of Dr. Baillie, and attended the lectures of the Hunters. 
 He studied midwifery under Dr. Denman and Dr. Osborn, and afterwards 
 became associated with them as a lecturer in this branch of science. He rapidly 
 attained to a most extensive practice, and pubhshed the following works :— 
 
 1. Province of Midwifery in the Practice of this Art disclaiming against Male 
 Practitioners. 1751.— 2. A Satirical Tract on the same Subject.— 3. An Essay on 
 the Epidemic Disease of Lying-in Women, of the Yaws, 1787 and 1788. 1788.— 
 4. Practical Essays on the Management of Pregnancy and Labour, and on the Inflam- 
 matory and Febrile Diseases of Lying-in Women. 1793, 1806.-5. Commentaries 
 on some of the most important Diseases of Children. 1815.— 6. On the Effect^s of 
 certain Articles of Food, especially Oysters, on Women after Childbirth. 1815.— 
 7. History of a Fatal HcEmon-hage from the Laceration of the Fallopian Tube from 
 the Case of an Extra-Uterine Foetus. 1793.— 8. Observations on the case of a 
 Woman who died with a Foetus in the Fallopian Tube. 1800.— 9. Fatal Case of 
 Hernia of some of the Abdominal Viscera strangulated in the Cavity of the Thorax. 
 1800.— 10. Observations on the jVIanagement of Cases in which the Face of the Child 
 presents towards the Os Pubis. 1800.-1 1 . Description of an Extraordinaiy Production 
 of Human Generation. Phil. Trans. 1793.— 12. Of a Tumour in the Placenta. lb. 
 
 The practice of Dr. John Clarke became too extensive for his strength, 
 and it was necessary to lessen the fatigue of his professional labours ; he 
 therefore transferred to his brother (now Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke) a 
 considerable portion of practice, which neither his health nor his time would 
 allow him satisfactorily to execute. A facetious member of the medical 
 profession, and a very worthy man, was pleased to sport, in what he called
 
 SIR CHARLES MANSFIELD CLARKE, BART. 
 
 " Nugae Canorae, or Epitaphian Mementos (in Stone-cutter's Verse) of the 
 Medici Family of Modern Times," upon this circumstance, in the following 
 ludicrous manner : — 
 
 "Beneath this stone, shut up in the dark, 
 Lies a learned nian-midwil'e, y'cle])'d Doctor Clarke. 
 On earth while he lived, hy attencfing men's wives, 
 He increased population some thousands of lives : 
 Thus a gain to the nation was gain to himself; 
 And enlarged population, enlargement of pelf. 
 So he toiled late and early, from morning till night, 
 The squalling of children his greatest delight. 
 Then worn out with labours, he died sldn and hone. 
 And his ladies he left all to Mansfield and Stone." 
 
 The anachronism in the last line must be regarded as a poetical license ; 
 since Mr. Stone, the son of Dr. A. D. Stone, Physician to the Charter 
 House, and the nephew of Dr. John Clarke, was not at that time in practice. 
 Dr. John Clarke died in August, 1815, aged fifty-six years. His death was 
 caused by dropsy, the effect of organic change in the stomach. Had he 
 lived, it is probable, he would have continued his valuable Commentaries 
 upon some of the important diseases of children. 
 
 The success, unequalled success, of Sir Charles Clarke, is not, however, 
 to be attributed merely to the celebrity of his brother. Fie possesses a 
 quick and lively penetration, knowledge, and judgment, which deservedly 
 render him a practitioner of the very first eminence. No other physician 
 can quit London for five or six successive months, and return to exercise as 
 much practice as he is disposed to accomplish. He may be said to enjoy 
 the highest professional reputation. It has been earned and secured by a 
 studious devotion to his profession, directed by all that is honourable and 
 liberal towards his brethren and the public. It would be difficult to name a 
 practitioner who is more generally esteemed and respected than Sir Charles 
 Clarke. He is the son of Mr. John Clarke, of Chancery Lane, Surgeon ; 
 was born on the 28th of May, 1782, and received his classical education at 
 St. Paul's School. His medical education was derived by attendance at 
 St. George's Hospital, and from the Lectures on Anatomy, at the Hunterian 
 School, by Mr. Wilson and Mr. Thomas. Also on Surgery, by Mr. Wilson ; 
 on Materia Medica; Chemistry, and the Practice of Physic, by Dr. George 
 Fordyce and Dr. George Pearson ; and on Midwifery, by his brother 
 Dr. John Clarke. Having thus obtained all necessary prehminary knowledge 
 of his profession in its various branches of study, he was admitted a Member 
 of the Royal College of Surgeons, and spent two of the earliest years of 
 his professional life as an Assistant Surgeon in the Hertfordshire Militia, 
 
 6
 
 SIR CHARLES MANSFIELD CLARKE, BART. 
 
 and in the Third Regiment of Foot Guards. He subsequently devoted his 
 attention more particularly to the subject of midwifery, and to the diseases 
 of women and children. He associated with Dr. John Clarke as a lecturer 
 on these subjects, in 1804, and continued to deliver regular courses until 
 the year 182L For many years he held the appointment of Surgeon to the 
 Queen Charlotte's Lying-in Hospital, which he resigned about the time he 
 ceased to lecture; but the interests and welfare of the Institution still 
 continue to be objects of his attention and regard. In the year 1825 he 
 was chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society; and having, in the year 1827, 
 become a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, he was appointed, 
 in the year 1830, Physician to the Queen Adelaide, on the accession of 
 King William IV. to the throne of these realms. On September 30, 1831, 
 he was created a Baronet; and in the year 1836 was elected, by the Fellows 
 of the Royal College of Physicians, into their body. 
 
 Incessantly engaged in the performance of the active duties of a most 
 laborious profession, Sir Charles has not had leisure for many literary 
 productions. The excellence of that which he has published serves only to 
 awaken our regret that he should not have written more. His works display 
 acute perception, accurate observation, force and power of judgment, and 
 prove their author to be the possessor of a vigorous and comprehensive 
 mind. In the third volume of the "Transactions of a Society for the 
 Improvement of Medical and Chirurgical Knowledge," Sir Charles has 
 detailed a " Case of Sudden Death during Parturition ; with an Account of 
 a Singular Disease of the Uterus, which was discovered upon opening the 
 Body." The peculiar condition here referred to consisted of numerous 
 lacerations of the peritoneal coat of the organ, wdthout any rupture of its 
 muscular structure. The case is very difficult of solution. The preparation 
 was preserved, and deposited in the late Mr. Wilson's museum. Our author 
 does not undertake to explain the appearances presented in this case ; he 
 contents himself with shewing the inefficiency of any explanation afforded 
 by the ordinary suppositions which naturally present themselves to the 
 inquirer on the occasion. Very few cases of this kind are known : one 
 occurred in the practice of Dr. David Davis, and is related by him in his 
 " Principles and Practice of Obstetric Medicine," vol. ii. p. 1065. Mr. W. H. 
 Partridge, of Birmingham, has also related a case, (Med. Chir. Trans, v. xix.) 
 and Dr. John Ramsbotham has recorded one in his " Practical Observations 
 on Midwifery," p. 409. The fleshy structure of the uterus did not seem to 
 be implicated in the injury sustained in these cases. 
 
 Sir Charles Clarke has published a very important work, consisting of 
 " Observations on some of the Diseases of Females." His object, one of 
 
 7
 
 SIR CHARLES MANSFIELD CLARKE, BART. 
 
 practical utility, is well and modestly expressed in his preface. It has 
 appeared to him desirable, " to make some arrangement of the sexual 
 diseases of the female ; and to shew that diseases having some symptoms in 
 common, are, nevertheless, very dissimilar in their character, and require very 
 different treatment;" also, "to demonstrate the impropriety of designating 
 diseases by names which do not convey a true idea of their character ; and 
 to point out the dangerous consequences of treating symptoms instead of 
 diseases." His opportunities to do justice to the subject have been great : — 
 extensively engaged with his brother in practice, connected with the school 
 rendered illustrious by the names of Denman and Osborn, it was next to 
 impossible that a mind so active, so inquisitive, and so powerful as that 
 possessed by our author, should not have enabled him to give to the medical 
 public a valuable addition to the branch of his profession to which his 
 attention had been so especially directed. He has truly said, that, " in this 
 work no more hypothetical reasoning has been admitted than was absolutely 
 necessary. The author has endeavoured to confine himself to facts, and 
 the simple narrative of them : he has no new theory to offer — no new medi- 
 cine to propose, the virtues of which he is desirous of establishing." No 
 quackery — nothing exclusive. No part of medical inquiry has needed more 
 patient investigation than that to which Sir Charles has applied himself ; 
 no branch less perfectly understood by the profession at large ; yet none 
 involves more serious consequences from imperfect knowledge, as directed to 
 the means of relief to be afforded. It would not be possible, within the 
 limits of this Memoir, to give even an analysis of this work ; which, it may 
 be observed, consists of two parts; one of which was published in 1814, the 
 other in 1821. They necessarily form an essential part of every medical 
 library, and they cannot be too carefully studied. His pathological 
 researches are directed to the most useful and practical object ; and the 
 simple and unadorned manner in which he has communicated his knowledge, 
 and the results of his practice in the diseases of females, have been duly esti- 
 mated by the profession, and have been beneficial to the relief of suffering 
 humanity. Sir Charles Clarke brought to his aid an acquaintance with all 
 that previous writers of authority on these subjects had handed down to us; 
 he has refuted their errors, or estabhshed their conjectures. He has shewn 
 the relation of the different parts to each other in the exercise of their 
 functions, and the modifications of the symptoms characteristic of their 
 diseases ; and upon these just and philosophical views he has established a 
 rational ground of cure. Whatever difference of opinion may be entertained 
 as to the merits of the classification he has adopted, the work must be 
 regarded by all as a most valuable contribution to medical science. 
 
 8
 
 .'Otf &0? UTOOOIf tVtjaS. 1888.
 
 JOHN COOKE, M.D. 
 
 F.R.S. F.S.A. 
 
 " Placidaque ibi demum ir-rte quievit." . . . Virgil. 
 
 Dr. Cooke is descended, on the paternal side, from a highly respectable 
 family in Edith Weston, in Rutlandshire, and, on the maternal side, from 
 an ancient family, well known in Lancashire, of the name of Pilkington, 
 formerly Py Ike ton. His maternal grandfather was a dissenting clergyman, 
 who studied and took the degree of Master of Arts at Glasgow. Dr. Cooke 
 was intended by his family for the church ; and the earlier part of his educa- 
 tion was conducted at a seminary founded by the pious and celebrated 
 Dr. Doddridge, at Northampton. The preliminary part of his education 
 being completed, he directed his views, however, to the study of medicine, 
 a profession more congenial with his inclination ; and his uncle, Mr, Stead, 
 being at that time apothecary to Guy's Hospital, he entered as a physician's 
 pupil, and attended the medical lectures of Dr. Saunders, and the chemical 
 ones of Mr. Keir, also the anatomical of Dr. Mc Laurin and Sir W. Blizard, 
 and the practice of Drs. Hinckley, Tomlinson, and Saunders. 
 
 From the hospital he went to Edinburgh, the chief school of medicine, 
 and there attended the classes of medical science then conducted by 
 Drs. Cullen, Gregory, Black, and Monro. From Edinburgh he passed to 
 Leyden, where he studied for nearly two years, and then took a degree of 
 Doctor of Medicine. The subject chosen for his thesis on this occasion 
 was De Usii Corticis Peruviani in Morhis non Febrilibiis. 
 
 Upon his return to London, he was elected physician to the General 
 Dispensary in Aldersgate-street, the first of the kind ever established, and 
 the practice of which has always been of very considerable extent. A larger 
 field, however, for the exercise of his medical talents soon presented itself, 
 by his appointment to the London Hospital ; and no physician can be said 
 to have more satisfactorily performed the arduous duties attached to such 
 a position, as respected the patients, the pupils, and the governors of the 
 charity, than Dr. Cooke. The regularity of his attendance, his kindness 
 and sympathy, and deep attention to his patients, and his readiness to give 
 to the pupils eve»y instruction the several cases demanded, ensured to 
 him the good-will and esteem of every one connected with the institution. 
 In addition to the clinical instruction given at the bedside of the invalids, 
 
 1
 
 JOHN COOKE, M.D. 
 
 Dr. Cooke also delivered regular courses of lectures on the theory and 
 practice of medicine, which embraced a clear and succinct view of the 
 doctrines promulgated by different professors, illustrated by references 
 drawn from his own observation and experience. The high classical attain- 
 ments of Dr. Cooke enabled him to give to his hearers a complete and 
 satisfactory statement of the doctrines of the earlier professors of the 
 medical art ; and it is much to be regretted, that the notes of these lec- 
 tures, having been all written in short-hand, capable only of being read 
 by the author, are thereby lost to mankind. Dr. Cooke lectured at the 
 London Hospital, and performed the duties of physician to that institution 
 upwards of twenty years. Upon his resignation, he received the thanks 
 of all connected with the charity, accompanied by expressions of their deep 
 regret at his departure. 
 
 His health, however, declining, his medical labours became restricted 
 entirely to private practice. No one could enjoy in a higher degi-ee the 
 confidence of his patients ; this will readily be conceived by all who had the 
 happiness to be known to him, for his manners were those of a gentleman 
 and a scholar, entirely devoid of pedantry, and marked by a kind and 
 proper deference for the opinions entertained by others. Independent in 
 every sense of the word, he was always ready freely to express, and man- 
 fully to maintain his opinions. An enemy to flattery, and little solicitous 
 of popular applause, the course of study pursued throughout his whole 
 life gave to him a tone of mind, a clearness of conception, and a consequent 
 decision of character, highly to be envied, and much to be admired. He 
 mingled largely in the society of men of all ranks, opinions, and pursuits, 
 and all have been proud to consider him as their friend. With the late 
 Dr. Matthew Baillie he was well acquainted. A most confidential friend- 
 ship existed between those two celebrated physicians, with mutual advan- 
 tage, for a great number of years. To Dr. Cooke were entrusted the revision 
 and correction of several of Dr. Baillie's papers, and Dr. Cooke enjoyed the 
 advantage of Dr. Baillie's remarks on his own "Treatise on Apoplexy, 
 Palsy, and Epilepsy," which was highly approved by Dr. Baillie, and of 
 which he justly predicted that it would be " a standard work." 
 
 Dr. Cooke, as before stated, graduated at Leyden, by which, upon 
 setthng in London, he could, according to the laws of the Royal College 
 of Physicians, only become a licentiate of that body. But, among other 
 powers vested in the president of this institution, is that of being able to 
 nominate for election any one from the list of licentiates to become a Fellow 
 of the College. Dr. Cooke's character and talents entitled him to this 
 distinction. Few members of this learned body were his equals in classical
 
 JOHN COOKE, M.D. 
 
 attainments, and none could exceed him in high moral qualities, in integrity 
 of mind and heart, or in extent of practice and medical knowledge. The 
 President, the late Sir Lucas Pepys, Bart., nominated Dr. Cooke, and 
 in 1809 he was duly elected a Fellow. 
 
 In 1819, Dr. Cooke was appointed to deliver the Croonian Lectures at 
 the College, and he chose for his subject one of the most interesting, but 
 certainly most intricate, parts of the human frame — the Nervous System. 
 Preparatory to the lectures on nervous diseases, he delivered some intro- 
 ductory discourses, giving an account of the opinions of ancient and modern 
 physiologists, respecting the nature and uses of the nervous system ; and a 
 more ably stated case of this truly difficult subject, cannot be found. The 
 plan adopted in this work, (for the lectures were published in two vols. 8vo. 
 in 1820-3,) is highly worthy of notice, for, were it more generally followed 
 up, it would necessarily reduce the number of volumes which it is now 
 absolutely requisite to read, to arrive at just ideas of the knowledge pro- 
 fessed upon any one subject of medical research. In this work the author 
 has been at considerable pains to collect, to arrange, and to communicate 
 all useful observations that have been made by the ancients and the moderns, 
 upon the principal diseases of the nervous system. The late Dr. Thomas 
 Young has done the same upon the subject of phthisis pulmonalis, and 
 with equal ability. These are the only works of the kind we possess, 
 embracing, within a reasonable compass, a well-digested and perfect sum- 
 mary of all that is known upon the subjects of which they treat. It would 
 require many pages to give any kind of epitome of the contents of Dr. 
 Cooke's work ; it must be in the library of every man who feels an interest 
 in his profession. The first volume is altogether on the subject of apoplexy ; 
 the second, on palsy and epilepsy. References are given to many sources 
 whence opinions or information have been drawn ; and to those to whom the 
 dead languages are not familiar, or who have not the means of consulting 
 the ancient authors, these volumes will prove very satisfactory ; they are, 
 indeed, aUke useful to the student and the practitioner. They give not 
 only the opinions of all preceding physicians and physiologists, but also the 
 results of the author's own practice, which clearly demonstrate the patient 
 and close attention he has paid at the bed-side of the sick; whilst the 
 decisions at which he arrives, mark the solidity of his understanding, and 
 the profundity of his judgment. 
 
 In 1830 the College elected him to deliver the Harveian Oration, which 
 presents a specimen of most elegant latinity, as well as a judicious arrange- 
 ment of subjects suited to such an occasion. His well-drawn character of 
 his friend Dr. Baillie, will be noticed under the memoir of that distinguished 
 
 3
 
 JOHN COOKE, M.D. 
 
 physician and physiologist: that on the labours of Harvey, is no less 
 powerful and just. 
 
 In 1 799, great alarm prevailed in the city of London, occasioned by the 
 sudden death of two men who had been employed in landing some cotton ; 
 and from the manner of their decease, a suspicion was engendered that they 
 had received the infection of the plague from the goods that had been 
 imported. The fears of the government were excited, and the lord-mayor, 
 at that time Harvey Christian Combe, was directed to order proper 
 inquiries to be made upon the subject. His lordship applied to Dr. Cooke, 
 who, having fully investigated the matter, drew up a report, which had 
 the effect of completely tranquillizing the public mind on the occasion. 
 Dr. Cooke was one of the Fellows appointed to superintend the publication 
 of the Transactions of the College. He was a Fellow of the Royal 
 Society, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and was, during the years 
 1822-3, President of the Medico-Chirurgical Society. 
 
 From declining health, he had, for ten years prior to his death, relin- 
 quished all practice, and, to the deep regret of a very numerous circle of 
 enlightened and sincere friends, appeared very little in society ; his time 
 was, however, spent in the perusal of all that is elegant in literature, or 
 valuable in science, for his mind retained its wonted vigour, though the 
 weakness of the body necessarily limited the boundaries of social inter- 
 course. For several months towards the close of his life, he laboured 
 under considerable suffering, arising from an affection of the bladder, which, 
 with other causes, gave rise to a most distressing nervous irritability, con- 
 stituting that disease which the poet has so well described, and which he 
 
 justly says, 
 
 " Claims most compassion, and receives the least." 
 
 Dr. Cooke, however, derived much relief from the attention of his 
 medical friends, who were anxious to render him every assistance in their 
 power, and soothe the last days of his existence. He felt much the 
 loss of society, for during a long life he had mixed largely with the 
 world, and enjoyed the company of the choicest spirits of the age. He 
 died on the 1st day of January, 1838, having arrived, it is supposed, to the 
 advanced age of eighty-six or eighty-seven. He retained his faculties 
 to the last, occasionally indulging his passion for Greek literature ; and the 
 last exercise was probably the reading of a page or two to the writer of 
 this sketch, from his favourite Glasgow edition of Homer, printed by Foulis, 
 which he had interleaved, and enriched with many note?
 
 -7 X ^^^-^ /r^ / ^^y^c...^ 
 
 /.
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 G.C.H. D.C.L. F.R.S. 
 
 SERJEANT-SURGEON TO THE QUEEN. 
 
 " A life well spent, whose early caxe it was 
 His riper years should not upbraid his green ; 
 By unperceived degrees he wears away ; 
 Yet, like the sun, seems larger at his setting," 
 
 Blair. 
 
 Was surgery an art antecedent to medicine? is a question that has been 
 frequently discussed. In the primeval ages of the world — when mankind 
 lived in a state of nature, when exercise in the open air gave a relish to the 
 enjoyment of simple food — robust and vigorous constitutions, and a propor- 
 tionate absence of disease, must have been the result. One may easily sup- 
 pose that the functions of the body would go on unimpaired by disease, and 
 that life would at length become extinct only by a gradual and entire decay. 
 But as no exemption to the consequences of accidental violence could be 
 afforded, and, as in cases of wounds, where the cause and effect would be 
 obvious to the external senses, and where the pain must have been both 
 immediate and violent, there can be no doubt that aid would be instantly 
 sought for. From these and other circumstances, it appears that surgery 
 must be regarded as the primary, the most ancient branch of medicine. 
 We have not, however, any authentic accounts of the mode of treatment in 
 the first ages of the world, further than that they used to wash the wounded 
 parts with warm water, to suck them clean, and to apply the juice of 
 vegetables pounded, or steeped in wine, or water, oils, resin, the bark and 
 roots of certain trees, and bandages. Eurypylus when wounded with an 
 arrow, addresses Patroclus: 
 
 " But thou, Patroclus, act a friendly part. 
 Lead to my ships, and draw this deadly dart ; 
 With lukewarm water wash this gore away. 
 With healing balms the raging smart allay. 
 Such as sage Chiron, sire of phannacy. 
 Once taught Achilles, and Achilles thee." 
 
 Iliad, lib, iv. v. 218. 
 1
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 When Menelaus was wounded in the side by an arrow, Machaon, the 
 son of the Grecian ^sculapius, after washing the wound, and sucking out 
 the blood, apphed a dressing to appease the pain, of the juice of roots 
 bruised, the principal remedy then known. So again in the Iliad we read : 
 
 " Then suck'd the blood, and sov'reigu balm infus'd, 
 Which Chiron gave, and ^sculapius used." 
 
 Considering the frequency of quarrels and bloody battles, which con- 
 vulsed mankind in the most early periods of time, it has been well remarked, 
 that one would expect to have seen surgery more progressive, from the 
 experience which might have resulted, in consequence of the situation of 
 the wounded and prisoners ; but in these primeval times, when mankind 
 were less civilized, and more weakly connected by the mutual obligations 
 and ties of society, very Uttle attention was given to captives, who were 
 considered as the slaves of the conquerors. The mode of making war, 
 too, among the ancients, was no less inhuman than fatal. The experience, 
 however, which accidents or wars could afford, must have been very slow, 
 for want of the collateral knowledge of anatomy, upon which the progress 
 and improvement of surgery most essentially depends. In modern times 
 it is not possible, perhaps, to name any one who has more powerfully con- 
 tributed to the improvement of his science by the application of sound 
 anatomical knowledge, than the respected individual whose name stands at 
 the head of the present memoir. No one has reached a higher position in 
 the profession, or maintained that distinction for so long a period. 
 
 The father of Sir Astley Paston Cooper was the Rev. Dr. Samuel 
 Cooper, of Yarmouth, in the county of Norfolk. His mother, Maria- 
 Susanna, sprung from the family of the Pastons, but was daughter of 
 James Bran shy, Esq. of Shottisham, in the same county, and known as the 
 authoress of a novel called " The Exemplary Mother." Sir Astley is the 
 fourth son of these parents, and was born at Brooke in Norfolk, August 2.3d, 
 1768. It is from the most laudable motives that we feel an anxiety to learn 
 of the early life and dispositions of those who, by their talents and zeal, 
 have proved themselves benefactors to science and mankind, for true it is, 
 
 that, 
 
 " The childhood shows the man. 
 
 As morning shows the day," Milton. 
 
 In his boyhood, Sir Astley is said to have shown a bold and enterprising 
 spirit ; to have been remarkable for his social and friendly disposition, and 
 for the animation with which he would enter into the sports of his juvenile 
 companions. The village schoolmaster, Robert Larke, gave to him the
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 rudiments of his education in reading, writing, and arithmetic; but his 
 classical knowledge was derived from the instruction of his father, a good 
 scholar, and the Rev. Joseph Harrison. Many anecdotes have been related 
 demonstrative of his intrepidity and enterprise, qualities for which his pro- 
 fessional labours have been particularly distinguished. 
 
 Having received part of my professional education at the Borough 
 hospitals, I am competent to speak to this point, from having witnessed, 
 during several of Sir Astley's earlier years, the chief of the operations 
 performed by him at Guy's Hospital. I can never forget the enthusiasm 
 with which he entered upon the performance of any duty calculated to 
 abridge human suffering. This enthusiasm, by the generosity of his cha- 
 racter, his famihar manner, and the excellence of his temper, he imparted 
 to all around him— the pupils imbibed the same spirit; and the extent of 
 the obhgations of the present and of after ages to Sir Astley Cooper, in thus 
 forming able and spirited surgeons, can never be accurately estimated. He 
 was the idol of the Borough school— the pupils followed him in troops, and, 
 like to Linnaeus, who has been described as proceeding upon his botanical 
 excursions accompanied by hundreds of students, so may Sir Astley be 
 depicted traversing the wards of the hospital with an equal number of 
 pupils, listening with almost breathless anxiety to catch the observations 
 which fell from his lips upon the several cases presented to his view. But, 
 on the days of operation, this feeling was wound up to the highest pitch— 
 the sight was altogether deeply interesting; the large theatre of Guy's 
 crowded to the ceiling— the profound silence obtained upon his entry— that 
 person so manly and so truly imposing— and the awful feeling connected 
 with the occasion— can never be forgotten by any of his pupils. The 
 eleo-ance of his operation — without the sUghtest affectation — all ease — all 
 kindness to the patient, and equally solicitous that nothing should be hid- 
 den from the observation of the pupils— rapid in execution— masterly in 
 manner— no hurry— no disorder— the most trifling minutiae attended to— 
 the dressings generally applied by his own hand. The light and elegant 
 manner in which Sir Astley employed his various instruments always 
 astonished me, and I could not refrain from making some remarks upon it 
 to my late master, Mr. Chandler, one of the surgeons to St. Thomas's 
 Hospital. I observed to him, that Sir Astley's operations appeared hke 
 the graceful efforts of an artist in making a drawing. Mr. C. replied, " Sir, 
 it is of no consequence what instrument Mr. Cooper uses, they are all alike 
 to him ; and I verily believe, he could operate as easily with an oyster knife, 
 as the best bit of cutlery in Laundy's shop." There was great truth in this 
 observation. Sir Astley was, at that time, decidedly one of the first operators 
 
 3
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 of the day, and this must be taken in its widest sense, for it is intended to 
 include the planning of the operation, the precision and dexterity in the 
 mode of its performance, and the readiness with which all difficulties were 
 met and overcome. 
 
 From this digression, naturally occasioned by allusion to the intrepidity 
 of Sir Astley in his youth, let us return to the course of his study. Having 
 imbibed some portion of classical instruction, he was placed, at the age of 
 fifteen, ^\^th Mr. Turner, a surgeon and apothecary, at Yarmouth, and in 
 this manner he was introduced into that profession of which he was to 
 become the brightest ornament. Having been a few months in this con- 
 fined sphere, he came to London, and was bound apprentice to his uncle, 
 Mr. William Cooper, one of the surgeons of Guy's Hospital; but with him 
 he remained only three months, being then transferred, by his own desire, 
 to Mr. Cline, the eminent surgeon of St. Thomas's Hospital. This con- 
 nexion gave full scope for the display of his character, and afforded him 
 every opportunity that could be given for obtaining information, directed by 
 the guidance of a master distinguished by a truly philosophical mind and 
 spirit, and of whom Sir Astley has always spoken in terms of the most pro- 
 found veneration and regard for his private worth, and with the greatest 
 respect for his knowledge, judgment, and ability as a surgeon. Sir Astley's 
 labours in the dissecting-room were incessant — his attention at the hospital 
 — his examination of accidents not less unremitting : and by this continual 
 observation, united to his sound anatomical information, may be attributed 
 the superiority he has justly acquired in forming a diagnosis upon the 
 nature of accidents or disease. 
 
 In 1787, Sir Astley visited Edinburgh for a short time, and distinguished 
 himself at the Royal Medical Society, though he had not yet reached twenty 
 years of age. Upon his return to London, his master, Mr. Cline, who was 
 the teacher of anatomy, physiology, and surgery at St. Thomas's Hospital, 
 appointed him his demonstrator of anatomy, and soon after gave to him a 
 part of the anatomical lectures. Sir Astley also gained Mr. Chne's consent, 
 and that of the other surgeons of St. Thomas's and Guy's Hospital, to give 
 a course of lectures on the principles and practice of surgery, which had 
 previously only formed a part of the anatomical course, and these lectures 
 were really the foundation of his fame and fortune. His class at first con- 
 sisted of fifty students, but they increased to 400, which was by far the 
 largest ever known in London, and he gave a share of these lectures to 
 iVIr. Travers, Mr. Henry Cline, and to Mr. Joseph H. Green, consecutively. 
 A little practice soon rendered him a popular teacher. He made no 
 attempts at oratory; but laboured to render the subject as plain and
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 intelligible as possible to his hearers — he did not distract them by the 
 introduction of controversial subjects connected with physiological science. 
 
 His apprenticeship ceased in 1791, the year he commenced as a 
 lecturer; and at the close of it, he married the daughter of Thomas 
 Cock, Esq., of Tottenham, a distant relation of Mr. Cline : and to show 
 how solicitous he was, never to neglect the performance of any public pro- 
 fessional duty, it may be told, that on the evening of the day on which 
 the marriage ceremony was performed, he delivered his customary lecture, 
 without any knowledge of what had happened being communicated to his 
 class. 
 
 In the year 1792 he went to Paris, and attended the lectures of Desault 
 at the Hotel Dieu, and those also of Chopart. The former of these was an 
 excellent practical surgeon, and a man of acute mind ; and Sir A. C. gained 
 from him much of his knowledge of injuries of the head, which were at that 
 time by far too frequently the subjects of surgical operations in London. He 
 has often mentioned an anecdote of Desault, to show his acuteness and loyal 
 spirit. A boy came before him at his clinical lecture, complaining that his 
 right arm was paralytic. Desault suspected the truth of his story, and said, 
 " Otez votre chapeau :" the boy, forgetting his paralytic story, immediately 
 raised his arm and took off his hat. " Donnez moi un baton," said Desault ; 
 and he beat the boy unmercifully, and said, " D'ou venez vous ?" the boy 
 rephed, " du Fauxbourg de St. Antoine." " Oui, je le crois," said Desault, 
 " tons les coquins viennent de ce quartier-la." It is hardly necessary to say, 
 that the mobs of Paris sprung from the Fauxbourg St. Antoine. Sir A. C. 
 states, that Desault gave lectures in anatomy, and admirable clinical lec- 
 tures ; he was very attentive to his duties in the hospital, and had a very 
 large share of private practice. Chopart he considered to have been a very 
 inferior man to Desault, and little acquainted with the first principles of his 
 profession. 
 
 On the 10th of August, 1792, Sir Astley Cooper was attending an opera- 
 tion at Chopart's Hospital, when the fire of cannon announced the attack 
 upon the chateau of the Tuilleries, and he immediately ran upon the Pont 
 Neuf, whence he could see the Swiss guards firing from the windows on the 
 people below. As his lodging was near the Place Victoire, he had to go 
 through the streets near the Palais Royal, when the scene became of the 
 most extraordinary description. The cannon was still roaring — muskets 
 firing — the tocsin sounding — litters with the dead and dying carried through 
 the streets — the women crying for the loss of their relatives, and from 
 apprehensions — and bodies of men armed with pikes were carrying either 
 the heads or some parts of the bodies of the Swiss they had killed, as 
 
 5
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 trophies of their victory. On the following day he saw the king and queen 
 go to the Temple, which they only quitted for their execution. Sir A. C. 
 several times heard Brissot, Vergniaud, Gaudet, Marat, and Robespierre 
 address the Legislative Assembly, and was once at the Jacobin Club. He 
 saw two persons, a marquis and a priest, guillotined for forging assignats. 
 In later days, instead of wasting his time in the summer months upon our 
 coast, he has frequently visited the continent, and he became intimately 
 acquainted with Dupuytren, who had the kindness to give him admission 
 to the dead-house of the Hotel Dieu, that he might pursue the objects 
 which he had in view by the inspection of any cadavres he chose. Sir A. C. 
 considered Dupuytren as an excellect practical surgeon, as a sensible man, 
 as an admirable clinical lecturer, and as the best of fathers, for he idoUzed 
 his daughter, and she was most affectionately attached to him. Dupuytren 
 introduced Sir A. C. to Louis Philippe, then Duke of Orleans, who after- 
 wards gave him the Cross of the Legion of Honour, and soon afterwards he 
 was made an honorary member of the National Institute. 
 
 In the year 1792 he commenced practice, and took up his residence in 
 Jeffrey's-square, St. Mary Axe, where he dwelt for six years ; after which, 
 he removed to New Broad-street, Bishopsgate, and remained there until 
 1815, when he came to the West end of the town. The popularity he 
 enjoyed as a surgeon, and the extent of his practice, has been greater than 
 that of any of his predecessors, or those who have succeeded him. He has 
 most honourably and justly realised a large fortune by distinguished merit 
 and most laborious application. During a long practice, he never omitted 
 to deliver his regular lectures, and the detail of his daily labours is a matter 
 almost past belief. Sir Astley was always, and still is, an early riser, and 
 the first hours of the day were devoted to the making of dissections, arrang- 
 ing of preparations ; and patients in his neighbourhood were frequently 
 visited before the hour of breakfast, which usually occupied but a few 
 minutes. Patients applying at his residence for advice, were then seen 
 until one o'clock; after which, the hospital was visited, a lecture on anatomy 
 and physiology delivered, operations performed, &c. ; the patients visited 
 at their own homes until seven o'clock, at which hour, or frequently later, 
 a frugal dinner was taken, with a very limited quantity of wine, for Sir 
 Astley has been remarkable for his temperance. After dinner, a repose for 
 a quarter or half an hour ; and then again, twice a week to lecture on 
 surgery, and to visit patients until midnight. I witnessed this course for a 
 very long period, and it is incredible how such great exertions could be 
 sustained for such a period of time. As a lecturer. Sir Astley was remark- 
 able for his spirit and animation. However serious his humour might 
 
 6
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 chance to be, from the pressure of professional avocations, and the deep 
 and awful responsibility with which he was affected on every side, the 
 assumption of his place in the lecture theatre seemed to throw new life 
 into him, to impart a vigour to his frame, and to give full scope to his 
 professional enthusiasm. No lecturer ever commanded greater attention 
 from his pupils, and no one, most certainly, was ever more deserving of 
 such attention. 
 
 In the course of his practice. Sir Astley has met with many remarkable 
 circumstances, and he now equally delights and amuses his friendly circle 
 with the narrative of them. He received, perhaps, the largest fee ever at 
 that time given for an operation ; it was upon an old gentleman of the 
 name of Hyatt, who was a resident in the West Indies, and when arrived 
 at the age of seventy, being afflicted with stone in the bladder, determined 
 upon coming over to England to undergo the operation for its removal. 
 He selected Sir Astley for the occasion. It was performed with his accus- 
 tomed ability ; and upon visiting him one day, when able to quit his bed, he 
 observed to his surgeon, that he had fe^d his physicians, but that he had 
 not yet remunerated his surgeon. He desired to know the amount of his 
 debt; and Sir Astley stated, "two hundred guineas." "Pooh, pooh!" 
 exclaimed the old gentleman, " I shan't give you two hundred guineas — 
 there — that is what I shall give you," tossing off his night-cap, and throwing 
 it to Sir Astley. " Thank you, sir," said Sir A. " any thing from you is 
 acceptable," and he put the cap into his pocket. Upon examination, it 
 was found to contain a cheque for one thousand guineas. One other 
 anecdote must be related, as it is singularly illustrative of character. 
 Mr. Steer consulted Sir A. at his own residence, and, having received his 
 advice, departed without giving the usual fee. Sir Astley took no notice 
 of this, but gave his assistance to him cheerfully, under a belief that he 
 was a gentleman who had seen better days, and was now in indifferent 
 circumstances. Shortly after, however, Sir Astley received a note, acquaint- 
 ing him, that on going to the Stock Exchange, he found he had some 
 omnium which he had not disposed of, and that he had taken the liberty of 
 putting £3,000 of it in his name ; and finding that it had soon after risen, 
 he took the further liberty of selling it for him, and now sent him the 
 difference, which was, £63. 10s. — Sir Astley's annual receipt of fees far 
 exceeds that of any other member of the profession. In one year he 
 received no less a sum than £21,000, and for many years from £15,000 
 and upwards. His patients have comprised all classes of society, and his 
 attention was equally bestowed on the wealthy and the indigent. 
 
 7
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 He was appointed surgeon to George IV., and in the year 1827 made 
 Serjeant- surgeon. He attended William IV. when he was First Lord of 
 the Admiralty ; and the Earl of Munster, when he had a severe compound 
 fracture of his leg; and at the request of the Duke of WeUington, was 
 made Grand Cross of the Guelphic Order. 
 
 In 1821 Sir Astley was created a Baronet, with remainder, in default 
 of male issue, to Astley Paston, the fourth son of his second brother, 
 the Rev. Samuel Lovick Cooper, rector of Ingoldsthorpe and Barton, 
 Norfolk. By his marriage with Miss Cock, Sir Astley had only one 
 daughter, who died at the early age of two years. Lady Cooper died in 
 June 1827; and in July 1828, Sir Astley again entered the married state 
 with Catherine, daughter of John Jones, Esq. of Derry Ormond, Cardi- 
 ganshire. 
 
 Sir Astley Cooper, when most engaged in lectures and the practice of 
 his profession, always made it a rule to enter in his case-book all the 
 interesting operations and cases which he witnessed, and these books he 
 has regularly preserved from 1800, and occasionally some prior to that 
 period, as far back as 1 784. 
 
 He commenced as a lecturer at St. Thomas's Hospital in 1791, and 
 continued to lecture until 1826. He also delivered a course of lectures 
 on comparative anatomy, at the Royal College of Surgeons, of which he is 
 a member of the council, and of the board of examiners, and was elected 
 President for the years 1826 and 1837. In addition to many honours 
 already mentioned, numerous foreign academies, and almost all the scientific 
 institutions of this country, have been eager to enroll his name among 
 their members; the Royal Institute of Paris, of the Netherlands, &c. 
 The University of Oxford has conferred upon him the degree of Doctor 
 of Civil Law. 
 
 The works of Sir Astley Cooper, to which attention must now be 
 directed, are written without pretension to elegance ; they are directed only 
 to the statement of facts, and are indeed not brought forward with any 
 view to the support of a preconceived theory ; they are the unbiassed 
 relation and results of a very long and extended experience, and they 
 abound with sound practical observations. It is much to the credit of Sir 
 Astley Cooper, that his works, although costly, have been published at a 
 low price. The expense of engravings, particularly when coloured, must 
 always be great; and it is due to Sir Astley to say, that his object in pub- 
 lishing has not been pecuniary advantage. He has been actuated by a 
 higher motive, and this may be given in his own words. 
 
 8
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 " After having been for forty years placed in a situation of ample opportunity — 
 after liaving been fostered by the profession and the public, infinitely beyond my 
 deserts — I feel that I only perform my duty in giving to my medical brethren, with- 
 out any sordid views, the result of my experience." 
 
 1 . In a volume of " Medical Researches, selected from the papers of a 
 Private Medical Association," published in 1798, Sir A. Cooper has two 
 contributions. The first is a case of strangulated hernia, in which a part 
 of the abdominal viscera was protruded into the left cavity of the chest, 
 and death thereby produced. Such a condition of parts could only be 
 ascertained by inspection after death ; and the record of it, as an unusual 
 occurrence, resulting from original malformation, is not without its value. 
 The subject of it was brought into the anatomical theatre of St. Thomas's 
 Hospital for dissection; and the particular history is therefore not well 
 known. The viscera were very much displaced from their natural situation, 
 and the great arch of the colon, and a large portion of the omentum, were 
 pushed through an aperture in the diaphragm into the cavity of the chest. 
 Had the existence of such a state been known during life, no possible 
 means of relief could have been afforded. 
 
 2. The second contribution to the " Medical Researches," is more 
 singular than the preceding one. It details three instances of "Obstruction 
 of the Thoracic Duct ;" that channel by which our nutriment must take its 
 course into the circulating system. The protecting power of nature, the 
 care taken to continue the existence of the individual, is most strongly 
 marked in these cases. In the Jirst, a scrofulous disease of the valves 
 near to the receptaculum chyli, was found to be present, and prevented the 
 free injection of quicksilver into the vessel. By what means the body was 
 nourished in this case, could not be ascertained, the dissection of the body 
 having proceeded too far to admit of this inquiry, previous to the morbid 
 condition being observed. In the second case, however, the contrivance of 
 nature became apparent. The thoracic duct was being injected, and a por- 
 tion of the wax by force escaped from a divided absorbent, belonging to a 
 cluster of vessels under the left crus of the diaphragm. Quicksilver being 
 poured into this absorbent, it entered into a large vessel, which passed half 
 way up the chest on the left side of the aorta, crossed the spine behind 
 that vessel, and then terminated in the thoracic duct, which became readily 
 filled with the injection from the part diseased, to that at which it opens 
 into the vein. It was ascertained that the obstruction arose from a small 
 fungous substance, of a scrofulous nature, and that one half only of the 
 duct was capable of performing its function. The continuance of life was 
 secured by anastomosing absorbents, which performed the office of the duct, 
 
 9
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 and conveyed the chyle and lymph into the blood. The third case was of 
 a man admitted into St. Thomas's Hospital, for a furgoid testis. Upon 
 examination, he was found to have a tumour on the lumbar vertebrae, 
 formed by the enlarged absorbent glands, of the enormous weight of 9^1bs. 
 The thoracic duct was thickened and opake, resembling rather a nerve 
 than an absorbent vessel ; the commencement of it, the receptaculum chyli, 
 was filled with a pulpy matter, and this extended into the duct, which was lost 
 in a swelling of the size of a walnut, opposite to the curvature of the aorta.* 
 Above this enlargement the duct appeared as usual, and terminated in the 
 veins. Sir Astley then believed this disease to be truly cancerous in its 
 nature. In this case the duct was obliterated two-thirds of its course ; this 
 was ascertained by injection, and the matter injected was found to pass 
 from the receptaculum chyli, through several vessels behind the aorta into 
 a large trunk, which passed the whole length of the chest on the left side 
 of the spine. 
 
 " Through this vessel the injection flowed to the first dorsal vertebra, and then 
 entered the thoracic duct, which being above the pait at which the vessel was diseased, 
 there was no further inteiTuption to its passage into the jugular vein. From the side 
 of this trunk several small vessels arose, and having passed behind the aorta, entered 
 the undiseased part of the duct near to the tumour. In this case, then, as well as 
 the fonner, the obstmction was prevented from producing fatal consequences, by the 
 anastomosing vessels on the left side of the spine, having perfonned the ofEce of the 
 thoracic duct." 
 
 These collateral vessels may be found in subjects where the duct is 
 healthy, as Sir Astley has shown by some injections, and he has thus 
 verified a remark of Mr. Cline's, as to the probability of these vessels form- 
 ing the new absorbent channels, in cases of obstructed thoracic duct. It 
 will be evident from this, that the absorbent, like to the arterial system, has 
 the power of accommodating itself to circumstances, and creating a condition 
 of parts capable of carrying on the necessary functions under apparently 
 the most unfavourable circumstances. These cases stimulated Sir Astley 
 to make some experiments, and he is the first, I believe, who succeeded in 
 tying the thoracic duct. Dr. Monro had attempted it, and failed, and I am 
 not aware of its having been successfully performed by any one prior to 
 Sir A. Cooper. These experiments are detailed in the paper just men- 
 tioned, and they prove that when the extremity of the thoracic duct is sud- 
 denly obstructed, the duct and receptaculum chyli burst and extravasate 
 the chyle and lymph ; absorption is, therefore, no longer continued, and the 
 consequences are fatal to the animal. They prove also the contractile 
 
 * This preparation is in the Museum of St. Thonjas's Hospital. 
 
 10
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 powers of the absorbents, even to a degree capable of rupturing their 
 coats ; and, they also prove, that the absorbent vessels do not frequently 
 terminate in veins, as formerly was supposed by many anatomists, though 
 an instance of this kind has been narrated to me by Sir Astley, and it 
 occurred in one of the groins of the body of a Lascar. This is, however, to 
 be looked upon as an exception to the general rule. 
 
 3. In the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1800, (part i. p. 151,) 
 Sir Astley Cooper has a paper entitled, " Observations on the Effects which 
 take place from the destruction of the Membrana Tympani of the Ear." 
 Many experiments had been made by anatomists, with the view of ascer- 
 taining the effects produced by a perforation of the membrana tympani; 
 but as these had been made upon quadrupeds, little information was 
 thereby obtained. Mr. Cheselden had contemplated performing the expe- 
 riment upon the human subject, and a condemned criminal was selected for 
 the operation; but an outcry was raised, and the intention was abandoned. 
 Disease, however, of this part, points out the effects produced by an open- 
 ing in the membrane. It is distinctly ascertained, that the membranes of 
 both ears may have large apertures in them, and the powers of hearing 
 be very little impaired. 
 
 4. In the Philosophical Transactions for 1801, (p. 435,) Sir Astley 
 submitted some farther Observations on the subject, and gave an " Account 
 of an Operation for the Removal of a particular species of Deafness." The 
 operation proposed is that of puncturing the membrane in cases where 
 deafness is found to proceed from an obstruction of the Eustachian tube, or, 
 in other words, the passage from the throat to the internal ear. Several 
 cases in which this operation had been performed, are detailed ; but it 
 is due to Sir Astley to say, that he has had the candour to admit the 
 disappointment he has experienced upon this subject. Deafness from a 
 closed Eustachian tube is rare : the relief obtained has been generally only 
 temporary, the opening made into the tympanum often closes, and deafness 
 returns : a constitutional as well as a local treatment is therefore required. 
 The president and council of the Royal Society awarded to Sir Astley the 
 Copley medal for these papers. 
 
 5. The principal work by which Sir Astley Cooper became known to 
 the profession as an author, and by which his fame has been established, is 
 that upon Hernia, or Rupture. No disease demands a more accurate know- 
 ledge of anatomy, or requires mOre minute dissection, for the understanding 
 of its pathology. The changes which take place in the relative situation 
 of parts, the alterations the structures undergo, and their vital importance, 
 renders this disease a matter of most serious moment to the surgeon. The 
 
 II
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 anatomy of the parts concerned in cases of hernia had been, with the excep- 
 tion of the masterly production of Gimbernat, a Spanish surgeon, almost 
 neglected ; and it is due to Sir Astley Cooper, to assign to him the merit 
 of drawing the attention of the English surgeon more particularly to the 
 important subject of hernia. Albinus had previously demonstrated the 
 oblique passage of the spermatic cord through the abdominal parietes, 
 but he had no idea of the upper ring, or of the inguinal canal, for a know- 
 ledge of which we are decidedly indebted to Sir Astley. Mr. Lawrence, 
 whose authority upon this subject will be considered as most satisfactory, 
 states, that " no complete description and accurate delineation of even the 
 common kinds of hernia, as the inguinal, femoral, and umbilical, existed pre- 
 viously to the late excellent works of Camper, (published by S. T. Soemmer- 
 ing after the author's death,) Cooper, Scarpa, Hesselbach, Cloquet, and 
 Langenbeck." 
 
 The first part of Sir Astley's work is confined to the " Anatomy and 
 Surgical Treatment of Inguinal and Congenital Hernia," published in 1804; 
 the second, published in 1807, to that of "Crural and Umbilical Hernia," 
 &c. A second edition was published in 1827, with notes by Mr. Key. 
 The varieties of hernia, and the modes necessary for the reduction of the 
 several kinds, are only to be ascertained by a thorough knowledge of the 
 anatomy of the parts concerned. Upon this point, the inforrnation con- 
 tained in Sir Astley's book is precise and complete. He has well described 
 the manner in which the hernial sac is formed, the mode in which it 
 descends, and the several fasciae constituting its coverings. The varieties 
 to which it is occasionally subjected are not neglected by our author, and 
 the causes likely to produce the displacement are ably enumerated. The 
 remedial measures are fully detailed, and the mode of application of trusses 
 dwelt upon with considerable ingenuity and precision. Too much careless- 
 ness upon this head prevails, even at the present day, notwithstanding the 
 observations of Sir Astley Cooper, Mr. Lawrence, and others, who may 
 justly be considered as our best authorities upon the subject. The practice 
 of one of the largest hospitals in this metropolis, for a great number of years, 
 (for Sir Astley was surgeon of Guy's from 1800 to 1826, and, since that 
 period, consulting surgeon,) has given to Sir Astley extensive experience 
 in the treatment of strangulated hernia. No surgeon, of modern times, has 
 perhaps operated so frequently or so successfully, and this has arisen, in 
 part, from a due regard to the instructions of his celebrated master, to whom 
 the work is very appropriately dedicated, (the late Mr. Cline,) as to the 
 danger of delay in operating upon cases of this description. Moi^a non 
 tuta — mora damnosa. To estimate the value of Sir Astley's work, it must 
 
 12
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 be carefully read; it is impossible to condense the subject in a manner 
 adapted to these pages; but it may be safely said, that there is no one point 
 in relation to hernia or its treatment, under all its varieties and conditions, 
 which is not satisfactorily treated of in this publication. The description 
 of fasciae may, perhaps, by some be considered as too minute ; dissections of 
 this nature are extremely difficult, and often unsatisfactory, for it is not easy 
 to trace fasciae ; and one evil resulting from this difficulty is, that the subject 
 thereby appears really to be more complicated and obscure than in reality, 
 upon operation on the living subject, it is found to be. I must, however, 
 guard against any misconstruction upon this head, for I would not be under- 
 stood to undervalue the researches of Sir Astley, or the perspicuous manner 
 in which he has described the transverse fascia. The tramverse fascia is 
 of vital importance in obtaining a correct knowledge of inguinal hernia, 
 and the mode in which the upper abdominal ring is formed ; and it was 
 never known until Sir Astley pointed it out, and demonstrated its relations. 
 The discovery of this fascia may justly be considered as the most important 
 addition made by Sir Astley to anatomical science. It is admitted to be so 
 by all the best liters on the anatomy and surgery of hernia— Langenbach, 
 Cloquet, Lawrence, S. Cooper, B. Cooper, Colles, Quain, &c. The upper 
 ring, and the inguinal canal, (before unknown,) are formed by this struc- 
 ture, a precise acquaintance with which, is of the greatest consequence in 
 the treatment of inguinal hernia, and without which it is impossible satis- 
 factorily to understand it. Mr. Lawrence, admitting the discovery of the 
 fascia transversalis to be entirely and exclusively due to the accurate 
 anatomical investigations and patient research of Sir A. Cooper, suggests 
 that it ought to be designated by the name of the discoverer. The manner 
 also in which the femoral hernia is enclosed in a double sac, was Jirst 
 described by Sir A., and upon this is founded the knowledge we entertain 
 of the proper method of applying the taxis, and reducing this common 
 form of hernia in females. All the difficulty which has occurred in the 
 operation for femoral hernia, has arisen from its not being understood that 
 it was contained in two bags ; the first formed of what Sir A. calls the 
 fascia propria, or crural sheath, elongated so as to form a sac; and, 
 secondly, the peritoneal bag, which is included in the former covering. 
 When the fascia propria is opened, the intestine is supposed to be laid 
 bare ; but it is only the fat, and peritoneal bag, which are exposed, and which 
 sac afterwards req-uires to be opened with the greatest care, as there is little 
 fluid in it in the femoral hernia. 
 
 Sir Astley may also lay claim to the discovery of the mode of formation 
 of the crural sheath, which receives the femoral artery, vein and absorbent 
 
 13
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 vessels, with two septa separating the artery from the vein, and the vein 
 from the absorbents. The forepart of this sheath, formed by the fascia 
 transversaUs, and its posterior part by the fascia ihaca. Gimbernat's 
 ligament is placed between the sheath and the pubes ; the anterior crural 
 nerve upon the outer part of the sheath, Poupart's ligament before it, the 
 psoas and iliacus muscles behind it. 
 
 As the epigastric artery, in inguinal hernia is in one species on the 
 inner, and in the other on the outer side of the mouth of the sac. Sir Astley 
 Cooper advised cutting upwards in inguinal hernia ; and as the epigastric 
 artery is placed on the outer part of the femoral hernia, he recommended 
 the scratching the edge of the stricture with the knife, in the direction 
 towards the umbilicus, which will be sure to avoid that artery or any other, 
 if the fibres of the stricture are only slightly touched with the knife, and 
 then further divided by pressure with the finger or the director. 
 
 The superficial fascia, which is an expansion of condensed fibrous 
 structure, was described by Camper, but much more fully by Sir A. Cooper. 
 He gave to it its name, and it is known by that denomination ever since. 
 Cloquet describes it accurately, so does Quain ; it is most distinctly seen in 
 thin subjects. 
 
 6.« In the Edinburgh Medical Journal for April, 1805, Sir A. Cooper 
 has detailed a case of malformation of the urinary and genital organs, of a 
 poor female admitted into St. Thomas's Hospital. Dissection showed the 
 anterior portion of the bladder to be wanting, also the symphisis pubis, and 
 the abdominal muscles situated above this part. The ureters entered the 
 posterior part of the bladder, and they were increased to an enormous size, 
 and formed at their extremities a kind of reservoir for the urine. 
 
 7. Sir Astley Cooper was an active promoter of the Medico-Chirurgical 
 Society, and has contributed largely to their valuable transactions. The 
 first paper in the first volume, consists of the relation of " A Case of 
 Aneurism of the Carotid Artery." This case was treated by hgature upon 
 the vessel, the ^rst of the kind on record, and establishing a practice which 
 has since been pursued, and successfully adopted. The first case was, 
 however, unfortunate in its issue, inflammation of the aneurismal sac and 
 the parts adjacent, having taken place about a fortnight after the operation, 
 and by which the size of the tumour became so much increased, that by 
 pressure on the pharynx and larynx, deglutition was prevented, and violent 
 cough occasioned, to such a degree, as ultimately to impede respiration. 
 The operation was performed under very disadvantageous circumstances 
 in this case, from the length of time the disease had been permitted to 
 exist, and the magnitude the tumour had acquired. 
 
 14
 
 « 
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 8 In 1808, Sir Astley had another opportunity of tying the carotid 
 artery ; and the issue, by a complete success, well repaid the anxiety he had 
 sustained. The case is related in the same volume as the precedmg. 
 
 9. 10. In the second volume of the Transactions are also two papers, 
 one a "Dissection of a Limb, on which the operation for pophteal aneurism 
 had been performed;" the other, " Some Observations on Spma Bifida." 
 The operation in the case of aneurism, had been performed by Sir Astley 
 seven years previously to the death of the patient; and the limb which had 
 been affected being injected, Sir Astley gives an account of the appear- 
 ances of the blood-vessels consequent upon the operation. It points out 
 the vessels which by anastomosis are chiefly employed in carrying on the 
 circulation, when the main trunk has been obliterated, and is therefore 
 both interesting and useful. 
 
 The observations on spina bifida are important in the practice of sur- 
 aerv. This disease, or rather malformation, consists of a deficiency of the 
 spinous processes of the vertebrae by which the theca enclosing the spinal 
 marrow distends and projects forth to form a tumour, any opening into 
 which has been commonly considered as necessarily attended by fatal effects. 
 Sir Astley Cooper is the first surgeon to whom we are indebted for the per- 
 formance of an operation upon these cases, and in which success has fol- 
 lowed his exertions. The treatment adopted has been either palliative or 
 radical; the former consisting of pressure judiciously apphed to the part, 
 the latter an evacuation of the fluid contained in the sac, and subsequent 
 pressure by which adhesion has been promoted. This is only apphcable to 
 cases where the deficiency of the spine is not considerable. The latter 
 method is attended with great constitutional irritation, generally productive 
 of convulsions. In several instances, Sir Astley has been completely suc- 
 cessful in effecting a cure; but there are many cases in which all attempts 
 at relief are useless— these are, when the case is connected with an un- 
 natural enlargement of the head, and where hydrocephalus intemus is con- 
 joined with the malformation. If attempts be made in these instances, 
 either by pressure or puncture, to palhate or radically to cure the disease, 
 an accumulation of water wiU take place within the ventricles of the brain, 
 and the event prove fatal. Where also the lower limbs are paralytic, or the 
 bladder and rectum have lost their power of retention, or where the tumour 
 has burst soon after birth— these are all cases in which the methods proposed 
 by Sir Astley Cooper are inapplicable. It is due to the late Mr. Abernethy 
 to state, that the mode of cure by occasional punctures discharging the fluid 
 according to the frequency with which it accumulates, is founded upon the 
 same principle as that recommended by this eminent man for the cure of 
 
 15
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASION COOPER, BART. 
 
 psoas abscess. Sir Astley has not been unmindful of this circumstance in 
 the account he has given of his cases. Sir Astley attributes the successful 
 issue of the cases under his care to the employment of needles, and not the 
 lancet, to discharge the fluid. The use of the former is not followed by the 
 same irritation as the latter, and this circumstance has led to their applica- 
 tion in other dropsies. Sir Astley has been so good as to give me the 
 opportunity of seeing two of his cases, in one of which a truss is worn, and 
 in the other no bandage whatever. Both patients are now active, healthy 
 men. In one, Benjamin Little, aged thirty, a radical cure has been 
 effected ; the man is able to follow all his duties as a lighterman, and can 
 row from London to Gravesend and back without suffering more than any 
 other man in the same occupation. The skin is much thickened, and there 
 is a retraction in the centre like to an umbilicus, by which its adhesion is 
 firm upon the basis of the sacrum. In the other case — Sterney, aged 
 twenty-eight — a partial adhesion only has been produced. With a truss 
 similar to that for an exomphalos, he is capable of enduring considerable 
 fatigue. He was the son of a butcher, and in the habit of riding many 
 miles daily, meeting with various accidents, but no serious effect has 
 ensued. When the truss is removed, the swelling becomes about the 
 size of a small orange, and the man immediately feels an alarm, his limbs 
 tremble, and he becomes confused. This is instantly removed by the 
 reapplication of the truss. In this case the swelhng was of a very con- 
 siderable size; it was punctured fifty-two times. They are cases of the 
 most interesting description. In my own practice, I regret to say these 
 cases have not been attended with such successful results. I have in 
 several instances adopted the plan recommended : but in all my cases con- 
 vulsions ensued, and proved fatal. This will, I believe, occur in a very 
 large proportion of the cases of this serious malformation. Sir Astley found 
 that the cases were unsuccessful, if the skin was ulcerated over the tumour ; 
 for this is always connected with disease of the brain, and the children 
 die of convulsions. Dr. Marcet made several analyses of the fluid in the 
 cases of spina bifida, and it was found to correspond with that which is met 
 with in the ventricles in cases of hydrocephalus internus. They are detailed 
 in the second volume of the Transactions. 
 
 11, 12. The fourth volume contains two other papers by Sir Astley 
 Cooper : the " History of a case of Premature Puberty," and " An Account 
 of the Anastomosis of the Arteries at the Groin." The first occurred to 
 a girl of four years and a half only, and is an interesting addition to the 
 already numerously recorded cases of the kind ; the latter paper may be 
 regarded as a sequel to the account of the arterial distribution after the 
 
 16
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 operation for popliteal aneurism, before noticed. The instances detailed in 
 this paper were of individuals who had had the iliac artery tied, one of 
 whom survived the operation a much longer time than the other ; and the 
 number of vessels for carrying on the circulation, it must be observed, was 
 greater in the more recent of these cases. As time advances, the vessels 
 gradually enlarge, and the circulation is capable of being maintained by 
 fewer branches. Appended to this paper is an account of the tying of the 
 iliac artery in two cases of aneurism, under very disadvantageous circum- 
 stances ; but the cases proved successful. 
 
 ] 3. In the eighth volume are, " Three Cases of Calculi removed from 
 the Bladder without the use of cutting instruments." To Mr. Thomas we 
 are indebted for first pointing out the readiness with which the female 
 urethra will admit of dilatation ; and, since the relation of his case in the 
 first volume of the Transactions, numerous operations for lithotomy have 
 been spared. The cases detailed by Sir Astley confirm this statement. 
 Cutting for stone in the female, may henceforth be considered as an 
 unnecessary operation. 
 
 14, 15. The eleventh volume contains an ^'Account of a case in which 
 numerous (more than eighty) Calculi were extracted from the urinary 
 bladder of the male without the employment of cutting instruments." Sir 
 Astley has observed, (p. 357,) that when a great number of calculi are found 
 in the bladder, the circumstance is generally attended with an enlargement 
 of the prostate gland, and it depends upon a sacculus being formed in the 
 bladder directly behind the enlarged gland. In these cases the bladder is 
 rarely completely emptied of its contents, and the calculi crystallize from 
 the urine retained in this sac. The number of calculi is sometimes very 
 great — twenty or thirty, or more, are not unfrequently met wdth. Sir Astley 
 mentions one case in which fifty-six were found, and another in which 142 
 were extracted. The instrument used by Sir Astley was a pair of forceps 
 in the shape of a sound, the blades of which could be opened whilst in the 
 bladder by means of a stilette. By these means, the operation for lithotomy 
 has been avoided in the male. Sir Astley succeeded in extracting a stone 
 weighing fifty-four grains, in the case of Sir Wilham Bellingham, recorded 
 in the twelfth volume of the Transactions. 
 
 16. In the twelfth volume is the relation of a case, the operation upon 
 which I witnessed. It was of an enormous adipose tumour, situated upon 
 the abdomen. The magnitude to which these preternatural growths will 
 arrive, is almost inconceivable. In the present instance, the tumour, when 
 removed, weighed 37lbs. lOoz., being rather more than one-fourth the 
 weight of the entire man. It had been allowed to grow during forty years, 
 
 17
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 the man being fifty- seven at the time of the operation. At its commence- 
 ment it did not exceed the size of a pea, but had in sixteen years acquired 
 the magnitude of a child's head; no inconvenience, however, beyond that 
 arising from its size and weight, being sustained. At the time of the 
 operation for its removal, it measured one yard and a quarter around its 
 greatest circumference, and eighteen inches around its neck, extending, 
 when he was sitting down, to his knees. It was removed in the most 
 masterly manner, and in eight days the man was well enough to rise from 
 his bed, and walk in the ward of the hospital. He perfectly recovered. 
 
 17. In 1818-20, a volume of Surgical Essays by Sir A. Cooper and Mr. 
 Travers, made its appearance. Its object was to give to the profession and 
 the public, the results of extensive practice, obtained in the hospitals of 
 St. Thomas and Guy's. The intention of the work is well expressed in 
 the preface. 
 
 " The vai'iety which of necessity occurs in the practice of the surgeons — the 
 facility afforded to them in their respective plans of treatment — the opportunities of 
 improving the practice of medical surgery — of observing the results, general and 
 comparative, of operations of every description — and especially of prosecuting inquiries 
 into morbid anatomy, by prompt examination of the dead body, and of parts removed 
 by operation — are advantages which, while they afford ample compensation for the 
 labours of clinical research, would allow no pretext for indifference in those who, 
 conscious of their value, were not influenced by an ardent desire to improve and 
 impart them. 
 
 The volume is in two parts, and the communications of Sir A. Cooper 
 consist of — 1. On Dislocations. 2. Case of Ligature on the Aorta. 3. On 
 Exostosis. And in the second part : — 1. On Dislocations and on Fractures 
 of the Hip and Knee-joint. 2. On Unnatural Apertures in the Urethra. 
 3. On Encysted Tumours. 
 
 On the subject of Dislocations, Sir Astley dwells with great pro- 
 priety upon the necessity of a knowledge of anatomy, without which, it 
 must be evident, the displacement of a bone cannot be understood, nor the 
 proper means devised for its reduction. This, among other points, renders 
 the study of the structure of the joints of very great importance. The 
 symptoms attendant upon the different kinds of dislocation, the circum- 
 stances by which they are to be detected, the consequences of neglect in 
 the reduction and the after-treatment, are all fully stated by our author. 
 Dislocations are known to occur in some instances from mere relaxation. 
 Sir Astley gives a notice of a curious case of this kind. It happened to a 
 dancing-girl from the south of Europe, who, by great exertions from her 
 earliest years, had produced such a relaxed condition of the ligaments of 
 the knee-joints, that she had the power at pleasure of throwing the patellae 
 
 18
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 off the surfaces of the condyles of the thigh-bones. Disease, producing 
 relaxation of the ligaments, is known also to give rise to dislocation. 
 A paralytic state of the muscles of a joint will also occasion dislocation to 
 be matter of easy occurrence. The chief cause of difficulty in the reduc- 
 tion of dislocations, is to be found in the muscles ; the resistance afforded 
 by them, is proportionate to the length of time the dislocation has existed. 
 A slight force, applied in the earliest period after the accident, is sufficient 
 to reduce a dislocation. A long continued but gradual extension is neces- 
 sary in cases that have been allowed to remain unattended to for any 
 length of time. Violence in the reduction of luxations, cannot be too 
 much condemned; sound parts are injured by such injudicious measures, 
 and increased resistance is called forth by such efforts. Relaxation must 
 necessarily follow continued extension, and power over the action of the 
 muscles will thus be obtained. The influence of the mind is another point 
 of great consequence in aiding the reduction of dislocations. The muscles 
 offering resistance to the reduction, may be overcome by directing the mind 
 of the patient to other muscles ; the action of the former being suspended, 
 the object of the surgeon will often be instantaneously effected. Cases of 
 the different dislocations, and the diagnostic symptoms by which the injuries 
 are to be ascertained, are given in Sir Astley's paper ; and plates are sub- 
 joined to represent the various appearances, which will serve materially to 
 assist the young surgeon in forming his judgment upon one of the most 
 difficult, as well as most important objects of his practice. 
 
 The case of Ligature on the Aorta presents the boldest operation of 
 modern surgery. The case was unsuccessful, but the life of the man upon 
 whom it was performed was prolonged. It is an useful case in many points 
 of view, and demonstrates the power of nature in the preservation of life 
 in a most remarkable manner. A few years since, no one would have 
 believed it possible to pass a ligature round the largest blood-vessel in the 
 body, the main trunk by which the greater part of the frame derived its 
 nutrient fluid, without occasioning death. The reverse of this has been 
 shown by Sir Astley Cooper, under circumstances of peculiar interest: — 
 Charles Hutson, a porter, thirty-eight years of age, was admitted into Guy's 
 Hospital, April 9th, 1817, for a swelling in the left groin, which was pro- 
 nounced to be an aneurism, though the pulsation in it was obscure. It had 
 arisen from a blow he had received twelve months before, by falling against 
 the corner of a chest. Soon after his admission, the swelling increased to 
 double its size ; it was much diffused, and large veins crossed its surface. 
 The swelUng had acquired such a magnitude, that, at this time, he thought 
 it was not possible to have reached the common iUac artery without making 
 
 19
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 an opening into the cavity of the peritoneum. Measures were, therefore, 
 taken to endeavour to obliterate the artery, and diminish the size of the 
 tumour, but without success. Sloughing and ulceration occurred, haemor- 
 rhage succeeded, and his death seemed inevitable. Sir Astley endeavoured 
 to reach the artery by an incision into the aneurismal sac ; but he found 
 only a chaos of broken coagula, and that the artery entered the sac above 
 and quitted it below, without there being any intervening portion of vessel : 
 and all attempts in this way to relieve the patient, were entirely out of the 
 question. Under these circumstances, Sir Astley resolved upon the bold 
 experiment of tying the aorta ! To effect this, he made an incision 
 three inches long into the linea alba, pierced the peritoneum, and passed 
 his finger into the cavity of the abdomen, between the intestines to the 
 spine, and there felt the aorta greatly enlarged, beating with excessive 
 force. Scratching through the peritoneum by means of his finger-nail, he 
 passed around and again through the peritoneum, so that his finger was 
 placed under the vessel; then, by the aid of an aneurismal needle, he 
 conveyed a single ligature to it, and, taking great care not to include any 
 portion of intestine, he tied the thread. The condition of the patient 
 immediately before and during the operation, was awful ; the administration 
 of opium and camphor was rendered necessary. The sensibility of the 
 limb was imperfect ; and upon Sir Astley placing his hand on the thigh, the 
 man said he had touched his foot. He never regained the perfect sen- 
 sibility of the limb ; his extremities recovered their temperature ; but the 
 aneurismal limb was 87 i degrees, whilst the other was 94 degrees. Sick- 
 ness ensued on the following day, the pulse became weak and fluttering, 
 he complained of pain over the whole body, but particularly of the head ; 
 the carotid arteries beat with great force, and he sunk, having survived 
 the operation forty hours. Examination of the body presented no appear- 
 ance of peritoneal inflammation. The aorta was found to have been tied 
 about three-quarters of an inch above its bifurcation, and upon opening it, 
 a clot of more than an inch in extent was seen to have sealed the vessel 
 above the Ugature ; and below the bifurcation another of equal extent, 
 occupying the right iliac artery ; and the left had a third clot, which 
 extended as far as the aneurism. The power of nature, therefore, in 
 effecting this obliteration in the largest trunk in the body, was fully estab- 
 lished, and this too in the short period of forty hours.* 
 
 Sir Astley had, previously to this operation, and since that time has, tied 
 the aorta of different animals, more especially the dog, and these have 
 recovered, as the preparations of anastomosis of this vessel shows in the 
 
 * The preparation is in the museum of St. Thomas's Hospital. 
 
 20
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 collections of St. Thomas and Guy's hospitals. Sir A. proposes, in the 
 event of a necessity again arising for tying the aorta, to operate in a dif- 
 ferent manner. He would make an incision through the muscles on the 
 inner side of the anterior superior spinous process of the ilium, and a little 
 above it, and then turning the peritoneum towards the opposite side of the 
 body, detach with the finger its cellular connexion, and by this means reach 
 the artery without opening the peritoneal cavity. 
 
 On the subject of exostosis, or a preternatural growth of bony matter, 
 it has been shown to have two different seats ; one in the periosteal, the 
 other in the medullary texture. The nature of these tumours varies, 
 being, according to Sir A., either cartilaginous or fungous. Every bone of 
 the body is liable to this disease ; but the thigh-bone is most frequently 
 affected by it. The cartilaginous exostoses probably originate in a blow, 
 or other injury inflicted on the part; the medullary appear to be connected 
 with constitutional disorder, and frequently prove fatal in their conse- 
 quences. Cutting off the supply of blood, by tying the arteries leading to 
 these fungous excrescences, has not been attended with any beneficial effect, 
 and much credit is due to the reports of cases by himself and Mr. Lucas, 
 in which their attempts have been unavailing in this respect, as the pub- 
 lication of these will prevent others from adopting an unnecessary pro- 
 cedure ; but the cartilaginous may be safely sawn off. 
 
 The paper on fractures of the neck of the thigh-bone, contrasts that 
 accident with dislocation, and states the difference of opinion which exists 
 as to the process employed by nature in the restoration of parts under such 
 circumstances. The opinion expressed as to the general non-union of 
 transverse fractures of the neck of the thigh-bone within the capsular 
 ligament, has led to considerable discussion, which, however, has termi- 
 nated by the exhibition of some preparations, manifestly showing the union 
 of the bone by the deposition of true ossific matter. The discussion has 
 been of much service; for young persons at least, affected by so severe 
 an accident, will not be abandoned to their fate, but remedial measures 
 will be attempted, to endeavour to procure ossific union. In a great majority 
 of cases, however, these efforts will be unavailing, and the union will be 
 only ligamentous. The accident rarely occurs but at an advanced period 
 of life, when the power of reparation is feeble ; and from the disposition of 
 the arteries within the capsular ligament, as pointed out by Sir Astley, the 
 union by bony matter is not likely to ensue. Sir Astley's opinion on this 
 subject, is well expressed in the following passage. 
 
 " In all the examinations which I have made of transverse fractures of the cervix 
 femoris, entirely within the capsular ligament, I have never met with a bony union, 
 
 21
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 or of any which did not admit of motion of one bone upon the other. To deny its 
 possibility, would be presumptuous, under all the varieties of direction, extent of 
 fracture, and degree of violence, by which it has been produced, as, for example, when 
 the fracture is through the head of the bone, and there is no separation of the fractured 
 parts, for there is scarcely a general rule which does not admit of exception ; but, all 
 I wish to be understood to say is, that if it ever does happen, it is an extremely rare 
 occurrence, and that I have not yet met with a single example of it." 
 
 The causes of this want of union he states to be, want of proper appo- 
 sition, absence of continued pressure, and httle action in the head of the 
 bone. He gives an account of the dissection of some of these cases, and 
 he illustrates his views by a detail of various experiments made upon 
 animals, to demonstrate the mode of union, or the non-production of it 
 under particular circumstances. Sir Astley Cooper has since seen one 
 united, where the reflected ligament at the neck of the bone had not been 
 torn through, and consequently where the usual shortening had not occurred. 
 Sir A. C. has been much misunderstood upon this subject, and he has had 
 occasion to correct a statement professed to have been made by Baron 
 Dupuytren, in one of his Lei^ons Oraies, attributing to him the opinion 
 that ossific union never could take place in fractures of the neck of the 
 femur. (See Med. Gaz. v. 14, p, 144.) The fact is, he never denied the 
 union of those fractures in any publication, but imputes the want of it 
 principally to the reflection of the synovial membrane on the neck of the 
 bone, instead of a periosteum. In fractures of the shafts of bones, an ossific 
 secretion proceeds both from the bone and the periosteum ; but the neck of 
 the thigh-bone is covered by a synovial membrane, instead of a periosteum. 
 So the patella has no periosteum, but tendinous fibres only inserted into it. 
 The same with the olecranon, &c. The remaining part of this paper is on 
 dislocations and fractures of the knee, of the ankle, &c. in which the results 
 of Sir A.'s extensive practice are candidly and perspicuously stated. 
 
 The essay on unnatural apertures of the urethra gives some good 
 practical directions for the treatment of those cases in their varied forms, 
 and details an interesting case of abscess in the urethra, occasioning con- 
 siderable loss of substance, which was supplied by a covering of integument 
 taken from the scrotum, and applied upon Tagliacozzian principles. 
 
 The essay on encysted tumours is a short paper, not enumerating the 
 different kinds, but confined to those which are situated just under the 
 skin, and principally met with upon the head, face, and back. Sir Astley's 
 attention was particularly directed to those, by having himself been the 
 subject of one upon the back. He states that their origin is derived from 
 follicles obstructed and enlarged, and therefore incapable of discharging 
 their contents upon the surface of the skin. The curdy substance, often 
 
 22
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 with some hairs, and, in sheep, wool, found in these cysts, can be readily 
 squeezed out; but as the cyst then remains, another accumulation speedily 
 occurs, and the latter mode of treatment is to remove them entirely. The 
 most expeditious way of doing this I have dften witnessed, when a pupil, 
 performed by Sir A. Cooper, and since repeatedly done by myself, is to 
 make an incision through the integuments, carefully avoiding to wound the 
 sac, and then applying pressure on each side, evert the entire tumour. 
 This mode is quite effectual, and saves a great deal of pain, which a more 
 free use of the knife necessarily occasions in attempting to dissect them 
 out whole. Erysipetalous inflammation is less likely to occur after the 
 operation, by the adoption of the milder method. These tumours some- 
 times form in great number : Sir Astley has seen one case in which there 
 were no less than sixteen on the head. I have never met with more than 
 ten. The largest Sir Astley ever saw, I witnessed the removal of. It was 
 seated upon the crown of the head, and gave to the man a very grotesque 
 appearance, it being as large as a common-sized cocoa-nut, so that when 
 the man placed his hat on, it scarcely reached his head. The subject of 
 horny excrescences shooting up from these cysts, will be noticed in another 
 memoir. 
 
 18. Sir Astley Cooper's essays on dislocations and fractures, have been 
 already noticed. In 1822, the subject was again treated of, and published 
 in the form of a distinct treatise, in quarto, and accompanied by numerous 
 plates ; and, in the following year, an appendix, relating particularly to the 
 fractured neck of the thigh-bone, in reply to some observations printed by 
 the late Mr. Henry Earle, in his " Practical Observations on Surgery." 
 This work must be regarded as the most complete of the kind hitherto 
 published ; and cases derived from the practice of Sir Astley and others 
 are faithfully detailed. The principle upon which these injuries are to be 
 treated are laid down, and the work must be regarded as an useful contri- 
 bution to this department of surgery. In the treatment of compound 
 dislocations, he has advised a plan which has saved the limbs and the lives 
 of a great number of persons. He apphes lint dipped in blood to the 
 wound after the reduction of the bone, and approximating the edges, he 
 heals the wound by adhesion ; and he recommends it in wounds and in com- 
 pound fractures. — The work has gone through many editions. 
 
 19. The diseases of the breast are among those maladies the most 
 difficult to define, and often occasion the greatest anxiety to the patients 
 afflicted. In 1829, Sir A. Cooper published a quarto volume of " Illus- 
 trations of the Diseases of the Breast," It is intended to be comprised in 
 
 23
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 two parts, the first of which (embracing those which are not to be con- 
 sidered as malignant,) only has yet appeared. Sir Astley has pointed out 
 the great advantages to be derived from the examination of morbid struc- 
 tures, in forming a diagnosis of the disease, and adopting a proper mode 
 of treatment. The breast is liable to almost all the complaints of other 
 structures; but some are peculiar to this organ. The word "cancer" 
 carries terror into the mind of every one : hence promises of cure have 
 been always held out by the designing quack, and too often have the 
 expectations of the ignorant and the timid been fatally disappointed : dis- 
 ease has been allowed to proceed until past all remedy, even by the knife ; 
 the results, therefore, of the experience of such a man as Sir A. Cooper, 
 upon this point, are invaluable. Sir Astley has endeavoured to distinguish 
 between those tumours which are the effect of acute inflammation, and 
 those of a chronic kind ; he has shown that some of the latter may be 
 accompanied with specific action, and others not merely specific, but also 
 malignant. How truly important are these investigations ! satisfactory 
 information upon which, can only be the result of extensive practice and 
 attentive observation. 
 
 Of the first class of the acute kind is the milk abscess ; of the chronic, 
 the indolent swelling and abscess, and the lacteal tumour from obstruction 
 of one of the lactiferous tubes. Tlie second class is numerous : there are 
 the hydatid, the chronic mammary tumour, the ossific, the adipose, the 
 large and pendulous breast, the scrofulous, the irritable, and the ecchymosis 
 of the breast. The malignant, Sir Astley arranges in two kinds; the 
 scirrhous or cancerous, and the fungoid tubercle. The non-malignant 
 diseases of the breast are fully described, cases given in illustration of them, 
 and plates to demonstrate the constitution of their structure. In a few 
 pages will be found a great variety of clinical facts and practical precepts. 
 The distinction of the various species belonging to the several kinds of 
 tumours is very ably drawn, and the profession must look forward with 
 great anxiety to the completion of this important surgical work. 
 
 20. In 1830 Sir Astley Cooper published " Observations on the Struc- 
 ture and Diseases of the Testis," accompanied by ten plates, demonstrating 
 the anatomy of the organ, and fourteen illustrations of the diseases to 
 which it is liable. The anatomy of the testis is more distinctly shown by 
 Sir A. than by any preceding anatomist, principally from the new and 
 successful manner in which he has been in the habit of injecting the 
 tubuli seminiferi with glue, or other coarse injection through the canals of 
 the rete. This not only produces beautiful preparations, but also enables 
 
 24
 
 sill ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 the organ to be more easily dissected, and less liable to injury than those 
 made by quicksilver. Sir Astley possesses the most beautiful injections of 
 the testis that were ever made. 
 
 The most novel and important points in the anatomy of this organ, and 
 parts appertaining to it, are the existence of a membrane, which lines the 
 tunica albuginea, and is reflected over each tubulus as the pia mater is upon 
 the brain ; and the dissection of the inguinal canal, which has already been 
 noticed. Sir Astley has seen the testis to descend from thirteen to seven- 
 teen years of age, during the progress of puberty, and in some cases it 
 has not been accomplished until twenty-one. 
 
 The diseases of the testis he divides into those which result from common 
 inflammation, either acute or chronic, specific but non-malignant, and those 
 which are specific and malignant. To discriminate between these is a 
 matter of the highest importance, and is a knowledge only to be acquired 
 by extensive observation. Sir Astley has minutely traced the various 
 organic changes to which the testis is subject, and the examples illustrative 
 of the pathology of the organ are to be seen and referred to in his private 
 collection, and also in the museums of St. Thomas's and Guy's Hospital. 
 By these inquiries, many an useless, or rather unnecessary, operation will 
 be prevented. The chronic inflammation of the organ was formerly looked 
 upon as a sarcocele, and extirpation was resorted to. The use of mercury 
 in the majority of cases supplies the place of the knife, and removes all 
 dread and apprehension from the mind of the sufferer. Many surgeons 
 have given their aid to produce this alleviation of human misery ; but Sir 
 Astley must be regarded as the foremost in the rank of this distinguished 
 corps. The diseases in Sir Astley's Jirst division never require extirpation 
 of the organ — those in the second (the non-malignant, but specific) but 
 rarely (hydatids forms an exception) ; the specific and malignant leave no 
 other resource. The practice, therefore, to be adopted is rendered simple; 
 but it is founded upon the previous knowledge obtained of the diagnosis 
 of the several diseases. Scrofula is a disease generally supposed not to 
 affect the secretory glands — the testis offers an exception to this. Sir Astley 
 details some cases, and gives also an account of the dissection of the morbid 
 organ. The testis is rarely affected by syphilis — many surgeons doubt its 
 existence entirely ; Sir Astley feels confident that it does occur, and that 
 this specific inflammation will only yield to a mercurial treatment. 
 
 Of the laws which influence and regulate morbid growths, we have little 
 precise knowledge — all accurate histories, therefore, of fungous tumours are 
 of importance. The different stages of fungoid diseases of the testis are 
 well depicted by Sir Astley Cooper. He thinks it both local and cousti- 
 
 23
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 tutional. He has seen it in infancy, and he suspects it may partake of the 
 scrofulous character. The constitutional nature of the disease is shown by 
 its presence in different parts of the body. Too early extirpation of the 
 disease cannot be performed; if it be allowed to continue any length of 
 time, the eifects will be most disastrous. Scirrhous testis is of rare occur- 
 rence ; extirpation oflfers the only probable remedy. 
 
 The remainder of the work is upon diseases of the spermatic cord and 
 the scrotum. Hydrocele in all its varieties is treated of, and a curious and 
 interesting case of fungoid inflammation of the tunica vaginalis, treated by 
 Sir Astley Cooper and Sir Benjamin Brodie. The chapters on haematocele, 
 varicocele, and chimney-sweeper's cancer, will be studied by the surgical 
 practitioner with great advantage. 
 
 21. Sir Astley Cooper published " The Anatomy of the Thymus 
 Gland," in 1832. This work has resulted from frequent dissections of the 
 foetus, in the various stages of its growth, from the sixth week in utero- 
 gestation, to the period of nine months, with the view of observing the 
 descent of the testis. Sir Astley could not fail to remark in these instances, 
 the changes in the size of the thymus gland, and the quantity of fluid dis- 
 charged from it, when an incision is made into its substance. He has 
 examined the structure of this gland, and the secretion produced by it. 
 He has injected the vessels by which the produce is carried away, and 
 finally inquired into the nature of the fluid itself, by which the use of the 
 gland may be fairly estimated. Every anatomist is fully acquainted with 
 the difliculties attending such an investigation, from the delicacy of the 
 structure of this part ; and reference in this, as in many other cases, to 
 comparative anatomy, to illustrate its structure and functions, has been 
 necessary. The calf and lamb have furnished this assistance to Sir Astley, 
 and the gland in these animals he has been able readily to inject, and to 
 dissect, and thus to show the relative situation of parts, to view the secret- 
 ing structure, and to collect, in sufficient quantity, the secreted fluid for 
 the purpose of analysis. The existence of this gland only in the foetal and 
 infantile state, unless when affected by disease, shows that it performs 
 some function necessary to this early period of life, and not belonging to 
 later years. Sir Astley first describes the gland in the foetal calf, and 
 distinguishes its thoracic and cervical portions, its organization as a conglo- 
 merate gland, united in its several parts by a loose cellular membrane, 
 beneath which is a reticular tissue, which serves to more immediately 
 connect the lobes to each other, and unite the different parts of their struc- 
 ture. In addition, however, to these bonds of union, there is a vessel of 
 communication between the diff*erent lobes, formed of a mucous membrane 
 
 26
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 internally, and a secretory structure more externally, and thus all the parts 
 of the gland are bound together in general communication. A ligamentous 
 structure serves further to strengthen the gland, and preserve its parts 
 in union. The larger lobes of the gland are divisible into smaller ones, 
 and these are found to contain a great quantity of a milky fluid. This 
 structure is particularly described, the secreting cells displayed, and the 
 reservoirs connected with them. The central vessel is in itself glandular. 
 When the whole gland is unravelled, it gives the appearance of a chain of 
 beads of irregular shapes. The arteries are very numerous, and are 
 derived from the internal mammary, the common carotid, the superior 
 thyroideal and the external carotid. The veins terminate principally into 
 the internal mammary veins ; but there is a vein pecuhar to this gland, the 
 vena thymica, which returns the blood into the internal jugular veins. 
 The absorbent glands and vessels on the spinal portion of the thymus gland, 
 are both large and numerous, and the vessels terminate in the jugular veins 
 at their junction with the superior cava, by one or more orifices on each 
 side. These have been named by Sir Astley the thymic absorbe?it ducts. 
 The nerves are very minute. 
 
 The thymus gland, (or glands, for they may be divided into a right and 
 left,) in the foetus of between two and three months, is scarcely perceptible; 
 at three months it increases in proportion to the relative magnitude of the 
 foetus, and grows in this proportion to the seventh month, when it rapidly 
 increases in size, so that at nine months it weighs at least half an ounce. 
 After birth, it increases, and continues large to the first year, when it 
 begins to decrease; and generally three or four years before puberty, it 
 entirely disappears as a gland, leaving traces only of a hgamentous or reti- 
 cular structure. 
 
 Hewson considered the thymus gland as an appendage to the lymphatic 
 glands, but Sir Astley shows the great dissimilarity of their structures. 
 It is not necessary here to detail the opinions that previous physiologists 
 have entertained of the office of the thymus gland ; it is enough to notice the 
 physiology as laid down by our author. The office of the thymus gland he 
 conceives to be, to " prepare a chylous fluid well fitted for the foetal growth 
 and nourishment from the blood of the mother before the birth of the 
 foetus, and consequently before chyle is formed from food ; and this process 
 continues for a short time after birth, the quantity of fluid secreted from 
 the thymus gradually declining, as that of chyUfication becomes perfectly 
 •established." 
 
 Analysis of the fluid, made by Dr. Dowler, shows its composition to be 
 of the following substances, placed in the order of their proportions: — 
 
 27
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 " one hundred parts contain sixteen of solid matter ; incipient fibrin ; 
 albumen ; mucus and muco-extractive matter ; salts, consisting chiefly of 
 muriate and phosphate of potash ; and phosphate of soda. Of phosphoric 
 acid, a trace. The thymus gland, therefore, secretes a fluid having in its 
 composition all the component parts of the blood:— albumen, fibrin, and 
 particles ; which latter, easily discovered by the microscope, are found to be 
 of a white, not a red colour as in the blood. 
 
 I have enjoyed, by the kindness of Sir Astley, the opportunity of 
 examining, in detail, a collection of preparations, amounting to not less 
 than two hundred and forty specimens in his private museum, upon this 
 subject ; and it is but bare justice to add my testimony to their value, and 
 the satisfaction they have afforded me, in demonstration of the intimate 
 structure and particular use of the thymus gland. 
 
 In 1836, the first number of "Guy's Hospital Reports" made its appear- 
 ance, and to this work Sir Astley has lent his powerful aid. He has con- 
 tributed : 
 
 22. " A Case of Femoral Aneurism, for which the external iliac artery 
 was tied ; with an Account of the Preparation of the Limb, dissected at the 
 expiration of eighteen years." A brief account of this case was published 
 in the year 1813, in the fourth volume of the Medico-Chirurgical Transac- 
 tons, the operation having been performed in 1808. The patient survived 
 until 1826, and this paper shows the condition of the limb after death, the 
 vessels having been injected, to demonstrate the manner in which the main 
 trunk had been tied. Two excellent plates accompany this paper, and 
 display the dilated state of the ileo-lumbar, gluteal, and ischiatic arteries. 
 The internal pudic was also enlarged ; but no direct communication with 
 the femoral could be detected. This case affords a beautiful example of 
 the power of nature in accommodating herself to the condition of parts, and 
 of the provision so wisely and so wonderfully existing, to support the fi-ame 
 under apparently the most difficult circumstances. 
 
 23. "Account of the first successful Operation performed on the 
 common Carotid Artery for Aneurism in 1808, with the post-mortem 
 examination in 1821." This patient, whose case has before been alluded 
 to, died of a fit of apoplexy. The plate accompanying the account of the 
 dissection exhibits the condition of the arteries at the basis of the brain, 
 and is excedingly interesting. 
 
 24. In Part 2, Dr. Hodgkin has given an account of an " Unusually- 
 formed Placenta, and Imperfect Foetus," and Sir Astley Cooper has minutely 
 examined into the structure of these productions. The placenta was divided 
 into two unequal cavities, one of which contained a well-formed, the other 
 
 28
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 an imperfect foetus. The membranes surrounding both were distinct, but 
 proceeded from the single placenta. The umbilical vein was, relatively to 
 the size of the placenta of great magnitude. The funis of the perfect child 
 had two umbihcal arteries and one vein ; that of the imperfect, only one 
 umbilical artery and vein. A communication between the two foetuses 
 existed by means of a large branch of the umbilical vein, and there was also 
 an anastomosis of the umbilical arteries. The consolidation of the placentae 
 of two children into one is of very rare occurrence, and on this head Sir 
 Astley quotes Dr. Blundell, who had once a preparation showing it. 
 Sir Astley has given a minute account of the dissection of the imperfect 
 foetus, and his opinion as to the mode in which it was nourished, viz. through 
 the agency of the heart and vessels of the perfect child, for the imperfect 
 one was without the most important organs in the circulating system. 
 
 25. In Part 3, Mr. T. W. King has published, " Observations on the 
 Thyroid Gland ;" and it appears from this paper, that Sir Astley had in 
 1826-27 made various examinations into the nature of the fluid secreted in 
 this organ. Dr. B. G. Babington analysed it for Sir Astley, and found it to 
 consist principally of albumen, but he also detected the presence of gelatine 
 and mucus. Mr. King's inquiry into the structure of the gland corresponds 
 with that of Sir Astley, though he was quite ignorant of the researches 
 previously made by Sir Astley, and the experiments he had mentioned for 
 many years in his anatomical lectures. 'J'hey are of too elaborate a nature 
 to admit of analysis in this place. 
 
 26. " Some Experiments and Observations on Tying the Carotid and 
 Vertebral Arteries, and the Pneumo-Gastric, Phrenic, and Sympathetic 
 Nerves." The power of the system in estabUshing an abundant and com- 
 petent circulation by means of anastomosing vessels, when the main trunk 
 is rendered impervious, either by disease or from the application of a 
 ligature, has been frequently demonstrated in the cases previously noticed 
 in this memoir, as well as by the repeated observations of several surgeons, 
 and the experiments made upon living animals. It was not, however, 
 sufficient, in the mind of Sir Astley, to establish this fact, to show that the 
 circulation through the iliac arteries could be prevented by an aneurism of 
 the aorta above the bifurcation — that the external and the internal iliacs 
 could be safely tied, as in the cases of Mr. Abernethy, Sir Astley Cooper, 
 and Mr. Guthrie, on the former vessels, and of Mr. Stevens on the latter; 
 but it required further experiments, in his opinion, to demonstrate the inti- 
 mate union between the functions immediately essential to life, to display 
 the connexion between the brain and other organs, and the necessity which 
 exists for a due supply of arterial blood to maintain cerebral action. With 
 
 29
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 this view, Sir Astley has reported various experiments made by him upon 
 different animals, illustrating the effects produced by tying the vertebral 
 and carotid arteries in the dog and the rabbit, and placing ligatures also 
 upon the pneumo-gastric, phrenic, and grand sympathetic nerves. The 
 details of these several operations cannot here be given, they must be care- 
 fully perused ; but the inference to be drawn from them may be thus stated. 
 The carotids appear in these animals to serve rather for the supply of blood 
 to the external parts of the head than to the brain itself, and ligatures upon 
 them do not produce such serious results as upon the vertebral arteries. 
 These are more itnportant as regards the brain and its functions. Com- 
 pression upon the carotids and vertebral arteries at the same moment 
 destroys the nervous functions immediately. This is effected by the appli- 
 cation of the thumbs to both sides of the neck, below the sixth vertebra, 
 (the trachea remaining quite free from pressure,) when respiration entirely 
 ceases, with the exception of a few convulsive gasps. I have witnessed this 
 experiment, and it is very striking in its character : pressure for one minute 
 entirely destroys the animal, without the infliction of pain — if for a shorter 
 time, (a rabbit being the subject of the experiment,) the animal speedily 
 recovers, and from a state which strongly resembles intoxication. There is 
 a loss of voluntary power, and the animal is unable to direct the action of 
 his muscles to any given point, or in any certain course. The experiments 
 of Sir Astley on the pneumo-gastric nerves are important, and show that 
 they assist in the support of the function of the lungs, by contributing to 
 the changing of the venous into arterial blood, and that they are also neces- 
 sary to the act of deglutition. In his experiments of applying ligatures, 
 and of dividing the phrenic nerves, he produced asthma of the most deter- 
 mined character, and death in less than half an hour. 
 
 27. In February 1836, Sir Astley, in the course of his experiments on 
 the compression of the carotid and vertebral arteries, found in the rabbit, 
 and afterwards in the guinea-pig and ferret, a superior laryngeal ganglion. 
 The superior laryngeal nerve is distributed almost entirely on the mucous 
 membrane lining the larynx, and gives to that organ its extreme sensibility. 
 The position of the ganglion, Mr. E. Cock has shown varies in different 
 animals, in accordance with the point at which the nerve is given off from 
 the pneumo-gastric trunk. Sir Astley has been so kind as to dissect, and 
 show me this ganglion in the rabbit ; and the particulars relating to it, in 
 this and other animals, are ably stated by Mr. E. Cock, in the fifth number 
 of the Guy's Hospital Reports. 
 
 28. In the sixth number of the same work, Sir Astley has printed a 
 paper " On Spermatocele, or Varicocele of the Spermatic Cord," a disease 
 
 30
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 of frequent occurrence. Among the causes enumerated by Sir A. as par- 
 ticularly conducive to this affection, he mentions the injudicious use of belts 
 around the body ; promotive of this, as well as other diseases for which they 
 are most absurdly recommended. The diagnostic marks of this affection 
 are clearly stated, and the treatment for those cases in which the pain is 
 great, consists of the removal of a portion of the scrotum, by which a 
 diminution of the size of the veins of the spermatic cord is effected. Several 
 cases are related, in which this mode has been followed with great relief!, 
 and it can be done with perfect safety. 
 
 29. One other work only remains to be mentioned: " The Lectures on 
 the Principles and Practice of Surgery." I have already noticed the 
 talents of Sir Astley as a lecturer, and endeavoured to depict him in that 
 character. I have not overdrawn the portrait. I feel that I have not done 
 justice to his merits, and if any thing need be brought forward to prove the 
 truth of this remark, it would be afforded in the statement that various 
 editions of his lectures have been published by Jones, by Syder, in the 
 Lancet, and by Mr. F. Tyrrell, the surgeon to St. Thomas's Hospital. 
 The latter edition has been corrected by the author, and must, therefore, 
 be looked upon as the most authentic ; but it remains an unfinished work, 
 three volumes only are published, the first in 1824, the second in 1825, and 
 the third in 1827. It is to be hoped that Mr. Tyrrell will shortly be able to 
 complete the series. To attempt an analysis of a course of lectures, is 
 out of the question ; they ought to be in the library of every surgeon, and 
 they cannot be too often referred to, for they contain a most astonishing 
 quantity of facts, the produce of most extended observation and practice. 
 
 Among the numerous improvements in surgical science introduced by 
 Sir A. Cooper, one ought in particular to be mentioned, as it has been 
 extensively employed, and saved great pain, inconvenience, and danger. 
 I mean the operation of puncturing the urethra instead of the bladder, in 
 cases of retention of urine arising from impermeable stricture. I have seen 
 Sir A. do this in many cases, and Mr. Travers assures me, that as far back as 
 the time of his' apprenticeship to Sir Astley, he witnessed its performance 
 even with his simple pocket-lancet. It has since been done by all surgeons 
 of eminence. 
 
 The limit prescribed to these memoirs has been, in this instance, already 
 much exceeded; the labours of the distinguished individual, whose pro- 
 fessional character and works have been under review, have demanded it. 
 The tribute of applause, nay, of the highest praise, is due to such splendid 
 exertions; but what language can sufficiently express the admiration the 
 profession must feel of the manner in which Sir Astley is now closing his 
 
 31
 
 SIR ASTLEY PASTON COOPER, BART. 
 
 career? not by revelling in inglorious ease, or in the enjoyment of luxuries 
 which a large fortune might readily afford him ; but by employing, in a man- 
 ner more laborious than any other individual in the profession, the whole of 
 his time in anatomical and physiological inquiries — in bringing up the results 
 of his practice, and in leaving to posterity a legacy of imperishable value. 
 Sir Astley has studied the book of nature — he has been one of her most 
 vigilant inspectors — he has traced her in every fibre, and explored her in 
 every cell, and he has recorded the glorious products of his labours. The 
 fruits of these will be the advancement of medical and surgical knowledge, 
 and a mitigation of the sufferings of his fellow-creatures. This reflection 
 must be his reward here. Upon the decision of posterity he may safely 
 rely, and say with the poet, 
 
 " Time is the judge ; time has nor friend nor foe ; 
 False fame must wither, and the true must grow." 
 
 Young. 
 
 32
 
 ^^^?^^.^<J2,^YV^^^^^''^^
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 Qui omnium rerum atque artium, rationem naturamque comprehenderit." 
 
 CiCEKO. 
 
 The Practice of Medicine may very properly be divided into two branches : 
 1st, That which relates to the preservation of health, and the consequent 
 prolongation of life; and, 2nd, The cure of diseases. These are the objects 
 of the physician — to excel in them, we have the authority of Dr. Gregory 
 for saying, that " a greater compass of learning is necessary than in any 
 other profession." Dr. Thomas Young says, " There is no study more 
 difficult than that of physic : it exceeds, as a science, the comprehension of 
 the human mind." And again, "Physic is one of those departments in 
 which there is frequent necessity for the exercise of an incommunicable 
 faculty of judgment, and a sagacity which may be called transcendental, 
 as extending beyond the simple combination of all that can be taught by 
 precept." Hence its distinguished professors have been regarded with 
 respect and veneration in all ages. It demands the possession of a liberal 
 education and accomplishments, and affords the most abundant opportuni- 
 ties for the exercise of humanity and all the kindher feelings of our nature. 
 It has been well described as the duty of a physician " to take every man, 
 who entrusts himself to his care, as he is, with all his failings, and to treat 
 him in such a manner as to obtain his confidence and to fulfil his wishes. 
 Men of all classes and ranks of life, of all dispositions, capacities, characters, 
 and opinions— in every imaginable situation, of every age, constitution, and 
 temper — have equal claims to his assistance and his attention. And the 
 same authority (Vogel) declares, that " perhaps there is no science which 
 requires so penetrating an intellect, so much talent and genius, and so 
 much force of mind, so much acuteness and memory, as the science of 
 medicine. For the full attainment of its proper and ultimate object, it 
 requires also indispensably the possession of stability of judgment, rapidity 
 of decision, and immovable firmness and presence of mind; readiness 
 
 1
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D. 
 
 of recollection, coolness, flexibility of temper, elegance and obsequiousness 
 of manners, and a profound knowledge of mankind, and of the secret 
 recesses of the human heart." It would, perhaps, be a difficult, and it 
 would certainly be an invidious task, to attempt to name any physician 
 more fully qualified for the exercise of his profession than the respected 
 individual whose name stands at the head of this memoir. 
 
 Tiedemann has justly remarked, in his " Physiologie des Menschen," 
 that there are many physicians who are excellent theorisers, but who never 
 become skilful practitioners; for, with all their accumulated information, 
 they know not how to recognize the individualities of a case, nor to reduce 
 the symptoms to any general rule — such, says he, are all merely book-men, 
 who have acquired no skill in the sick room. On the other hand, there 
 are physicians who treat all cases after the analogy of previous ones, and 
 the results of their experience in general, and employ, without being able 
 to give any reason whatever for so doing, certain remedies which they may 
 have used on some former occasion with advantage. Such are the sheer 
 empirics, the routine men, the despisers of all theory, and the searchers 
 after and triers of every new remedy proposed, by those, at least, of the 
 same school. The combination of these two classes, so forcibly drawn by 
 the celebrated German physiologist and physician, can alone form the truly 
 scientific practitioner, for every case has, in some degree or other, some- 
 thing peculiar belonging to it, arising, probably, from difference of age, 
 sex, constitution, habits of life, &c., and therefore requiring in its mode of 
 treatment a modification of the means to be employed ; which, however, are 
 based upon a general principle applicable to the class of disorders to which 
 it may be allied. 
 
 Dr. James Copland, the contemplation of whose character and talents 
 have given rise to the preceding remarks, is a native of the Orkney Islands, 
 and was born in November, 1791. He is the eldest of nine children. His 
 father having removed to the island of Noss in Zetland, well known for its 
 remarkable natural scenery, he was placed, at nine years of age, at a school 
 in Lerwick, in the family of the then clergyman of that town. He con- 
 tinued to reside there until he was fourteen, when he was removed to an 
 adjoining clergyman's, where he remained two years. At the age of sixteen, 
 his father took him to Edinburgh, and in November, 1807, he commenced 
 his studies at the university of that city. He continued to study during 
 the usual sessions, in the literary, mathematical, and philosophical classes, 
 preparatory to his intended entry upon the study of divinity. But this 
 not being in accordance with his own inclination, he chose the profession 
 of medicine. During this preliminary part of his education, he studied
 
 JxiMES COPLAND, M.D. 
 
 under, and became acquainted with. Professors D. Stewart, Leslie, Playfair, 
 Brown, and Ritchie, and acquired a taste for metaphysics, occasionally 
 afterwards indulged in, when he became editor of the London Medical 
 Repository, and in his notes to Richerand's Physiology. Previously to his 
 entering upon the study of medicine, and during the college vacations, he 
 sometimes visited the Zetland Isles. The Rev. Dr. Fleming, the able 
 author of several works on physiology and natural history, was then minister 
 of the parish in which his father resided, and was a frequent visiter at the 
 house of the latter. He thus acquired a taste for natural history and 
 geology, to the cultivation of which these remote isles are remarkably 
 favourable. Entering upon the study of medicine, his attention was entirely 
 devoted to the acquisition of those departments of science upon which 
 medicine is more immediately based. At the commencement of 1815 he 
 wrote his thesis, and the other Latin exercises required at that time for 
 a degree in medicine. He did not, in these exercises, confine himself to 
 the usual limits, but in all of them he entered fully into the doctrines 
 to which they more particularly referred, and proposed views which were 
 then novel, but which have since been more generally adopted. The chief 
 of these are — the origin of inflammation in lesion of the nerves supplying 
 the capillary vessels ; that rheumatism is essentially a disease of the nervous 
 system, the vascular disturbance, general or local, being consecutive and 
 contingent; that increased function of the liver is often consequent upon 
 impaired function of the lungs ; and that, whilst high ranges of temperature 
 and humidity of the air diminish the production of carbonic acid in respira- 
 tion, they increase the secretion of bile, and consequently bilious disorders, 
 in intertropical climates, and in warm seasons in temperate countries, &c. ; 
 owing to the changes produced in the blood by respiration being imperfect 
 or insufiicient. 
 
 Having attracted the notice of the professors by his examination and 
 exercises, and taken his Doctor's degree, he came to London in August, 
 1815, with the intention of seeing the practice of the London Hospitals. 
 But, after the devoted attention he had paid for two years to the medical 
 and clinical practice in the Edinburgh Infirmary, he found little to attract 
 him in the medical department of the London hospitals at that time. 
 In surgery, however, it was different, and to this he paid considerable 
 attention. 
 
 Tired of an inactive life in London, and anxious to enter upon some 
 enterprise or undertaking, but possessing inadequate means and interest, — 
 having lived eighteen months in the metropolis without employment, without 
 friends, and with very few acquaintances, — he was offered a medical appoint-
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D. 
 
 ment to the settlements on the Gold Coast, belonging to the late African 
 Company. Various considerations induced him to entertain the proposal, par- 
 ticularly a desire of becoming practically acquainted with the diseases of warm 
 climates, and of visiting those parts of Africa which seemed most likely 
 to afford opportunities of entering on inland discovery. Confiding in his 
 robust constitution, his then spare habit of body, and being both abstemious 
 and temperate, with a great flow of animal spirits, he anticipated no risk 
 from the pestilential climate of the western coast. With the offer of the 
 above appointment, but with the intention of not accepting it, or of not 
 being fettered by it, until he should arrive at the Company's head-quarters, 
 when he might be better able to judge of its duties, &c., he took his 
 passage at the commencement of 1817, in a vessel j)roceeding to Goree, 
 the Senegal, and Gambia, at each of which places he remained a few days. 
 He next visited Sierra Leone, where he resided two or three weeks, and 
 saw, with the medical men of the settlement, a number of cases of the 
 prevailing diseases. 
 
 From this place he took his passage in a ship which was to proceed 
 along the coast to trade with the natives. But the vessel had been hardly 
 out of sight of Sierra Leone, when fever made its appearance, and thirteen 
 or fourteen of the sailors (about three-fourths of the crew,) were soon 
 attacked by it. The vessel was also, at this time, dismasted by a most 
 violent tornado. In this emergency, he devoted his attention to the sick 
 men, and, with the aid of the captain's ill-provided medicine-chest, he suc- 
 ceeded in restoring them to health.* Having landed soon afterwards from 
 this vessel. Dr. Copland proceeded along the coast through various savage 
 tribes, sometimes by land, occasionally in canoes, and at other times in 
 small trading vessels, and took every opportunity of visiting the chief 
 places and native towns. After several risks and detentions, he at length 
 arrived at the European settlements on the Gold Coast, and resided some 
 months at the principal British fort — Cape Coast Castle. Various cir- 
 cumstances, and particularly the great difficulties placed in the way of 
 inland research, afterwards induced him to return to Europe. In order to 
 obtain some information of the countries bordering on this part of the 
 western coast, which extends eastward and southward from Cape Coast 
 Castle, to the Gulf or Bight of Benin, he took his passage to England in a 
 
 * In the memoranda kindly furnished to me by Dr. Copland, he states, that 
 during his dangerous excursions in this quai'ter, there was not a merchant or trading 
 vessel of the very many which he saw or heard of, that was provided with a surgeon ; 
 although he believes that the number of seamen who return from this part of the 
 world, does not average one-thii-d of those who proceed thither.
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D. 
 
 trading vessel, proceeding in the first instance to that part of the coast. 
 After a most hazardous and tempestuous voyage, he arrived in England 
 early in 1818. He afterwards proceeded to France and Germany, with 
 the view of observing the practice of medicine in those countries. He 
 remained abroad the greater part of that and the following year ; and early 
 in 1820 he returned to London, took a house at Walworth, and became a 
 licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. In that year he commenced 
 writing on various medical subjects, and communicated papers on the 
 Medical Topography of the western coast of Africa, on the yellow fever, 
 and on rabies, to the Quarterly Journal of Foreign Medicine. In the 
 same year he became a member of the London JNledical Society, and 
 co-operated with some others in establishing the South London Dispensary, 
 for the poor of the Lambeth, Walworth, and Kennington districts. He 
 continued physician to this charity for two years, when he resigned. In 
 this year (1820) he was elected Physician to the Dispensary, now the Royal 
 Infirmary, for the diseases of children. About this time he offered his 
 services, through Sir James M'Grigor, Bart., to the government, to inves- 
 tigate the origin and nature of the epidemic yellow fever, that had then 
 appeared in the south of Spain, stipulating for no reward but the protec- 
 tion of the government during his mission, and his expenses. But ministers 
 had already directed Dr. Jackson, a declared partisan of non-infection, to 
 proceed on this mission. Dr. Copland considered himself well fitted for the 
 investigation, both by education, and by his previous researches into the 
 nature of the diseases prevalent in the settlements of Afi-ica. He was, 
 besides, entirely unbiassed, and was no partisan of either doctrine of the 
 origin of yellow fever. 
 
 In 1821, Dr. Copland pubhshed a case of chorea, consequent upon 
 rheumatic carditis, terminating in universal paralysis, in which he narrowly 
 inspected the body after death, and showed the dependence of the disease, 
 in this case, upon chronic inflammation of the membranes of the spinal 
 chord, and effusion within the theca vertebralis. The case assists us 
 towards obtaining a knowledge of the pathology of this singular affection. 
 Its complication with rheumatism, rheumatic pericarditis, &c. was first 
 pointed out by Dr. Copland; and the researches of Dr. Prichard and 
 Dr. Roeser have served to confirm his observations. Dr. C. has treated 
 of the subject at length in his Dictionary of Practical Medicine. He 
 also published, in the London Medical Repository, and London Medical 
 and Physical Journal, of this year, Memoirs on Human Rumination, and 
 on Chronic Inflammation of the Peritoneum. The former communication 
 is singular and interesting. It is a well-authenticated and ably related 
 
 5
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D. 
 
 case of this peculiar faculty occurring in the human species. The descrip- 
 tion of the case, and the minute detail of the feelings of the subject of it, 
 too^ether with the different steps of the process, will be read with much 
 interest. References are given by Dr. Copland to authorities for similar 
 instances. In the latter paper, two cases are detailed, and exhibit the disease 
 arrived at the last stage of structural derangement. Chronic peritonitis 
 has only been looked upon as an idiopathic disease in our own times, 
 although the ancient physicians, Platerus, Fernelius, Ballonius, Riverius, 
 and others, describe it separately as a primary disease, or in conjunction 
 with enteritis. Dr. Copland attributes to Bichat the merit of having, in 
 the present day, distinctly adverted to the chronic disease of the peri- 
 toneum, and it forms one of the results of his classification of the mem- 
 branes. (See his Anatomic Generale, vol. ii. p. 558.) To the late Dr. 
 Pemberton, however, we are indebted for the first account of it in this 
 country ; but he makes no allusion to the tuberculated condition described 
 by Bichat, and afterwards so ably demonstrated by Dr. Baron, as charac- 
 teristic of the disease. Whether this condition be constant or not, will, 
 however, admit of doubt, since neither Dr. Copland nor M. Broussais, 
 have been able to detect its presence, although anxiously making research 
 for it. Dr. Copland is not disposed to agree with Dr. Baron, either as to 
 the seat of these tubercles, or their mode of production. He does not 
 conceive that the granulated and tuberculated structure observed in the 
 chronic disease of the peritoneum, derives its origin from hydatids, or from 
 dilated lymphatics, or from dilatation of the capillary blood-vessels ; on the 
 contrary, he believes that the diseased structure may be traced to, and may 
 be seated in the cellular tissue, immediately subjacent to, and connecting 
 this membrane to the adjoining parts; and that it is produced in that 
 texture by the chronically inflamed state of the capillary vessels, vessels 
 opening in that tissue, secerning a viscid lymph, which, from its state of 
 fluidity, and the more compact nature of this texture immediately under- 
 neath the peritoneum, cannot flow far from the vessels from which it 
 issues, nor communicate with the similar fluid in its vicinity ; the perito- 
 neum is, therefore, he says, elevated into a tuberculous appearance, and as 
 these increase in magnitude, the cellular substance intervening between the 
 minute collections of viscid fluid, becomes condensed into cysts; and 
 hence, as the contents accumulate, any communication between them 
 becomes more difficult. 
 
 He also published experiments and practical observations on the ope- 
 ration of terebinthinate medicines, and on their use in disease. He also 
 wrote papers on inflammation, and various reviews. At this time he was 
 
 6
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D. 
 
 applied to by the proprietors of the London Medical Repository, to become 
 Editor of that Journal. His reviews were generally critical and severe. 
 Shortly after the beginning of his editorial duties, he was requested by the 
 council of the Medical Society to give the annual oration at the anniver- 
 sary on the 8th of March, and he addressed the Society on a most com- 
 prehensive subject, namely, A general view of the Grand Agents hy which 
 inanimate matter and organized bodies are governed. He first considered 
 the agent or principle in nature which governs inanimate matter, and endea- 
 voured to show that attraction or gravitation, chemical affinity, combustion, 
 crystallization, magnetism, light and heat, both as existing in the solar rays, 
 and as otherwise produced — in short, that all the phenomena of the inor- 
 ganized world, and of the solar system, may be ascribed to the agency of 
 electricity. He next took a view of the agent or principle which governs 
 animate matter; showed that the principles which govern inorganized 
 matter, are alone totally inadequate to explain either the primary pro- 
 duction of the organized creation, or the continuation of its various tribes, 
 and argued that vitality is a first principle in nature : that its existence 
 and association with matter, were established in its various states and 
 manifestations, soon after the principle or agent, which governs inanimate 
 matter, was called into being ; and that it controls the affinities of matter 
 brought within the sphere of its operation, giving rise to combinations and 
 results different from those which these affinities dispose matter to assume. 
 It is to be regretted that Dr. C. did not publish this ingenious production ; 
 but portions of it appeared subsequently, in his appendix to M. Richerand's 
 Elements of Physiology. Having had the opportunity of seeing the original 
 manuscript, I find in it views which subsequent researches would appear to 
 warrant, and opinions which have much more recently been put forth as 
 original. — In this oration, Dr. Copland referred the functions, which are strictly 
 vital, and which all organized bodies evince, to the influence of a ganglial 
 nervous system, existing in some one form or another, and exerted upon cir- 
 culating vessels or parts containing fluids capable of affording nourishment. 
 He afterwards took a view of the higher manifestations of life, as displayed 
 in the more perfect animals, and most remarkably in man himself; and 
 argued that the brain is the organ of mind, and the instrument of the 
 mental manifestations ; whilst the cerebellum, medulla oblongata, and 
 spinal chord, are most intimately related to, or possess a complete control 
 over, sensation and motion. He concluded his address with a view of the 
 higher faculties of mind, as distinguishing man from the lower animals; 
 argued against the doctrine of a continuous or uninterrupted rise of mental 
 power, from the lowest reptile to the human species ; and contended that 
 
 7
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D. 
 
 reason, or the faculty which man possesses of obtaining a most extensive 
 range of ideas, from reflecting upon the operations of mind itself, places 
 him far above all other animals; that reflection, or pure intellection, is 
 truly mind — is the immortal part of the human constitution. 
 
 The chief articles written by Dr. Copland in the first volume of the 
 Medical Repository, were, 1. On the Pathology of Fever, with im his- 
 torical vieiv of opitiions on the subject. 2. On Life and Organization. 
 3. On Artificial Eruptions in the Cure of Disease. 4. On Intestinal 
 Worms. 5. Outlines of a Series of Researches into the Anatomy, Physio- 
 logy, and Pathology of the Ganglionic Nervous System. In this last 
 memoir, he was the first who applied the independent functions of this 
 system to pathology. Viewing the influence of this system upon the cir- 
 culating and secreting organs to be intimately allied to, if not productive of, 
 vital phenomena, be founded on it a pathological classification of diseases, 
 commencing with primary and simple disorders, advancing through more 
 complicated and consecutive diseases, and terminating with organic lesions. 
 
 In 1822, Dr. Copland removed from Walworth to Jermyn-street, and 
 continued to conduct the ^Medical Repository with great assiduity, pub- 
 lishing each half year historical sketches of the progress of medical know- 
 ledge in this country, on the continent of Europe, and in America. At 
 the commencement of 1823, he was elected Consulting Physician to Queen 
 Charlotte's Lying-in Plospital, through the influence of H.R.H. the Duke 
 of Sussex, the President of the Institution, his name having been men- 
 tioned to His Royal Highness by the writer of this sketch ; whose know- 
 ledge of him, at that time, was chiefly derived from his writings. The 
 prevalence of infectious or malignant puerperal fever in this institution was, 
 about this time, so great, as occasionally to require the wards to be shut 
 for the purpose of cleansing. His plan of cure, by the free employment of 
 calomel, opium, camphor, and turpentine, proved remarkably successful. 
 
 In this and the following years, he was engaged not only in editing the 
 Medical Repository, but also in furnishing reviews of scientific works in 
 monthly and quarterly publications, and in revising, after the latest French 
 edition, M. Richerand's Elements of Physiology, and in adding notes with 
 a copious appendix to that work. 
 
 In the notes and appendix to M. Richerand's Elements of Physiology, 
 the first edition of which appeared early in 1824, Dr. Copland developed 
 his views as to the connections and functions of the ganglial nervous 
 system, conformably with what he had already published in the Medical 
 Repository. He showed the influence of this system upon the blood, and 
 upon the production of the various forms of inflammation, and first sug- 
 
 8
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D 
 
 gested the idea that, instead of stating the nerves to originate in the large 
 nervous masses, it would be conformable with the developement of the 
 embryo and textures, and with comparative anatomy, to view them as 
 arising in the membranes, structures, and organs, which they are generally 
 said to supply. In this work also, he exhibited a new arrangement and 
 view of the nervous functions and mental manifestations, commencing with 
 those which are instinctive and most generally diffused through animal 
 creation, and terminating with those which are purely intellectual and 
 reflective. Besides these, he advanced novel views on other subjects, par- 
 ticularly as to respiration, and the changes thereby induced in the blood, 
 the developement of the tissues, and the sympathetic actions. He arranged 
 the sympathies into the direct and reflex ; the former taking place directly 
 through the medium of continuous membranes, and nervous communi- 
 cation ; the latter, or the " Bejlex," depending on the excitation conveyed to 
 the cerebro-spinal centres, and thence reflected to related organs or parts. 
 Thus the " Reflex Sympathies" of Dr. Copland are identical with the 
 reflex functions of Dr. M. Hall. 
 
 During the period in which Dr. Copland conducted the Medical Repo- 
 sitory, he endeavoured to support the character of the profession, by 
 exposing whatever he considered calculated to debase it. He attacked the 
 Scottish Universities, which conferred degrees upon the recommendation 
 of other physicians, or rather by purchase, — a practice which they soon 
 afterwards relinquished; and he exposed the voluntary degradation of 
 Surgeons and Licentiates of the Company of Apothecaries, who kept open 
 shops, and became the agents of quacks in selling their nostrums. 
 
 In 1825, Dr. Copland projected an " Encyclopediac Dictionary of the 
 Medical Sciences," and drew up a prospectus of the undertaking. In this 
 he was to have been assisted by his friend Dr. Dunglison, now of the 
 United States, and by the late Dr. Gordon Smith; and the work was 
 actually agreed upon by Messrs. Underwood, medical publishers, when the 
 panic of this period caused them to rehnquish it. In the winter of 1825 
 and 1826 he lectured on the principles and practice of medicine, and con- 
 tinued his lectures the two following sessions at the medical school in 
 Little Dean-street, which had been built by the late Dr. Armstrong. He 
 relinquished the editorship of the London Medical Repository at the end 
 of 1826, having conducted that work for five years, and having published 
 in it many articles, containing valuable practical opinions, as well as evincing 
 much literary research. Amongst these may be particularized a series of 
 articles on the Materia Medica, in which the use of camphor in disease is 
 most fully and practically considered, and in which the cold affusion on the 
 
 9
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D. 
 
 head was first recommended for the recovery of persons poisoned by prussic 
 acid, or by substances containing it. 
 
 In 1828 and 1829, Dr. Copland contemplated a Dictionary of the Medical 
 Sciences : and so zealous was he in his endeavours to accomplish this, that 
 he drew up a very full and detailed prospectus of the work, exhibiting 
 a view of the manner in which he proposed that the different departments 
 of medicine should be discussed, and had it printed for private circulation. 
 Messrs. Baldwin and Cradock agreed with Dr. Copland to publish the work ; 
 but whilst he was engaged in making his arrangements and in procuring 
 contributors, his intentions were frustrated by their refusing to proceed with 
 the undertaking. 
 
 Some time after this disappointment, he found that a " Cyclopaedia of 
 Practical Medicine," comprising only the practice of medicine, morbid 
 anatomy, general therapeutics, and medical jurisprudence, was about to be 
 commenced. It was, therefore, with no small pleasure that he undertook 
 the offer made to him by Messrs. Longman and Co., at the end of 1830, 
 to write a " Dictionary of Practical Medicine," and, single-hamded, to con- 
 test the field with the numerous editors and contributors to the Cyclopaedia 
 of Practical Medicine. 
 
 To compile a dictionary of medical science is an herculean task — 
 magnce molis opus — to any association of men ; but to be the production 
 of one individual, is a most extraordinary undertaking. Dr. Copland has 
 attempted this ; and five parts being now published, there is no difficulty 
 in estimating its value, and forming an opinion as to the ability of the 
 author of the work. Such a work requires a union of industry and sound 
 judgment, and a capability of selecting and condensing all that is valuable 
 in medical science. It is not too much to say, that Dr. Copland has, by 
 a diligence of research, an extent of learning, and a clearness in detail, pro- 
 duced in his " Dictionary of Practical Medicine" a complete body of medical 
 literature, and an imperishable monument of his zeal and ability. Some 
 complaint has been raised at the slow manner in which the work proceeds ; 
 but Lord Bacon tells us, that " affected despatch is one of the most danger- 
 ous things to business that can be ;" and he sagaciously adds, that " we are 
 not to measure despatch by the times of sitting, but by the advancement 
 of the business." And, in another place he says, " Above all things, order 
 and distribution, and singling out of parts, is the life of despatch ; so as the 
 distribution be not too subtile." Order, according to Sir William Temple, 
 " is the effect of thought, and cause of all good productions ;" and that 
 which cannot be done often, must be long in doing : 
 
 Qiiod ssepe fieri non potest, fiet diu. — Seneca. 
 10
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D. 
 
 Without order, the multiplicity of observations in the science of medicine 
 must accumulate in a manner calculated to confuse the mind, and defy all 
 useful deduction. Collected and arranged together, they form a system 
 of instruction, and depict the condition of the science. The progress of 
 research will thus be made evident, and future facts may be engrafted upon 
 it with ease and facility. 
 
 The French physicians and surgeons have the merit of setting the 
 example in the production of dictionaries containing a real body of medical 
 science. How such a work can be best executed — whether by an associated 
 number of professional men, or by a single individual, remains to be proved. 
 There are advantages and disadvantages — much may be said upon both 
 sides : on the one hand, you have the collected reading and experience of a 
 number of individuals, but also the consequent disagreement and clashing 
 of opinions that in so conjectural a science as medicine must necessarily 
 occur; and, on the other hand, you have the results carefully obtained by 
 one individual who embodies the whole into a system, and presents the 
 entire science under one point of view, subject, however, to the occasional 
 embarrassment arising from the introduction of the author's speculative 
 opinions. If an estimate of the comparative merits of these modes is, how- 
 ever, to be formed from the specimens of Dr. Copland's work now before 
 the public, the palm must most unquestionably be yielded to him, for con- 
 densation without sacrifice of perspicuity appears to be the principle upon 
 which this extraordinary literary labour has been established, and the refer- 
 ences to the authorities cited are most faithfully and most honourably 
 recorded at the conclusion of each separate article. Dr. Copland may 
 indeed be said to have " a wonderful talent for packing thought close, 
 and rendering it portable." Analysis of such a work is entirely out of the 
 question, nor is it easy to convey to those who have not seen the " Cyclo- 
 paedia Medica," as a justly celebrated physician and journalist has styled it, 
 a correct idea of the nature of its composition. 
 
 In 1831 Dr. Copland had composed his article on cholera for the Dic- 
 tionary, and in 1832 he was induced to publish it separately in a small 
 volume, by the appearance of the disease in the north of England. He had 
 paid more than ordinary attention to the subject of the pestilential cholera, 
 from its irruption in Bengal to the time of its appearance in London. He 
 had made himself acquainted with all the principal works that had been 
 written upon it, and he had also examined the reports and documents sent 
 from 1817 to 1827 by the medical boards and superintending surgeons of 
 the three Indian presidencies to the board of Directors of the Hon. East 
 India Company. Dr. Copland does not look upon the disease as the com- 
 
 11
 
 JAMES COPLAND, M.D. 
 
 mon spasmodic cholera of warm climates in an epidemic form merely, an 
 opinion very current among professional men. He regards it as not only 
 distinct from all the visitations of the disease to which the name of cholera 
 has been attached, and with which the history of medicine has made us 
 acquainted, but as altogether a new disease, and one totally unknown to 
 medical science previously to the year 1817, when it first made its direful 
 irruption in Jessore, a populous and unhealthy city in the centre of the 
 Delta of the Ganges. Dr. C.'s experience in a hot and insalubrious chmate 
 qualified him to form an opinion on the matter, and he had himself suffered 
 from a severe attack of spasmodic cholera ; but the symptoms attendant 
 upon this affection he found to vary materially from the prevalent epidemic. 
 The investigations of Sir Wm. Russell and Sir D. Barry confirmed our 
 author's views. But Dr. C. does not consider the distemper simply as an 
 epidemic, and entirely owing to some unknown constitution of the air, for 
 he is satisfied that we have no instance on record of an epidemic of nearly 
 fifteen years' duration, without any interruption, unconnected with infection, 
 of which circumstance and condition he thinks proofs were abundantly 
 exhibited in the East. 
 
 From the sketch thus given of the labours of Dr. C. up to the present 
 time, the reader will find no difficulty in forming an estimate of the zeal he 
 entertains for his profession, and of the value of the contributions he has 
 made to medical science. As a practitioner, I am able to speak of Dr. C. 
 from abundant opportunities of observation. He is firm and decided — 
 without haste or rashness. His extensive physiological information is 
 brought to bear upon the treatment of disease, and to strip medicine of that 
 empirical character which is often too closely connected with it. Dr. C. has 
 been a Member of the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society from the year 
 1822; in 1833 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1837 
 a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He is the lecturer on the 
 theory and practice of physic at the Medical School of the Middlesex Hos- 
 pital ; and during the present year he delivered the Gulstonian lectures at 
 the College of Physicians, on the important subject of contagion.
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART., G.C.H. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS. 
 " Me they sent 
 
 To wait on pain, and silent arts to urge, 
 Inglorious, not ignoble ; if my cares 
 To such as languish on a grievous bed, 
 Ease, and the sweet forgetfulness of ill, 
 Conciliate." 
 
 Akenside. 
 
 The study of the science of medicine cannot but be regarded as one of the 
 noblest and most interesting pursuits that can engage the attention of the 
 human mind. To contemplate the wonders of creation— to behold them as 
 exhibited in the intricate structure and extraordinary mechanism of the 
 human frame— to mark the changes which ensue at the various periods of 
 life, and under a variety of circumstances— to render, by a diUgent study 
 of these phenomena, nature itself tributary to the comfort and happiness of 
 mankind — to reUeve the pains of suffering humanity — to restore the bloom 
 to the cheek of faded beauty— to dispel the gloom of disordered intellect— 
 and to assuage the agonies of expiring nature— these are among the objects 
 and the duties of the physician. The faculty of accomphshing these falls to 
 the lot of comparatively but few, and requires the possession of varied and 
 powerful talent. The union of literary taste and graceful scholarship with 
 professional knowledge, which can never fail of affording delight and 
 exciting interest, is strongly evidenced in the writings of the subject of 
 the present memoir. 
 
 Sir Henry Halford was born on the 2nd of October, 1766, and 
 is the son of Dr. James Vaughan, Physician to the Leicester Infirmary, 
 known to the public and the profession as an able practitioner, and the 
 author of some " Observations on Hydrophobia ; on the Caesarean Section ; 
 and on the Effects of Cantharides in Paralytic Affections." Sir Henry 
 received his education at Rugby, and went afterwards to Christ Church 
 
 1
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 College, Oxford, at which university he graduated. He took the degree 
 of A.B. in 1787, M.A. in 1789, M.B. in 1790, and M.D. in 1794. 
 He was elected a Fellow of the London College of Physicians also in 1794. 
 Distinguished by the elegance of his manners, and the extent of his learn- 
 ing, it is not surprising that he should have excited attention in general 
 society; and in March, 1795, he contracted a marriage with the Hon. Eliza- 
 beth Barbara St. John, third daughter of John, eleventh Lord St. John, and 
 thus became established in the circle of the highest rank and fashion. 
 Here his merits became duly appreciated, and he rapidly rose into notice as 
 a medical practitioner. George HL appointed him one of his physicians, 
 and all other medical honours were now before him. By the death of his 
 mother's cousin, Sir Charles Halford, of the county of Leicester, he became 
 possessed of an ample fortune, and changed his name, in 1809, by Act of 
 Parliament, from Vaughan to that of Halford, and by royal favour a Baronetcy 
 was conferred upon him in September of the same year. 
 
 There are few situations in the life of a professional man which, even in 
 ordinary instances, are more painful, or incur a greater responsibility, than 
 those which relate to attendance upon cases of disordered intellect. When, 
 however, an aberration of mind affects the Sovereign and Ruler of the 
 country, what task can be more arduous, and what talent is necessary to be 
 exercised under such circumstances ! Sir Henry Halford incurred this 
 heavy responsibility, along with others no less sensible of its importance ; 
 and the manner in which the medical attendants of George HL acquitted 
 themselves has been matter of praise and satisfaction. By virtue of their 
 office, the Queen's counsellors had the nominating of the person to whose 
 care the Sovereign should, under such unhappy circumstances, be com- 
 mitted; and the Rev. Dr. Willis, whose experience in insanity had been 
 great, was selected. It is said, that Dr. Willis's treatment in the first two 
 illnesses had made a lasting impression upon the monarch's mind, and that 
 he could never, after his restoration to health, hear the name of Dr. Willis 
 mentioned, without experiencing a shudder, and suffering an agony which 
 was visible to all around. During Sir Henry's attendance, therefore, on 
 the Princess Amelia, His Majesty desired him, in case of His Majesty 
 experiencing a relapse of his malady, to take the care of him, adding, that 
 Sir Henry must promise never to leave him, and that, if he wanted further 
 help, he should call Dr. Heberden, and, in case of farther need, which 
 would necessarily occur if Parliament took up the matter. Dr. Baillie. 
 The introduction of these physicians when His Majesty became ill again, 
 as he did very soon after, conciliated the confidence of the Queen and the 
 Prince of Wales, who added the name of Sir Henry to the hst of his
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 physicians in ordinary. The condition of the King is now matter of history, 
 and the annals of Parliament give all necessary information upon the sub- 
 ject. The confidence reposed in Sir Henry by the Prince of Wales, was 
 continued when the Prince became George IV., and thence descended 
 to William IV., and to the present Sovereign, the Queen Victoria : thus 
 has Sir Henry been physician to four successive Sovereigns. No other 
 physician has attained such honours. Caius was physician to Edward VI. 
 and the Queens Mary and Elizabeth ; Sir Theodore Mayerne to Henry V., 
 Louis XIII., and James of England. Ambrose Pare was surgeon to Henry II., 
 Francis II., Charles IX., and Henry III. 
 
 Almost every member of the royal family, from the time of George III. 
 has been under the care of Sir Henry. His attentions to the late Duke of 
 York were so unremitting, that to manifest the sense entertained of them, 
 certain augmentations and supporters were, by royal warrant, granted to 
 the arms of Sir Henry in 1827. And, upon the decease of George the 
 Fourth, a very splendid clock, surmounted by a bust of His Majesty, was 
 presented to him by the Royal Family, in proof, as the inscription states, 
 " of their esteem and regard, and in testimony of the high sense they enter- 
 " tain of his professional abilities and unwearied attention to their late 
 " beloved sister, the Princess Amelia, Her late Majesty Queen Charlotte, 
 " His late Majesty King George the Third, His late Royal Highness the 
 •' Duke of York, and lastly, of His Majesty King George the Fourth." 
 
 Sir Henry has hitherto published but Uttle, and that which has 
 appeared consists principally of Essays and Orations, written for the 
 Transactions, or read before the evening meetings of the College, to which 
 he has most liberally contributed. He delivered the Harvseian Oration in 
 1800, and again in 1835, in consequence of the death of Sir George 
 Tuthill, who had been appointed to that honourable office. These orations 
 are distinguished by their classical elegance. The latter contains deserved 
 tributes to the memory of Dr. Maton, Dr. Ainslie, and Dr. Powell. 
 
 The following extract will offer a good specimen of the President's 
 latinity : " Et Ricardo Powell, et Henrico Ainslie, utrique contigit, in 
 " medio vitae cursu, et in maxima utriusque utihtate, morbo defecisse ; huic 
 " vesica3 ha^morrhagia, illi paralysi. — Num id incommodo eorum et detri- 
 " mento, an potius lucro apponam ? Lucro sane ; Mens etenim humana 
 " praesentire in posterum amat, et in futurum cupit prospicere. Sed in 
 " hac festinatione urbis ac vitas, in hac ambitionis occupatione et conten- 
 " tione, earum rerum contemplationem, ad quas serio et praecipuc animum 
 " intendere debemus, quippe quae ad immortalitatem, et aeternam nostram 
 "felicitatem spectant, facile differre solemus, quia, quanquam aliorum 
 
 3
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 " officiis otiosi semper simus, nobismet ipsis, tamen, nostrisque curis 
 "nunquam vacamus. Imperanda est igitur, et cogenda prseteriti tem- 
 " poris aceurata recordatio, ut vitse futurse felicitas, certis conditionibus 
 " promissa nobis, pietate et poenitentia sedulo expetatur et elaboretur. Hoc 
 " iis emolumento fuit, hoc Dei Optimi Maximi benignitas voluit, et propterea 
 " forsan, morbis eos plecti jussit." 
 
 " Me, si Deo placuerit ingravescentibus annis, imbecillitate valetudinis 
 "impediri, — esto. — Id omne benevolentise Ejus acceptum referam. Sin 
 " otii fructus detur, cum sana mente in corpore sano, ad vitam anteactam 
 " recogitandam, et vestem, quasi colligendum, quaemadmodum Imperatori 
 " ante cadendum in Capitolio curse fuit, ut decore, et cum dignitate dis- 
 " cederet, laudem Deo majorem, majoresque gratias debiturus solvam." 
 
 On June 25, 1 825, the New College of Physicians in Pall Mall East was 
 opened, and Sir Henry delivered an Oration on the occasion in the pre- 
 sence of their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of York and Sussex, many of 
 the nobility, and persons of distinction. This was the most splendid 
 meeting ever held by the College, and an elegant collation was provided 
 for the numerous assembly at Sir Henry's expense. The oration, which, 
 like to the Harvseian, was delivered in Latin, is distinguished by the purity 
 of its style, and is particularly valuable, as affording the testimony of the 
 President, and the late Dr. Baillie, to the religious character and opinions 
 of the medical profession. Sir Henry did well to avail himself of such an 
 opportunity, to repel the assertions so constantly made by the superstitious, 
 more animated with zeal than enlightened by knowledge, in subjects of 
 physical inquiry, as to the scepticism and infidelity of the profession. 
 
 The Essays (published in 1831) are six in number, and have for their 
 subjects : — 
 
 1. On the Climacteric Disease. 2. On the Necessity of Caution in the 
 Estimation of Symptoms in the Last Stages of some Diseases. 3. On the 
 Tic Douloureux. 4. On Shakspeare's Test of Insanity. 5. On the Influ- 
 ence of some of the Diseases of the Body on the Mind. 6. On the Kawog 
 of Aretseus. 
 
 Essay I. That condition of the human frame which marks the decline 
 of its powers, and tends to its decay, has been regarded as the grand 
 climacteric, and this Sir Henry seems disposed to consider rather as a 
 disease, than a mere declension of strength, and decay of the natural 
 powers. He describes it as " a falling away of the flesh in the decline 
 of life, without any obvious source of exhaustion, accompanied with a 
 quicker pulse than natural, and an extraordinary alteration in tlie expres- 
 sion of the countenance." This, however, it must be remarked, is a 
 
 4
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 condition frequently connected with other complaints; hence, it has not 
 been before described as a disease sui ge?teri.^. Sir Henry has observed that 
 it is better characterized in males than in females, and he traces the 
 occurrence of a common cold as one of the immediate causes of the disease. 
 Mental anxiety operates strongly in its production. A disease founded 
 in a decadence of vital powers is not to be remedied ; it may, however, be 
 checked by proper medical treatment, and by the exhibition of appropriate 
 means for imparting tone to the system. 
 
 Essay H. On a Cautious Estimation of Symptoms in the Last Stages of 
 some Diseases, may be read by all the younger members of the profession 
 with great advantage. 
 
 In Essay HI. Sir Henry has endeavoured to trace the origin of several 
 cases of Tic Douloureux, and he has been successful in referring it to a 
 lesion of the bony fabric, either by a carious condition, or by a preter- 
 natural deposition. He has confined himself principally to those cases in 
 which the fifth pair of nerves have been affected, and in one instance he 
 found an exostosis of the alveolar process, in another a disease of the 
 antrum highmorianum, and in a third, a most remarkable case, the skull 
 of the patient of which was exhibited at the College, an extensive deposit 
 on the internal surface of the cranium, which must have inevitably caused 
 considerable pressure upon the brain during the life of the patient, and the 
 result of which was the termination of this, as of many other cases of 
 neuralgic affection, in a fatal attack of apoplexy. The late lamented and 
 amiable Dr. Pemberton, who was literally a martyr to the Tic Douloureux, 
 and reduced by it from a comely person of portly stature, to that of a 
 decrepit and emaciated figure, died apoplectic, and the skull, in his case, 
 was found to be materially thickened, and a bony deposition laid upon the 
 dura mater; and it is well worthy of remark, that Dr. Pemberton, prior to 
 the full development of his disease, had been at times affected with abscess 
 of the frontal sinuses. Sir Henry does not profess to account for all cases 
 of this disease as proceeding from a disordered condition of the bone ; but 
 he has satisfactorily shewn that, in several cases, that state of parts is an 
 attendant upon it, and it is one which ought not to be lost sight of by the 
 practitioner, as an attentive observation of the phenomena presented may 
 be the means of eliciting some satisfactory mode of cure. Sir Henry does 
 not fail to trace the ordinary cases of neuralgia to some disorder of the 
 digestive organs. 
 
 Essay IV. One of the very trying and difficult positions in which pro- 
 fessional men chance sometimes to be placed, is well illustrated by Sir 
 Henry, and liis sagacity on this occasion cannot but be admired. It affords
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 an illustration of the advantages arising from a liberal education, and an 
 attention to polite literature, in the exercise of an arduous profession. 
 The immortal Shakspeare has left us a test of madness. Sir Henrv 
 proved the correctness of the test in a very interesting case : 
 
 " Ecstacy ! 
 
 My pulse as yours doth temperately keep time, 
 
 And makes as healthful music. It is not madness 
 
 That I have uttered : bring me to the test, 
 
 And I the matter will re-word, which madness 
 
 Would gambol from." Hamlet, Act III. Scene 4, 
 
 " A gentleman of considerable fortune in Oxfordshire, about thirty-five 
 years of age, seut for his solicitor, to make his will. He was in habits of 
 strict friendship with him, and stated that he wished to add five hundred 
 pounds a year to his mother's jointure, if she got well, she being then 
 (to the knowledge of the solicitor and himself only) confined as a lunatic; 
 to make a provision for two natural children ; " to leave a few trifling 
 leo-acies ; and then, if he died childless, to make him, the Solicitor, his 
 heir. His friend expressed his gratitude, but added that he could not 
 accept such a mark of his good opinion, until he was convinced that it was 
 his deliberate judgment so to dispose of his property, and that decision 
 communicated to him six months afterwards. In about six weeks' time the 
 gentleman became deranged, and continued in such a state of excitement 
 for a whole month, (during which he was visited constantly by Sir George 
 Tuthill and myself,) as to require coercion every day. At the expiration of 
 that time he was composed and comfortable. But his languor and weak- 
 ness bore a proportion to his late excitement, and it was very doubtful 
 whether he would live. On entering his room one day, to my question — 
 how he found himself, he answered, — "Very ill, sir: about to die; and 
 only anxious to make my will first." This could hardly be listened to 
 under his circumstances, and he was persuaded to forego that wish for the 
 present. The next day he made the same answer to the same question, 
 but in such a tone and manner, as to extort from common humanity, even 
 at the probable expense of future litigation, an acquiescence in his wish to 
 disburden his mind. The Solicitor was sent for, and having been with 
 him the preceding evening, met us, at our consultation in the morning, 
 with a will prepared according to the instructions he had received before 
 the attack of disease, as ivell as to those given the last night. He pro- 
 posed to read this to the gentleman in our presence, and that we should 
 witness the signature of it, if we were satisfied that it expressed clearly his 
 
 6
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 intentions. It was read, and he answered, ' Yes — yes — yes,' distinctly to 
 every item, as it was deliberately proposed to him. On going down stairs 
 with Sir George Tuthill and the Solicitor, to consider what was to be 
 done, I expressed some regret that we, the physicians, had been involved 
 in an affair which could hardly be expected to terminate without an inquiry 
 in a court of law, in which we must necessarily be called upon to justify 
 ourselves for permitting this good gentleman, under such questionable 
 circumstances, to make a will. It occurred to me then, to propose to my 
 colleague to go up into the sick room, to see whether our patient could 
 re-word the matter^ as a test, on Shakspeare's authority, of his soundness 
 of mind. He repeated the clauses which contained the addition to his 
 mother's jointure, and which made provision for the natural children, with 
 suflBcient correctness ; but he stated that he had left a namesake, though 
 not a relation, ten thousand pounds, whereas he had left him five thousand 
 pounds only; and there he paused. After which I thought it proper to 
 ask him, to whom he had left his real property, when these legacies should 
 have been discharged, — in whom did he intend that his estate should be 
 vested after his death, if he died without children ? ' In the heir-at-law, 
 to be sure,' was the reply. 'Who is your heir-at-law?' 'I do not know.' 
 Thus he 'gambolled' from the matter, and laboured, according to this test, 
 under his madness still." 
 
 But Shakspeare does not stand alone in the accuracy of his description 
 of madness ; its character. Sir Henry has shewn, is also well displayed by 
 Horace, (Epist. lib. ii. 2, 128; and Sat. lib. ii. 3, 104,) and, in short, 
 references might be appropriately made to numerous other ancient poets 
 and philosophers. The pictures drawn by those masters of antiquity are 
 applicable to all times and persons. Human nature remains the same. 
 Nor is Shakspeare's test of insanity to be considered as suflScient to the 
 detection of all the forms of this dreadful disease. So varied are its shapes, 
 and so delicate often the shades of its character, that nothing is more 
 diflficult than a description of madness. 
 
 Essay V. Sir George Baker, Dr. Falconer, and others, have directed 
 their attention to the effects of the passions of the mind in the production ot" 
 diseases of the body. Sir Henry is anxious to draw attention to the infli>- 
 ence of the diseases of the body upon the powers of the mind, and he has 
 commenced the subject by noting the effects of some of the more marked 
 simple chronic diseases on the mental powers. It is a subject well worthy 
 of the physician's regard. 
 
 Essay VI. is upon the Kautroc, or Burning Fever of Hippocrates and 
 Aretaeus, which is the Brain Fever of the modems. An interesting illus- 
 
 7
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 tration of this disease is given at pp. 96, 98. The illumination of mental 
 powers at the last moments of life has ever been a subject of astonishment, 
 and but unsatisfactorily accounted for by philosophers. " The flickering 
 lamp blazes with unusual brightness just as it expires." "The fit gives 
 vigour, as it destroys." 
 
 Sir Henry's description of the phenomena of death is distinctly marked, 
 and accurately delineated, and it leads him to the discussion of a point in 
 medical ethics of the highest importance : — the propriety of making known 
 to a patient, labouring under a fatal malady, the probable consequence of his 
 disease. This is often a matter of the most delicate and difficult nature. The 
 communication of such intelligence frequently involves the risk of short- 
 ening even the period of existence that may belong to the sufferer. Moral 
 and religious considerations relating to the individual himself, and a sense 
 of duty to those with whom he may be connected, will often impel one to 
 the exercise of a task which, physically speaking, may be open to censure 
 or condemnation. The experience of such a man as Sir Henry Halford 
 is of great moment on such a subject, and he has well stated it in the fol- 
 lowing passage : 
 
 " And here you will forgive me, perhaps, if I presume to state what 
 appears to me to be the conduct proper to be observed by a physician in 
 withholding, or making his patient acquainted with, his opinion of the 
 probable issue of a malady manifesting mortal symptoms. I own I think it 
 my first duty to protract his life by all practicable means, and to interpose 
 myself between him and every thing which may possibly aggravate his 
 danger. And, unless I shall have found him averse from doing what was 
 necessary in aid of my remedies, from a want of a proper sense of his 
 perilous situation, I forbear to step out of the bounds of my province in 
 order to ofter any advice which is not necessary to promote his cure. 
 At the same time, I think it indispensable to let his friends know the 
 danger of his case, the instant I discover it. An arrangement of his 
 worldly affairs, in which the comfort or unhappiness of those who are to 
 come after him is involved, may be necessary; and a suggestion of his 
 danger, by which the accomplishment of this object is to be obtained, natu- 
 rally induces a contemplation of his more important spiritual concerns, 
 a careful review of his past life, and such sincere sorrow and contrition for 
 what he has done amiss, as justifies our humble hope of his pardon and 
 acceptance hereafter. If friends can do these good offices at a proi)er time, 
 and under the suggestions of the physician, it is far better that they should 
 undertake them than the medical adviser. They do so without destroying 
 his hopes, for the patient will still believe that he has an appeal to his 
 
 8
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 physician beyond their fears ; whereas, if the physician lay open his danger 
 to him, however dehcately he may do this, he runs a risk of appearing to 
 pronounce a sentence of condemnation to death, against which there is no 
 appeal — no hope; and, on that account, what is most awful to think of, 
 perhaps the sick man's repentance may be less available. But, friends 
 may be absent, and nobody near the patient in his extremity, of sufficient 
 influence or pretension, to inform him of his dangerous condition. And, 
 surely it is lamentable to think that any human being should leave the 
 world unprepared to meet his Creator and Judge, "with all his crimes 
 broad blown !" Rather than so, I have departed from my strict pro- 
 fessional duty, and have done that which I would have done by myself, and 
 have apprized my patient of the great change he was about to undergo." 
 
 In addition to these Medical and Medico-Literary performances. Sir 
 Plenry has favoured the public with a curious account of the discovery of 
 the head of the unfortunate King Charles, upon the opening of his coffin 
 in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, April 1, 1813. The original MS. of this 
 account is deposited in the British Museum, authenticated by the signature 
 of the Prince Regent, who was present at the examination. 
 
 Since the publication of the "Essays and Orations," in 1831, Sir 
 Henry has published some others, read at the meetings of the College. 
 
 In addition to those already noticed, in 1 833 appeared a paper " On 
 the Treatment of the Gout;" another " On Phlegmasia Dolens;" a third 
 " On the Treatment of Insanity, particularly the Moral Treatment ;" and 
 a fourth " On the Deaths of some Illustrious Persons of Antiquity." 
 
 The gout is now, from the improved habits and manners of society, a 
 disease of much less frequent occurrence than in former times, and the 
 resources of art for the alleviation of its severe pains have been very effec- 
 tually employed in the exhibition of various preparations of the colchicum. 
 Discretion in the administration of such a remedy is, however, essential. 
 Sir Henry does not usually employ it until the disease has fixed itself upon 
 some one particular part of the body. He then orders the vinous prepa- 
 ration made from the root of this vegetable, and has never known a single 
 instance of any untoward effect from it. The colchicum is not a new 
 remedy for the disease ; Sir Henry traces it under the name of Hermjo- 
 dactyls, employed by Alexander of Tralles in the sixth century. He 
 satisfied himself on this head by engaging one of the king's messengers to 
 procure for him at Constantinople some of the hermodactyls ; and he laid 
 them before the College of Physicians, to shew, by a comparison with some 
 specimens of the roots of colchicum, the identity of the two substances. 
 Few parts of the human frame appear to be free from the visitations of the 
 
 ,9
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 gout : Sir Henry has seen it in the kidneys, urethra, and prostate gland, 
 also in the tonsils; and some practitioners contend for its having occurred 
 in the organ of vision. 
 
 Phlegmasia Dolens is a disease generally supposed only to afflict the 
 female sex : the occurrence of it, as connected with the pregnant condition 
 of the system, has led to this error. Modern pathologists, and more 
 especially Dr. David Davis, Dr. Robert Lee, and Dr. Sims, have shewn this 
 disease to consist of an inflammation of particular veins, and have described it 
 under the more appropriate name of Phlebitis. Consistently with this view 
 of the malady, we cannot be surprised to learn that instances of it have been 
 known to occur in the male sex, and Sir Henry has seen it in three cases 
 within the last few years. Two of these are given in detail ; and one is 
 that of a late statesman, the Earl of Liverpool. The obstruction to tlie 
 circulation of the blood, occasioned by this condition of parts in the venous 
 system, was probably the cause of that disease of the brain which incapa- 
 citated him for the business of the ministry towards the close of his career, 
 and ultimately proved fatal. 
 
 The Moral treatment of Insanity is a subject of pecuhar interest, and 
 there is much truth in the observation of Sir Henry, that ' there is no 
 disease which appeals more forcibly to our best feelings, or which deserves 
 better the serious attention of the philosopher, and the sympathy of the 
 philanthropist ; no one which requires the best skill of the physician, more 
 than insanity.' This is a subject to which attention will be directed on 
 some future 'occasion. 
 
 The " Essay on the Deaths of some Illustrious Persons of Antiquity," 
 is a very curious and interesting paper. We have room only for one 
 extract, which is important, as it appears to assist in fixing some of the 
 discriminative signs by which the exhibition of a particular poison may be 
 determined. There are few persons unacquainted with the Trial of 
 Captain Donellan for the murder of Sir Theodosius Boughton, Bart, by 
 an exhibition of laurel- water with a purgative mixture. The effect was to 
 produce an epileptic fit, and immediate death. Sir Henry saw the face of 
 Sir Theodosius when the corpse was disinterred, and gives his testimony to 
 its particular hue resembling that of "a pickled walnut." He thinks it 
 probable that, considering all the circumstances of the narrative of Tacitus, 
 (Annal. lib. xiii. c. 15,) of the death of Britannicus, that he was poisoned 
 by Nero by means of a similar preparation. " The historian states, that 
 when Nero had determined to despatch the ill-fated youth, he sent for 
 Locusta, a convicted female poisoner, who had been pardoned, and was 
 kept for state purposes. Nero ordered her to prepare a poison which 
 
 10
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 should produce its effect immediately, in distinction from one of those 
 which should prove fatal at some distant given day; for the notion prevailed 
 then, that poisoners could devise a draught which would operate at any 
 given period. Locusta prepared one which killed a goat after five hours. 
 This would not serve the tyrant's purpose — he ordered her to provide a 
 more speedy instrument, to prepare it in his own chamber, and in his 
 presence. The boiling began, and was urged to the effectual moment, in 
 proof of which it was tried on a hog, and the animal was killed by it imme- 
 diately. Dinner is served ; the young members of the imperial family are 
 sitting at the foot of the table. The Emperor and his guests rechning on 
 their sides. The unhappy youth calls for water — the praegustator tastes it, 
 and then serves it. It is too hot ; some of it is poured off, and the glass is 
 tilled up with a fluid resembling water — but this contains the poison. 
 The young man drinks it, and is seized instantly with an epileptic fit, in 
 v.hich he expires. He is buried the same night." Dio Cassius alludes to 
 the lividness of the face of Britannicus, and he says that Nero was tempted 
 to conceal it by paint, lest it should betray the secret that he had perished 
 by foul means; and Sir Henry seems to suspect that Juvenal makes 
 reference to this remarkable circumstance in his First Satire, in the 
 lines : — 
 
 Instituitque rudes inelior Locusta propinquas 
 Per famam^ et populum nigros effeiTe maritos. 
 
 In 1834, he pubHshed a paper "On the Education and Conduct of a 
 Physician," in which he ably contends for a classical education, as exhibiting 
 the best models of order and of taste. To the physician Sir Henry looks 
 upon classical knowledge as peculiarly attractive, because he perceives iu 
 the ancient historians the origin of many of the terms of his art; the 
 earliest mention of some remedies, whose value has since been confirmed 
 by time and use ; and in the poets, the most touching description of tlie 
 effects of moral causes upon the health of the human system; to say 
 nothing of the pure delight of such sources of innocent amusement as those 
 which are opened in these fountains, and which are so well calculated to 
 heighten the pleasure of future success, and to soften the adversities of 
 possible disappointment. The study of Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, 
 Botany, Chemistry, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, &c. is properlv 
 insisted on, and their relative importance distinctly marked. Moral qua- 
 hfications are no less ably descanted upon. The Essay concludes with an 
 appropriate eulogy of Lord Grenville, the late Chancellor of Sir Henry's 
 Alma Mater, whose fondest wishes are justly stated to have been for the 
 
 11
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 "prosperity of his country; his recreation, literature; and his comfort, 
 religion." 
 
 In 1835, Sir Henry printed a paper "On the Deaths of some Eminent 
 Persons of Modern Times," and he relates some curious particulars relative 
 to Henry VIIL, Edward VI., Mary, the elder daughter of Henry VIII., 
 Cardinal Wolsey, Oliver Cromwell, Charles II., William HI., Dryden, 
 Swift, George I., II., HI., IV., and the Duke of Gloucester. Henry VIIL, 
 who died of dropsy at the age of fifty-six, was a great dabbler in physic. 
 He not only offered medical advice on all occasions which presented 
 themselves, but he also made up the medicines, and administered them. 
 He therefore combined the three offices of physician, apothecary, and 
 nurse, and a very curious collection of his recipes is preserved in the 
 British Museum. In the last illness of Charles II., (a fit of apoplexy) 
 one of the prescriptions is signed by no less than fourteen physicians, and 
 one of the articles prescribed is " twenty-five drops of the spirit drawn from 
 human skulls !" 
 
 At the commencement of the last Session of the Evening Meetings of 
 the College of Physicians, Sir Henrj', according to custom, delivered the 
 Introductory Essay, and chose for his subject the " Effects of Cold." 
 It afforded another opportunity of displaying the President's knowledge 
 of classical and general literature. The operation of cold upon the human 
 body is a subject alike extensive, complicated, and difficult. The effects 
 vary according to the degree of cold, the state of the system, and the 
 manner in which it is applied. The diversity is indeed so great, that no 
 little confidence in theoretical reasoning, is necessary to give credit to the 
 possibility of one principle producing such variable results. Sir Henry 
 alluded to many striking incidents, and the loss of human life, connected 
 with the history of Xenophon's memorable retreat, of the effects of cold in 
 the Swedish army, of Napoleon's Expedition to Russia, of the Travels of 
 Banks, Solander, &c. The President coincides with the opinion of some 
 other pathologists, as to death being produced in this case by apoplexy. 
 The records of Greenwich and Chelsea Hospitals serve to demonstrate that 
 the longevity of the soldier exceeds that of the sailor, and this Sir Henry 
 accounts for by reference to their different habits. The sailor is most 
 exposed to the vicissitudes of climate, has to contend with storms and 
 tempests, and is also less prudent when on shore, all of which doubtless 
 tend to abridge the period of his existence. 
 
 Sir Henry received from George IV. the honour of Knight Commander 
 of the Guelphic Order, on the day upon which the New College of Physicians 
 was opened, and from King William IV., the further distinction of Grand 
 
 12
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 Cross of the same Order. He is a Fellow of the Royal and Antiquaries' 
 Societies, and attached to many other literary and scientific institutions. 
 By virtue of his office of President of the Royal College of Physicians, the 
 chair of which he has filled during eighteen years, he is also one of the 
 Trustees of the British Museum. Sir Henry has given evidence on 
 various subjects connected with Medicine before Committees of the 
 Houses of Parliament, of which Reports will be found in the printed 
 Journals. 
 
 The extensive practice Sir Henry has for so many years enjoyed, united 
 to his intimate acquaintance with his profession, and the advantages derived 
 from his habits of reading and study, has rendered him a practitioner of great 
 celebrity and success. The writer of this has had frequent opportunities 
 of meeting him in consultation, and it is but justice to say that no one he 
 ever met shewed quicker perception as to the nature of the disease, or more 
 readily seized upon all the principal points of a case. In this respect, as a 
 consulting physician, Sir Henry Halford is of the highest value, and is well 
 appreciated by his professional brethren, who cannot but feel that much 
 also is due to him for shedding a splendour around the College, and labour- 
 ing very zealously towards placing the members of a liberal profession in 
 that station in society to which their merits, their education, and their 
 utility, justly entitle them. This is a point of no little importance to the 
 profession, the members of which certainly do not hold the rank they 
 merit in a country so advanced in civilization. The difficulties which attend 
 the acquisition of a knowledge of medical science, and the importance of 
 that science to society, have been always admitted. Is the error, then, with 
 the public, or with the profession itself? Does not the fault chiefly rest 
 with its own members ? Have they not, by the practice of arts to gain 
 a temporary popularity, and to raise themselves above their brethren, 
 tended to produce this effect, and lessen the estimation of society for the 
 members of a liberal profession? There is a want of self-respect, and a 
 want of union among medical practitioners. Why should this be ? — Surely 
 no class of men are exposed to greater dangers in the performance of their 
 duties. If malignant diseases spring up, they are never found backward 
 to examine into their nature ; heedless of personal security, the abodes of 
 ])estilence are visited, and hospitals, crowded with " contagious death," 
 receive their unremitting attention. The vocation of the physician is with 
 the sick and dying ; and this he pursues, and must pursue, with serenity and 
 though tfulness : his equanimity is never permitted to be disturbed. In the 
 midst of an infectious atmosphere, he is calmly meditating on the horrors 
 which surround him, and devising means for the relief of the diseased, and 
 
 13
 
 SIR HENRY HALFORD, BART. 
 
 those on the confines of death. Even with the dissolution of the patient, 
 his zeal suffers no relaxation : the art of dissection is employed, often at 
 the peril of his own existence, to trace the hidden causes of disease, and 
 thereby to counteract the malady, or afford alleviation to the afflicted. Are 
 these services of httle value or consideration ? Let them be duly regarded, 
 and then say, in what estimation the medical practitioner deserves to be 
 held in society. Are his toils, his dangers, his merits fully acknowledged ? 
 
 These observations apply, of course, to the members of the profession 
 as a body ; individually, there are exceptions, but they are of great rarity. 
 Sir Henry Halford is deservedly one of these : he is entitled to it by his 
 learning and his liberality. He moves in the first circle, and is in the full 
 enjoyment of intercourse with all ranks of society ; and in taking leave of 
 him on this occasion, the writer would fain address him in the language of 
 his favourite Horace, and say, 
 
 " Vita cedat, uti con viva satur." 
 14

 
 ALBERT DE HALLER, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 " Artis Medicae decus." 
 
 Hippocrates has been styled the "Prince of Physicians." Haller may 
 justly be called the " Prince of Physiologists." No individual, either of 
 ancient or modern times, has equalled him in the extent of his erudition, 
 and the magnitude of his labours. He united to considerable learning and 
 genius, the most laborious industry and patience of observation, and he has 
 thrown numerous lights on the science of physiology, reducing to demon- 
 stration that which was before merely conjectural, and placing the founda- 
 tions of the science on its only true basis — an attentive examination into the 
 intimate structure of the human body, and an observation of the various 
 phsgnomena "by which we live and move and have our being." There is 
 a limit, however, to all human knowledge, beyond which it is impossible to 
 pass. Of this Haller was most fully sensible. He well knew how ignorant 
 we are, and ever must be, of first causes. The effects of these are appa- 
 rent to our senses, but their nature and origin are hidden from our view ; 
 there is, indeed, an agency beyond all that the scalpel can trace or the 
 microscope detect — truths which reason can never discover, nor the most 
 exalted intelligence adequately comprehend. The Psalmist tells us, " Such 
 knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high, I cannot attain unto it." 
 
 Albert de Haller was born at Berne on the 18th of October, 1708. He 
 was the son of Nicholas de Haller, an Advocate and Chancellor of the 
 County of Baden, a descendant of an ancient patrician family of the city of 
 Berne ; and his mother was the daughter of one of the members of the 
 sovereign council of that republic. In early life Albert de Haller displayed 
 much activity of mind and determined perseverance, and gave promise of 
 great genius. It is reported, that when only four years of age he made 
 short exhortations to the domestics of his father's house, on texts of scripture, 
 at the customary family prayers, for Ilaller's parents were distinguished for 
 their piety. At nine he had composed for his own use a Chaldaic Grammar, 
 
 1
 
 ALBERT DE HALLER, M.D. 
 
 a Hebrew and Greek Lexicon, and a Historical Dictionary containing 
 upwards of 2000 articles extracted from the Dictionaries of Moreri and 
 Bayle. At this time he was called upon to present a piece of writing in 
 the Latin language, to pass to the upper school. Haller presented one in 
 Greek. Such efforts at so premature an age justly excited the fears of his 
 father, v/ho apprehended that his son's eagerness to learn every thing might 
 prove destructive of profound acquirements. He therefore placed him 
 under the tuition of a preceptor ; but he was ill adapted to the developement 
 of such a mind as Haller's : a man more distinguished by the persecutions 
 to which he had been subjected on the score of his religious opinions, than 
 by any high mental attainments. He was stern and severe ; but these 
 qualities did not destroy the ardour of his pupil, or create a disgust for study. 
 They produced another effect — they excited a desire of revenge, which was 
 exhibited in some Latin verses directed against the teacher, whom he never 
 could see without, it is said, feeling a kind of involuntary terror. At thir- 
 teen years of age, Haller lost his father and also his fortune. He had been 
 destined for the church, but now, left to his own choice, he selected medicine. 
 He was placed at a public school, where he gained great distinction for his 
 classical knowledge. He also manifested a taste for poetry, and composed 
 several poems. At fifteen he had written tragedies and comedies, and also 
 an epic poem of 4000 verses, in which he attempted an imitation of Virgil ; 
 and upon the house in which he resided being on fire, at the hazard of his 
 life he rescued from the flames those efforts which he then regarded as the 
 most precious of his possessions in the world. One year, however, served 
 to dissipate this illusion, and he committed the papers to the same destruc- 
 tive element from which he had preserved them, and directed his attention 
 to the study of philosophy. He studied under Caraerarius and Duvernoy 
 at Tubingen, afterwards at Leyden under Boerhaave in the year 1725. 
 Here he associated with Albinus and Ruysch, and other great men, until 
 his health being impaired, probably by intense application, he was compelled 
 to travel, and went into Lower Germany. Upon his return he took the 
 degree of Doctor of Medicine, and chose for the subject of his thesis a 
 discourse on a pretended discovery of a salivary duct by Coschwitz, which 
 Haller and Duvernoy had shewn by dissections, both of the human and brute 
 species, to have no existence. He visited England in 1727, and became 
 acquainted with Sir Hans Sloane, Cheselden, Douglas, Pringle, &c. After 
 paying a visit to France,* where for a short time he studied under Winslow, 
 
 * His stay in Paris was short, owing to an infonnation having been lodged against 
 him for dissecting human bodies, upon which subject the prejudices of the French 
 people were at this time very strong.
 
 ALBERT DE HALLER, M.D. 
 
 Le Dran and Louis Petit, he went to Basle, and attended to mathematics 
 with the celebrated Bernouilli, and here he commenced the study of botany, 
 and laid the plan of his work on the Plants of Switzerland. He returned 
 to Berne in 1730, being then only twenty-two years of age. His poetical 
 genius again manifested itself — but in descriptions of nature, in reflections 
 on mathematics, morals, and all the feelings which exalt and dignify the 
 human character. These were published, and soon translated into French, 
 and gained for their author a deserved celebrity. His devotion to the 
 Muses formed no impediment to the cultivation of philosophy — to severer 
 and more important pursuits. The works he has published sufficiently 
 demonstrate the labour that must have been exercised in anatomical and 
 physiological studies, the observation of disease, &c. These, sufficient in 
 themselves to engage the whole time of any man of ordinary powers, were 
 insufficient for the grasp of Haller's genius — he revelled in the whole domain 
 of literature and science, and there is scarcely a subject \^ithin the range of 
 letters in which he has not exhibited some extent of knowledge. No vicis- 
 situde of fortune, no change of circumstances, could for a moment divert 
 his mind from the pursuit of learning. Blessed with a most powerfully 
 retentive memory,* he had also the faculty of order ; he methodized his 
 acquisitions, and the beneficial results he gave to mankind. To extend his 
 acquaintance with botany, he made several excursions, ascending the highest 
 mountains of Jura and the Alps ; he visited also the marshes, and he surveyed 
 the vineyards, in the more temperate parts of his native country. 
 
 In 1734 the repubhc of Berne estabhshed a public amphitheatre, and 
 Haller was appointed to teach anatomy. He was also appointed to a 
 hospital, and had the arrangement of the public library and the cabinet of 
 medals. His abilities were soon, however, to be exercised in a wider field. 
 George H. called him to Gottingen, where he was made Professor of 
 Anatomy, Surgery and Botany. He accordingly left his native countr}-, 
 accompanied by his wife, whose tastes are said to have corresponded to 
 those of her husband, with whom she lived in great happiness, and gave to 
 him three children. Haller's health was infirm ; travelling with a family was 
 in those days difficult and troublesome, and by an accident in the overturn- 
 ing of the carriage, his wife sustained so severe an injury that she died 
 almost at the instant of her arrival at Gottingen. In a melancholy and 
 dejected state of mind, therefore, did Haller enter upon the performance of 
 
 * Of his extraordinary memory an instance has been related of his having enume- 
 rated all the sovereigns mentioned in De Guignes's History of China, together with the 
 principal events that occuiTed during each reign. 
 
 3
 
 ALBERT DE HALLER, M.D. 
 
 his new duties : removed from all his relations and immediate connexions, he 
 sought relief in the objects of his studies, and proved the truth of an obser- 
 vation made by the celebrated Madame de Stael, that " Le meilleur moyen 
 de calmer les troubles de I'esprit n'est pas de combattre I'object qui les 
 cause, mais de lui presenter d'autres, qui le detournent et I'eloignent insen- 
 siblement de celui la." He soon acquired great popularity. His attention 
 to his pupils* was unwearied, yet he found time for the composition of those 
 numerous works by which he has been so well known to, and admired by, 
 posterity. Physiology obtained of him the greatest share of his time — and 
 what pursuit so well entitled to such distinction ? Anatomy demonstrates 
 the substance, shape, condition and connexion, and relative dependence, of 
 the several parts which enter into the formation of an animal body. 
 Physiology teaches us the adaptation of this structure and those properties 
 to the functions the several parts have to perform, and traces also the 
 influences upon which they depend for their just and proper action. In 
 the prosecution of physiological research, a reference to comparative 
 anatomy is absolutely essential, for by this study many important disco- 
 veries have been made, as to the manner in which some of the operations of 
 the animal economy are effected. To merely enumerate the various objects 
 embraced by physiological science, to detail those alone which depend upon 
 an inquiry into the laws of union between the mind and the body, and their 
 mutual influence upon each other, would incur a detail too extensive for this 
 brief memoir, and it can only therefore be remarked, that Haller regarded 
 this science in its most extensive sense, pursued it with the utmost zeal, and 
 gave to the world the first work deserving of the name of a system upon 
 this subject. His experiments are all detailed with great fidelity and 
 simplicity, and his reasonings upon them distinguish the philosopher. 
 Before his time, little beyond speculative hypothesis had been entertained ; 
 he gave to physiology the certainty of a physical science, by connecting all 
 the operations of the human frame with the peculiar condition of the struc- 
 ture of the parts upon which their functions were to be dependent. His 
 first work was put forth under the modest title of an "Essay," which, after 
 thirty years' consideration and emendation, was published as "Elementa 
 Physiologia3 Corporis Humani." The value of this work is so universally 
 admitted, that it is unnecessary to say one word upon its merits ; it will 
 ever remain a monument of the industry, research, and genius of its author, 
 and never be consulted by the student, or inquirer into nature, without profit 
 and satisfaction. The numerous errors he corrected, the opinions be pro- 
 
 • Of this number were Zinn, Zimmerman, and Caldani. 
 4
 
 ALBERT DE HALLER, M. D. 
 
 mulgated, and the discoveries he announced, involved him, as may readily 
 be conceived, in various controversies. In all of these he conducted himself 
 with the calmness, and dignity, and firmness becoming a great natural phi- 
 losopher. He defended his opinions with distinguished ability and candour. 
 They had chiefly been based upon experiments made on living animals, and 
 had reference to his doctrines upon Irritability and Sensibility. 
 
 To a mind like that of Haller's, deeply impressed with the truths of 
 religion and the doctrines of Christianity, it is reasonable to suppose that 
 the performance of these experiments gave rise to much remorse and 
 distress. This is apparent in various parts of his writings, where may be 
 found constant apologies for seeming cruelty, on the ground of their benefit 
 to mankind. Upon the subject of the performance of experiments upon 
 living animals, much has of late been said ; and from one extreme we are 
 almost Ukely to run into the opposite, as in most cases.* Happily, however, 
 for physiology, its greatest lights are to be derived from the observation of 
 pathological phenomena, or those appearances which present themselves 
 under disease of parts or disordered function. Science and humanity are in 
 this instance therefore not opposed to or inconsistent with each other. 
 Haller possessed a great faculty of order, and this in the study of botany 
 was found to be of the most essential importance. He, however, looked 
 upon the establishment of an order in no other light than that of an auxiliary 
 to the attainment of real knowledge of the subject. His object was to 
 discover the most natural mode of the arrangement of plants, and his 
 system will therefore be found to partake of the characters of those of 
 Linnaeus, Jussieu, and Tournefort, from all of whom he derived assistance. 
 The system of Linna3us was founded upon the sexual character of the 
 plants, that of Jussieu upon the situation of parts. Haller obtained from 
 these celebrated naturalists, and from Tournefort, various divisions, and made 
 choice of a system founded upon the mutual relation subsisting between 
 
 * No one would more strongly reprobate the performance of uniipcessary experi- 
 ments upon living animals than the writer of this sketch; but when made by men 
 whose names are a sufficient guarantee for theif usefulness, (and among those who 
 have chiefly made vivisections are Harvey, Haller, Spallanzani, Hunter, Pan-y, 
 Haighton, Cooper, Bell, Brodie, Blundell, Hall, &c.) and to elucidate difficulties in 
 Physiology, Pathology, and the ojieration of medicines upon the human body, they 
 cannot but be regarded as justifiable, nay, even most laudable. Much light has been 
 derived from expei-iments perfonned by those whose names have been refeiTcd to; and 
 in the consequent improvement of medical science, an alleviation of human misery 
 
 effected. 
 
 5
 
 ALBERT DE HALLER, M.D. 
 
 the number of stamina and that of the petals ; and in the monopetalous 
 plants, between the number of stamina and the divisions of the calyx. All 
 artificial systems must necessarily be liable to objections, and but few 
 botanists have been found to embrace the method of Haller. His descrip- 
 tion of plants, and the faithful manner in which they have been figured, have 
 been universally admired. No less than 2486 species of plants are described 
 in his " Historia Stirpium Indigenarum Helvetia?." 
 
 His disposition to methodize and to condense the knowledge already 
 obtained upon various subjects of science, induced him to plan the com- 
 position of four kinds of Bibliotheca relating to Anatomy, Botan}-, Surgery, 
 and Medicine. These display the extent of Haller's reading and the 
 strength of his judgment ; for not only do they contain extracts from the 
 several authors whose opinions are detailed, but they give also his own 
 estimation of the value or imperfections of them, and point out in what 
 degree they are to be considered as fitted to be the guide of the student. 
 As these opinions had reference both to dead and living authors, the 
 publication rendered Haller liable to much censure and abuse. He had 
 set up as a censor upon all that others had done ; and the high opinion 
 generally entertained of the talents of Haller, and the reputation in which 
 they were held, may be well estimated by the boldness of this under- 
 taking. No less than 52,000 works are noticed in the Bibliothecse. 
 
 Haller associated himself with a small number of persons connected 
 with the Royal Society of Gottingen, who at an early period undertook 
 to publish reviews of the various publications that appeared. Some of 
 the best articles of this kind were furnished by Haller ; and relate not 
 merely to medical and botanical sciences, but extend to various branches 
 of history and letters, and mark the erudition, judgment, and fancy of 
 their author. He is said to have written 1,500 articles for this publication. 
 He procured translations of several works into the German language, and 
 wrote prefaces to such as he deemed worthy of peculiar notice. He was 
 anxious to promote the prosperity of the University of Gottingen ; and 
 principally by his influence were established a school for surgery, an 
 academy of sciences, a lying-in hospital, a museum of anatomy, a botanic 
 garden, and a school for design, where the pupils were taught to delineate 
 all the objects of natural history. He prevailed on the regency of 
 Gottingen to build a reformed church for the Protestant professors and 
 students of the university, and he superintended its erection. All under- 
 takings for the advancement of science or the public good, had his zealous 
 support and assistance ; and the numerous services he had rendered the 
 city of Gottingen, procured for him an honourable distinction from His 
 
 6
 
 ALBERT DE HALLER, M.D. 
 
 Britannic Majesty, who obtained for him the rank of a Noble of the 
 Empire from the Imperial Chancellor. This honour he, however, declined, 
 as in his native country, Switzerland, it would have been considered a 
 badge of vanity, and an odious distinction : he has, nevertheless, generally 
 been designated by the title of " Baron Haller." 
 
 Upon the death of Dillenius, Haller was invited to Oxford, to succeed 
 to the Professorship of Botany ; and this offer is said to have been made, 
 at the particular request of Dillenius, when upon his death-bed. The love 
 of country, ever so remarkable in the Swiss, prevented him from yielding 
 to this solicitation, as well as to others that had been urged by the King 
 of Prussia, the States of Holland, &c, ; for the estimation in which he 
 was held by his contemporaries abroad seems to have been uncommonly 
 great. The labours in which he had been engaged at Gottingen during 
 seventeen years now began sensibly to affect his health, and he resolved 
 upon returning to his native country, where his talents and character were 
 so well appreciated as to have caused him to have been elected one of 
 the members of the sovereign council. This honour was conferred upon 
 him in 1745; but he left Gottingen early in 1753, in which year a place 
 fell to him by lot, by which he acquired a voice in the election of the 
 magistrates of Berne. Men profoundly versed in natural philosophy and 
 the sciences, have not been very remarkable in the performance of civil 
 duties ; yet there are some situations, in which they are capable of 
 rendering very essential service to a community ; and such proved to be 
 the case with respect to Haller, for he brought to great perfection the 
 administration of the salt-works, and thereby considerably increased the 
 revenue. The different establishments for education received his attention, 
 and he devised the plan of a school for the education of the opulent citizens, 
 to qualify them to fill the principal offices of the republic. He was the 
 president and promoter of the Economical Society of Berne. He benefited 
 the condition of the pastors of the Pays" de Vaud ; and as one of the 
 members of the Board of Health, he opposed the pretensions of ignorant 
 empirics. His fellow-citizens engaged him in the performance of several 
 duties of great importance to the state, and his conduct fully justified the 
 confidence they had reposed in him. He drew up a regular system of 
 political economy, and published it in the form of a romance, under the title 
 of « Usong." 
 
 In the midst of these duties he did not entirely abandon his former 
 pursuits : physiological speculations and inquiries still continued to engage 
 his attention : he further arranged many of his works, and contributed 
 several papers to the transactions of public academies, composed in the 
 
 7
 
 ALBERT DE HALLER, M.D. 
 
 German, Latin, Italian, French, and English languages. Botany retained 
 all its interest in his advanced years ; and he made frequent excursions 
 into the neighbouring mountains, by which he perfected his work on the 
 plants indigenous to Switzerland. 
 
 He was appointed perpetual President of the Academy of Gcittingen ; 
 and he was earnestly solicited to accept of the Chancellorship of the Uni- 
 versity, vacant by the death of yi. de Mosheim. The sovereign council 
 of Berne, in order to retain him among them, and to continue to derive 
 improvement from his exertions, settled upon him a pension for life ; and 
 the office of Chancellor, though made by his Britannic IMajesty, was 
 decUned. He refused also the Chancellorship of the University of Halle, 
 offered to him by the King of Prussia, and also a lucrative appointment 
 at Petersburgh. Foreign countries appear to have been alike anxious to 
 gain his services, and to bestow upon him various honours. Gustavus HI., 
 King of Sweden, made him a Knight of the Polar Star. He was one of 
 the eight foreigners elected into the Academy of Sciences of Paris, and 
 he was chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. A great number 
 of other institutions enrolled him in the list of their associates. His fame 
 was universal : no person of rank or scientific eminence visited Switzerland 
 without paying their respects to Haller ; and on one occasion he received 
 Joseph H., Emperor of German)-. 
 
 Li the midst of all this glory, the fruit of ardent study and great abilities, 
 his frame, naturally delicate, began to decay. Attacks of gout were suc- 
 ceeded by an inflammatory aflection of the bladder, which subjected him to 
 pain, and rendered necessary very large doses of opium. By this means 
 his intense sufferings were calmed, and he was not precluded the possibility 
 of making some portion of mental exertion, for at the very close of his life 
 he continued to enjoy the society of his friends, and was engaged in making 
 additions and improvements to his works. A life spent in the study of 
 nature, in promoting the advancement of science, in ameliorating the con- 
 dition of mankind, and improving and refining the morals, was likely to be 
 closed with serenity and resignation. Religious truths had made a deej) 
 impression upon the mind of Haller, and throughout hfe he was remarkable 
 for his piety. He therefore looked forward to his removal from this world 
 without anxiety or distress. His friend and physician, Rosselot, attended 
 him at the last, and did not disguise from Haller his real situation. The 
 patient exhibited such extraordinary fortitude under this most trying of all 
 situations, that, feeling his pulse fi-om time to time, he said to his friend with 
 great composure, " the artery no longer beats," and immediately he expired. 
 This occurred on the 12th Dec. 1777, in his 70th year. In this year died 
 
 8
 
 ALBERT DE HALLER, M.D. 
 
 also Linnaeus and Jussieu, Voltaire and Rousseau. Science and literature 
 have rarely lost such splendid ornaments in so short a period of time. 
 
 Haller was three times married. The death of his first wife has been 
 already noticed. Two years after that event he married again, and lost his 
 wife in childbed. By his third marriage he enjoyed much happiness, and 
 had eleven children. At the time of his death were living four sons and four 
 daughters, all of whom were established in life.* Haller presents to us the 
 picture of what we could wish all philosophers and men of science to be : 
 " his soul was gentle, and his heart replete with sensibility." His whole 
 career was one of incessant application; neither sickness nor sorrow, 
 however it might check, could stop its progress. His correspondence was 
 most extensive— all the principal literati and distinguished men of science 
 of his day held communications with him. He collected a most extensive 
 library, consisting of nearly 20,000 volumes, on Anatomy, Surgery, Medicine, 
 Botany, and Natural History. He formed also Herbaria, made Diaries, and 
 left behind him nearly 150 MSS. all written in his own hand (a very minute 
 character,) and the whole of these, together with the library, were purchased 
 by the Emperor Joseph, and given to the University of Pavia. 
 
 The person of Haller is described as tall and majestic, and of a serious 
 and expressive countenance. He had at times an open smile, always a 
 pleasing tone of voice, usually low, and seldom elevated even when he was 
 most excited. He was fond of unbending himself in society, and w^as 
 on these occasions remarkably cheerful, polite, and attentive ; he was free of 
 pedantry, and would converse with the ladies on fashions, modes of dress, 
 and other trifles, with as much ease as if always accustomed to intercourse 
 with general society. 
 
 It remains only to add a list of the works of Haller, which may be thus 
 arranged : — 
 
 1. Diss. Tnaiig, de Ductibiis Salivalibus novis. Tubing. 1725. 4to. 
 
 2. Poem on the Alps. Lond. 1729. Also in German, (22 editions !) French, 
 Italian, and Latin. Berne. 1795. 4to.f 
 
 3. De Musciilis Diaphragmatis. Bevnce, 1733. 4to. 
 
 4. Comment, ad Herm. Boerhaave Priclect. Acad. 1739-44. 7 vols. 8vo. 
 
 5. Iter Helveticmn et Iter Hercynicmn, Gott. 1740. 4to. 
 
 6. Hippocratis Opera Genuina. 1740. 2 vols. 8vo. 
 
 7. Icones Anatomicge Corp. Human. Gott. 1743-56. fol 
 
 * Haller offers an instance in contradiction of the assertion of Lord Bacon, tliat 
 " the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmar- 
 ried or childless men." 
 
 t Prince Radzivil, the commander of the Polish Confederates, was so delighted 
 with this work, that he sent the author a brevet of Major-General in his anny 1 
 Haller has been looked upon as the father of the new school of German poetry. 
 
 9
 
 ALBERT DE HALLER. 
 
 8. Enumeratio Method. Stirpium Helvet. Iiidig. Getting. 1742, 2 torn. fol. 
 and 1768, 3 vols. fol. 
 
 9. Hist. Morborum, qui an. 1699, 1700, 1701 et 1702, Vratislaviae grassati 
 sunt. Lausan. 1746. 4to. 
 
 10. Primaj Lineaj Physiologise. 1747, 8vo, Edinb. 1767. Translations in 1754, 
 1778, 1785, 1801, &c. 
 
 11. Opuscula Botanica. Getting. 1749. 8vo. 
 
 12. Poesies, Germ. Franc. Zurich. 1750. 8vo. Translated into English. Lond. 
 1790-94. 
 
 13. Disputationes Anatomiese Selectae. Getting. 1746-51. 8 vols. 4to. 
 
 14. Methodus Studii Medici. Amst. 1751. This is the work of Boerhaave, but 
 there are very considerable additions by Haller. 
 
 15. Opuscula Anatomica de Respiratione, &c. Gott. 1751. 8vo. 
 
 16. Dissertation sur les parties sensibles et irritables des Animaux. Laus. 1752. 
 12mo. ; and Lond. 1755. 8vo. 
 
 17. Memoires sur la Nature sensible et irritable des parties du Corps Animal. 
 Laus. 1756. 4 vols. 12mo. 
 
 18. Physiology ; being a Course of Lectures upon Visceral Anatomy, &c. Lond. 
 1753. 2 vols. 8vo. A Translation by Dr. S. Mihles. 
 
 19. Opuscula Pathologica. Laus. 1755. 8vo. 
 
 20. Letters concerning several late Attempts of Free Thinkers, yet living, against 
 Revelation. (In German.) 1755. 
 
 21. Disputat. Chirurgicae Selectje. Laus. 1755-6. 5 vols. 4to. 
 
 22. Deux JNIemoires sur le Mouvement du Sang, kc. 1756. Translated into 
 English. Lond. 1757. 8vo. 
 
 23. Pathological Observations. Lond. 1756. 8vo. 
 
 24. Disputat. Medicae ad Morbor. Hist, et Curat. Laus. 1757-68. 7 vols. 4to. 
 
 25. Elementa Physiologies Coqjoris Humani. Lausan. 1757-66. 8 vols. 4to. 
 
 26. Deux Memoires sur la Formation du Ca?ur dans le Poulet, sur I'Oeil, sur la 
 Structure du Jaune, &c. Lausan. 1758. 2 torn, 12mo. 
 
 27. Medical, Chirurgical, and Anatomical Cases and Experiments, communicated 
 to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm. Lond. 1758. 8vo. 
 
 28. De Variolis, Apoplexia, et Hydrope. Laus. 1761. 12mo. 
 ' 29. Opera Anatomico-Minora. Laus. 1762-68. 3 vols. 4to. 
 
 30. Bibliotheca Botanica. Lond. 1771-2. 2 tom. 4to. 
 
 31. Usong; an Eastern Nan*ative. (In German.) Lond. 1772. 2 vols. 12mo. 
 
 32. La Generation. Paris. 1774. 2 tom. 8vo. 
 
 33. Bibliotheca Anatomica. Tiguri. 1774-7. 2 tom. 4to. ; and Lond. 1774-6. 
 
 34. Bibliotheca Chirurgica. Berne, 1774-75. 4 vols. 4to. 
 
 35. Bibliotheca Medicinae Practicae. Basil. 1776-88. 4 vols. 4to. 
 
 36. Letters to his Daughter on the Truth of the Cliristian Religion. Translated 
 from the German. Lond. 1780. 8vo. 
 
 37. Of a Steatomatous Tumour of the Ovarium. Phil. Trans. 1744. — 38. Of a 
 Schirrosity of the Cerebellum. lb. — 39. On a Contracted Vena Cava; on a Sinus of 
 the Aorta. lb. — 40. Histories of Mislaid Structure, observed in Dead Bodies. lb. — 
 41. Experiments on Respiration. lb. 1750 — 42. Of the Course or Passages of the 
 Semen. lb. 
 
 43. Anatomia Cadaveris Virilis. Gott. 2 tom. fol. 1781. 
 
 10
 
 Jhm^ L — .imai^S ^(^((icuj
 
 THOMAS LINACRE, M.D. 
 
 FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS. 
 
 "Nomen in exemplum sero servabimus sevo." — Milton. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Linacre (or as his name has been frequently written, Lynacer, 
 Lynaker, Lynakre,) was born at Canterbury, in the year 1460. He was the 
 descendant of an ancient family, mentioned by Fuller and Ward as the 
 Linacres of Linacre Hall, in the parish of Chesterfield, in Derbyshire; 
 whence has arisen the error of Hollingshed and others, who have stated 
 him to have been born in the town of Derby. He received his education 
 under William Tilly of Selling, at the King's School at Canterbury, whence 
 in 1480 he was sent to Oxford, and elected a Fellow of All Souls' College, 
 in 1484 He was much distinguished by his learning; to increase which, 
 however, he travelled into Italy, accompanying his former teacher, who had 
 been appointed on an embassy to Rome by Henry VH. Linacre lost no 
 opportunity of acquiring knowledge ; and being at Florence, he was intro- 
 duced to, and became a great favourite of, the celebrated Lorenzo de 
 Medicis, the greatest patron of letters of his age, and with the preceptors 
 of the sons of Lorenzo he had the advantage of pursuing his studies. He 
 read Greek with Demetrius Chalcondylas, a native of Greece, the author of 
 a Greek Grammar, which is remarkable as being the first book printed with 
 Greek characters. This scholar had fled from his native country, and with 
 other learned men taken refuge in Italy, upon the capture of Constantinople 
 by the Turks. Linacre profited also by instruction in the Latin from Agnolo 
 Politiano. With such advantages it is not surprising that he should have 
 excelled in his knowledge of the dead languages, and that his style should 
 be marked by great elegance. Having made those acquisitions, he travelled 
 to Rome, and there studied natural philosophy and physic under Hermolaus 
 Barbarus, by whose influence he enjoyed opportunities of consulting the 
 precious manuscripts preserved in the library of the Vatican. Thus fully 
 imbued with classical learning and natural knowledge, and having taken a 
 degree of Doctor of Medicine at Padua, Linacre returned to England, 
 incorporated and settled at Oxford, at the University of which he read 
 
 1
 
 THOMAS LINACRE, M.D. 
 
 lectures upon medicine. He was not long, however, permitted to remain in 
 this place ; for Henry VH. commanded him to his Court in 1501, and appoint- 
 ed liim physician and preceptor to his son, the Prince Arthur, and he was 
 subsequently made physician to the King himself, and also to his successor, 
 Henry VHI., and to the Princess Mary. The honours paid to his extended 
 learninf^ probably induced him to abandon physic, and turn his attention to 
 divinity ; for we find that in the latter part of his life he was applying him- 
 self with o-reat diligence to this study, and that he entered the priesthood, 
 and obtained the rectory of Mersham, 23d October, 1509. This he held 
 only for a month, being installed into the prebend of Eaton in the cathedral 
 of Wells, and in 1518 to another of York. He also held other preferments 
 in the church, which were conferred upon him by Archbishop Warham. 
 His reasons for entering the ch\irch have never been detailed. Whether 
 the infirmity under which he laboured, and which ultimately occasioned his 
 death, incapacitated him from pursuing the active duties of his profession, 
 or whether higher motives operated, we know not ; but Sir John Cheke has 
 recorded, that only a little before his death, when worn out with fatigue and 
 sickness, he began to read the New Testament, and that upon perusing the 
 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters of St. Matthew, containing Christ's Sermon on 
 the Mount, he threw the book from him with great violence, passionately 
 exclaiming, " Either this is not the Gospel, or we are not Christians." Sir 
 John Cheke gives a character of Linacre in his Treatise " De Pronunciatione 
 Grsecse Lingua." Linacre continued in the church until his decease, 
 which took place on the 20th or 21st October, 1524, having suffered consi- 
 derable torment from the disease of stone in the bladder. He was honoured 
 with entombment in the Cathedral of St. Paul, where, in 1557, a handsome 
 monument was erected to his memory, with the following elegant inscription 
 by Dr. Caius, the founder of the college of that name in the University of 
 Cambridge: — 
 
 Thomas Lynacrus, Regis Henrici viii. Medicus; Vir et Graece et Latine, 
 atque in Re Medica longe eruditissimus ; multos aetate sua languentes, et qui jam 
 animam desponderant, Vitae restituit. Malta Galeni Opera in Latinam Linguam, 
 mira et singular! facundia vertit: Egregium opus de emendata structura Latini 
 sermonis, Amicorum rogatu, paulo ante mortem edidit. Medicinae Studiosis Oxonias 
 publicas Lectiones duas, Cantabrigias unam, in perpetuum stabilivit. In hac Urbe 
 Collegium Mediconim fieri sua industria curavit, cujus et Praesidens proximus electus 
 est. Fraudes, dolosque mire perosus ; fidus amicis ; omnibus ordinibus juxta clarus : 
 aliquot annos antequam obiefat Presbyter factus. Plenus annis ex hac vita migravit, 
 multum desideratus. Anno Domini 1524, die 20 Octobris. Vivit post Funera Virtus. 
 
 THOM^ LYNACRO CLARISSIMO MEDICO JOHANNES CAIUS pOSuit AnnO 1557. 
 
 2
 
 THOMAS LINACRE, M.D. 
 
 This inscription records the estimation in which his learning and 
 abihties were generally held, and the regard entertained for his honourable 
 and virtuous conduct. Fuller says, " It is questionable whether he was a 
 better Latinist or Grecian, a better grammarian or physician, a better 
 scholar or man, for his moral deportment;" and Freind, a no less competent 
 authority, calls him, " the most accomplished scholar of the age." He 
 states him to have been reckoned, by the best judges, as a man of bright 
 genius and a clear understanding, as well as unusual knowledge in different 
 parts of learning. His style, in Latin, has by some been held to be supe- 
 rior to that of his teacher, Poliziano ; but Erasmus thought it too elaborate. 
 Freind says he followed the style of the Epistles and Philosophical Works 
 of Cicero, and endeavoured to express the " elegancy of Terence" and the 
 " neatness of Celsus." Linacre, we are told in Jortin's Life of Erasmus, 
 was so accurate, and so superstitiously exact in his compositions, and found it 
 so difficult to satisfy himself, that he had like to have pubhshed nothing ; 
 which made Erasmus press him earnestly to communicate his labours to 
 the public during his life-time; lest a reserve, which had its origin in caution 
 and modesty, might be attributed to the worse motives of selfishness and 
 ill nature. 
 
 Linacre is probably the first Englishman who manifested much acquaint- 
 ance with the writings of Aristotle ; and, in conjunction with John Colet, 
 William Lily, William Grocyn, and William Latimer, in 1497, revived the 
 learning of the ancients in this country. Linacre was the first teacher of 
 the Greek tongue at Oxford ; and Grocyn was also devoted to the same in 
 the time of Erasmus. At this period no chair for teaching the finest language 
 of antiquity had been established at this university. It is asserted, that 
 upon the recommendation of Hermalao Barbaro, Linacre, Grocyn, and 
 Latimer undertook a translation of the works of Aristotle, but they never 
 accomplished it. Sir Thomas More was one of Linacre's pupils. 
 
 Let us now see more especially the character of his labours to promote 
 medical science. His professional talent does not appear, so much as his 
 classical attainments, and knowledge of general literature, to have procured 
 for him the patronage of the Court ; yet there is no reason to doubt that 
 his judgment in medicine was highly esteemed. Among his patients were 
 Sir R. Bray, the Lord High Treasurer, Cardinal Wolsey, Archbishop 
 Warharn, the Bishop of Winchester, &c. Caius gives testimony to his 
 ability to practise ; and his prognostic, as to the fate of his friend Lily the 
 grammarian, in submitting to the removal of a malignant tumour of the hip, 
 is upon record. Erasmus often consulted him on account of his frequent 
 indispositions, which came early upon him ; and, when he was sick at Paris, 
 
 3
 
 THOMAS LINACRE, M.D. 
 
 he laments that he had no Linacre to assist him and prescribe for him. " Is 
 au"-ht more acute, more exalted, or more refined than the judgment of 
 Linacre ?" says this celebrated man. Linacre founded two lectureships of 
 physic in Oxford, and one at Cambridge ; upon which Fuller quaintly 
 remarks, " dutifully his respect to his mother, double above his aunt." 
 The former were given to Merton College, where more attention was paid 
 to physic than at the other colleges, and the latter to St. John's ; and the 
 duty imposed upon the lecturers was to explain Hippocrates and Galen 
 to the students. This is of itself sufficient evidence of the interest felt 
 by Linacre to advance the medical profession ; but it is further manifested 
 by an act which will be held in perpetual remembrance — the establish- 
 ment of the Royal College of Physicians of London. His enhghtened 
 mind viewed with distress the condition of the practice of physic in his 
 day. By no legal restraint was its exercise restricted to competent practi- 
 tioners. He saw it engrossed by illiterate persons, chiefly monks and 
 empirics, whose impositions upon the public were practised with impunity. 
 The words of the charter of the college run thus : — " Before this period, 
 a great multitude of ignorant persons, of whom the greater part had no 
 insight into physic, nor in any other kind of learning ; some could not even 
 read the letters on the book, so far forth, that common artificers, as smiths, 
 weavers, and women, boldly and accustomably took upon them great cures, 
 to the high displeasure of God, great infamy of the faculty, and the grievous 
 hurt, damage, and destruction of many of the king's liege people." Pre- 
 viously to the establishment of the College of Physicians, the power of 
 granting authority to practise was vested in the Bishop of London, or the 
 Dean of St. Paul's, for the London district, and by the respective bishops 
 of the other dioceses ; persons who could not, by their education, be able to 
 form a correct opinion of the qualifications necessary in a medical practi- 
 tioner. To place the admission of efficient persons to practise in competent 
 hands, Linacre proposed to establish a College or Corporate Society of 
 Physicians, who should, alone, be entitled to the privilege of admitting all 
 persons whatever to the practice of physic, as well as to the supervising of 
 all prescriptions, and the examination of drugs. Linacre employed his 
 interest with Cardinal Wolsey to procure Letters Patent, in 1518, from 
 Henry VHL ; and these being confirmed by the Parliament, the Royal 
 College of Physicians was founded. The munificence of the crown was 
 confined to the grant of the letters patent ; the expenses and provisions for 
 the College were to be defrayed out of his own means, or those who were 
 associated with him in its foundation. The constitution of the College ex- 
 pressly provided for the examination of the candidates intending to practise,
 
 THOMAS LINACRE, M.D. 
 
 by the President and three of the Elects, who have power to grant letters 
 testimonial to the qualified, unless they should be graduates of the Univer- 
 sities of Oxford or Cambridge, and who, by that degree, already possessed 
 a right to practise all over England, except within seven miles of London, 
 without taking any hcense out from the bishop. The ordinances and sta- 
 tutes which the College has been empowered to establish, have, doubtless, 
 tended to elevate the character of the profession, to ensure to the public 
 the attendance of those whose learning and course of study have quaUfied 
 them for the treatment of disease, and to the suppression of quackery 
 and the impositions of the wicked and ignorant. Linacre was appointed 
 the FIRST President of the College; and he retained the office for the 
 remainder of his life, a period of nearly seven years. The meetings were 
 held at his house. No. 5, Knight Rider Street, Doctor's Commons (known 
 by the name of the Stone House), which, it is said, he bequeathed to the 
 College. The arms of the College are to this day affixed upon the house, 
 and are placed between the two centre windows of the first floor. They 
 were obtained Sept. 20, 1546~Christopher Barker, Garter King at Arms- 
 and consist of. Sable, a hand proper, vested argent, issuant out of clouds in 
 chief of the second, rayonee. Or, feeling the pulse of an arm in fesse, 
 proper, issuant from the sinister side of the shield, vested argent; in base 
 a pomegranate between five demi-fleurs-de-lis bordering the edge of the 
 escutcheon. Or. 
 
 Linacre published several works, mathematical, philological, and 
 
 medical. 
 
 L SpherjE Procli, cum Astroiiomicis, Venet. apud Aldum. 1499. fol. This 
 translation was dedicated to his pupil, the Prince Arthur. 
 
 2. De Emendata Structura Latini Sennonis, lib. vi. Lond 1524. 4to. Ihis 
 work was not published until after the author's death, and was recommended by 
 Melancthon. Many additions have appeared: Basil, 1530; Paris, 1532; Leipsic, 
 1545. LutetijB apud R. Steph. 1550. Venet. apud Aid. 1557. 
 
 3. Rudimenta Grammatices. This Latin Grammar was composed for his pupil, 
 the Princess Mary, to whom it is dedicated ; and in the preface he says, "that havmg 
 been appointed by the King to take care of the health of the Princess, and not being 
 able, on accoun. of his own increasing infirmities, to perform the duUes of a physicioi., 
 he bethought himself how he could be of the most use to his illustrious charge. He 
 saw in the Pi-incess a most favourable disposition towards the cultivation of letters and 
 be therefore devoted himself to the perfection of this treatise on the Rudunents of the 
 Latin Grammar, which might aid her Highness in her studies. Ihis work was 
 translated into Latin by Buchanan ; and printed at Pans m 1533, and again m lo4b. 
 
 The medical works consist of translations from Galen; of which T'uller 
 says, "By his endeavours, Galen speaks better Latine in the translation,
 
 THOMAS LINACRE, M.D. 
 
 than he did Greek in the original ;" and Erasmus bears a similar testimony 
 They consist of, 
 
 1. De Sanitate tuenda. Parisiis. 1517. This work is dedicated to Henry VIII. 
 A presentation copy to Cardinal Wolsey, printed on vellum, of gi'eat beauty, is pre- 
 served in tlie Britisli Museum. The anns of the Cardinal are emblazoned and illu- 
 minated at the top, and those of Henry VIII. at the bottom, of the title page. A 
 Latin epistle (from which the Autogi'aph accompanying the Portrait of Linacre is 
 taken,) is inserted in this volume; and the following translation of it may be inte- 
 resting to the medical reader, as it relates to tlie writings of Galen : — 
 
 "To the Reverend Father and Lord in Christ, the Lord Thomas, by Divine providence Priest 
 Cardinal of St. Cecilia, Archbisliop of York, Legate of the Apostolic See to England, Primate 
 and Chancellor; Thomas Linacre, physician, presents his dutiful respects. 
 
 " I send you, most reverend Father, a copy of my Works, which I lately dedicated to our most 
 illustrious Prince ; in order that 1 may consult your health also as well as his. In so doinp, I think 
 that I have the best justification : since you so consult his tranquillity and security, (which not to do 
 would be indeed most unworthy) that no cares of state can etTcct his health. I wish that your 
 immense occupations would allow you to read through these treatises ! You would find, (unless a too 
 great partiality for my own work deceives me) much that would be to your taste; for out of your 
 singular condition, you do not immediately admit every thing, but only that which is recommended 
 by sound reason. Here, there is nothing (as they say) spoken "gratis;" but every thing either 
 discovered by sure experiment, or asserted upon the strongest reasonings, so that not one of these 
 things has been refuted for nearly 1300 years! for so long is it since the age of their author. But 
 whether you read them yourself, and weigh them with your very accurate judgment, or whether he 
 reads them to you, whose duty it is to waich day and night over your health ; it will be easily dis- 
 covered by using what things, and from what ab.staining, you will not only be most free from diseases, 
 but even put off old age to the remotest period. — Which alone is a sufficient reward of my labour. 
 
 " By these six Commentaries will be understood the whole rationale of the diet of the ancients. 
 Of which, if any one ahall the less approve, because forsooth it differs from our own, he ought to 
 remember that it has been established by the calculation of those whose wisdom, to this day, in 
 many other concerns of life, cannot be admired too highly. Wherefore we ought the more to 
 suspect our present, practice for the very reason that it does not agree with that (of the ancients.) 
 Farewell." 
 
 2. Methodis Medendi vel de Morbis Curandis, lib, xiv. Paris, 1619. The 
 presentation copies of this work, belonging to Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey, 
 and jirinted on vellum, are in the library of the British INIuseum. To these are 
 affixed Latin Epistles. 
 
 3. De Temperamentis et de Inrequali intemperie, lib. iii. Cantab. 1521. This 
 is inscribed to Pope Leo X., with whom Linacre had studied Latin under Politian. 
 
 4. De Pulsuum Usu. Lond. 1522. Reprinted by Colbinacus, 1528, with the four 
 books De Morborum Symptomatibus. It was dedicated to Cardinal Wolsev, as a 
 New Year's Gift, with wishes for his prosperity and happiness, and with the hope that 
 the work, whose brevity was little jiroportioned to the importance and ingenuity of its 
 argument, might prove acceptable to him, whose mind was bent on the promotion of 
 learning, and who supplied the place of parent to those who professed it. 
 
 5. De Naturalibus Facultatibus, lib iii. Lond. 1523. This was dedicated to his 
 friend and patron, the Archbishop Warham. 
 
 6. De Symptomatmn dill'erentiis, lib. i. De Symptomatum Causis, lib. iii. Lond. 
 1524. 
 
 Some of these pieces are of great rarity. Linacre's intimate acquaint- 
 ance with the Greek language well quahfied him to translate Galen into 
 Latin.
 
 RICHARD MEAD, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 Non sibi sed Toti." 
 
 In the life of Radcliffe, I have already noticed his great attachment to, 
 and recommendation of, Mead; but no two physicians were ever, in 
 character, more opposed to each other, except in one point — that of pro- 
 fessional penetration. Radcliffe was blunt, coarse, and violent; Mead 
 polite, polished, and refined. Radcliffe disregarded letters; Mead culti- 
 vated them. The elegance of Mead's manners, and his modesty, won, 
 however, upon the rude nature of Radcliffe, and he determined to promote 
 the interests of a highly accomplished scholar. Whatever were the learn- 
 ing and talents of Mead, and they were such as justly to entitle him to all 
 the distinction he enjoyed, there is no doubt that the sanction of Radcliffe, 
 whose practical knowledge was esteemed equal to, if not beyond, its real 
 merits, contributed materially to advance his fortune and fame. 
 
 Mead was descended from a distinguished family in Buckinghamshire, 
 and was born at Stepney, August 2, 1673, being one of a family of fifteen 
 children. His father, Matthew Mead, was a nonconformist divine, and 
 possessed, during the presbyterian power, the cure of the new chapel at 
 Shadwell ; from which, however, he was ejected, the second year after the 
 restoration of Charles II. He found a retreat in Holland, and, upon a 
 temporary liberty being granted to the dissenters, he returned, and in 1674 
 the spacious meeting-house at Stepney was erected for him, and the four 
 large pillars of it were presented by the States of Holland. He was 
 accused, in 1683, of being concerned in the Rye-House Plot ; but he satis- 
 factorily vindicated himself in the presence of Charles II., who ordered him 
 to be discharged. He published various sermons. 
 
 Richard Mead was the seventh child, and he received his education 
 from his father, assisted by Mr. John Nesbitt, in his own house, for the 
 fortune of Matthew Mead was suflBcient to enable him to keep a tutor to 
 assist in the education of his children. Latin, it is said, was taught to him 
 
 1
 
 RICHARD MEAD, M.D. 
 
 "rather by practice than by rules." In 1688, Mead was placed under the 
 tuition of Mr. Thomas Singleton, and in the following year he studied under 
 the celebrated Graevius, at Utrecht. Medicine being selected for the pro- 
 fession of Mead, he removed to Leyden in 1692, and attended the lectures 
 of Herman on botany, and of Pitcairn on the theory and practice of physic. 
 Mead's diligence recommended him to the notice of the latter professor, 
 who was not remarkable for conveying instruction to his pupils beyond that 
 of the regular academical courses. He was, however, attached to Mead, 
 and maintained a correspondence with him upon various professional sub- 
 jects, as will be seen by a reference to the works of Mead. Having com- 
 pleted his course of study at Leyden, where he became acquainted with 
 Boerhaave, and with whom he ever after enjoyed an intimacy, Mead 
 travelled into Italy, in company with his elder brother, Nathaniel, (who 
 distinguished himself by his legal knowledge,) Mr. David Polhill, and 
 Dr. Thomas Pellet, who was president of the College of*Physicians in 1 739. 
 He took a degree in philosophy and medicine at Padua in August, 1695, 
 which was recognized by the University of Oxford, December 4, 1707, 
 granting by diploma the degree of M.D. to him. He visited Naples, Rome, 
 and Florence. At the latter place he made inquiries for the Tabula Isiaca, 
 and, having gained permission to make search for it, he was so fortunate 
 as to find it in a lumber-room, buried in dust and rubbish. 
 
 In 1696 he returned to England, and settled in the house in which he 
 was born, (Worcester House,) at Stepney, and continued to practise there 
 during seven years with great success. His reputation must have been 
 considerable, for in 1703 he was chosen Physician to St. Thomas's Hospital; 
 in 1704 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society; in 1706 placed 
 upon the council; and in 1717 appointed by Sir Isaac Newton one of the 
 vice-presidents. Upon his election to St. Thomas's Hospital, he removed 
 to Crutched Friars, where he resided for seven years ; thence he went to 
 Austin Friars, and upon the death of Radcliffe, he inhabited the house of 
 that physician in Bloomsbury-square, upon which he resigned the hospital. 
 He afterwards removed to a spacious mansion in Great Ormond-street, 
 where his museum was formed and arranged, and where were to be found 
 assembled all the literati of this and other countries visiting England. 
 He was admitted a Fellow of the College of Physicians April 9, 1716; was 
 censor in 1716, 1719, and 1724; and declined the Presidency, which was 
 offered to him in 1744. He read lectures on anatomy to the Corporation 
 of Surgeons, at their hall, for several years. He was consulted in the last 
 illness of Queen Anne, saw the extreme danger of the case, and justly pre- 
 dicted her dissolution. In 1727, on the accession of George IL, he was
 
 RICHARD MEAD, M.D. 
 
 appointed Physician in Ordinary, and Dr. (afterwards Sir Edward) Wilmot 
 and Dr.RNicholls, his sons-in-law, were subsequently associated with him. 
 
 The works of Mead are numerous, and they were published in the fol- 
 lowing order : — 
 
 1. A Mechanical Account of Poisons. This appeared in 1702. His 
 researches were made many years prior to their publication, and the work 
 went through a great number of editions in London, Dublin, Amsterdam, 
 Leyden, Francfort, Gottingen, Naples, &c., and in various languages. He 
 gives an account of animal, vegetable, and mineral poisons. His opinions 
 underwent considerable change upon this subject, and he had the candour 
 to acknowledge this to its fullest extent, so that the edition of 1747 may be 
 regarded as a new work. He conceived it possible to account for the 
 operation of poisons upon mechanical views, by their admixture with the 
 blood: but of the insufficiency of this explanation he became satisfied; 
 regards his early experiments as having been too precipitately made, and 
 nol warranting the conclusions he had drawn from them; in short, he 
 subverts his former hypothesis, and concludes, from the rapidity with which 
 poison can be conveyed into the system, that it must be through no other 
 medium than that of the "animal spirits." Whatever may have been the 
 value of his researches, they show him to have been an ardent experi- 
 menter, a man zealous in the prosecution of physiological experiments, and 
 fearless of danger. His description of the various experiments he made 
 upon vipers, the collection of their poison, his tasting it, &c., manifest 
 a most determined spirit of inquiry, and promoted, too, in an age in which 
 few were to be found of a similar character or description. 
 
 2. A Treatise concerning the Influence of the Sun and Moon upon 
 Human Bodies, and the Diseases thereby produced. At the time this 
 work was published, the Newtonian philosophy was but imperfectly under- 
 stood. The book, however, contains many observations of importance in 
 the practice of medicine. The character of the work may be judged of 
 from a quotation from Plato which appears in the advertisement: "Let 
 none unskilled in Geometry enter here." Editions were pubUshed at 
 London, Amsterdam, Leyden, Francfort, and Naples. 
 
 a A Discourse on the Plague. From the dedication affixed to this 
 work, it appears to have been composed by the instruction of Mr. Craggs, 
 one of the secretaries of state, and arose from fears entertained for the 
 public safety, lest the disease then so prevalent and so fatal at Marseilles 
 should reach this country. The question as to contagion was as strongly 
 agitated then as it has been in later times. Mead regarded the plague as 
 contagious, and a quarantine was established. The work was, in the first 
 
 3
 
 RICHARD MEAD, M.D. 
 
 instance, in 1720, only "A Short Discourse concerning Pestilential Con- 
 tagion, and the Methods to be used to Prevent it;" being a manual of 
 directions to be observed in the event of such a visitation. The anxiety 
 felt upon the subject, and the importance attached to Mead's opinions, 
 may be estimated by the fact, that no less than seven editions of his work 
 were published in one year. It was printed in English, Latin, French, and 
 German. 
 
 In 1723, Mead was chosen to deliver, 
 
 4. The Harveian Oration at the College of Physicians, and it was pub- 
 lished the following year. He endeavoured in this oration to remove the 
 obloquy thought to be reflected upon the profession by those who main- 
 tained the practice of physic at Rome to have been confined to slaves or 
 freed-men, and not deemed worthy of an old Roman. In this oration, 
 Mead shows that the profession had been exercised by the members of 
 several distinguished Roman families. He appended a Dissertation upon 
 some coins struck by the Smyrneans in honour of physicians. Dr. Conyers 
 Middleton replied to Mead, and excited the displeasure of the medical pro- 
 fession by his tract, " Dc Medicorum apud Veteres Romanos degentium 
 conditione Dissertatio," the tendency of which was to degrade the character 
 of the profession. Dr. John Ward, professor of rhetoric in Gresham College, 
 espoused Mead's cause, and a warm controversy ensued. Middleton 
 replied, but seemed rather anxious to withdraw from, than to pursue the 
 subject, and he and Mead afterwards became good friends. 
 
 5. Mead's Discourse on the Small-Pox and Measles, although written 
 and arranged many years prior to its publication, did not make its appear- 
 ance until 1747. The preface to his work sufficiently explains its history. 
 In 1708, he had some patients in St Thomas's Hospital labouring under 
 a very malignant kind of small-pox; they recovered by an extraordinary 
 effort of nature, the occurrence of which was not overlooked by so acute 
 a practitioner as Mead. Upon this, he recommended the use of purgatives 
 in the decline of the disease, a practice he found of great benefit, and he 
 communicated it to Freind, whose approbation it received. The introduc- 
 tion of this practice gave rise to a division of opinion among the faculty as 
 to its propriety, and many books were vrritten respecting it. Dr. Freind 
 printed some letters of Mead, written to him in 1712, on the subject, 
 though he did not print them until 1719. Dr. Woodward warmly attacked 
 him, and this probably laid the basis of that breach of good-will between 
 Woodward and Mead which continued during their lives. To Mead's work 
 on the small-pox, he added a Latin translation from the Arabic of Rhazes' 
 treatise on the disease. Mead was indebted to his friend Boerhaave for 
 
 4
 
 RICHARD MEAD, M.D. 
 
 a copy of the original work. Dr. Mead assisted, by order of the Prince 
 of Wales, in August 1721, at the inoculation of six condemned criminals, 
 who were selected for the experiment, and whose lives were to be spared 
 upon their submission to it. The result was satisfactory, and the two 
 young Princesses, AmeUa and Caroline, were inoculated in April 1722, and 
 had the small-pox favourably. Mead's work strongly recommends the 
 practice of inoculation. 
 
 6. Medica Sacra, The design of this work, printed in 1749, was to 
 account for the diseases mentioned in Scripture upon natural grounds. 
 The demoniacs he looked upon as insane or epileptic persons. Many 
 pamphlets have been published on this subject by Dr. Farmer and others, 
 which are not necessary to be particularized. Mead's work was printed at 
 London, Amsterdam, and Lausanne. It was translated by Stark, under 
 the author's inspection. He died before it was finished, and Memoirs of his 
 Life and Writings were prefixed to it. This is one of the works pubUshed 
 by Mead after his retirement from the active duties of his profession. In 
 his preface, he speaks of the strong passion he had for learning, even in his 
 childhood, and, that although he had chosen medicine for his profession, he 
 still never intermitted his literary studies, to which he had recourse as to 
 refreshments, strengthening him in his daily labours, and charming his 
 cares. His works have been collected together, and published at various 
 times, at Gottingen, Paris, and Naples, in 1749; at Leyden, in 1752; at 
 London, in 1762; and at Edinburgh, in 1763. 
 
 7. Monita et PrcBcepta Medica. This was pubHshed in 1751, at 
 London; also at Hamburg, Leipsic, Leyden, and Paris. It has been 
 printed in Latin, English, French, and German. It has also been held in 
 estimation for the precepts it contains relative to the treatment of various 
 diseases, and as being the result of extensive practice and attentive obser- 
 vation. 
 
 8. The Philosophical Transactions for 1703 contains an analysis of 
 Bonomo's Letter to Redi, in 1687, relative to the cutaneous worms gene- 
 rating the itch. Also an account of three cases of hydrophobia. Three 
 years previous to his death, which took place on February 16th, 1754, 
 when Mead was in his eighty-first year, his intellectual powers began to 
 decUne, and his body became corpulent. Memoirs of his life were published 
 by Dr. Maty, and a collection of Mead's Prescriptions, under the title of 
 Pharmacopceia Meadiana, in three parts, in 1756-7-8, Catalogues of his 
 collections of books, antiquities, paintings, drawings, &c. were printed, 
 ■and are referred to by the collectors of the present day. His library
 
 RICHARD MEAD, M.D. 
 
 contained upwards of ten thousand volumes, and produced, by auction, 
 £5518. 10s. lid.; his medals, £1977. 17s.; his antiques, £3246. 15s. 6d; his 
 pictures, £3417. lis.; and his prints, £1908. 14s. 6d.; making a total of 
 £16,069. 8s. lid. Dr. Askew had purchased his MSS. for £500, during 
 his lifetime ; and he sold his miniatures to the Prince of Wales, and his 
 series of Greek Kings to Messrs. Canney and Kennedy. The bronze 
 head of Homer, now in the British Museum, was purchased at Mead's 
 sale by Lord Exeter, and presented to the museum. 
 
 Mead was twice married, first to Ruth, daughter of Mr. John Marsh, a 
 merchant of London, by whom he had ten children, three of whom sur- 
 vived him; and, secondly, in 1724, to Miss Anne Alston, sister to Sir 
 Rowland Alston, of Odell in Bedfordshire, by which marriage there was 
 no issue. He was very much beloved by men of different pohtics to 
 himself. He was a zealous whig. He was, however, intimate with Garth, 
 Arbuthnot, and Freind. For the latter, he became one of the sureties upon 
 his release from the Tower in 1723, where he had been confined during 
 the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act, under a suspicion of being con- 
 cerned in a plot for the restoration of the Stuarts. He remained impri- 
 soned for several months. Mead was incessant in his endeavours to procure 
 the liberation of his friend, but it was with great difficulty he could gain 
 access to him. At length, being called to attend Sir Robert Walpole, he 
 absolutely refused to prescribe for him unless Freind was released, and he 
 succeeded in obtaining his liberation. A large party was assembled at 
 Mead's in the evening to congratulate Friend ; and upon his retiring 
 with Arbuthnot, Mead took Freind into his closet, and there put into his 
 hands a bag containing all the fees he had received from Freind's patients 
 during his confinement, amounting to no less a sum than 5000 guineas. 
 When Mead visited Freind in the Tower, he found him finishing a letter 
 to him on the subject of the small-pox. He employed himself in writing 
 his history of physic during his incarceration, but complained of the scanti- 
 ness of his library to refer to, in such a place. It is no little praise of 
 Mead to say, that he was the friend of Pope, Halley, and Newton. 
 Amiable, however, as were his manners and disposition, he had a dispute 
 (said to have been of a personal kind) with Dr. Woodward, and his ani- 
 mosity does not appear to have ceased with the life of Woodward. Several 
 pamphlets were published in allusion to it ; and in the view of the college 
 prefixed to Dr. Ward's Lives of the Gresham Professors, the representation 
 of a rencontre between these two physicians is given, where, with drawn 
 swordj Mead is bidding Woodward defend himself or beg pardon, which it 
 
 6
 
 RICHARD MEAD, M.D. 
 
 is said he did, for he is depicted kneeling, and laying his sword at the feet 
 of Mead. 
 
 " Physicians, if they're wise, should never think. 
 Of any arms but such as Pen and Ink." Garth. 
 
 It seems a silly thing in Ward to have perpetuated such an occurrence 
 in a biographical history of the Gresham Professors ; but he was an intimate 
 friend of Mead, and he also entered into the controversy for him with 
 Middleton; and the late learned Dr. Samuel Parr told the writer of this 
 sketch, but upon what authority it was given he is ignorant, that Ward and 
 Letherland composed Mead's Latin works. Ward, it is known, translated 
 into Latin the ninth edition of the work on the plague ; he wrote the 
 inscription on the monument erected in the Temple-church by Mead, to 
 the memory of his brother Nathaniel ; and he did the Hke for Mead himself, 
 to that placed in Westminster Abbey, by his son, in the north aisle. Ward 
 also translated three letters written by Mr. Buckley, the editor of De 
 Thou's History, to Dr. Mead, into Latin, which were prefixed to the 
 splendid edition of that work published in 1733, in seven volumes folio. 
 Mead contributed largely, if not wholly, to promote this publication. He 
 remunerated Carte, who had been, during his exile from England, engaged 
 upon it, and he employed Buckley as the editor. Mead was very liberal 
 in promoting all literary objects of importance. His museum was thrown 
 open to students in painting and sculpture in the morning ; and he became 
 the patron of every thing that was elegant and useful. No less attention 
 did he pay to science. His zeal to promote the adoption of Mr. Sutton's 
 " Method for Extracting the Foul Air out of Ships," would most likely 
 have been lost, but for the interposition and generosity of Mead. He 
 caused a model in copper of the machine to be made, at an expense of 
 £200, and presented it to the Royal Society, before some of the Fellows 
 of which, and the Lords of the Admiralty, the experiment was made. 
 A description of this was appended by Mead to his Treatise on the Scurvy, 
 published in 1749. 
 
 The professional receipts of Mead are described as amounting to a very 
 considerable sum, even beyond that acquired by Radcliffe. He was in full 
 practice for nearly half a century. In one year he is said to have received 
 more than £7000, and in others, from £5000 to £6000. Yet he was exceed- 
 ingly liberal, never sparing in his advice and assistance to the poor, and 
 often aiding them with money. It has been justly said of him, that " of 
 all physicians who had ever flourished, he gained the most, spent the most, 
 and enjoyed the highest favour during his lifetime, not only in his own, 
 
 7
 
 RICHARD MEAD, M.D. 
 
 but in foreign countries." Of the clergy he was never known, but in one 
 instance, to take a fee. This was of a Mr. Robert Leake, who vexed the 
 Doctor with his importunities to follow the regimen of Dr. Cheyne. Mead 
 required of him ten guineas, but afterwards returned him six. Mead was 
 a hberal subscriber to the Foundling Hospital ; and he is reported to have 
 stimulated Guy, the bookseller, to the foundation of the hospital which 
 bears his name. 
 
 Mead's habits of life, his manner of receiving and entertaining foreigners 
 and distinguished persons, must have entailed upon him the expenditure of 
 a princely fortune. No foreigner of any consequence visited London 
 without an introduction to Mead, or departed without partaking of his hos- 
 pitality. He maintained a correspondence with the chief literati of foreign 
 countries, and he became universally renowned for his taste, learning, 
 and science. He commanded respect beyond his contemporaries, and 
 was distinguished in the republic of letters no less than in his own 
 profession.
 
 JannTneS JjdAjiii-a- M ofju^^n'-'^ 
 
 ^^tc^xi'^ ^i^uS JyiLs Od ncC XXVIII.
 
 JOHN BAPTIST MORGAGNI, M.D. F.R.S, 
 
 ETC. ETC. ETC. 
 
 " Vir ingenii, memorise, studii incomparabilis." — Haller. 
 
 Very few professors of medical science belonging to the seventeenth century 
 have had their names transmitted to posterity with more eclat than the 
 subject of the present memoir. This has arisen from the variety and excel- 
 lence of his labours ; and perhaps no physician is entitled to more praise for 
 placing the treatment of diseases upon sound principles, than John Baptist 
 Morffagni. His observations on morbid anatomy, and the connexion of the 
 appearances presented with the phenomena of disease, hold their value 
 unabated even to the present time, because they were the result of patient 
 and able investigation into the various conditions of the animal economy, 
 both in health and disease. 
 
 John Baptist Morgagni was born at Forli, a town in Italy, on 
 February 25, 1682. He lost his father {Fabricius Morgagni) at a very 
 early age; but his mother, (Marie TornieUi) being a woman of considerable 
 understanding, superintended the education of her son, and cultivated the 
 taste he manifested for study. His progress in the belles lettres and the 
 learned languages was very considerable ; and his acquisitions in philosophy, 
 upon subjects of which he composed several theses, published and dedicated 
 to Cardinal Ottoboni, were generally admired, and procured for him much 
 distinction. He, however, selected medicine for his profession, and at the 
 early age of sixteen took his degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University 
 of Bologna. His knowledge of anatomy was such, that at the age of twenty 
 he taught it with great reputation. His teachers were the celebrated 
 Antonio Maria Valsalva, Hippolito Francisco Albertini, and John James 
 de Sandris. His intense application to study excited fears for his safety. 
 His memory is said to have been astonishing, and his judgment was equally 
 powerful, a combination of faculties not often to be met with. An affection 
 of the eyes, the result of continued application, compelled him to abstain 
 
 1
 
 JOHN BAPTIST MORGAGNI, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 from study for some time : a return to his native place, and proper atten- 
 tion, restored his sight, the loss of which there had been reason to 
 apprehend. Upon his return to Bologna, he assisted \'alsalva in his 
 anatomical researches on the ear, and made the greater number of prepara- 
 tions described in that valuable work, De Aure Humana. He supplied 
 the place of Valsalva during his absence from Bologna, on a visit to Parma, 
 and became exceedingly popular as a lecturer, being eloquent in his dis- 
 course, and illustrating his subjects by a great variety of preparations. 
 
 Desirous of increasing his store of knowledge, Morgagni visited Venice ; 
 thence he journeyed to Padua, and, having attended the lectures of the 
 most celebrated teachers attached to these universities, he determined to 
 return and establish himself in his native place ; but here the sphere of his 
 utility was too contracted, and, in accordance with the advice of his friend, 
 IVofessor Domenicho Guglielmini, he returned to Padua. Guglielmini 
 dying in 1710, was succeeded by Antonio Vallisnieri, l)y which a chair of 
 anatomy became vacant, and Morgagni was appointed to it in 1711. Here 
 he contracted a lasting friendship with Lancisi, and assisted him in his 
 Explanation of the Tables of Eustachius, pubhshed in 1714. Few men 
 secured to themselves more numerous friends, or received greater attention 
 from those who were distinguished by rank and intellect, than did Morgagni. 
 All the principal persons visiting Italy made his acquaintance. Among 
 those of whom mention has been made, we may enumerate Charles 
 Emanuel HI. King of Sardinia, the Popes Clement XL, XII., and XIII., 
 and Benedict XIV. The latter has, indeed, made mention of him in his 
 work, De Beatificatione Servorian Dei. In his own profession he was 
 admired and esteemed by Valsalva, Albertini, Lancisi, Verheyen, Heister, 
 Ruysch, Boerhaave, Mead, Senac, Hallcr, Meckel, Le Clerc, Fantoni, 
 Nifrrisoli, Michelotti. Molinetti, and numerous others. The first chair of 
 anatomy at Padua became vacant by the death of Michel Angelo Molinetti 
 in 1715, and the senate of Venice appointed Morgagni to it. 
 
 Although his acquirements extended beyond the province of medicine 
 and its collateral sciences, and although he had cultivated literature, history, 
 and antiquities, his chief object of study was anatomy. To this true basis 
 of medical science his labours were chiefly directed, and his whole life may 
 be said to have been devoted to its elucidation. The value of his researches 
 were estimated during his lifetime, and his name was enrolled as a member 
 of the Academia Naturae Curiosorum in 1708, of the Royal Society of 
 London in 1724, and of the Academy of Sciences of Paris in 1731, he 
 being therein named as the successor of Ruysch. He was also made a 
 member of the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburgh in 1735, and of the
 
 JOHN BAPTIST MORGAGNI, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 Academy of Berlin, in 1754. He was also one of the first associates of the 
 Institute of Bologna. In short, his fame spread throughout Europe, and 
 the inhabitants of his native city, proud of their countryman, and the 
 esteem so universally entertained for him, erected his bust in the principal 
 palace, with the following inscription : 
 
 Jo. Bapt. jMorgagno, 'nob. forol. 
 
 PATRIA, 
 
 Inveutis, Librisque ejus probatissimis 
 
 Ubique gentium illustrata, 
 
 Decrevit A.D. MDCCLXIIT. 
 
 Ponendam in celebemmo hoc loco 
 
 Maraioream efBgiem 
 
 Adhuc viventis. 
 
 Around this was written, 
 
 Hie est, ut perhibent doctorum corda viroruni, 
 Primus in humani corporis Historia. 
 
 This testimony to his talents was erected during his life, which did not 
 terminate until the 5th Dec. 1771, he having then nearly completed his 
 ninetieth year. 
 
 " Of no distemper, of no blast he died, 
 But fell like autumn-fruit that mellowed long, 
 Ev'n wondered at because he dropp'd no sooner. 
 Fate seemed to wind him up for fourscore years. 
 Yet freely ran he on ten winter's more ; 
 'Till, like a clock worn out with eating time, 
 The wheels of weary life at last stood still." 
 
 Dry den's (Edipus. 
 
 Morgagni was of a fine stature, robust constitution, and possessed an 
 agreeable and lively countenance. He married Paola Vergieri, a noble 
 lady of Forli, by whom he had fifteen children, eight of whom were living 
 at the time of his decease. 
 
 It now remains to enumerate the works which have emanated from his 
 pen. The whole have been collected together in five folio volumes, and 
 published at Bassano, in 1765. They contain the Adversaria Anatomica. 
 This work contributed to establish the fame of Morgagni both at home and 
 abroad. It contains a variety of observations on minute anatomy, of much 
 value. The Adversaria are six in number, and were printed at different 
 periods and places. The first at Bologna, in 1706, the second and third 
 
 i
 
 JOHN BAPTIST MORGAGNI, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 at Padua, in 1717, and the fourth, fifth, and srxth, also at Padua, in 1719. 
 They were collected and published at Leyden, in 1723-4, and again in 
 1741, which is the best edition. The Epistola: Anatomiccc and Nova 
 Institutiomim Medicarum Idea, are not less valuable, and have been 
 frequently printed. The Nov. Inst. Med. Idea, formed an introductory dis- 
 course on entering upon his professional duties, and points out to the 
 student the best modes of acquiring professional knowledge. The study of 
 anatomy, and the materia medica, is ardently enforced. The Epist. 
 Anat. are two in number. The first relates to pathological anatomy, and 
 the second is in connexion with a controversy with Bianchi, relative to the 
 intimate structure of the liver. But his chief work is unquestionably De 
 Sedibus et Causis Morborum per anatomen indagatis, first printed in 1761, 
 the author being then in his eightieth year. The last edition is that of 
 Paris, by Chaussier and Adelon in 18*20, in 8 vols. 8vo. This forms the 
 ninth edition of this very important work, which gives the results of his 
 practice and observation. An exceedingly good translation of it into 
 EngUsh, was made by Dr. Benjamin Alexander, and published at London in 
 ,3 vols. 4to., in 1769, which work is now very scarce. Morgagni's Opuscula 
 3liscellanea are very numerous, and illustrate various parts of the human 
 body, and describe particular diseases. They are too numerous for inser- 
 tion here, but can easily be referred to by any one anxious to make 
 acquaintance with all the productions of this able physician. In addition 
 to these anatomical and medical treatises, he published also some tracts on 
 medico-legal subjects, and memoirs on the life and writings of his friends 
 Valsalva and Guglielmini. A correct list of his writings is affixed to the 
 Paris edition of his work on " the Seats and Causes of Diseases investi- 
 gated by anatomy." 
 
 The Portrait prefixed to this Memoir is taken from an extremely rare 
 engraving by Renard, in the possession of H. U. Diamond, Esq.; and the 
 autograph, from a letter deposited in the archives of the Royal Society.
 
 ^_J< /V7^ 
 
 ^Ha^-M^f-t, f ^
 
 JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. 
 
 " The lawyer is judged by the virtue of his pleading, and not by the 
 issue of the cause. The master of the ship is judged by the directing his 
 course aright, and not by the fortune of the voyage. But the physician, 
 and perhaps the politician, hath no particular acts demonstrative of his 
 ability, but is judged most by the event." — Bacon. 
 
 The biography of this eccentric man has been repeatedly written. He has 
 been described as one " who Hved, if any man ever did so, entirely after his 
 own humour, and in the completest disregard of the opinions of the world." 
 As a practical physician, he was unrivalled. He amassed a large fortune, 
 and he devoted it to the promotion of learning and science. His eccen- 
 tricities were remarkable, and have been freely circulated. A collection 
 of the various anecdotes related of him would form a very curious and 
 interesting volume. 
 
 John Radcliffe was a native of Yorkshire, and born at Wakefield in 
 1650. He received instruction in the Greek and Latin languages at the 
 grammar-school of this town, and when he had reached his fifteenth year, 
 he was sent to University College, Oxford. At this college he took his 
 first degree in arts, and afterwards removed to Lincoln College, of which 
 he was subsequently elected a Fellow. Quickness of intellect, for which he 
 was ever remarkable, enabled him rapidly to acquire information in the 
 several branches of medical study ; and having, it is said, made considerable 
 progress in botany, chemistry, and anatomy, he took a degree of M.A. in 
 1672, and then enrolled himself for medicine. Pretensions to learning, he 
 had none ; and whatever deficiency he may have manifested in this respect, 
 was compensated by a wit, vivacity, and shrewdness which characterized 
 every act of his life. He appears, indeed, to have entertained but a mean 
 Dpinion of the practice of physic, and consulted very few books.* When 
 
 * Garth said, humorously enough, that, for Radcliffe to leave a library, was as if 
 ■' an eunuch should found a seraglio." 
 
 1
 
 JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. 
 
 Dr. Bathurst, the master of Trinity College, visited him, he inquired of him 
 where his study was. To which Kadcliffe, pointing to a few phials, a 
 skeleton, and a herbal, replied, " Sir, this is Radcliffe's library." He held 
 that the whole mystery of physic might be written on " half a sheet of 
 paper." This, however, ill comports with that which he is said to have 
 uttered towards the latter part of his life, that, " when a young practitioner, 
 he possessed twenty remedies for every disease; and at the close of his 
 career, he found twenty diseases for which he had not one remedy." This 
 reflection, the result of his extensive experience and penetration, will convey 
 to every member of the profession a most impressive lesson. He enter- 
 tained an abhorrence of quackery. Among many of the artifices by which 
 the credulous have been imposed upon, the pretensions of the Urinoscopists 
 of former days were not the least significant. A foolish woman, provided 
 with the infallible indication of disease, came to Radcliffe, and, dropping 
 a curtesy, told him that, having heard of his great fame, she made bold to 
 bring him a fee, by whicli she hoped his worship would be prevailed upon 
 to tell her the distemper her husband lay sick of, and to prescribe the 
 means for his relief. " Where is he ?" cries the Doctor. " Sick in bed, 
 four miles off," replies the woman. Taking the vessel, and casting an eye 
 upon its contents, he inquired of the woman what trade the patient was of; 
 and, learning that he was a boot-maker, " A^ery well," replied the Doctor ; 
 and having retired for a moment to make the requisite substitution, " Take 
 this home with you; and if your husband will undertake to fit me with 
 a pair of boots by its inspection, I will make no question of prescribing for 
 his distemper by a similar examination." 
 
 In 1675 Radcliffe took his Bachelor's degree in medicine, and began to 
 practise; and in 1682 he received the degree of M.D. He remained at 
 Oxford two years after this, and enjoyed great reputation, notwithstanding 
 the numerous disputes in which he was involved with the older prac- 
 titioners, who could not tolerate his disregard of all ancient rules and 
 practice. In 1684 he removed to London, and resided in Bow-street, 
 Covent Garden. The chief practice of the metropolis was, at this time, 
 held by Dr. Lower, whose reputation, however, was on the decline, on 
 account of his attachment to Whig principles, (for politics and fashion have 
 ever had much to do with the success of a man in physic,) and in less than 
 a year from his arrival in town, Radcliffe was in the possession of an exten- 
 sive and lucrative practice, receiving not less than twenty guineas a day. 
 His wit and humour contributed not a little to his popularity, and his 
 society was much courted. The princess Anne of Denmark appointed him 
 her physician in 1686. 
 
 2
 
 JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. 
 
 " His conversation at this time, (says one of his biographers) was held in as good 
 repute as his advice ; and what with iiis pleasantry of discourse, and readiness of wit 
 in making replies to any sort of questions, he was a diverting companion to the last 
 degree, insomuch, that he was very often sent for, and presented with fees for pre- 
 tended ailments, when the real design of both sexes, that were equally delighted with 
 hhn, was to reap advantage by his way of talk. Not but he was often out cif humour 
 at being dealt with after that manner, and would frequently give biting replies to such 
 as were pressing with him for his prescriptions upon trifling occasions." 
 
 RadciifFe is said to have been very greedy of his fees, and avaricious in 
 other respects. He had a great love of accumulating riches ; but he was 
 no niggard in their distribution. Thus we find, that, as early as 1687, he 
 was desirous of assisting the college at Oxford at which he was first 
 admitted, and that he caused the eastern window over the altar of 
 University College to be put up at his own expense. This was a magnificent 
 gift : it consists of beautifully painted glass, representing the Nativity of 
 Christ. Beneath is an inscription relating to the donor. — " D.D. Joan. 
 Radcliffe. M.D. hujus Collegii quondam Socius, A.D. 1687." This is not 
 strictly correct, as he was senior scholar, but not a fellow of this college. 
 He was a fellow of Lincoln; but he resigned his fellowship in 1677, owing 
 to the opposition of Dr. Marshall, the rector, against whom Radcliffe had 
 uttered some pleasantries, and who, in revenge, opposed the Doctor's appli- 
 cation for a faculty place, to dispense with his taking holy orders, which the 
 statutes of the college required that he should do. 
 
 No man was ever less calculated than Radcliffe to be a courtier, for his 
 freedom often amounted to insolence ; yet he was much employed at court. 
 This must have arisen from his celebrity as a practitioner. The love of 
 person and ease, and the hope of averting pain and death, have never failed 
 to operate with great power in kings and potentates. After the Revolution, 
 he was much about the person of King William, and his court When that 
 sovereign returned from Holland in 1 699, he was seriously indisposed, and 
 he sent for Radcliffe, and showed him his ankles, which were very much 
 swollen, whilst the other parts of his body were greatly emaciated. " 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 so 
 lost the king's favour, that no intercessions could ever recover it. The 
 king's employment of Radcliffe arose, in the first instance, from his 
 gratitude for the recovery of two of his favourites, Mr. Bentinck,* and 
 Mr. Zulestein,t and for which the physician was presented by the king with 
 300 guineas, and an offer to be one of his majesty's physicians, with a salary 
 of £200 more than any other. Radcliffe accepted the present, but declined 
 * Afterwards Earl of Portland. f Afterwards Earl of Rochford. 
 
 S
 
 JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. 
 
 the appointment, it is conjectured from worldly motives, the settlement of 
 the crown being then in its infancy, and its security likely to be disturbed 
 by any accident. The weakness of the constitution of the king, however, 
 rendered RadcliiFe's visits of necessary frequency ; and it is said, that, for 
 the first eleven years of his majesty's reign, the physician received upwards 
 of 600 guineas annually. 
 
 In 1 695, he was sent abroad to attend the Earl of Albemarle, a great 
 favourite of his majesty, and who had a considerable command in the army, 
 during the campaign which ended with the taking of Namur. KadclifFe 
 remained in the camp a week only ; was successful in the treatment of his 
 patient, and received from King William £1,200; and from Lord Albermarle 
 400 guineas, and a diamond ring; he was offered also the dignity of a 
 baronet, which he begged to decline, on the plea of having no children to 
 inherit the title. The humour possessed by lladcliffe, is illustrated by an 
 anecdote told by Pittis, his biographer, upon occasion of an interview with 
 the king, relative to his state of health. 
 
 " The king, when the Doctor was admitted, was reading Sir Roger L'Estrange's 
 new version of ^sop's Fables, and told him, that lie had once more sent for him, to try 
 the effects of his great skill, notwithstanding lie liad been told by his body-physicians, 
 who were not sensible of his inward decay, that he might yet live many years, and 
 would very speedily recover. U])on which the Doctor, having put some interro- 
 gatories to the king, very readily asked leave of his majesty to tiini to a fable in the 
 book before him, which would let the king know how he had been treated, and read 
 it to him in these words : — ' Pray, sir, how do you lind yourself ?' says the doctor to 
 his patient. ' Why, truly,' says the patient, ' I have had a most violent sweat." 
 * Oh ! the best sign in the world,' quoth the doctor. And then a little while after, he 
 is at it again, with a ' Pray how do you find vour body ?' ' Alas !' says the other, 
 ' I have just now had such a tenible fit of honor and shaking upon me !' ' Why, 
 this is all as it should be,' says the physician, ' it shows a mighty strength of nature.' 
 And then he comes over him the third time with the same question again : ' Why, 
 I am all swelled,' says t'other, ' as if I had a dropsy.' ' Best of all,' quoth the 
 doctor," and goes his way. Soon after this, comes one of the sick man's iriends to 
 him, with the same question, ' How he felt himself?' ' Whv, truly, so well,' says he, 
 ' that I am e'en ready to die of I know not how many good signs and tokens.' 
 
 " ' May it please your majesty, yours and the sick man's case is the very same,' 
 cries Radcliffe — ' you are buoyed up with hopes that your malady will soon be driven 
 away, by persons that are not apprized of means to do it, and know not the true cause 
 of your ailment; but I must be plain mth you, and tell you that, in all probability, 
 if yoiu: majesty will adhere to my prescrijjtions, it may be in my power to lengthen 
 out your life for three or four yeai's ; but beyond that time, nothing in physic can 
 protract it, for the juices of your stomach are all ntiated; your whole mass of blood 
 is coiTupted, and your nutriment, for the most part, turns to water. However, if your 
 majesty will forbear making long visits to the Earl of Bradford, (where the king was wont 
 to drink very hard,) I'll try what can be done to make you live easily, tho' I cannot 
 venture to say I can make you live longer than I have told you.' He then left a 
 recipe behind him, which was so happy in its effects, as to enable the king, not only 
 to make a progress in the western parts of his kingdom, but to go abroad, and divert 
 himself at his palace at Loo, in Holland." 
 
 4
 
 JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. 
 
 Radcliffe is reported to have attended the lady of Sir John Holt in a 
 severe illness, with unusual diligence, and to have said that he did so out 
 of pique to the husband, who was supposed not to be over fond of her. 
 Many instances of the caprice of Radcliffe are upon record. Bishop 
 Atterbury relates, that when the lady of Sir John Trevor, the Master of 
 the Rolls, was dying, she was given over by Radcliffe as incurable. The 
 master, thinking it a compliment to Radcliffe, not to join any of the 
 London physicians with him, sent to Oxford for Dr. Breach, an old crony, 
 to consult on that occasion ; which made such a breach with Radcliffe, that 
 he set out in a few days for Bath, where he is represented " as delighting 
 scarce in any other company but that of papists.'' Richardson relates the 
 following of Radcliffe and his successor Mead. 
 
 " ' Mead, I love you,' says Radcliffe, ' and now I will tell you a sure secret to 
 make your fortune ; use all mankind ill.' And it certainly was his own practice. 
 He owned he was avaricious, even to spunging, whenever he any way could, at a 
 tavern reckoning, a sixpence or shilling among the rest of the company, under 
 pretence of hating (as he ever did) to change a guinea, ' because (said he) it slips 
 away so fast." He could never be brought to pay bills without much following 
 and importunity ; nor then, if there appeared any chance of wearying them out. 
 A paviour, after long and fruitless attempts, caught him just getting out of his chariot 
 at his own door, in Bloomsbury-square, (where he had removed from Bow-street,) 
 and set iipon him. * Why, you rascal,' said the Doctor, ' do you pretend to be paid 
 for such a piece of work ? why, you have spoiled my pavement, and then covered it 
 over with earth to hide your bad work.' ' Doctor,' said the paviour, ' mine is not 
 the only bad work that the earth hides.' * You dog you,' said the Doctor, ' are you a 
 wit ? you must be poor, come in,' — and paid him. ' Nobody,' adds Mr, Richardson, 
 ' ever practised this rule ' of using all mankind ill,' less than Dr. Mead, (who told 
 me himself the story,) and who has, I have been infonned by great physicians, got 
 as much again by his practice as Dr. Radcliffe did." 
 
 An anecdote must here be related of the Doctor and Sir Godfrey 
 Kneller. 
 
 " When Radcliffe resided in Bow-street, his garden-wall was contiguous to that 
 of Sir Godfrey's, who was remarkable for his collection of exotic and choice plants, 
 of which the Doctor was a great admirer, and he solicited of the gi'eat painter, with 
 whom he enjoyed an intimacy, to permit a door to be made for fi'ee intercourse with 
 both gardens, but in such a manner, that no inconvenience should be experienced by 
 either family. Sir Godfrey most readily consented to the proposal ; but the Doctor's 
 servants took such liberties, and occasioned such destruction of Sir Godfrey's plants, 
 that he was under the necessity of complaining to the Doctor, who, however, took no 
 notice of the matter. Upon which, the painter sent word by one of his servants, that 
 he should be obliged to brick up the door ; a threat that roused Radcliffe 's choler, who 
 sent a message back, that Sir Godfrey ' might do what he thought fit, in relation to 
 the door, so that he didn't paint it.' The servant for some time hesitated to deliver 
 this impertinent reply; but behig commanded by Sir Godfrey to deliver it word 
 for word, which being done, the painter directed him to return to the Doctor, 
 present his service to him, and say that he could take cmy thing from him but 
 •physic."
 
 JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. 
 
 In 1694, Queen Mary caught the small-pox, and died. According to 
 Bishop Burnet, the fatal termination of the disease was owing to a want of 
 skill on the part of Iladcliife. This is not to be credited, for Radcliffe 
 was called in too late to be of any service, and he had brought himself 
 into notice at Oxford, chiefly by his judicious adoption of the method 
 proposed by the renowned Sydenham, for the treatment of this malady. 
 Radcliffe condemned the means that had been employed in the case of 
 the queen, and declared " her majesty was a dead woman, for it was 
 impossible to do any good in her case, when remedies had been given 
 that were so contrary to the nature of the distemper ; yet he would endea- 
 vour to do all that lay in his power to give her some ease." His successful 
 treatment of the Duke of Beaufort in the small-pox is upon record, and 
 there certainly is no ground for impeaching the abiUty of RadcUffe on this 
 head. 
 
 Radcliffe lost the favour of the princess Anne, for neglecting to visit 
 her when sent for, owing to his attachment to the bottle, and Dr. Gibbons 
 was appointed physician in his room. When Radcliffe was sent for, he 
 promised to go to St. James's soon after ; but neglecting to do so, a second 
 messenger was sent, to detail the case ; upon which he swore by his Maker, 
 " that her highness's distemper was nothing but the vapours, and that she 
 was in as good a state of health as any woman breathing, could she but 
 believe it." The Earl of Godolphin endeavoured to reinstate Radcliffe, 
 but the queen could not be prevailed upon to reappoint him, saying, that 
 he would send her word again, " that her ailments were nothing but the 
 vapours." He was, however, consulted in critical matters, and is said to 
 have received large suras for his prescriptions, although he was not engaged 
 as the queen's domestic physician, in the last illness of the queen he was 
 sent for to Carshalton, about noon, by order of the council. He said, he 
 had " taken physic, and couldn't come." This is told upon the authority 
 of Mr. Ford in a letter to Dean Swift. It appears that for this conduct, 
 Sir Justinian Isham, a bottle-companion of the Doctor's, and a member of 
 the House of Commons, moved that he be summoned to attend in his 
 place, (for he represented the town of Buckingham, to which he had been 
 elected in 1713 in this parliament,) in order to be censured for not attend- 
 ing her majesty. From a letter which is extant of Radcliffe to one of his 
 friends, it would seem that he had not been sent for by the council, but by 
 some private person, (Lady Masham,) for he deplores the death of the 
 queen ; and after commending what had been suggested for her relief by 
 Dr. INIead, he proceeds to condemn the people about her : " The plagues of 
 Egypt fall on them," says he : "I know the nature of attending crowned 
 
 6
 
 JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. 
 
 heads in their last moments too well, to be fond of waiting upon them, 
 without being sent for by a proper authority." Public resentment, how- 
 ever, was strongly manifested, and RadclifFe was not without fears of being 
 assassinated, as appears by a letter addressed to Mead, August 3rd, 1714. 
 He lived only three months after the death of the queen, and his days have 
 generally been considered as shortened by the dread of popular vengeance, 
 and the want of society in the country village in which he closed his Hfe. 
 He died the 1st of November, 1714, being just sixty-four years of age. 
 
 The pleasures of the table had great charms for RadclifFe; and Dr, 
 Lettsom has reported a curious relation on this subject, as told to him by 
 the eccentric Dr. Monsey.* 
 
 Radchffe's professional brethren in general held, or affected to hold, 
 him in great contempt as a physician ; but Mead says, that " he was 
 deservedly at the head of his profession, on account of his great medical 
 penetration and experience." He waged perpetual war with his brethren, 
 and was lampooned and ridiculed in a variety of ways. Pope, Arbuthnot, 
 and others, it is known, were engaged to write the Memoirs of Marti nus 
 Scriblerus. Arbuthnot writes to Swift, 
 
 " Pray remember Martin, who is an innocent fellow, and will not disturb your 
 solitude. The ridicule of medicine is so copious a subject, that I must only here 
 and there touch it. I have made him study physic from the apothecaries' bills, where 
 there is a good, plentiful lield for a satire upon the present practice. One of his 
 projects was, by a stamp upon blistering-plasters and melilot by the yard, to raise 
 money for the government, and to give it to RadclifFe and others to farm. There was 
 a problem about the doses of purging . medicines, published four years ago, showing 
 that they ought to be in proportion to the bulk of the patient. From thence, Martin 
 endeavours to determine the question about the weight of the ancient men, by the 
 doses of physic that were given them. One of his last inventions was a map of 
 diseases for the three cavities of the body, and one for the external parts, just like the 
 four quarters of the world. Then the gi'eat diseases are like capital cities, with their 
 symptoms all like streets and suburbs, with the roads that lead to other diseases. 
 It is thicker set with towns than any Flanders map you ever saw. Radcliffe is 
 painted at the corner of the map, contending for the universal empire of this world, 
 and the rest of the physicians opposing his ambitious designs, with a project of a 
 treaty of partition to settle peace." 
 
 May 26th, 1704, Radcliffe carried some cause against an apothecary, 
 and two days before, Atterbury says, " a play was acted, wherein the 
 Doctor was extremely ridiculed upon that head, of his quarrel with the 
 apothecary. A great number of persons of quality were present; among 
 the rest, the Duchess of Marlborough, and the maids of honour. The 
 
 * See Letter to Dr. Cuming in Pettigrew's Memoirs of the Life and Writings 
 of Dr. Lettsom, vol. i. p. 44. 
 
 7
 
 JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. 
 
 passages where the Doctor was affronted, were received with great applause." 
 RadcUffe was also ridiculed by Steele in the Tatler,* under the title of 
 " The Mourning ^Esculapius, the languishing hopeless lover of the divine 
 Hebe, emblem of youth and beauty." A lady, it is said, had been attended 
 by RadcUfFe in a fever ; he was smitten by her charms, urged his suit, but 
 was rejected. He never married; but in 1693 was upon the point of 
 contracting an union with the only daughter of a wealthy citizen ; but 
 before the conclusion of the affair, Radcliffe ascertained that the lady had 
 not been spotless ; and the discovery of an intrigue with her father's book- 
 keeper, put aside the connexion. 
 
 In 1703 Radcliffe had an attack of pleurisy, which had nigh proved 
 fatal to him, and partly from his own imprudence, for he neglected himself 
 at the outset of the disease, and indulged in free potations ; and, had it not 
 been for the vigorous treatment of Mr, Bernard, the serjeant-surgeon, who 
 took from him 100 ounces of blood, he would probably have sunk under the 
 attack. He was fully sensible of his danger, and made his will, leaving the 
 greatest part of his estate to charity, and several thousand pounds for the 
 relief of sick seamen set ashore. His obstinacy manifested itself through- 
 out, for, having lost the quantity of blood stated, he resolved upon being 
 removed to Kensington, and was taken thither in a chair by four men, and 
 during the journey he fainted away. Dr. Atterbury relates these particulars, 
 and says that he slept immediately afterwards, and that he was likely to do 
 well ; " so that the town physicians, who expected to share his practice, 
 begin now to think themselves disappointed." Serjeant-surgeon Bernard, 
 in reply to the inquiries of the queen, related his ungovernable conduct, 
 upon which her majesty remarked, that " nobody had reason to take any 
 thing ill from him, since it was plain he used other people no worse than 
 he used himself." The effect of this severe attack was, however, to make 
 him serious, and he is described as being " very devout." 
 
 About the time the bishops were sent to the Tower, Radcliffe was much 
 tormented to turn Papist. Mr. Obadiah Walker, of Trinity College, urged 
 him strongly on this subject ; to which Radcliffe made a frank and noble 
 reply. He says : — 
 
 " I should be in as unhappy a condition in this life, as you fear I shall be in the 
 next, were I to be treated as a tum-coat ; and must tell you, that I can be serious no 
 longer, while you endeavour to make me believe what, I am apt to think, you give 
 no credit to yourself. Fathers, and councils, and antique authorities, may have their 
 influence in their proper places ; but should any of them all, though covered with dust 
 1400 years ago, tell me, that the bottle I am now drinking with some of your 
 acquaintance is a wheelbarrow, and the glass in my hand a salamander, I should ask 
 leave to dissent from them all." 
 
 * No. 44. 
 8
 
 JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. 
 
 Mr. Walker fell into great poverty and distress, and Radeliffe very 
 generously allowed him, to the day of his death, a handsome competency, 
 and had him, after death, creditably interred. 
 
 Radeliffe thought that " it was more the business of a bishop and a 
 statesman, to make curious researches into matters of revelation, than of 
 a physician ; and he besought his majesty, who had sent to him in anxiety 
 that he should become a Roman Catholic, out of his grace and favour to all 
 his loving subjects, to let him continue in the religion of the latter, which 
 would neither endanger his government in church nor state." 
 
 In the Lansdowne MSS. contained in the British Museum, and marked 
 979, among Bishop Kennett's collection, I find the following anecdote : 
 
 " I remember what Dr. Mede has told to several of his friends, that he fell much 
 into the favour of Dr. Radeliffe a few years before his death, and visited him often at 
 Carshalton, where he observed upon occasion that there was no Bible to be found in 
 the house. Dr. Mede had a mind to supply that defect, without taking notice of it ; 
 and therefore one day earned down with him a very beautiful Bible that he had lately 
 bought, which had lain in a closet of King William for his Maj'^* own use, and left 
 it as a curiosity that he had pickt up by the way. When Dr. Mede made the last 
 visit to him, he found that Dr. R. had read in it as far as about the middle of the 
 Book of Exodus, from whence it might be inferred that he had never before read the 
 Scriptures; as I doubt must be infen-ed of Dr. Linacre, from the account given by 
 Sir John Cheke." 
 
 Radeliffe entertained great respect for the clergy, and bestowed his 
 patronage with judgment. He promoted Dr. Bingham to the living of 
 Headbourne-worthy, Hants, and Dr. Hudson was advanced to the headship 
 of St. Mary's Hall by his influence and solicitation. His attachment to 
 and respect for this gentleman is said to have occasioned the display of that 
 munificence towards Oxford by which his memory will be held in remem- 
 brance. He left his estate in Yorkshire to University College in trust for 
 the foundation of two travelling fellowships, and for the purchase of per- 
 petual advowsons for the members of the said college. He left also £5000 
 for the enlargement of the building of the same college, £40,000 for the 
 building of a library, £150 per annum to the librarian, and £100 per annum 
 for the purchase of books. Mmms Apolline digjium. — Hor. 
 
 His estates in Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Surrey, &c., were left 
 to his executors for charitable purposes, as they should think best. The 
 Radeliffe Infirmary and the Observatory have been built from these funds, 
 and in 1825 the trustees very properly devoted £2000 towards the building 
 of the present College of Physicians in Pail-Mall East, and £2700 to defray 
 the expenses of completing the Oxford Lunatic Asylum. He left to St. Bar- 
 tholomew's Plospital £500 per annum towards mending their diet, and £100 
 per annum for the purchase of linen. His private charities during his life
 
 JOHN RADCLIFFE, M.D. 
 
 were not inconsiderable. He gave various sums in fictitious names, that 
 the donor might not be known ; he subscribed liberally to a collection for 
 propagating the Gospel in foreign parts, and to the relief of the poor non- 
 juring clergy, and also to the Episcopalians in Scotland, persecuted by the 
 Presbyterian clergy. He assisted also the celebrated Dr. Sacheverell. 
 
 His practice must have been excessive,* to have accumulated so large 
 a fortune, and many instances of large fees received by him have been 
 recorded. In addition to those which have already been mentioned, he 
 received 1000 guineas for attending the young Prince William, Duke of 
 Gloucester, in 1691, He lost £5000 in a speculation he made in a venture 
 to the East Indies ; the vessel, upon its return, being captured, and the 
 property lost. He was induced to this act by Betterton, the tragedian, who 
 was ruined by the event. When Radcliffe heard of his loss, he was enjoy- 
 ing himself at the Bull's Head Tavern, in Clare Market, and he desired his 
 companions not to interrupt the circulation of the glass, " for that he had no 
 more to do but to go up so many pair of stairs, to make himself whole again." 
 
 His body lay in state at his residence until the '27th of November, when 
 it was removed to Oxford for burial in St Mary's Church. Another lying- 
 in state here took place, and a very imposing ceremonial was observed on 
 occasion of his funeral. On the coffin-plate was simply inscribed — 
 
 John Radcliffe, M.D. 
 
 DIED NOVEMBER THE IsT, 1714, 
 
 IN THE 65th tear 
 
 OF HIS AGE. 
 
 A gold-headed cane is deposited in the library of the Royal College of 
 Physicians, said to be that with which Radcliffe was wont to visit his 
 patients. It was given to Mead, and successively passed to Askew, Pit- 
 cairn, and Baillie, by whom it was bequeathed to the College.. A very 
 amusing and clever work, embodying the principal occurrences in the lives 
 of these five celebrated physicians, was a few years since published, under 
 the title of " The Gold-headed Cane." ITie work is attributed to the pen 
 of Dr. Macmichael. 
 
 Of professional works, Radcliffe left none, A Pharmacopoeia Radcliffiana 
 was published in 1716, and Dr. Strother put forth a Practical Dispensatory, 
 containing a number of the prescriptions of Radcliffe. Memoirs of his 
 Life, interspersed with letters, and accompanied by a cojiy of his will, were 
 printed in 1715, 1716, and 1736. 
 
 * Dandridge, the apothecary patronized by Radcliffe, is reported to have died 
 worth £50,000. 
 
 10
 
 
 yj
 
 FREDERIC RUYSCH, M.D. F.R.S. 
 
 Utilium sacax rerum." — Hor. 
 
 The name of Frederic Ruysch is celebrated in the annals of anatomy and 
 medicine. His father, Henry Ruysch, was secretary of the States General 
 of Holland. Frederic was born at the Hague, March 23, 1638. Having 
 studied at Leyden, and being destined for the medical profession, he devoted 
 himself with uncommon assiduity to the study of anatomy. He took his 
 Doctor's degree in 1664, returned to the Hague, married, and entered into 
 practice. Shortly after this, Holland was visited by the plague : it raged 
 with the greatest fury, and young Ruysch was selected by the States to 
 take the charge of the cases that occurred at the Hague. He performed 
 the painful and onerous duties connected with such a position, to the entire 
 satisfaction of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 His first work, "Dilucidatio Valvularum in Vasis Lymphaticis," was 
 published in 1665, and again in 1687 ; and this work contained an account 
 of the controversy in which he had, at the instance of Sylvius and Van 
 Home, been engaged with Louis de Bils, relative to his proposed method 
 of preserving bodies from putrefaction, and which inquiry produced certain 
 discoveries in the lymphatic system. Ruysch lays claim to being the 
 discoverer and demonstrator of the valves belonging to this system of 
 vessels ; but he admits that they might have been seen previously by other 
 anatomists. The publication of this work tended to increase the reputation 
 he had already acquired; and he was, in the succeeding year, invited to 
 the chair of anatomy at Amsterdam. He now determined to devote his 
 life principally to this essential branch of medical study ; and human and 
 comparative anatomy were alike the objects of his profound attention. 
 His minute dissertations have never been surpassed, nor his ability in the 
 various modes of making anatomical preparations. His injections have 
 been surprisingly minute, and have served to display the most elaborate 
 
 1
 
 FREDERIC RUYSCH, M.D. 
 
 structure of the human body. His success in the injection of the blood- 
 vessels was such as fairly to warrant the epithet "marvellous," which has 
 been applied to them. The extreme branches were so well filled as to 
 give to the dead body " the freshness of youth, and to imitate sleep rather 
 than death."* Reginald de Graaf was the first to employ the syringe to 
 aid researches into the anatomical structure of human bodies ; and to him 
 and Swammerdam are generally attributed the adoption of coloured injec- 
 tion into the vessels ; and to Ruysch, Swammerdam is said to have 
 imparted his knowledge upon quitting the paths of medicine and phi- 
 losophy for the mysteries and superstition of Bourignon. An instance of 
 the success of Ruysch in the preparation of bodies by injection, is recorded 
 in the case of Admiral Berkeley, who was killed in an action between the 
 English and Dutch fleets on the 11th of June, 160G. The body of the 
 admiral was raj)idly advancing to putrefaction, and was therefore, by order 
 of the States General, submitted to Ruysch for injection, to prevent further 
 corruption. In this he succeeded so well, that it came out of his hands 
 so improved and so fresh, that it was transmitted to England, and the 
 operator rewarded handsomely for the exercise of his ingenious talent. 
 A museum formed with such ability could not fail to be exceedingly 
 attractive, and it was visited by the learned from all parts of the world. 
 The czar Peter, in his journey through Holland in 1098, spent many days 
 in the museum of Ruysch, partook of his frugal fare, and in 1717 arranged 
 for the purchase of the collection for the sum of 30,000 florins, and con- 
 signed it to Petersburgh. The czar is reported to have been so delighted 
 with the preparations, that he could not withhold from kissing a dead infant 
 which appeared to smile upon him. 
 
 In 1691, Ruysch published in 4to., " Observationum Anatomico-Chi- 
 rurgicarum Centuria;" to which he added, a catalogue of the rarities 
 contained in his collection. In 1710, the "Thesaurus Anatomicus," 2 tom. 
 4to. ; also the "Thesaurus Animahum :" and between the years 1717 and 
 1723, his "Adversaria Anatomico-Medico-Chirurgica." The " Epistolae 
 
 * " Tous les cadavres qii'il a injectes avoient le lustre, I'eclat, et la fraicheur de 
 la jeunesse : on les auroit pris pour des personnes vivantes profondeuient endormies, 
 et a considerer les membres articules, on les auroit cru prets a marcher. Enfin on 
 pourroit presque dire que Ruysch avoit decouvert le secret de ressusciter les niorts. 
 Ses momies etoient un spectacle de vie, au-lieu que celles des Egyptiens n'offroient 
 que r image de la mort. L' homme sembloit coutinuer de vivre dans les unes et 
 continuer de mourir dans les autres !" — Eloy, Diet. Hist. 
 
 2
 
 FREDERIC RUYSCH, M.D. 
 
 Anatomic^" were published in several parts at different times. The whole 
 of his works have been collected, and pubUshed in 5 vols. 4to. as, " Opera 
 Omnia Anatomico-Medico-Chirurgica," in 1721 and 1735. The latter is 
 
 the best edition. 
 
 The minute dissections of Ruysch, and the length of time devoted by 
 him to their display, doubtless rendered him incapable of devotmg much 
 time to reading, and probably led him to claim the discovery of many 
 parts previously noticed by other observers. This brought him into many 
 disputes, so that no name, as a controversiahst in anatomical matters, is 
 more familiar than that of Ruysch. His merits must, however, be admitted, 
 for his researches into the course and communications of the bronchial 
 arteries, the vascularity of the brain, the structure of the tumca arach- 
 noidea, and the formation of the glandular system. His discoveries as to 
 the structure of parts of the eye and ear also entitle him to regard,^ He 
 was appointed Professor of Physic in 1685, and he filled the chair for 
 forty-three years ; when, from a fall in his chamber, he fractured his thigh- 
 bone, and became disabled for farther exertion. He was highly esteemed 
 abroad, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London; and 
 he was the successor of the immortal Sir Isaac Newton in the Academy 
 of Sciences of Paris. He was also a Member of the Academy of 
 Petersburgh. He died of fever, February 2-2d, 1731, having reached the 
 advanced age of ninety-three years. 
 
 Ruysch possessed the confidence of the ministers of his country, tie 
 was their forensic physician, and he also presided over the estabhshment for 
 midwifery. He paid much attention to botany, and dissected plants with 
 the same precision as bodies belonging to the animal kingdom. He filled 
 the botanical chair ; and he put forth, at the age of ninety, "Cur^ renovate, 
 seu Thesaurus Anatomicus post curas posteriores novus," which relates 
 particularly to these researches. At eighty years of age he had the hardi- 
 ness to commence the formation of another museum, and succeeded in 
 accomplishing his object, and he even made a catalogue of the collection 
 
 Posterity has not been remiss in assigning to Ruysch the merit due 
 to him for his laborious anatomical researches, nor niggardly in bestowing 
 praise upon the excellence and beauty of his preparations. Accordmg to 
 all accounts, no collection ever contained such specimens; ^^^ ^o^^ 
 varieties in the mode of their preparation, from those usually adopted by 
 anatomists, must have been employed. Reproach, deserved reproach, 
 hancrs upon the memory of this physician, for having allowed his secret to 
 be buried with him in the grave. His son, Henry Ruysch, also a phy- 
 sician, and the assistant of his father in the formation of his museum,
 
 FREDERIC RUYSCH, M.D. 
 
 died four years previously to his father, and all means of procuring inform- 
 ation upon the subject was lost From recent researches it would appear 
 probable that the preservative agent employed by Ruysch was arsenic, 
 which so powerfully resists animal decomposition. The extraordinary 
 effect of this otherwise destructive mineral substance has been remarkably 
 shewn in a late case of trial for poisoning, in which it was found, that 
 from the administration of arsenic, the stomach and bowels of the individual 
 to whom it had been wickedly given, were so preserved, as to lead to the 
 detection and conviction of the murderer. Mr. William Pettigrew has 
 been in the habit, in the course of his dissections, of injecting into 
 different parts of the human body a weak solution of arsenic, the effect 
 of which is to resist putrefaction, and render haste unnecessary in the 
 pursuit of anatomical inquiry. He has found a limb, at the expiration of 
 two months, as well fitted for the purposes of dissection, as at the time 
 usually selected after decease. 
 
 Upon the death of Ruysch, his museum was publicly sold, and the 
 King of Poland devoted '20,000 florins to the purchase of a part, which 
 was at Wittenburg in tlie time of Haller. 
 
 4
 
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 SOUTHERN RFrfn):; t ^^''tornla 
 405 Hi/gard Avenue '?o?lno^."'^"^ '^^C.L.TY 
 
 Return this ma?er'^a?to fh. r? ^0024-1388 
 
 2 WKS FROM RECEIPT 
 
 'JUN 2 1991 
 
 JUL 09 199: 
 
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 D 000 267 311 9 
 
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