and went to Leyden, where he attended the lectures of Boerhaave, &c. and remained for two years. Shortly after his return to London, he commenced practice as a physician; but was not very successful, owing, says Hutchinson, to an indolent, inactive disposition, and an aversion to associating with the various herds of pert, insipid, weilbred, impertinent, good-humoured, malicious gossips, that are often found so useful in bringing a young physician into practice. In 1750, he became acquainted with Dr. Fothergill; in conjunction with whom, and Dr. Cuming, he endeavoured, but without success, to institute a medical society for the procuring of the earliest intelligence of every improvement in physic from every part of Europe. About this time, he writes to a friend, "Dr. Mead has very generously offered to assist me with all his interest for succeeding Dr. Hall at the Charter House, whose death has been for some time expected. Inspired with gratitude, I have ventured out of my element, (as you will plainly perceive,) and sent him an ode." In 1753, he published the first, and in 1754, the second, volume of a work, called Curious Remarks and Observations in Physic, Anatomy, Surgery, Chemistry, Botany, and Medicine, extracted from the history and memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris. It did not meet with the encouragement it deserved, which induced him to discontinue it; his original intention being to have completed it in twelve volumes. In 1757, he published his translation of Norden's Travels; and, in the same year, edited Select Cases and Consultations in Physic, by Dr. Woodward. He was also the author of Practical Observations on the culture of Lucern turnips, &c.; and of a paper in the Philosophical Transactions, On a Polypus at the Heart, and a Schirrhous Tumour of the Uterus. In 1760, he resigned his situation of keeper of the reading-room at the British Museum, to which he had been appointed in 1753, for the secretaryship of the newly instituted Society of Arts; and, in 1762, he was elected a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris, and also of the Economical Society at Berne. His death occurred in 1769. 1 DIMSDALE, (THOMAS,) the son of an apothecary, was born at Ineydan Gernon, in Essex, in 1711. After hav ing ootained a knowledge of pharmacy, under his father, he became a pupli at St. Thomas's Hospital; and in 1759. married the daughter of Nathanjei Brassey, Esq., member of parliament for Hertford, having commenced business as a surgeon in that town some years previously. In 1744, on the deain of his wife, in order to alleviate the grief : which that event caused him, he volunteered his medical assistance to the British army, under the Duke of Cumberiand, with whom he continued till the surrender of Carlisle. In 1746, he married again, and received so large a fortune with his wife, that he retired from practice, till his family becoming numerous, he resumed it, and took the degree of M. D. in 1761. In 1766, he published a work, entitled, The Pre- ; sent Method of Inoculating for the Small Pox, which went through two editions, was translated into all the continental languages, and procured him an invitation from the Empress Catherine of Russia, to inoculate herself and her son, which he did in 1768. For this service, he was rewarded by the empress with the sum of £12,000, an annuity of £500 per annum, the appointment of actual counsellor of state and physician to her imperial majesty, and the rank of a baron of the Russian empire, to descend to his eldest son. He also received the miniature pictures of the empress and her son, and was invited by the former to reside as her physician in Russia, which he thought fit to decline. While at Petersburgh and Moscow, he inoculated several persons there; and before returning to England, had an audience at Sans Souci, with Frederick the Third, King of Prussia. In 1776, he published Thoughts on General and Partial Inoculation; and, in 1778, Observations on the Introduction to the Plan of the Dispensary for General Inoculation, which involved him in a controversy with Dr. Lettsom. In 1779, he lost his second wife, by whom he had seven children, but he afterwards married a third time. In 1780, he was elected member of parliament for Hertford; and, except for the relief of the poor, declined practice. In the following year, however, he consented to visit Russia once more, where he inoculated the emperor and his brother Constantine. In 1781, he printed his Tracts on Inoculation, in which he gives an account of his mission to Russia. The tracts were not sold, but liberally distributed by the baron, who also gave a practical proof of his zeal for inoculation, by opening at Hertford a house, under his own direction, for the inoculation of all ranks of persons who chose to come there. In 1790, he resigned his seat in parliament, and retired to Bath, whence he again returned to Hertford, and died there on the 30th of December, 1800. He was held in much esteem, both for his talents and general virtues, and died much regretted. His works on inoculation spread his fame all over Europe; and though their importance is much diminished by the discovery of Jenner, they still remain useful and valuable. Some time previously to his death, he established, in conjunction with his sons and the Barnards, a bankinghouse in Cornhill, which still exists under the firm of Barnard, Dimsdale, and Dimsdale. He was a fellow of the Royal Society, and a member of the Bath Agricultural Society. RUSSELL, (ALEXANDER,) a native of Edinburgh, after having taken his degree of M. D. in that city, removed, in 1735, to London, and, about 1740, became physician to the English factory, at Aleppo, where, having attained great reputation by his skill and success, he was consulted by Franks, Jews, Armenians, and even by the Turks; who, says Dr. Fothergill, forgetting that he was an unbeliever, remitted of their usual contempt for strangers, and not only beheld him with respect, but courted his friendship, and placed unlimited confidence in his opinion. He became the friend and adviser of the Pacha, who never refused to pardon a criminal at his intercession. On such occasions, he would tell the culprit "that, in his opinion he certainly deserved death, but that he durst not order it, for the English doctor had insisted on mercy." Returning to England, in 1755, at the suggestion of his friend, Dr. Fothergill, he composed, and shortly after published, A Natural History of Aleppo, containing some important observations relative to the plague, which have, possibly, observes the author of the Biographia Medica, tended to check the progress of that dreadful scourge. After having acted, for about nine years, as physician to St. Thomas's Hospital, he died in 1768, and not in 1770, as stated in all the biographical sketches of him, except that by Dr. Lettsom. He appears to have been highly respected for his professional talents and excellent disposition. The reputation of St. Thomas's Hospital was considerably increased by his lectures, and he is said to have been an active member of the Royal and Medical Societies, to each of which he communicated several important papers. BROMFIELD, (WILLIAM,) a native of London, was born in 1712, and commenced practice as a surgeon at a very early age. In 1741, he gained considerable reputation and emolument by delivering lectures in anatomy and surgery; and, a few years after, in conjunction with the Rev. Mr. Madan, founded the Lock Hospital, to which, on its establishment, he was appointed surgeon, and in aid of its funds, procured Jasper Mayne's comedy of The City Match, with alterations by himself, to be acted at Drury Lane Theatre. He was subsequently appointed one of the surgeons to St. George's Hospital, and in 1761, became surgeon to Queen Charlotte, whom he had accompanied to England. In 1770, he restricted his employment at the Lock to consultations; and, shortly after, abandoning the more fatiguing part of his private practice, retired to a mansion in Chelsea Park, where he died, on the 24th of November, 1792. In performing an operation, according to Pearson, in his Life of Hey, no accident, however unexpected, could dismay him. The same writer states, that Bromfield's mind was neither scientific nor cultivated; that he was devoid of the modesty and simplicity usually attendant on great mental powers; that his manner was rough and blustering; and that he affected to be a wit, but was often coarse, and not unfrequently obscure; yet, continues our authority, he was possessed of real kindness and humanity, and had he been less careless of giving offence by the freedom and harshness of his censures, he would have been regarded as a pleasant and entertaining companion. His works are valuable for their practical remarks, but being encumbered with crude and obsolete theories, and written in a style neither perspicuous nor agreeable, they have fallen into almost total neglect. They consist of Chirurgical Cases and Observations, in two volumes; which, though containing much judicious practice and valuable matter, did not, says one of his biographers, answer the expectations of the public, and were accordingly attacked in a pamphlet by an anonymous writer, said to be Mr. Justamond; An Account of the English Nightshades, which he had found unsuccessful in the cure of scrofula, upon himself; Thoughts concerning the present peculiar method of treating Persons inoculated for the Small Pox, in which he attacked the Suttonian practice of exposing patients to the open air in the midst of winter; and some minor pieces. MONRO, (JOHN,) the son of Dr. James Monro, was born at Greenwich, in Kent, on the 16th of November, 1715. After having received a classical education at Merchant Taylor's School, he removed, in 1723, to St. John's College, of which he became a fellow. Being appointed, in 1743, through the influence of Sir Robert Walpole, to one of the Radcliffe travelling fellowships, he visited the principal cities on the continent. At Leyden he prosecuted his medical studies, under the famous Boerhaave, and, on his return to England, in 1751, commenced practising as a physician; the degree of M. D. having been bestowed on him by the University of Oxford, during his absence. In the same year he was appointed colleague to his father, whom he succeeded, in 1752, as physician to Bridewell and Bethlehem Hospitals. In 1753, he married a Miss Smith, by whom he had six children, three of whom, only, survived him. In 1758, he published a pamphlet, under the title of Remarks on Dr. Battie's Treatise on Madness, in which he vindicated his father's treatment of that disorder against the attacks of Dr. Battie, and added many judicious remarks on its causes and cure. In 1783, he suffered a paralytic stroke; the strength of his constitution, however, enabled him to overcome the shock, and he resumed his professional duties, which he continued to perform until 1787, when, his son being appointed assistant at the hospital, he retired to Hadley, near Barnet, where he died, on the 27th of December, 1791. As a physician, Dr. Monro was principally distinguished for the success of his practice in cases of insanity; "in which branch of the medical art," says one of his biographers," he attained to a higher degree of eminence, than was possessed by any of his contemporaries." Excepting his reply to Dr. Battie, he wrote no work on insanity,-madness being, in his opinion, a subject to be understood no otherwise than by personal observation. He communicated many notes and remarks on Shakes CADOGAN, (WILLIAM,) was born some time in the year 1712, and received his education at Oriel College, Oxford, where he took his degree of doctor of physic, in 1755. His first publication appeared in 1750, containing directions for the nursing and managing of children, which were adopted by the managers of the Foundling Hospital, and, by degrees, became general. In 1764, he published his Dissertations on the Gout, and all Chronical Diseases; a work which was written in a very popular style, and speedily went through several editions. Although founded on the doctrines of Boerhaave and Sydenham, it was attacked by a host of writers; none of whom, however, he thought fit to answer. Dr. Johnson calls it "a good book in general, but a foolish one in particulars; it is Cheyne's book," he observes, "told in a new way; and there should come out such a book every thirty years, dressed in the mode of the times." Dr. Cadogan was a fellow of the College of Phy-peare to Mr. Steevens, and afforded masicians, and, which is by no means usual, spoke two Harveian orations; the one in 1764, and the other in 1793. His death took place in 1797. terial assistance to Mr. Strutt, as to the early engravers, of whose works he had formed a valuable collection. Though warm in his temper, he is said to have been much admired for the refined gentleness and elegant modesty of his deportment. SHARP, (SAMUEL,) was born about 1715; and, after having studied under Cheselden, and at Paris, settled in London, where he was appointed surgeon to Guy's Hospital, and soon obtained an extensive practice and high reputation. In 1739, he published A Treatise on the Operations of Surgery, with a Description and Representation of the Instruments; and an Introduction on the Nature and Treatment of Wounds, Abscesses, and Ulcers; a work which was translated into several foreign languages, and, in the course of a few years, went through six editions. In 1749, he was made a fellow of the Royal Society, and a foreign member of the Academy of Surgery, at Paris. In 1750, he published A Critical Inquiry into the Present State of Surgery; a work equally valuable, and which attained the same popularity, as the former. In 1765, he went abroad for the improvement of his health, and, on his return, published a volume of Letters from Italy, which gave rise to the Account of the Manners and Customs of Italy, by Baretti, who was indignant at some portion of the former publication. Mr. Sharp died in 1778, with a reputation in his profession only second to that of his master, Cheselden. His opinions were occasionally erroneous; but there are few diseases respecting which he has not thrown out some new idea, and few operations which he has left unimproved upon. With respect to the latter, says his French biographer, M. Bégin, "On doit à Sharp d'avoir donné à la couronne du trépan la forme cylindrique, qui est aujourd'hui généralement adoptée;" and the same authority accords to his works the merit of "une originalité et une indépendance de pensée, qui séduisent le lecteur et fixent toujours son attention." CLEGHORN, (GEORGE,) was born at Granton, near Edinburgh, on the 18th of December, 1716; and, after having studied medicine for five years at that university, was appointed surgeon to the twenty-second regiment of foot, then stationed at Minorca, whither he proceeded in 1736. In this island he resided for thirteen years, during which period he made himself acquainted with the natural history of the country, and gratified his early passion for anatomy, by dissecting human bodies and Barbary apes, and comparing their structure with the descriptions of Galen and Versalius. In 1749, he accompanied his regiment to Ireland; and in the autumn of the following year, came to London, and occupied himself in attending Dr. Hunter's anatomical lectures, and preparing for publication his work on The Diseases of Minorca; which was spoken of by his biographer, Dr. Lettsom, as "a just model for the imitation of future medical writers." In 1751, Dr. Cleghorn delivered lectures in anatomy, at Dublin; and a few years afterwards, was admitted into the university as lecturer, and, subsequently, appointed professor, of that science. In 1774, he was made an honorary member of the Dublin College of Physicians; was also one of the original members for promoting arts and sciences, in that city; and, on its establishment, in 1777, was made a fellow of the Royal Medical Society, at Paris. He died in December, 1789, having occupied much of the latter part of his life in farming and horticulture. As a physician, he was eminent both for his medical and chirurgical skill; and we are indebted to him for bringing into practice the use of acescent vegetables in low, remittent, and putrid fevers."Let us," says Dr. Fothergill, speaking of him in a letter to Dr. Cuming, "stimulate one another, that we may follow his footsteps, and become the worthy friends of so great a man." WARNER, (JOSEPH,) was born in the island of Antigua, in 1717, and studied surgery under Sharp; in conjunction with whom, he delivered the anatomical lectures at St. Thomas's Hospital, in 1741. In 1746, on the breaking out of the Scottish rebellion, he joined the British army, and, before the termination of the campaign, was elected surgeon to Guy's Hospital; a situation which he held for forty-four years. During this time, his private practice was very extensive; and he also acquired much fame as an author, by the publication of several valuable treatises on the cataract, the hydrocele, &c. In 1754, he published a volume of Cases in Surgery; a work which still further increased his reputation; and, in 1756, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, to whose transactions he communicated many important papers. In 1764, he was chosen a member of the Court of Assistants of the then Corporation of Surgeons; and, in 1771, became one of the Court of Examiners. He died on the 24th of July, 1801, in the vigour of his faculties, and with a very estimable character, both private and professional. He was one of those anatomists whose labours began to lessen the necessity of the student's going abroad, and whose talents did much towards rendering the British metropolis the first chirurgical school in the world. Mr. Warner is said to have inherited the identical ring spoken of in history as the one given by Queen Elizabeth to the Earl of Essex. WILLIS, (Rev. FRANCIS,) was born in 1718, and was entered a student of Brazen-nose College, Oxford, where he graduated M. A., and took holy orders, and obtained, some years afterwards, the living of St. John's, Wapping. Having, however, previously to his ordination, paid some attention to physic, he made his knowledge in that art of such use to his neighbours, that the doctors of Shetford, in Lincolnshire, where he resided, were greatly incensed at his success, and threatened him with a prosecution. This induced him to procure a medical diploma, which was granted him by the University of Oxford, in 1759; and, shortly afterwards, becoming celebrated for his successful treatment of mental maladies, he was, in 1788, called in to attend George the Third, whom he restored to reason in the course of a few months. In consequence of his peculiar mode of treatment of the royal patient, he was much censured by the regular physicians; and on two occasions, having trusted the king with a razor and a penknife, he was sternly asked, by the celebrated Edmund Burke, how he should have acted if his majesty had been seized suddenly with frenzy while these implements were in his hand? Upon this, Dr. Willis desired two vivid lights to be placed between Mr. Burke and himself, and exclaimed, "There, now, I should look at him thus!" darting, at the same time, such a look upon the orator, from his appalling eyes, as made him recoil with affright. This mode of looking at a maniac, he used to say, would cause him to quail more effectually than chains or manacles. Having acquired additional renown by his restoration of the king, he was, in 1792, sent for to attend the Queen of Portugal, whose aberration of mind he completely cured; a service for which he received £20,000. He died, at Greatford, on the 5th of December, 1807; having, at the time, under his care, a great number of persons of family and respectability, whom he kept in an extensive lunatic asylum he had established for that purpose. He was twice married; and left five sons by his first wife, but had no issue by his second. SMITH, (HUGH,) was born about the year 1720; and, after having praetised some time, as a physician, in Essex, came to London, where, in 1759, he published an Essay on the Blood, with Reflections on Venesection, and soon became one of the most eminent practitioners in the city. His fame, however, says one of his biographers, was not established, till, by a bold push, he launched his carriage; when, instead of losing two or three hundred a year, as had hitherto been the case, notwithstanding his popularity, he found himself in possession of a practice that brought him in upwards of £500 per annum. In 1760, he commenced a course of lectures on the theory and practice of physic, which were held in such estimation, that he was requested, by a great body of medical pupils and practitioners, to lecture at the west end of the town; which he accordingly did at the Piazza Coffee House, Covent Garden, and was attended there by crowded audiences for several years. In 1765, he was appointed physician to the Middlesex Hospital; and, in 1770, elected an alderman of Tower ward, a dignity which his professional labours soon compelled him to resign. About the same time, he took a house in Bridge Street, Blackfriars, where he is said to have had a greater share of home practice than had ever been |