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of the subject of our memoir: and he made several improvements in the construction of steam-engines, for which he obtained a patent in 1801. In 1802, one was granted to him for a very elaborate and accurate machine for producing smooth and parallel surfaces on wood and other materials: this has been tried, with success, on a very large scale, in the arsenal at Woolwich. His next inventions were, an improvement in the process of making paper; in the process of printing, by a mode which enabled the Bank to perform the labour of one hundred and twenty clerks with twenty; in the construction of mainpipes; in wheel carriages; and a method for the prevention of the dry rot; for all of which he obtained patents. He died, highly respected for his scientific acquirements and private worth, on the 9th of December, 1814. "It is surely," says Dr. Brown, Mr. Bramah's biographer, "on the characters of such individuals that the wealth and prosperity of the British empire most essentially depend; an inventive imagination controlled by a sound judgment, an incessant activity of mind and body, a head that can direct, and a heart that can feel, are the genuine sources of that practical superiority which is well known to distinguish the productions of our national industry."

CAVALLO, (TIBERIUS,) the son of a Neapolitan physician, was born at Naples, in 1749, and came to England in 1771, for the purpose of qualifying himself for a merchant. Science and philosophy, however, formed the chief objects of his pursuit, and soon induced him to quit commercial occupations altogether. He was a fellow of the Royal Society, and contributed several valuable papers to the Philosophical Transactions. His separate publications are, A Complete Treatise on Electricity in Theory and Practice, with Original Experiments; An Essay on the Theory and Practice of Medical Electricity; Á Treatise on the Nature and Properties of Air, and other permanently Elastic Fluids, with an Introduction to Chemistry; The History and Practice of Aërostation; Mineralogical Tables; A Treatise on Magnetism in Theory and Practice, with Original Experiments; Description and Use of the Telescopial

Mother-of-pearl Micrometer; An Essay on the Mechanical Properties of Factitious Airs, with an appendix on the Nature of the Blood; and Elements of Natural or Experimental Philosophy.. These works are distinguished by perspicuity of style, proper selection of materials, and clearness of arrangement, and may be justly classed among the best elementary books in the English language. Mr. Cavallo died in London, in 1810.

BRAITHWAITE, (JOHN,) deserves notice as the inventor of a diving machine, with which, in 1783, he descended into the Royal George, at Spithead, and brought up the sheet anchor, and several of the guns. In 1788, he descended into the Hartwell, East Indiaman, lost near one of the Cape de Verd islands, and saved from the wreck, besides other property, dollars to the value of £38,000. From the Abergavenny, East Indiaman, wrecked off the isle of Pattain, he is said to have brought up property worth £105,000. He died in 1818.

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MILNER, (ISAAC, Dean of Carlisle,) a native of Leeds, in Yorkshire, and the son of a poor weaver, was born on the 11th of January, 1751. His elder brother, Joseph, who, by some generous individuals, was placed at the school of Leeds, taught him the clements of Latin and Greek, for which languages the future dean felt so great a predilection, that, being brought up to his father's trade, while working in the loom, he contrived to study Tacitus and Euripides. His brother, on becoming master of the grammar-school at Hull, appointed him junior assistant at that establishment, and in 1769, he became a sizar at Queen's College, Cambridge, where, on taking his degree of B. A., in 1774, he was not only senior wrangler, but complimented as being incomparabilis. Shortly afterwards, he obtained the first mathematical prize; and, becoming tutor, had for his pupils Mr. Pitt and Mr. Wilberforce, with whom he travelled abroad. In 1777, he proceeded to the degree of M. A.; in 1780, he served the office of junior moderator; and, in 1783, he had the honour of being appointed first Jacksonian professor of natural and experi

mental philosophy. In 1798, he ommeer ʼn the degree of B. D.; and, in 199, he became master of his culege, In 1792, he proceeded the degree of D. D.; during the same year, he oncained the deanery of Carlisie; and. in 1739, he meresden Bar in the La

casian professoranip af mathematics, worth about £150) i-vegr. He died at the house of Mr. Wiberbrze, an the 1st of March, 13:20. The iterary arddictions of Dr. Miner." says one of his frents, are but few: yet, as they bear the stamp of genius, they procured am much reputation, and a lesowship in the Royal Society." They consist chiedy of some earned and ngenious communications to that body, and a vindication of his brother's HS tory of the Christian Church, of which ne published a new edition. He also I wrote in favour of the Bible Society, against Marsh, and produced a posthumous cuection of sermons by his brother, with a memoir of the author prefixed. As master of his college, he abolished the custom of szars standing' behind the chairs of the fellows at din ner. On his frequent visit to Leeds, he never failed, it is said, to call on the obscure friends of his boyish days, among whom he often delivered the poor and the fatherless, and caused many a widow's heart to sing for joy." He found manual labour a great source of happiness, and passed much of his ensure time at a turning lathe, which, with its appendages, had cost him one hundred and forty guineas.

STANHOPE, (CHARLES, Earl of,) son of the second earl of that name, was born on the 3rd of August, 1753. ! He was educated at Eton and Geneva, I and displayed, at the latter place, a genins for mathematics, which he cultivated with such success, that he obtained a prize, from the Society of Stockholm, for a memoir on the pendalom. In 1774, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Westminster, but came into parliament, in the same year, as member for the borough of Wycombe, which he represented until the death of his father, in 1786. As a speaker, he was distinguished by a strong vein of sense and humour: he was an advocate of the French revolution, and not only avowed republican sentiments, but evi

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fenced his real in the cause by reinqusning de external ornaments of he beerige. As a man of science, he tend a mga rank, and invented, among atter mings, a method for securing buidings ram fire, an arithmetical mamine, a new printing press, a monomort or mining musical instruments, and a vessel to sail against wind and que. He died on the 14th of December. 134. having been twice married; frst to Lady Hester Pitt, daughter of the frst Earl of Chatham, by whom be tad tree daughters; and, secondly, to Mas Grenville, by whom he had three sons. He was the author of several philosophical and a few political tracts.

NICHOLSON, WILLIAM.) was born in London, in 1758, and passed the early part of his life in the maritime service. On his recarn from India, be was engaged by Mr. Wedgewood, the manufacturer of Staffordshire ware, as his agent on the continent; and shortly afterwards settled in Londen, as a mathematical teacher. He also opened a school, but failed, and became bankrupt: nor did ne derive more pront from various inventions for which he took out patents. Ine appointment of engineer to the Portsea Water-works Company, relieved his necessities, for a tinie; but he ultimately lost this situation, and died, in poverty, in 1815. As an anthor, he is principally known by The Journal, which bears his name, of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts; An Introduction to Natural Philosophy: The First Principles of Chemistry; and A Dictionary of Chemistry. These are chiefly compilations; but the judgment with which they are executed renders them extremely useful: in the ency clor ædia, published under his name, he is said to have had but little concern.

PARKES, (SAMUEL.) was born at Stourbridge, in Worcestershire, in the year 1759. He became eminent as an experimental chemist, and the reputation he acquired by his various works caused him to be elected a fellow of the Society of Arts, and of various other literary and philosophical_associations. He died in Mecklenburg Square, London, on the 23rd of December, 1825. His principal works are, A Chemical Catechism, a most interesting and valu

able treatise, which has gone through many editions; Essay on the Utility of Chemistry in the Arts and Manufactures; Rudiments of Chemistry, illustrated by examples; An Abridgment of his First Treatise; and Chemical Essays, principally relating to the Arts and Manufactures of the British Dominions, in eight volumes, octavo.

THORNTON, (JOHN ROBERT,) a son of the celebrated Bonnell Thornton, was born in London, some time previous to the year 1760. He received the first part of his education at a public, but the latter at a private, school; and was remarkable for passing the whole of his holydays in making collections in natural history. He also devoted his playhours at school to the same pursuit, and established there a small garden and menagerie, in which he kept a large assortment of pigeons, besides having every species of the English hawk. At an early period of his life, he was nearly killed, by drinking, in mistake, a phial full of eau-de-luce, the effects of which, for a time, almost drove him mad. At the age of sixteen, he was sent to Cambridge, where, though destined for the church, he gratified his inclination for the study of physic, by attending the anatoinical and chemical lectures at the university, as well as those on botany and natural history. He also appears to have attended a course on optics; and being asked by the lecturer in that science, to describe the anatomy of the eye, he proceeded to give such a minute and masterly account of it, that the lecturer, finding himself puzzled, exclaimed, amid the suppressed laughter of the students, "That will do, sir; that will do, sir." Shortly after this, having acquired a large fortune by the death of his brother, he resolved on making medicine his sole pursuit; and, going to London, he became a pupil at Guy's Hospital, attending also the lectures of Mr. Cline, and of Dr. Babington, under whom he attained to great proficiency in chemistry. On taking his degree of B. M., at Cambridge, he gave a proof of this, by proposing for his thesis a discovery he had himself made, contrary to the received opinions, "That the animal heat arose from the oxygen air imbibed by the blood flowing through the

lungs, and taken from the atmosphere received into them, and that in its circuit through the body it became decomposed." Having studied three years at Guy's Hospital, he visited the continent; and, on his return, made some experiments relative to the cause of animal heat, which, with his knowledge of medicine, enabled him to effect several cures, in cases that had been given up by the first physicians and surgeons in London. His success, which went very far to establish the soundness of the Brunonian system, then deemed by many empirical, induced him to publish a work in support of it, entitled The Philosophy of Medicine, or Medical Extracts on the Nature of Health and Disease, including the Laws of the Animal Economy, and the Doctrines of Pneumatic Medicine, five volumes, octavo. "Never," says his biographer in The European Magazine, was work more eagerly read, or generally approved of; it soon went through five editions, and stamped instantly for the author a reputation that can never be effaced." It appeared in 1798; and, in the following year, b published, upon the same plan, a syste of modern politics, entitled, The Philosophy of Politics, or Political Extracts on the Nature of Governments and their Administration, three volumes, octavo. His next most important work appeared in 1808, under the title of Botanical Plates of the New Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnæus, folio, £30, which was pronounced, and continues to be, the most splendid botanical work extant. "Whatever ideas," says the author of Literary Sketches, "might have been excited when this work was first announced, the mind of man was inadequate to conceive the splendour and magnificence of the execution when published. It was, indeed, a trophy of national taste, which the surrounding nations may look upon with envy and astonishment." Dr. Darwin, also, speaking of the work, observes, "that the botanical picturesque plates of the new ilustration excite wonder in every beholder, and have no equal." As a further proof of his admiration of the work, he sat for his portrait, about a week before his death, to be placed in it, declaring to his friends that his features, in Dr. Thornton's work, would possess

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immortality. In the meantime, Mr. Thornton took his degree of M. D., and rose to great eminence in the metropolis, both as a practitioner and writer, in medicine. He was a great advocate for vaccination, and published several tracts in defence of it, against the attacks of Dr. Rowley. His practical talents procured him the appointment of physician to the Marylebone Dispensary; and whilst holding that office, he added to his fame, by discovering, in the virtues of the foxglove, almost a certain cure for the scarlet fever. He continued his situation at the dispensary for four years; and became, alterwards, lecturer on medical botany, at Guy's Hospital, in which science he has subsequently published several very valuable works; among which may be mentioned, The Plants of Great Britain arranged after the reformed Sexual System, &c.; An Easy Introduction to the Science of Botany; and several others.

GARNETT, (THOMAS,) was born at Kirby-Lonsdale, in Westmoreland, on the 21st of April, 1767. After having received the rudiments of education in his native town, and laid the foundation of his medical and philosophical knowledge, under Mr. Dawson, at Sedburgh, he studied physic at Edinburgh, and took there his degree of M. D. in 1788. He then attended the London hospitals, and afterwards settled at Harrowgate, where he married, and soon acquired an extensive practice. In 1795, he proceeded to Liverpool, with the intention of emigrating to America; but being requested, by Dr. Currie, to give a course of chemical lectures, he met with so much success, that he was induced to defer his departure. He also delivered a course on experimental philosophy, which, together with that on chemistry, he repeated, by invitation, at Manchester. He was also invited to Dublin, but was prevented from going there in consequence of his election to the philosophical professorship of Anderson's Institution, at Glasgow. This situation he relinquished for that of professor of natural philosophy and chemistry to the New Royal Institution of London, where he settled in 1800. Being desirous, however, to get into general

practice, he gave up this appointment also, at the expiration of a twelvemonth, and took a house in Great Marlborough Street. Here he began to give regular lectures on experimental philosophy and chemistry, and also a new course on zoonomia, according to the Brunonian system, of which he was a strong advocate and admirer. He also commenced two courses on botany; one at his own house, and the other at Brompton. In the midst of these pursuits, he was engaged in an extensive practice, in the gratuitous exercise of which, he received, by infection from a poor patient, a fever which proved fatal to him, on the 28th of July, 1802. His works are, Outlines of a Course of Lectures on Chemistry; Lecture on the Preservation of Health; A Tour through the Highlands, two volumes, quarto, with map and fifty-two plates; a volume of Annals of Philosophy, Natural History, Chemistry, &c., for the Year 1800; besides three treatises on the Harrowgate waters, four papers in The Medical Commentaries and Transactions, and Zoonomia, whic was published by subscription, after his death, for the benefit of his children.

WOLLASTON, (WILLIAM HYDE,) descended from a respectable family in Staffordshire, and the son of Francis Wollaston, Esq., was born on the 6th of August, 1766, in Charter-house Square, London. He was sent to

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complete his education at Caius College, Cambridge, where he studied medicine, and took his degrees of M. B. and M. D., successively, in 1787 and 1793. In the latter year, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, to the Transactions of which he communicated his first paper, in 1797, entitled, On the Gout and Urinary Concretions. subsequent communications almost all relate to experimental chemistry. To this science he began to devote his time soon after he had commenced the practice of his profession, which, however, he was induced to relinquish, in consequence of an unsuccessful attempt to obtain the appointment of physician to St George's Hospital. In 1806, he was elected second secretary to the Royal Society; and, in 1812, he was elected a member of the Geological Society. His most important papers in the Philoso

ciety, stock to the amount of £1,000, the interest of which was to be annually employed towards the encouragement of experiments. His character stood high in every respect, and his merit has been appreciated and distinguished by most of the principal scientific establishments of Europe. At the annual meeting of the Geological Society, in 1829, Dr. Fitten, the president, in the course of his eulogium upon Dr. Wollaston, said:" It would be difficult to name a man who so well combined the qualities of an English gentleman and a philosopher." Among other anecdotes respecting the manner in which Dr. Wollaston resented an intrusion into his workroom, is related the following:

tory, one day, who had walked in whilst waiting to see him, he took him by the arm, and, pointing to the furnace, said, "Do you see that, sir?" "I do." "Then make a profound bow to it; for as this is the first, it will also be the last time of your seeing it."

phical Transactions are, Experiments on the Chemical Production and Agency of Electricity; A Method of Examining Refractive and Dispersive Powers by Prismatic Reflection; On a New Metal found in Crude Platina; On the Discovery of Palladium; On the non-existence of Sugar in the Blood of Persons labouring under Diabetes Mellitus ; On the Primitive Crystals of Carbonate of Lime, Bitter Spar, and Iron Spar; On a Periscopic Camera Obscura and Microscope; and On a Method of rendering Platina malleable, for which he was awarded, by the Society, one of the royal medals. He also communicated several papers to Dr. Thomson's Annals of Philosophy, who says, in speaking of modern British chemistry, that a dis--Finding a gentleman in his laboratinct school has been established by the subject of our memoir. "Dr. Wollaston," he adds, "possesses an uncommon neatness of hand, and has invented a very ingenious method of determining the properties and constituents of very minute quantities of matter. This is attended with several great advantages; it requires but very little apparatus, and therefore the experiments may be performed in almost any situation; it saves a great deal of time and a great deal of expense; while the numerous discoveries of Dr. Wollaston demonstrate the precision of which his method is susceptible." Among other instruments, he constructed a sliding rule of chemical equivalents, highly useful to the practical chemist; and he made a galvanic battery of such small dimensions that it was contained in a thimble. By a very ingenious process, he was enabled to make wire of platina much finer than any hair, and almost imperceptible to the naked eye. The operations which he carried on in his laboratory brought him considerable profit as well as fame: his discovery of the malleability of platinum, it has been asserted, alone produced about £30,000. Geologists are much indebted to him for his camera lucida; and his invention of the goniometer has introduced into the department of crystallography a certainty and precision which the most skilful observers were before unable to obtain. This eminent man died, unmarried, on the 22nd of December, 1828; having, a short time previously, presented, to the Royal So

LESLIE, (JOHN,) was born at Largo, in Fifeshire, in April, 1766. His father was a small farmer, and had destined his son for the same occupation; but the extraordinary genius which he began to evince with respect to calculation and geometrical exercises, induced him to seek for him some more suitable employment. Young Leslie was early introduced to Professor Robison, and by him to Professors Playfair and Stewart, who strongly recommended that he should receive an education at one of the universities. The patronage of the Earl of Kinnoul being about the same time obtained for him, his parents were induced to enter him as a student at the University of St. Andrew's, whence he removed to that of Edinburgh. Here he was employed, by the celebrated Adam Smith, to assist the studies of his nephew, Mr. Douglas (afterwards Lord Reston), and displayed considerable abilities in the academical course which he himself went through. Not being inclined to enter the church, he came to London, and obtained employment from Dr. Thompson, in writing and correcting the notes of his new edition of The Bible. In 1793, he published, in nine octavo volumes, A Translation of Buffon's Natural History of Birds,

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