to the knowledge of languages only; he now began to cultivate with equal assiduity studies of a more scientific nature. To chemistry, as a science closely connected with that profession which he had chosen as the object of his future pursuit, he was particularly devoted. Dr. Black had, some years before, opened a new mine for investigation, which the illustrious Priestley was at this period exploring, with a diligence rewarded by daily increasing success, and a series of the most splendid discoveries. These discoveries powerfully impressed the imagination of young Beddoes. He began to study the subject experimentally as well as theoretically, and soon became master of pneumatic chemistry as far as it was then known. So conversant was he with the subject, that before he had completed his twentieth year, he amused a few literary friends at Longville, during one of his vacations, by giving a history of the discoveries that had been made, and exhibiting some of the principal experiments; and his audience were not less delighted with the clearness of perception and explanation of the young philosopher, than by the novelty of the information which he communicated. From pneumatic chemistry he proceeded to the study of mineralogy and botany; in both of which he made rapid advances. Of his love for botany he has left a striking proof behind him, in a manuscript Flora Britannica, which he appears to have written while at Oxford. The elegance and beauty of the penmanship of this little volume would excite both admiration and surprize in every one acquainted with the extreme carelessness of his written character in after life.

His vacations at this period were generally spent in Shropshire, and he devoted much of his time to shooting and whist. To both these amusements he was equally partial. In his long morning rambles with his gun, he was accustomed to unite scientific research with his amusement. He explored every recess of the most rugged mountains; he searched every dell; and seldom returned home without his pockets

C

filled with mineralogical or botanical specimens. As a whist-player he was much in request: he was supposed to play that game as well as almost any man in England." He sometimes upon these occasions amused his friends by a surprizing effort of memory. He would relate at the termination of a game the exact order in which all the cards were played, and particularize who had played them.

Such were the attainments, amusements and occupations of Mr. Beddoes from his fourteenth to his twenty-first or twenty-second year. He had now taken his degree of Bachelor of Arts, and soon afterwards, as usual, ceased to reside regularly in the University, and began to devote himself to studies more strictly and purely professional. The advantages afforded by the Metropolis for attaining an accurate knowledge of anatomy, attracted him thither in the year 1781. Here he became a pupil of the celebrated Sheldon; and assiduously devoted himself to that study which is so justly deemed the basis of all medical knowledge. The zeal and intelligence which he manifested in this pursuit warmly recommended him to his instructor. He attended several courses of his demonstrations: But he did not content himself with hearing lectures only; he devoted much of his time to dissection, and familiarized himself with the details of practical anatomy. The more generally fascinating enquiries connected with physiology he prosecuted with equal ardour. At first, he exclusively devoted himself to these preliminary sciences, but after a time, in addition to the instructions of Sheldon, he availed himself of the opportunities of attending the classes of some of the most distinguished lecturers in the Metropolis, in other branches of the profession.

b His fondness for this game manifested itself at an early period of life. He informed one of his most intimate friends, that when very young, he was accustomed to anticipate as one of the greatest pleasures of manhood, the power of sitting down uncontrouled, and playing whist all day long. After quitting Oxford he seldom played; but if, by any accident he joined a party, he shewed that he had not forgotten the acquisition of his earlier years.

In the course of his physiological studies his attention was particularly arrested by the celebrated dissertations of Spallanzani. They had not yet been translated, and their value was comparatively but little known in England. This deficiency he determined to supply, and accordingly undertook the task of presenting them to the public in his native language. His accurate knowledge of Italian enabled him to perform it with spirit and success. He prefixed to it a short notice of the literary labours of Spallanzani. When the second edition of these volumes appeared, in the year 1790, he was induced by the general approbation with which this sketch had been received, to enlarge and extend it. He added also a variety of observations of his own, and gave an account of several experiments which had been instituted by others, to illustrate the subjects treated of in the work. This additional matter, with a degree of equity of which the purchasers of books have to lament the comparatively rare exercise, he published separately, "for the sake of the purchasers of the first edition, whose advantage every author is bound in justice as well as gratitude, to consult."

Mr. Sheldon was much delighted with these first fruits of the industry and talents of a favorite pupil; and long after their connexion had terminated, whenever he had occasion, in his course, to allude to the experiments of Spallanzani; he was accustomed to refer his hearers to the translation, "so ably executed by his friend and former pupil." This translation, the earliest of his numerous publications, appeared in the year 1784.

In the same year Dr. Edmund Cullen published a translation of Bergman's Physical and Chemical Essays. In a short introduction to this work, it is stated, that on account of the great distance of the Translator from the place of publication, he had entrusted to another person the superintendence of the press. This person being, as he informs the reader, "unacquainted with the Translator's design of

adding annotations at the end of the volume, was himself induced to annex a few inconsiderable observations, such as his recollection could furnish during a hasty perusal of the MS." It is the Annotator himself who speaks thus humbly of his share in the work. The observations alluded to are distinguished by the letter B, and from a perusal of them I feel little hesitation in assigning them to the pen of Dr. Beddoes. They do honor to his industry and acuteness; they evince an extensive acquaintance with all the scientific journals of celebrity, foreign as well as domestic; and every error or deficiency which existed when Bergman wrote, is, as far as possible, corrected or supplied from the lights which were daily pouring in upon a science assiduously cultivated and rapidly improving. Many of the Professor's doctrines or experiments, where the results appear imperfect or unsatisfactory, are corrected or confirmed by original ones by the Annotator himself. The analyses of earthy and saline bodies contained in the section on waters, are opposed to and compared with those of our ingenious countryman, Kirwan. Nor does he fail, when detailing by way of illustration the opinions advanced by names of the highest authority, to point out whatever appears inconclusive or not sufficiently proved.

The opinion that these notes were written by Dr. Beddoes does not rest upon their internal evidence alone. It receives additional support from the faint traditional recollection of the gentleman who first pointed them out to my notice; who was nearly his contemporary, and was, like him, a pupil of Sheldon. Its probability is farther increased by the circumstance that in the succeeding year, 1785, a translation of Bergman's Essay on Elective Attractions, the avowed production of his pen, was published by the same booksellers. A number of notes is added by way of appendix to this volume, characterized by the same industry and acuteness, and the same minute acquaintance with the improvements in physical science made

in foreign countries, which distinguished the annotations in the Elements of Chemistry.

In the year 1786 he appeared again before the public, in the office of Editor (for he lays claim to no higher appellation) of Scheele's Chemical Essays. They had been translated by a foreign friend, who was 'unwilling to commit to the press a work executed while his acquaintance with the English language was very imperfect. The deficiency arising from this source Dr. Beddoes undertook to supply, by a careful revision of the work, and a comparison of it with two different German translations; and he added to its value by the insertion of a few papers of more recent date, written by the original Author, and by other contemporaryGerman chemists. His annotations upon this volume are scanty; to supply any deficiency in this respect, he refers to those contained in the volume on Elective Attractions. The whole system of chemical science has, since the date of these publications, undergone so great a revolution, a revolution which the brilliant discoveries of Davy must convince us is far from being yet completed, that it would I apprehend consume the reader's time unprofitably, to attempt any minute analysis of the notes in question.

The connexion between the subjects of this and the two preceding works, has induced me to notice them together; but some particulars of a prior date, remain yet to be mentioned. In Act term 1783, Mr. Beddoes took the degree of Master of Arts. In the winter of the same year, during an accidental residence in his native county, he met with an interesting opportunity of exercising his skill and humanity. A fever, attended with great and general mortality was raging in the neighbourhood, and proved particularly destructive in the humble habitations of the poor. It is to this discase that he alludes in the history of Isaac Jenkins. His success in the treatment of it shewed how well he had improved his opportunities; and it so far