point out. Those facts, however, I will not dwell upon, or discuss upon the present occasion. If the rule was literally observed, the article of exclusion is of so rigorous a nature that it is morally impossible to carry it into effect. Look, my Lord, well at the consequence it must inevitably produce. If you exclude me as a veteran, you must come to the decisive avowal that age incapacitates me from the enjoyment of any military distinction.

"But, my Lord, I never can believe that a gracious and high-minded Prince, after receiving a full exposition of the services of his military servants, can adopt, or even countenance, the degree of exclusion which tells me, in plain language, that my toils and dangers are not regarded; and that the honours I have achieved, and the wounds I have endured, are neither remembered nor regretted.

"I have the honour to be,

My Lord,

With the greatest respect,

Your Lordship's

Most obedient humble Servant,

"The Earl Bathurst, &c. &c."

BAN. TARLETON, General.

To this letter the following answer was returned:
:-

"SIR,-I have many apologies to make for not having acknowledged sooner the letter which you did me the honour to write to me.

"No person can be more sensible than I am of your distinguished military services, and of the glory which attached to his Majesty's arms, in the American war, in consequence of the great zeal and activity which you uniformly displayed in that contest.

"I am, therefore, much concerned that the regulation which it has been thought expedient to make on the present occasion has not enabled the government to mark their sense

of your services, at the time when those of the officers who have served in the last war have been rewarded.

"I have the honour, &c.

“ Bathurst.

"General Tarleton."

Although General Tarleton's claim to the order could not be conceded, in conformity with the regulations then laid down, it was probably in consequence of his remonstrance that he was created a Baronet, by patent, dated November 6. 1818; and he was at length invested a G. C.B., May 20. 1820.

His death took place at Leintwardine, in Shropshire, on the 23d of January, 1833.

Sir Banastre Tarleton married, December 17. 1798, Susan Priscilla Bertie, natural daughter of Robert the last Duke of Ancaster. Lady Tarleton survives him, but without any children; and the baronetcy has consequently become extinct.

From "The Royal Military Calendar," and "The Gentleman's Magazine.”

282

No. XVIII.

JOSHUA BROOKES, ESQ.,

F.R.S. F. L. S. F. Z. S. ETC.

THE great importance of the study of human anatomy, as the foundation of all knowledge in the various departments of medicine and surgery, is, in these enlightened times, duly appreciated by all ranks of the community. The following biographical memoir of one of the greatest men in that department, next to the late John Hunter, whom this country ever had the honour to produce, we have derived from "The National Portrait Gallery."

Joshua Brookes was born on the 24th of November, 1761. He was one of a numerous family; and, after having obtained an excellent classical education, commenced his professional studies at the early age of sixteen, under the care of Mr. Magnus Falconer, and subsequently from the lectures on anatomy and surgery by Dr. Marshall, Mr. Hewson, Mr. Sheldon, and Dr. William Hunter. After attending the practice of the surgeons of the principal hospitals and public institutions in London, he received his diploma as a surgeon, from the worshipful Company of Surgeons.*

As it was his intention to become a professor of anatomy in the metropolis, he went over to Paris in order to improve himself in the study of practical anatomy, as well as the most important operations in surgery; for this purpose, he was a constant attendant at the Hôtel Dieu, and the other Parisian

This company was dissolved when the charter was granted for the Royal College of Surgeons, in 1800, by his late Majesty George the Third. All the members of the late company were incorporated as members of the college.

hospitals, then under the superintendence of the most eminent surgeons who existed prior to the first French revolution, among whom we may mention the late Baron Portal.

His passion for anatomical pursuits was developed at a very early period of his professional career: having witnessed the anatomical museums of Dr. Hunter, and those on the Continent, he was anxious to form one of a similar nature; and it is well known to the scientific public to what perfection he brought the object of his ambition. As a proof of his zeal on this subject, we may mention an anecdote, which we have frequently heard him relate:

Mr.

A negro had died of some disease within the brain, the nature of which was somewhat obscure. The friends objected to a post-mortem examination to ascertain the cause. Brookes was exceedingly interested to obtain some information on this subject, which it appeared impossible to effect. The old proverb, Necessitas non habet leges, appeared to actuate him on this occasion; for, the day after the burial, he got up at four o'clock in the morning, with the greatest secrecy, and, with his servant, set off in a gig, with the necessary implements, and exhumed the body of the negro, which he deposited in his study*, and appeared as usual with the family at breakfast, as if nothing of the kind had occurred.

We do not relate this with the view of justifying an illegal act, which met his father's disapprobation, but merely to show, that nothing that could be overcome by personal labour proved an obstacle to his studies. This occurred in his seventeenth year.

Every part that he dissected was executed with such care and precision, that it could be preserved with a view to subsequent reference; and oftentimes when his pupils, in after life, have praised the beauty of his specimens, he has exclaimed, "That preparation is extremely valuable; for, gentlemen, it was made by me in my sixteenth year. It is to be borne in

Preparations from this subject formed frequent illustrations of his lectures.

mind, that this was not uttered with any view of ostentatious display, but as a stimulus to his students to imitate his example; which, in many instances, succeeded. During the formation of his museum, which may be justly said to have occupied him during forty years of his valuable life, as well as in the period of his pupilage, he regarded neither pleasure nor health in order to accomplish the object of his wishes; and enjoyed but a few hours of repose, to recruit his exhausted frame, even during the latter years of his anatomical teaching.

On commencing this laborious task, he engaged in the performance of a series of important and interesting experiments, the object of which was, to discover the means of preserving dead bodies for the purposes of dissection, in order to obviate their decomposition, and to avoid any danger to which the student might be exposed, should he wound himself; he therefore injected the blood-vessels of subjects (generally the arterial system) with saturated solutions of oxymuriate of mercury (corrosive sublimate), muriate of soda, or common salt, sugar of lead, and nitrate of potassa: the latter was the only one, he found, after many trials, to answer the purpose, inasmuch as it not only preserved the subject from putrefaction, but likewise allowed the muscles, blood-vessels, &c., to retain their original florid colour, and, in some instances, increased it,—a circumstance of the highest importance in minute anatomical pursuits. This antiseptic process, as Mr. Brookes very properly denominated it, was of such utility, that the writer of this memoir has known a subject to remain in Mr. Brookes's dissecting-room for a period of four months, during a hot summer, and the students engaged in the dissection of it almost the whole time.

In the long period during which Mr. Brookes publicly taught anatomy, he never lost a single student from a dissection wound, an event which has several times occurred in other schools; and, in 1822-23, no less than three pupils died from this cause, (and one, we believe, was the son of Dr. Babington), who were studying at St. Thomas's Hospital.