Biographical Memoir of M. HalU. 8 



man as a physical and moral agent, was, in his opinion, uncon- 

 nected with that noble science ; and, in the disinterested feelings 

 towards it which he experienced, he viewed as marks of imbeci- 

 lity all endeavours to gain the estimation of a public, destitute 

 of every thing that would qualify them to judge. He, there- 

 fore, remained constantly beside his patients, or in his closet, 

 observing the progress of natural history, chemistry, natural 

 philosophy, and even of political economy and the welfare of 

 all ranks, not less than of physiology and anatomy ; but al- 

 ways considering these sciences in their relations to the health 

 of the species, and to that of individuals. It will readily be un- 

 derstood that, after forming to himself so enlarged ideas of me- 

 dicine, after prescribing to himself so extensive a course of 

 study, he would not be in haste to bring himself forward to 

 public view ; and, in fact, excepting his labours at the Society 

 of Medicine, of which he was one of the most industrious mem- 

 bers *, and the care which he bestowed on the publication of 

 some writings of his uncle -j-, he does not seem to have brought 

 forward any work, or to have engaged in any public employ- 

 ment, up to 1795, when he had already passed his fortieth year. 

 Still, while he was thus laboriously improving himself, he had 



• We find, by him, in the Collection of Memoirs of the Royal Society of 

 Medicine, a Report on the Properties and Effects of the Root of Tooth-wort in the 

 Treatment of Itch ; Observatmis on the Plienomena and Variations which the 

 Urine presents in a State of Health ; and on two examinations of dead bodies, 

 which presented phenomena very different from those which the disease 

 seemed to indicate. In the first there was a scirrhous induration of the sto- 

 mach ; in the other a disorganization of the kidneys. A Memoir, On the Effects 

 of Camphor given in large Doses, and on the Property which that substance pos- 

 sesses of being a Corrective of Opium ; reflections on secondary fevers, and on 

 the swelling which takes place in small-pox, and several interesting reports 

 on questions submitted to the Society, especially those on police, as it regards 

 the salubrity of towns. He gave, in particular, in 1784, an interesting Re- 

 port, On the Nature and Effects of the Mephitic Air of Privies, when the sub- 

 ject to be examined was tlie preservative the oculist Janin pretended to 

 have discovered in acetic acid. It was printed separately in 1785. 



t In 1784, he published an edition of Lorry's work, entitled, De Pracipuis 

 Morborum Mutationibus et Conversionibus ; and inserted in the Memoirs of the 

 'loyal Society, the observations of the same author. Ore the Volatile and Odo- 

 rous Parts of Medicines, derived from Vegetable and Animal Substances. At a 

 later period he published an edition of the writings of Bordeu, On the Glands 

 and Cellular Tissue. 



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