841 



SWAIN, CHARLES. 



SWAMMERDAM, JOHN. 



Suvdrov remained two years. In 1794, when the Poles revolted, 

 Suvdrov received the command of the regiments destined to repress 

 the insurrection. He gained several victories over the insurgents, and 

 the storming of Praga, which was taken after a desperate fight of 

 four hours, and which opened to him the gates of Warsaw, on the 

 9th of November, reduced the Poles to obedience. On this occasion 

 Catherine made him a field- marshal, and gave him a staff of command 

 made of gold, with a wreath of jewels in the form of oak-leaves, the 

 diamonds alone of which were valued at 60,000 roubles. 



In 1795 Catherine died, but Suvdrov did not lose any of his 

 authority. In 1799 the Emperor Paul gave him the command of the 

 troops which fought in Italy against the French. The Russian armies 

 combined with those of Austria, and Suvdrov was appointed to the 

 chief command. His brilliant victories, as those of Piacenza, Novi, 

 aud Alessandria, and the activity with which he took from the 

 French all the towns of Upper Italy, procured him the title of Prince 

 Italinski. In consequence of a change in the plan of operations, he 

 crossed the Alps and Mount St. Gothard, in order to help Prince 

 Korsakov in the neighbourhood of Zurich. Through mismanagement 

 on the part of the Austrians, Suvdrov came too late, and Korsakov 

 was defeated by Massena, and obliged to retreat over the Rhine. This 

 mishap, as well as the want of energy shown by the Austriane, obliged 

 Suvdrov to retreat as far as the lake of Constance. His object was to 

 join the army of Korsakov. The French general tried to prevent this 

 junction. Suvdrov was surrounded by them, and entirely enclosed in 

 the valley of the Reuss. On the 28th of September he threw himself 

 into the valley of Schlacken, and led his men, one by one, along a 

 footpath, known only to chamois hunters, over steep rocks and 

 bordered by deep abysses, into the village of Mulden, where Korsakov's 

 troops were stationed. The extraordinary behaviour of the Austrian 

 army and the apathy of the court of Vienna roused the indignation 

 of Paul, and he recalled his forces. The protestations of Suvdrov 

 were in vain, and his representations regarding the necessity of the 

 war being continued were rejected. Meanwhile the emperor had 

 given orders for the reception of the generalissimo. He was to make 

 a triumphal entry into St. Petersburg, and apartments were prepared 

 for him in the Imperial palace. Scarcely however had Suvdrov arrived 

 in Russia, when a severe illness obliged him to stay at his country-seat 

 in Lithuania. The emperor's own surgeon was despatched to him. 

 Yet in the midst of the preparations for Suvdrov's triumphal proces- 

 sion Paul changed his mind ; and Suvdrov learnt in Riga that he was 

 in disgrace ; nevertheless he continued his journey to St. Petersburg, 

 and was received in the house of a niece. Sixteen days after his 

 arrival at St. Petersburg, on the 18th of November 1800, Suvdrov 

 died, at the age of seventy. 



His funeral was celebrated with great solemnity, and 15,000 of his 

 soldiers accompanied his body to the grave. The Emperor Alexander 

 erected in St. Petersburg, in 1801, a colossal statue of the first of 

 Russian generals. Suvdrov was an extraordinary man. Though thin 

 and of a weak constitution, he maintained himself in good health by 

 severe exercise and cold baths. He slept on a bed of straw or hay, 

 under a light blanket, and his food was the same as that of his 

 soldiers. Change in his fortune did not induce him to change his diet. 

 His wardrobe consisted merely of his uniform and a sheepskin. Owing 

 to his temperate mode of life, he preserved his youthful vigour even 

 in his old age. He was very strict in performing all the duties of the 

 Russian church, and compelled all who were under his command to 

 observe them with the same strictness. He was equally firm in his 

 resolves and true to his promises; and his quickness of decision 

 showed itself in the short and laconic style of his orders. A studied 

 conciseness was likewise observable in his conversation, where, as well 

 as in his writings, he frequently used rhyme. His rough and uncouth 

 manners made him the favourite of his soldiers, for whom he had 

 peculiar terms of endearment. Although he used to say that the 

 whole of his tactics consisted in the two magic words, ' Stupay i bey !' 

 (' Advance and strike ! ') he showed in the course of his career great 

 skill in the higher parts of the art of war. He has been accused of 

 cruelty and blamed for want of deliberation ; nevertheless he is one 

 of the few generals who never lost a battle. 



* SWAIN, CHARLES, known by the name of the 'Manchester 

 Poet,' was born in Manchester in 1803; his father being an English- 

 man and his mother a "native of France. His father dying when he 

 was a child, he was taken charge of by his mother's brother, M. 

 Tavare", an intelligent and educated man, who was owner of extensive 

 dye-works in , Manchester. After receiving a good education at 

 school, Mr. Swain entered his uncle's establishment at the age of 

 fifteen, and remained in it fourteen years; when he exchanged the 

 dyeing business for that of an engraver, in which he still continues. 

 While yet with his uncle he began to write f >r periodicals, chiefly in 

 verse; and in 1828 (having married in the preceding year), he pub- 

 lished his first work, called ' Metrical Essays o.a Subjects of History 

 and Imagination.' This was followed, in 1831, by 'Beauties of the 

 Mind : a Poetical Sketch, with Lays Historical and Romantic.' These 

 poems, and one entitled ' Dryburgh Abbey,' written in 1832, by way of 

 elegy on Sir Walter Scott's death, obtained the author much reputa- 

 tion ; and Southey, amongst others, predicted that Manchester would 

 be proud of her poet. Mr. Swain's subsequent publications have been 

 a 'Memoir of Henry Leversedge,' 1835; 'The Mind' and other 



Poems ' (a re- publication), 1841 ; ' Rhymes for Childhood,' 1846 ; 

 'Dramatic Chapters, Poems, and Songs,' 1847; 'English Melodies,' 

 1849; and 'Letters of Laura d'Auverne,' 1853. Not long ago the 

 people of Manchester showed their respect for Mr. Swain by presenting 

 him with a testimonial. 



* SWAINSON, WILLIAM, one of the most copious of living writers 

 upon natural history. In early life he travelled much in various parts 

 of the world, and made collections of natural history objects, 

 devoting especial attention to birds and insects. In 1820 he commenced 

 the publication of a series of descriptions of animals with the title 

 ' Zoological Illustrations, or Original Figures and Descriptions of New, 

 Rare, or Interesting Animals.' In 1821 he commenced a work on the 

 Mollusca, entitled ' Exotic Conchology,' 4to, London. Of this work a 

 new edition by Mr. S. Hanley, appeared in 1841. In 1822 he pub- 

 lished a work entitled ' The Naturalist's Guide for collecting and 

 preserving all Subjects of Natural History and Botany, particularly 

 Shells,' &c. From this time he published a large number of valuable 

 papers in the ' Journal of the Royal Institution,' the ' Zoological 

 Journal,' and the ' Magazine of Natural History,' descriptive of new 

 birds and shells. 



In 1834 he published the first of a series of volumes on natural 

 history in Lardner's ' Cabinet Cyclopaedia.' This work was entitled 

 ' A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural History.' In 1 835, 

 in the same series, appeared a treatise ' On the Geography and Classi- 

 fication of Animals.' In 1835, a treatise ' On the Natural History and 

 Classification of Quadrupeds.' This was followed in 1836 by a treatise 

 ' On the Natural History and Classification of Birds.' In 1838 and 18S9 

 appeared ' The Natural History and Classification of Fishes, Amphi- 

 bians and Reptiles, or Monocaudian Animals.' In 1838 also a volume 

 in the same series on ' Animals in Menageries.' In 1840 a volume on 

 the ' Habits and Instincts of Animals.' In these works Mr. Swainson 

 advocated a special system of the classification of animals known as 

 the Quinary Arrangement. Besides these works he published several 

 other independent volumes, amongst which the following demand 

 particular notice. Two volumes in 1837 on the 'Birds of Western 

 Africa,' and in 1838 one volume on the ' Fly Catchers,' a group of 

 birds, all in Jardine's 'Naturalist's Library.' In 1840 'A Treatise on 

 Malacology, or the Natural Classification of Shells and Shell-fish.' 

 From 1834 to 1841, a series of 'Ornithological Drawings,' being a 

 selection of Birds from the Brazils and Mexico. 



In 1831 Mr. John Richardson published the second part of his 

 ' Fauna Boreali Americana,' which was devoted to the description of 

 North American birds, and in which he was assisted by Mr. Swainson. 

 In conjunction with Mr. Shuckard, Mr. Swainson published, in 1840, a 

 volume on the ' History and Natural Arrangement of Insects.' About 

 the year 1841 Mr. Swainson emigrated with his family to New 

 Zealand, where he now resides. 



SWAMMERDAM, JOHN, was born at Amsterdam in 1637. His 

 father was an apothecary in that city, and was celebrated for a large 

 collection of objects of natural history and other curiosities which he 

 had formed. His grandfather first took the name of Swammerdam 

 from the place of his birth, a village on the Rhine between Leyden and 

 Woerden. 



John Swammerdam was originally intended for the church, but he 

 preferred medicine. During his preparatory studies, following the 

 example of his father, he devoted himself with great ardour to the 

 study of natural history, and especially that of insects, in which he is 

 said to have obtained, even while a young man, far more knowledge 

 than the writers of all preceding ages. In 1651 he went to Leyden, 

 and studied under Van Home and Francis Sylvius. He applied him- 

 self very diligently to minute dissections of the human body, and 

 bringing with him the tact which he had acquired in the examination 

 of insects, was eminently successful. After two years' residence at 

 Leyden he went to Saumur in France, where he continued his observa- 

 tions upon insects, and in 1664 discovered the valves of the lymphatic?, 

 but lost the full credit of his industry by Ruysch having at the same 

 time made similar observations, and published them before his were 

 printed. From Saumur Swammerdam went to Paris, and lived with 

 Nicolas Steno, with whom he had been a fellow-pupil and an intimate 

 friend at Leyden. Here also he gained the acquaintance of M. Theve"- 

 not, who was afterwai'ds his chief patron, and obtained leave for him, 

 on his return to Amsterdam, to dissect the bodies of those who died 

 in the hospital. In 1666 he went again to Leyden, aud made nume- 

 rous anatomical researches in company with Van Home. Early in 

 the following year he first employed the method of preparing the 

 blood-vessels by means of waxen injections, and was soon after admitted 

 doctor of medicine : his thesis was an essay on respiration. About 

 this time also he invented the method of making dry preparations of 

 hollow organs, which is now 1 usually employed. 



After receiving his diploma, Swammerdam devoted nearly all his 

 time to the study of the anatomy and the natural history of insects ; 

 and in 1669 he first published his general history of them. In 1672 

 he communicated to the Royal Society of London some plates of the 

 human uterus, together with an account of his injections of the 

 spermatic vessels, and some specimens of the success of his invention. 

 At this time also he was engaged in numerous dissections of fishes, 

 especially of their glands ; and made several useful investigations 

 respecting the pancreatic fluid. In 1673 he discovered an important 



