11 



THOMS, WILLIAM J. 



THOMSON, JAMES. 



Mr. Thompson accompanied the late Professor Edward Forbes on a 

 voyage in the ^Egean in H.M.S. Beacon, commanded by tbe late 

 Captain Graves, K.N., during which ho made a large number of obser- 

 vations on the natural history of the countries which he visited. 

 Some of these he subsequently made uie of in his works on the 

 natural history of Ireland. From 1841 to 1843 he was a frequent 

 contributor to the ' Annul* of Natural History,' and also engaged in 

 collecting materials for his further report to the British Association 

 on the Invertebrate Fauna of Ireland. This report was read at the 

 meeting of the association at Cork in 1843, and is remarkable for the 

 large amount of minute information it contains on the natural history 

 of Ireland. From this time his papers on Irish natural history 

 became more numerous; a list of abovo seventy is given in the 

 liay Society's ' Bibliography,' and these were preparations for a great 

 work which he had projected on the natural history of his native 

 country. The first'voiumo of this work appeared in 1849, the second 

 in 1650, the third in 1851. These three were devoted to the birds. 

 lie .lid not live to complete his work. He had been mainly instru- 

 mental in inducing the British Association to meet in 1852 in Belfast. 

 In promoting this object he came to London in the January of that 

 year, when he was seized with paralysis, and died in the course of a 

 few hours. The manuscript of another volume on the ' Natural History 

 of Ireland ' was found after his death in a sufficiently advanced state 

 to be given to the public, and this was published with a short memoir 

 of the author in 1856. He took an active interest in all the local 

 institutions of his native town. He was president of the Natural His- 

 tory and Philosophical Society of Belfast, member of the Royal Irish 

 Academy, and honorary fellow and member of several foreign scientific 

 societies. William Thompson is a remarkable instance of a man who, 

 by the devotion of average talents to one great object, succeeded in 

 his work on the natural history of Ireland in achieving for himself a 

 lasting reputation, and giving to science one of its most valuable mono- 

 graphs on the distribution of animals in Europe. 



* THOMS, WILLIAM J., was born in Westminster, on Nov. 10, 

 1803, his father being Nathaniel Thorns, the secretary of the first 

 Commission of Revenue Inquiry. After a careful education he 

 became a clerk in the secretary's office at Chelsea Hospital, and has 

 subsequently been made one of the clerks of the Printed Papers 

 Department in the House of Lords. His leisure was employed in 

 writing articles for the ' Foreign Quarterly Review,' and other periodi- 

 cal works. In 1828 he published in three volumes ' A Collection of 

 Early Prose Romances;' in 1834, 'Lays and Legends of Various 

 Nations;' and in 1838 the 'Book of the Court.' In this year he was 

 elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and he is also a member 

 of those of Edinburgh and Copenhagen. In 1&39 he edited ' Anecdotes 

 and Traditions;' in 1842, ' Stow's Survey of London,' adding many 

 valuable notes and verifications, and a notice of the life and writings 

 of Stow; and in 1844, Caxton's ' Reynard the Fox :' lie has likewise 

 published a translation of Worsaae's 'Primeval Antiquities of Den- 

 mark,' 8vo, 1849, of which he considerably increased the value by a 

 preface and notes, pointing out the extent and the manner in which 

 tue researches of the author on the primeval remains of Denmark 

 throw light upon those of this country. For a considerable time he 

 has held the office of secretary to the Camden Society. His most 

 noticeable effort however has been the originating of the publication 

 of ' Notes and Queries,' of which he has been the editor since the com- 

 mencement in Nov. 1849; a work which has been most successfully 

 carried on under his management, and which has collected an amount 

 of curious and valuable information scarcely paralleled by any publica- 

 tion with which we are acquainted; and to the contributions of Mr. 

 Thome, as well as to his editorial supervision, has the value and 

 success of ' Notes and Queries ' been essentially indebted. 



THOMSON, ANTHONY TODD, was boru in Edinburgh on the 

 7th of January 1778. His father, by birth a Scotchman, had settled 

 in America, where he held two lucrative appointments under the 

 British government, being Postmaster-General for the province of 

 Georgia, and Collector of Customs for the town of Savannah. Having 

 refused to take the oath of allegiance to the American government, on 

 tbe breaking out of the Revolution he was compelled to relinquish 

 his appointments, and returned to Edinburgh. Anthony Todd was 

 born previous to this whilst his mother was on a visit to Edinburgh. 

 He received his education at the High School, Edinburgh. When a 

 boy he formed an intimacy with Henry, afterwards Lord Cockburn, 

 which lasted till his death. His father destined him for business, but 

 having obtained a clerkship in the Post-office, he was enabled by the 

 leisure it alibrded him to gratify a wish he had always entertained to 

 study medicine. He attended the lectures of Munro, Gregory, Black, 

 and Dugald Stewart. In 1798 he became a member of the Speculative 

 Society, and the companion of Jeffrey, Homer, Brougham, and Lord 

 Lansdowne. In 1799 ho became a member of the Royal Medical 

 Society. Having graduated in 1799, he left Edinburgh, and established 

 himself in London about the year 1800. He commenced the practice 

 of his profession in Sloane-street, Chelsea, as a general practitioner. 

 His progress was at first slow, but when once commenced it was never 

 interrupted. In the midst of a large general practice, he found time 

 to cultivate science and literature. He was mainly instrumental in 

 procuring the enactment of the Apothecaries Act in 1814. His first 

 literary work was published in 1810, and entitled ' Conspectus Pharina- 



ccpioo.' He sold the copyright of this book for twenty pounds. In 1833 

 it was bought by the Messrs. Longman for two hundred pounds. It 

 has gone through fourteen editions. In 1811 he published the 'London 

 Dispensatory,' which was a work of great labour. It contained a 

 critical account of all the medicines and their compounds which were 

 in use in Great Britain. It has been translated into several European 

 languages, and ten editions have been published in England. During 

 his researches into the inateria medica he was impressed with tho 

 importance of the study of botany, and he was one of the first 

 to give a course of lectures on this subject in London. In 1821 he 

 published a first volume of his ' Lectures on Botany.' This work con- 

 tained many very valuable observations on the structure and functions 

 of plants which have since become a part of the science of botany. 

 In his observations, he made extensive use of the microscope, and may 

 fairly claim to be one of those who appreciated the value of this 

 instrument, when its use was generally neglected. In 1826 he became 

 a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, and com- 

 menced practice aa a consulting physician. In 1828 he was elected 

 professor of Materia Medica to tbe then London University, now 

 University College. In this position he worked with great ardour at 

 the subject of Therapeutics, and was one of the first to introduce the 

 new substances discovered by the chemist into the practice of medi- 

 cine. He formed here a very fine collection of specimens of materia 

 medica, but tbe college had not the means of purchasing it after his 

 death, and it has been lost to the country. In 1832 he was appointed 

 professor of Medical Jurisprudence. The lectures delivered from 

 this chair were published in the 'Lancet' in 1836-7. In 1832 Dr. 

 Thomson published hia ' Elements of Materia Medica,' a work of a 

 more scientific character than his ' London Dispensatory,' and entering 

 more fully into the subject of Therapeutics. Three editions of this 

 work had been published at the time of his death. In 1839 he 

 edited ' Bateman on Cutaneous Diseases,' and at the time of his death, 

 he was engaged in preparing ' A practical Treatise on Diseases affecting 

 the Skin,' which has since been completed and edited by Dr. Parkes. 

 In 1848 his health first began to fail. He continued to give his lec- 

 tures, with considerable interruptions, till the following summer, when 

 he was obliged to retire into the country, and died of bronchitis at 

 Ealing on the 3rd of July 1849. 



Dr. Thomson was a man of unwearied industry, and throughout 

 his long career, pursued his labours with few or no interruptions. 

 He was a man of varied attainments, cultivating literature as 

 well as science, and was not an unfrequent contributor of literary 

 article:) to the Magazines and Reviews. He translated from tho 

 French, and edited, a work by Mons. Salvarte, entitled ' The Philosophy 

 of Magic, Omens, and apparent Miracles.' His notes to this work are 

 full of curious and interesting matter. He edited also an edition of 

 Thomson's ' Seasons ;' to which he appended a large number of notes, 

 and a life of the author. He contributed many articles to the' Cyclo- 

 peedia'of Practical Medicine.' He was for many years editor of tho 

 'Medical Repository;' to which journal he also extensively con- 

 tributed. One of his last works was entitled ' Domestic Management of 

 the Sick-room,' of which several editions Lave been printed. A sketch 

 of his life, from which the materials of this notice have been prin- 

 cipally obtained, is published with his posthumous work on ' Diseases 

 of the Skin.' 



* MRS. A. T. THOMSON, the wife of Dr. Thomson, has contributed 

 rather largely to literature, chiefly in tbe department of historical 

 biography. She has published ' Memoirs of the Court of Henry VIII.,' 

 2 vols. 8vo, 1826; 'Memoirs of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, and 

 of the Court of Queen Anne,' 2 vols. 8vo, 1839; 'Memoirs of tho 

 Jacobites of 1715 and 1745,' 3 vols. 8vo, 1845; and 'Memoirs of 

 Viscountess Sundon, Mistress of the Robes to Queen Caroline, Consort 

 of George II., including Letters from the most celebrated Persons of 

 her Time, now first published from their Originals," 2 vols. 8vo, 1847. 

 She has also written several romances and novels. Her latest publica- 

 tion is ' Recollections of Literary Characters and Celebrated Places,' 

 2 vols. 8vo. This work consists chiefly of a series of articles which 

 appeared originally in ' Bentley's Miscellany ' and ' Eraser's Magazine,' 

 with the signature of ' A Middle- Aged Man,' an appellation which she 

 assumed, as she states, " in order that by better disguising myself, I 

 might at that time express myself the more unreservedly." 



THOMSON, JAMES, was born at Ednam in Roxburghshire on tho 

 llth September 1700. His father was clergyman of the place, and 

 distinguished for his piety and pastoral character. James was first 

 sent to the grammar-school at Jedtmrgh, and completed his education 

 at the University of Edinburgh, where in 1719 he was admitted as 

 a student of divinity. 



Thomson turned from divinity to poetry owing to the following 

 incident: The Rev. Mr. Hamilton, who then tilled the chair of 

 divinity, gave as a subject for an exercise a psalm in which the majesty 

 and power of God are described. Of this psalm Thomson gave a para- 

 phrase and illustration as the exercise required, but in so poetical and 

 figurative a style as to astonish the audience. Mr. Hamilton compli- 

 mented the performance, and pointed out to the audience ita most 

 striking points ; but, turning to Thomson, he suggested that if he 

 intended to become a minister he must keep a stricter rein over his 

 imagination, and learn to be intelligible to an ordinary congregation. 

 Some encouragement held out to him by Lady Griscl-Baillie following 



