156 



P R I N G L E. 



Vringle, The first paper which Dr. Pringle communicated to 

 Sir John. t ne Royal Society, was his Experiments on Substances 

 " '-V 1 ' resisting Putrefaction, which appeared in the Transactions 

 for 1750,* and which were reprinted in his Observa- 

 tions on the Diseases of the Army, which appeared in 

 1 752, and were translated into several languages. These 

 experiments were considered of sufficient importance to 

 entitle their author to Sir Godfrey Copley's gold medaK 

 In the Phil. Trans, for 1753, he published his Account 

 of several persons seized with the Gaol Fever by nor king 

 - in Newgale ;\ and in the same year he communicated 

 A remarkable case of Fragility , Flexibility, and Dissolu- 

 tion of the Bones.jf. The next paper of any importance 

 which our author published, was a collection of Several 

 Accounts of the Fiery Meteor, which appeared on the 

 26lh Nov. 1758,|J which was followed by Remarks on 

 the several Accounts of the Fiery Meteor, and other such 

 Bodies. 



In the year 1752, Dr. Pringle married the second 

 daughter of Dr. Oliver of Bath; but he had the mis- 

 fortune of being a widower in three years. After the 

 war which commenced in 1755, Dr. Pringle attended 

 the camps in England for three years; but in 1758, he 

 quitted the service entirely, and was in the same year 

 admitted a licentiate of the College of Physicians. 



On the accession of George III. Dr. Pringle was 

 nominated physician to the queen's household in 1761 ; 

 and in 1763, physician extraordinary to the queen. 

 Jn the same year he was elected a fellow of the Royal 

 College of Physicians ; and he succeeded Dr. Wollas- 

 ton in 1764, as physician in ordinary to the queen. 

 In 1766, the dignity of a baronet of Great Britain was 

 conferred upon him. 



The honours which were thus crowding upon him 

 from every quarter, were completed by his election to 

 the presidency of the Royal Society, on the death of 

 James West, Esq. The satisfaction which he gave in 

 this dignified capacity, has been so much spoken of, 

 and excited so much interest, that we shall lay before 

 our readers the account of his presidency, which has 

 been drawn up by the late Dr. Charles Hutton. 



" He happily also struck out a new way to distinc- 

 tion and usefulness, by the discourses which were de- 

 livered by him, on the annual assignment of Sir Godfrey 

 Copley's medal. This gentleman had originally be- 

 queathed five guineas, to be given at each anniversary 

 meeting of the Royal Society, by the determination of 

 the president and council, to the person who should be 

 the author of the best paper of experimental observa- 

 tions for the year. In process of time, this. pecuniary 

 reward, which could never be an important considera- 

 tion to a man of an enlarged and philosophical mind, 

 however narrow his circumstances might be, was 

 changed into the more liberal form of a gold medal ; 

 in which form it is become a truly honourable mark of 

 distinction, and a just and laudable object of ambition. 

 No doubt it was always usual for the president, on the 

 delivery of the medal, to pay some compliment to the 

 gentleman on whom it was bestowed ; but the custom 

 of making a set speech on the occasion, and of entering 

 into the history of that part of philosophy to which the 

 experiments, or the subject of the paper related, was 

 first introduced by Martin Folkes, Esq. The dis- 

 courses, however, which he and his successors delivered, 

 were very short, and were only inserted in the minute 



books of the Society. None of them had ever been 

 printed before Sir John Pringle was raised to the chair. 

 The first speech that was made by him being much 

 more elaborate and extended than usual, the publica- 

 tion of it was desired ; and with this request, it is said, 

 he was the more ready to comply, as an absurd account 

 of what he had delivered had appeared in a newspaper. 

 Sir John was very happy in the subject of his first dis- 

 course. The discoveries in magnetism and electricity 

 had been succeeded by the inquiries into the various 

 species of air. In these inquiries, Dr. Priestley, who 

 had already greatly distinguished himself by his elec- 

 trical experiments, and his other philosophical pursuits 

 and labours, took the principal lead. A paper of his, 

 entitled, Observations on different Kinds of Air, having 

 been read "before the Society in March, 1772, was ad- 

 judged to be deserving of the gold medal ; and Sir 

 John Pringle embraced with pleasure the occasion of 

 celebrating the important communications of his friend, 

 and of relating with accuracy and fidelity what had 

 previously been discovered upon the subject. 



" It was not intended, we believe, when Sir John's 

 first speech was printed, that the example should be 

 followed ; but the second discourse was so well received 

 by the Society, that the publication of it was unani- 

 mously requested. Both the discourse itself, and the 

 subject on which it was delivered, merited such a dis- 

 tinction. The composition of the second speech is evi- 

 dently superior to that of the former one ; Sir John 

 having probably been animated by the favourable re- 

 ception of his first effort. His account of the Torpedo, 

 and of Mr. Walsh's ingenious and admirable experi- 

 ments relative to the electrical properties of that extra- 

 ordinary fish, is singularly curious. The whole dis- 

 course abounds with ancient and modern learning, and" 

 exhibits the worthy president's knowledge in natural 

 history, as well as in medicine, to great advantage. 



" The third time that he was called upon to display 

 his abilities at the delivery of the annual medal, was 

 on a very beautiful and important occasion. This was 

 no less than Mr. (now Dr.) Maskelyne's successful at- 

 tempt completely to establish Newton's system of the 

 universe, by his Observations made on the Mountain 

 Schehallien t for Jinding its Attraction. Sir John laid 

 hold of this opportunity to give a perspicuous and ac- 

 curate relation of the several hypotheses of the ancients, 

 with regard to the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, 

 and of the noble discoveries with which Copernicus en- 

 riched the astronomical world. He then traces the pro- 

 gress of the grand principle of gravitation down to Sir. 

 Isaac's illustrious confirmation of it ; to which he adds 

 a concise account of Messrs. Bouguer's and Conda- 

 mine's experiment at Chimbora90, and of Mr. Maske- 

 lyne's at Schehallien. If any doubts still remained 

 with respect to the truth of the Newtonian system, 

 they were now completely removed. 



' Sir John Pringle had reason to be peculiarly satis- 

 fied with the subject of his fourth discourse ; that sub- 

 ject being perfectly congenial to his disposition and 

 studies. His own life had been much employed in 

 pointing out the means which tended not only to cure, 

 but to prevent the diseases of mankind ; and it is pro- 

 bable, from his intimate friendship with Captain Cook, 

 that he might suggest to that sagacious commander 

 some of the rules which he followed, in order to pre- 



Pr ingle, 



Sir John. 



* Phil. Trans, vol. xlvi. p. 480, 525, and 550. 

 H Id. vol. li. p. 218. 



f Id. vol. xlviii. p. 38. 

 Id. p. 259. 



\ Id. vol. xlviii. p. 49T. 



