LAWRENCE, WILLIAM. 



LEACH, WILLIAM ELFOUD. 



01 



Hamlet,' Mr*. Siddooa,' and ' Benjamin We.!, 1 being usually regarded 

 M unooc his beet works, 



LAWRENCE, WILLIAM, an eminent living surgeon. Ha received 

 hi* early education at St Bartholomew'! Hospital, in wbiob institution 

 be terred hu apprenticeship, and in due coarse of time wai advanced 

 to the poaition of assistant lurgeon and surgeon. Mr. Lawrence became 

 early known by bu devotion to the study of anatomy and physiology ; 

 and in 1S15 wai appointed Professor of Anatomy and Surgery to the 

 Royal College of Surgeons of England. In 1816 he published 'An 

 Introduction to Comparative Anatomy and Physiology,' being tbe two 

 introductory lectures delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons, 

 London. In 1819 he resigned this appointment. It was during the 

 time he held this post that he delivered his celebrated ' Lectures on 

 the Physiology, Zoology, and Natural History of Man.' Those lectures 

 excited great attention at tbe time they were published, not only on 

 account of the novelty of the matter, but also for the popular and 

 pleasing style in which they were written. At the time tbis work was 

 published, comparatively little had been done to place physiology 

 upon the basis of the other inductive sciences, and it consisted of a 

 mass of generalisations more or loss supported by facts. Many of tbe 

 views published in this work, and which drew a great amount of 

 attention to it, have since been modified or retract .-d by the author. 

 These views not only provoked tbe notice of the theologian and the 

 general public, but even the profession itself, and led the author into 

 angry controversies with his professional brethren. A sixth edition of 

 this work was published in 1831. The bent of his genius also at this 

 time may be seen in his translation of Blumenbach's 'Manual of Com- 

 parative Anatomy,' which was published in London in 1827. His 

 appointment however at St Bartholomew's Hospital, and the position 

 of Lecturer on Surgery in the school connected with the College, pre- 

 vented his further cultivation of the natural sciences, and bis subsequent 

 works are entirely devoted to professional subjects. Although the 

 name of Mr. Lawrence is not connected with tho advancement of any 

 special department of surgical science, there are few men who have 

 written more extensively on surgical subjects, and to whom during 

 the present century surgery is more indebted for its advancement, 

 His accurate knowledge of anatomy has been the primary cause of the 

 success of bis surgical works. Of these the following may be regarded 

 as the most important : ' Anatomico-Chirurgical descriptions and 

 views of the None, Moutb, Larynx, and Fauces,' London, folio ; ' Ana- 

 tomico-Chirurgical views of tbe Male and Female Pelvis,' London, 

 folio; 'A Treatise on Venereal Diseases of the Eye,' 8vo, 1830; 'A 

 Treatise on Ruptures,' 8vo, 1S38 ; ' A Treatise on Diseases of the Eye,' 

 1841. His treatises on the diseases of the eye are of considerable 

 value, as the result of a large experience as surgeon to the London 

 Ophthalmic Hospital, a post which he has now resigned, but which he 

 filled for many years. Mr. Lawrence is also author of numerous papers 

 in the 'Transactions' of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society 

 of London, and in various weekly medical journals. The 'Lancet' 

 has also published a complete set of his lectures on surgery, and 

 numerous chemical lectures on cases occurring in the wards of St. 

 Bartholomew's Hospital 



In the early part of his career Mr. Lawrence was distinguished for 

 his advocacy of medical reform. He was the determined opponent of 

 the corrupt system of appointment which was then prevalent in most 

 of tbe London hospitals; and some of the most vigorous and caustic 

 articles on these subjects in the ' Lancet ' are now known to have 

 been written by him. The principles which he advocated are now 

 silently making their way ; and the position which he now holds as 

 President of the Royal College of Surgeons is an indication of the 

 change which has taken place in public opinion on the question of 

 medical organisation. 



Mr. Lawrence was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1813. 

 He is a member of tho Academies of Science of Gbttingen, Stockholm, 

 and Copenhagen, of tbe American Philosophical Society, and the 

 National Institute of America, Ho is also a foreign associate of tho 

 Royal Academy of Medicine of Paris, a corresponding member of the 

 Royal Academy of Me:licine of Belgium, and of the Medico-Chirurgical 

 Society of Berlin. 



LAYARD, AUSTEN HENRY, M.P., is tho eldest son of H. P. J. 

 Layard, Esq., of the civil service in Ceylon, whose father, the Rev. Dr. 

 Layard, well known as the learned and accomplished Dean of Bristol, 

 claimed descent from an ancient and noble family in France who 

 emigrated on account of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Austen 

 Layard was born in Paris, March 8th, 1817, during the temporary stay 

 of his parents in that capital. Having passed a considerable portion 

 of his youth at Florence, where he imbibed an early taste for literature 

 and the fine art", and perfected his skill as a draughtsman, ho oama to 

 England with the intention of studying for the law, but soon aban- 

 doned the idea, and in 1839 set out on a tour through Germany and 

 Russia to Constantinople and Asia Minor. Having spent some time 

 in the East, during which he adopted the dress aud manners of the 

 countries in which he lived, he acquired a perfect knowledge of the 

 Turkish and Arabic languages. In 1840 or 1841 he transmitted to 

 the Geographical Society a diary of his journ-y from Constantinople 

 to Aleppo, which has never been published ; the eleventh volume of 

 the ' Proceedings ' of that society however contains an account of a 

 journey performed by him in 1840, in the company of Mr. Aiusworth. 



Having gone on to Persia, he designed to examine the remains of 

 Susa; aud though in bis journey thither he was robbed of his watch 

 and mathematical instruments, yet be recovered his property by his 

 influence with the eastern chiefs. His discoveries at Susa were not 

 very satisfactory in their results, if we except that of tbe tomb of 

 Daniel. In 18(2 and the following year he remained in KhurdUtan, 

 an elaborate description of which country he forwarded to the Geo- 

 graphical Society. Having made himself as familiar with these parts as 

 he already was with Asia Minor and Syria, he desired to penetrate into 

 the regions of the Eist, and to dispel the dark oloud which had hung so 

 long over the history of Assyria aud Babylonia. Having made a minute 

 inspection of the ruins at Nimroud, he with the aid of Sir Stratford 

 Canning (now Lord Stratford de RedclifTe), tho British ambassador at the 

 Porte, sot about excavating the site. These excavations were carried on 

 by Mr. Layard in conjunction with M. llotta, the French consul, whose 

 government showed itself far more ready than tho English govern- 

 ment to encourage these scientific labours. Mr. Layard's discoveries 

 too, it should be remembered, were carried on under other great dis- 

 couragements ; he had to contend with tbe superstition of bis Arab 

 labourers, and the avarice and caprice of tbe Pasha of the district, who 

 constantly interrupted his proceedings under one and another pretence 

 until, through the influence of Lord Stratford de Redcliffc, ho obtained 

 a firman from the Sultan, authorising him to prosecute his work and 

 remove tbe sculptures. Yet when he bad secured possession of these 

 stupendous remnants of antiquity, it was with the greatest difficulty 

 that the British government were induced to defray the cost of their 

 transmission to England. Eventually however tbe point was con- 

 ceded, and, as steamers are unable to ascend the Tigris, tbe sculptured 

 monuments were floated down tho river upon rafts formed of inflated 

 skins as far as Baghdad, where they were placed on board of vessels 

 ready to transport them to England. 



By Mr. Layard's exertions the interesting history of the Assyrian 

 kingdom is now read in the architectural designs aud sculptures in 

 bas-relief which adorned the palaces of Nimroud aud Koyunjik, both 

 of which sites he excavated with the greatest care. Tho treasures 

 which he brought back to Englaud from Nimroud have been placed 

 in the British Museum, and a complete account of them will be found 

 in his work entitled 'Nineveh and its Remains,' 2 void. 8vo, London, 

 1849, embellished with engravings from hu own drawings. Mr. Layard 

 also prepared to accompany this work a series of illustrations in 

 imperial folio, entitled 'Monuments of Nineveh, illustrated by 100 

 Engravings;' and subsequently a second series appeared, with 70 

 additional plates ; together with a volume of ' Inscriptions,' in the 

 cuneiform character, for the British Museum. His work contains not 

 merely :\ narrative of bis excavations and of the various incidents 

 which befell him in the prosecution of them, but also an investigation 

 into primitive Assyrian history, so far as tbe scantiness of bis materials 

 admitted. Tbe subject is a vast study, aud is considerably illustrated 

 by the monuments brought to England and deposited in the British 

 Museum. Dr. Layard observes that " Nineveh bad been almost for- 

 gotten before history began." The classical authors of antiquity write 

 of that vast city and iU records as of an all but fabulous kingdom. 

 Even Xeuophon waa puzzled when he saw their mighty ruins. The 

 history which Herodotus either wrote or promised to write (i. 106, 184) 

 is lost; so that, as it is observed by a contemporary writer, " until Dr. 

 Layard's recent labours, a" man might have carried all that remained 

 of Nineveh and Babylon in a little band-box." While tbe discoveries 

 of Mr. Layard go far to confirm by incidents of more or less import- 

 ance the records of sacred aud profane historians, they have also 

 established beyond a doubt that, before what we call ancient civilisation 

 dawned, an earlier civilisation on a gigantic scale had passed away, the 

 more perfect and beautiful in proportion a* it becomes tbe more 

 remote in date. The earliest of these ancient sculptures are invariably 

 tbe most correct and severe in form, tbe most noble in design, and 

 most exquisite in finish and execution. 



At the close of the year 1848 Mr. Layard returned to Constantinople 

 as attachd to the embassy there, and in the following year resumed 

 his excavations at Nineveh, where ho remained until 1851. Tho 

 results of this second visit to the East ho gave to the world in 1858, 

 in a secjnd work entitled ' Discoveries in the Ruins of Niueveh and 

 Babylon, with Travels in Armenia, Kurdistan, aud the Desert.' 



For a few months in 1S51 Mr. Layard held the office of under- 

 secretary of state for foreigu affairs uuder Earl Granville, aud at the 

 general election of 1852 he was returned to parliament as member for 

 Aylesbury. The University of Oxford conferred on him the honorary 

 degree of D.C.L. in 1348, aud in February 1856 ho was unanimously 

 elected Lord Hector of the University of Aberdeen. He bad not long 

 entered parliament before he acquired distinction as a debater, while 

 bin energy and practical talents were generally acknowledged. It is 

 understood that be has refused more thau one offer of ministerial 

 employment, but that he has hitherto declined them from conscientious 

 motives and a wish to be independent of party. He visited the Crimea 

 while the British army was before Sebastopol in 1864, aud was one 

 of the chief instruments in obtaining a committee of inquiry into the 

 state of the British army before Sebastopj] iu the early part of 1855. 



LKACH, WILLIAM ELKORD, was born at Plymouth in the year 

 1790. He was first educated at Plympton Grammar School, but was 

 afterwards removed to Chudleigh, a school which at that period enjoyed 



