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in ordinary to His Imperial Majesty Alexander I. of Russia. 

 Having accepted this appointment, he was kindly received in St. 

 Petersburgh, and soon gained the full confidence and esteem of the 

 Emperor and the several members of the imperial family. In the 

 course of a few years he was also appointed to the head of the 

 Civil Medical Department, in which capacity he was much consulted 

 by the Empress Dowager, in the construction and regulation of 

 many institutions which owe their origin to her active charity and 

 watchful superintendence. 



Dr. Crichton's exertions to mitigate the horrors ef an epidemic 

 which was devastating the south-east provinces of Russia in 1 809 

 were acknowledged by the Emperor, who conferred on him the title 

 of Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Vladimir, Third Class. 

 In 1814 His Imperial Majesty bestowed on him that of the Second 

 Class for his long and faithful services, and as " Medecin en chef pour 

 la partie Civile." Having obtained leave of absence on account of 

 the state of his health, he returned to this country in the spring of 

 1819. The following year, however, he was recalled to attend the 

 Grand Duchess Alexandra (the present Dowager Empress), whom he 

 accompanied, on her convalescence, to the court of Berlin, where he 

 stayed a short time, and then returned to his family. On the 2 7th 

 of December, 1820, His Majesty Frederick William III. created him 

 Knight Grand Cross of the Red Eagle, Second Class. In 1821 

 Dr. Crichton was knighted by His Majesty George IV., and obtained 

 the royal permission to wear his foreign orders. The late Emperor 

 Nicholas I. also marked his sense of the services of Sir Alexander 

 Crichton by bestowing upon him the additional title of Knight 

 Grand Cross of the Order of St. Anne, in August 1830. 



Dr. Crichton married, in 1800, Frances, daughter of Mr. Edward 

 Dodwell, of West Moulsey. He was one of the oldest members of 

 the Linnean and Royal Societies, having been elected a member of 

 the first in 1793, and of the latter in 1800. He was member of the 

 Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburgh, and of the Im- 

 perial Society of Naturalists of Moscow, and Corresponding Member 

 of the Royal Society of Sciences of Gottingen, of the Royal Institute 

 of Medicine at Paris, and of many other societies. His writings 

 were the following : 



A Translation of Dr. J. F. Blumcnbach's Essay on Generation. 



