67 

 EDWARD JENNER, M.D., L.L.D., F.R.S., &c. 



MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. 



Born May 17, 1749. Died January 26, 1823. 



Edward Jenner, who by his discovery of vaccination has pre- 

 eminently acquired a right to the title of the " Benefactor of 

 Mankind," was born at the vicarage house of Berkeley, in Glouces- 

 tershire, and was the third son of the Rev. Stephen Jenner, rector 

 of Rockhampton, and vicar of Berkeley. Jenner's father died when 

 he was only five years old, leaving him to be brought up under the 

 care of his uncle. At eight years of age he was put to school at 

 Wotton-under-Edge, from whence he was removed shortly after- 

 wards to the care of Dr. Washborn, at Cirencester. Jenner early 

 displayed that taste for natural history which afterwards formed so 

 marked a feature in his character. Before he was nine years old he 

 had made a collection of the nests of the dormouse, and when at 

 Cirencester used to spend his hours of recreation in searching for 

 the fossils which abound in that district. 



After the completion of his scholastic education, Jenner removed 

 to Sudbury, near Bristol, where he acquired the elements of surgery 

 and pharmacy under Mr. Ludlow, an eminent surgeon in the neigh- 

 bourhood. Having completed his term with this gentleman, he 

 went to London and became a pupil of the celebrated John Hunter, 

 in whose family he resided for two years, laying the foundation of 

 an intimate friendship only broken by Hunter's death. Under the 

 tuition of this distinguished anatomist he acquired an almost un- 

 rivalled skill in minute dissections and delicate injections of parts; 

 ,and when, in the year 1771, Captain Cook returned from his first 

 voyage of discovery, the valuable specimens of Natural History, 

 yhich had been collected by Sir Joseph Banks, were in a great 

 measure arranged and prepared by Jenner, who was recommended 

 by Mr. Hunter for that purpose. In executing this task, he evinced 

 'so much dexterity and intelligence, that he was offered the post of 

 Naturalist in the next expedition, which sailed in 1772. Jenner, 

 however, refused the offer, and determined to fix his abode at the 

 place of his birth. He returned to Berkeley when about twenty- 

 four years old, and at once commenced practice as a country 

 surgeon. His first attempts were very successful ; and as he added 

 to his professional skill the manners of a thorough gentleman, and 

 the information of a scholar, he became a welcome guest in the 

 most distinguished families. ,He was in the habit at this time of 

 cultivating the art of poetry, and used to send his compositions to 

 his friends in the ordinary interchange of literary correspondence. 

 He was likewise clever at an epigram or a ballad, and had a natural 



