G E S N E R. 



lillied the Cdme year, with a vtiy :i/l'tc?uonate and confolatory 

 cpiftle to the father of the author. 



The principal works of Conrad Gefner are tlie following, 

 not to mention various little treatifes relating to Botany, or 

 to the Materia Medica, which from lime to time came from 

 his ready and jirolific pen, fonie of them accompanying the 

 books he edited for other people. 



" Bibllotheca univerfalis,' or a catalogue of Latin, Greek, 

 and Hebrew book?, printed at Zurich, 1545, in one volume 

 folio, with crilicifms, and often fpecimens of each. Thii 

 feems to liave given Haller the idea of his own '• Biblio- 

 theca Botanica," and " Bibl. Anatomica.'' 



" Hiftoriae Animalium,'' comprifed in five books, mak- 

 ing tliree great folio volumes in a very fmall type, "ith 

 numerous wooden cuts. The firfl was publiflicd at Zurich 

 in 1551, the lad in 1587, after the deceafe of tlie author. 

 There is alfo an edition in German. This is a vatl compi- 

 lation, and critic.il ri-vlfal of all that had been done Ix-fore 

 him in Zoology, with every thing that he could fay of his 

 own knowledge to illuftrate the fubjecl, and many inciden- 

 tal botanical, as well as medical remarks. Inftead of being 

 ?he work of a phylician, who raifed and maintained hlinfelf 

 by his pradlice, and who was cut off in tiie middle of a moll 

 aAive and ufeful life, one would fiippufe it the labour of a 

 reclufe, (hi;t up for an age in his ftudv, and never diverted 

 from his objcit by any other cares. 'I'his work is aiTanged 

 according to the plan of Ariftotle, only the oviparous qua- 

 drupeds are feparated from the viviparous. It does not ei:- 

 teud to infecls or (hells. The former however had not 

 «fcaped the attention of Gefuer, for his labours refpeCting 

 them make a part of the work of MoufTet, entitled " In- 

 feftorum five Minimorum Animalium Theatrura,'' pub- 

 lillied at London in 1634, the earlieft book on entomology. 



The " Icones Animahum," with their nomenclature, 

 form a feparate publication from the above, conliiling of the 

 wooden cuts and names only. 



" Aquatilium iVnimantium Enumeratio juxta Plinium," 

 a little Svo. printed at Zurich in 1556. A lilt of the Ger- 

 man and Englilh names is fubjoined. 



A little work in Latin, " De Lacle,'' treating of milk 

 and its preparations, from various authors. Zurich, 1541, 

 in 8vo. 



" De Secretis Remediis Thefaurus;" a Pharmacopccia, 

 which has gone through a number of editions iu various 

 languages. 



" De raris et admirandis hcrbi:, qu:s five quod noftu 

 luceant, fire alias ob caufas, Lunari;e iiominantur." A 

 curious and learned little v.-ork, with wooden cuts, in 410. 

 Zurich, 1555. It is accompanied with a dcfcriplion of the 

 celebrated mount Pilat, or Mons Fnifliu, the northern ex- 

 tremity of the Alps, which Gefner vifited in 1555. Several 

 alpine plants are here, for the firil time, noticed. 



" De omni rerum FofTdium genere.'' Zurich, 1565, Svo. 

 Alfo " De rerum Foflilium, Lapidum et Geremaruta 

 jnaxime figuris,'' with wooden cuts, more curious than 

 ufeful. 



The botanical remarks relative to the fcientific arrange- 

 ment of plants, on which the fupcremineiit merits of this 

 great man afc founded, are chiefly to be gathered from liis 

 Utters, which were publiflied after his death. From the 

 ■lumber of wooden cuts, and of drawings, which he had 

 prepared, it is probable he meditated a general botanical 

 work, the future arrangement of which frequently occupied 

 his thoughts, and prompted many of thefe letters. 



Gefner married at the early age of 20, for which he was 

 accafed of imprudence, but it does not appear that he had 

 awy reafon to repent. His wife furvired liim, and notwith- 



ilanding the dangerous nature of Ms difeafc, whicFi was ac- 

 companied \Tith a pcftilential carbuncle, flie did not defcrt 

 his death-bed, for he expired iu her arms. He left no ofF- 

 fpring. His remains were honourably interred, the day- 

 after his deceafe, in the cloiHer of the great church at Zu- 

 rich, near thofe of his intimate friend, Fryfius, who died 

 the preceding yrar. Abundance of Latin, and fome Greek 

 verfes, were compofed to his honour, and his hfe, written 

 by his countryman .lofias Simler, was publiflied in the en- 

 fuing year. From this work, and Haller's Biblioth. Bot. 

 much of the above information is derived. Haller mentions 

 Gefner as probably the firll perfon who, being Ihort-fighted, 

 found the advantage of concave glaffes. S. 



Weliave received tlic following additional account of C. 

 Gefuer, in relation to his medical profefiion. 



His father, who v.as a v.-orker in hides, was killed in the 

 Swifs civil war, and left him in fuch poverty, that he went 

 to Stralburg, and entered into a iituation as a fervant. His 

 mailer, having obferved his greiit inclination to reading, 

 allowed him to employ the time, which was not abfolutely 

 neceiTary to his icrvice, in lludy ; and he made fuch progrefs 

 wliile at Stralburg, that, having acquired a little money, he 

 went to Paris, where he firlt attained an ample knowledge 

 of the Latin and Greek languages, and of rhetoric, and 

 afterwards applied to the ftudy of philofophy and medicine : 

 but as he foon found the means of fubfillence fail, he was 

 under the neccffity of returning to his native country, and 

 of teaching the languages and philofophy for a livelihood. 

 This expedient was fuccefsful, and even procured him the 

 means of vifiting Montpellier, where he rcfumed the lludy 

 of medicine, which he completed, by taking the digree of 

 doclor at Bafil in the year 1540. He then determined to 

 fettle at Zurich, where his ment procured him the appoint- 

 mer.t of proftflor of philofophy, and he difcharged the 

 duties of that oifice, with univerf.d reputation and efteem, 

 during twenty-four years. Thefe duties, and his ftudies in 

 the cloiet, prevented him from entering largely into the 

 praftice of medicine ; in whicli, iiowever, his extenfive know- 

 ledge furnidicd him v.ith fuch numerous refource*, that his 

 practice was extremely fuccefslul, and he rofe fuperior to 

 the prejudices of his contemporaries. Gefner had always 

 a decided prcdileftion for the (lydy of botany, which he early- 

 conceived and retained tlnough life, as we have already 

 mentioned in the former part of this article. It was not 

 without great trouble and difficulty that he became a 

 fcientific man ; for he w?,s of a delicate and fickly conllitu- 

 tion ; but his fpirit and coiu-age gave him ilrength to fup- 

 port the fatigues of body and mind. Notwithllanding the 

 delicacy of his habit, he traverfcd the Alps in fearch of 

 plants ; and among other journeys over thofe mountains, 

 he made one with Jean Bauhin in 1561. He even culled 

 plants from the waters, and has been known to plunge into 

 the lake of Zurieli to procure thofe which grew there. 

 Ever animated by the fame fpirit, he vifited Paris again, 

 travelled through the fouthcrn provinces of France, and 

 thence pafied into Italy. In order to ftudy the nature of 

 fifties, he went to Venice with a view to invettigate thofe 

 of the Adriatic, and fometimc afterwards he repaired to 

 Straftiurg to examine thofe of the Rhine. From thefe 

 fources of information, from a conftant perfonal oblervation, 

 conjoined with the ftudy of the vv-rilings of the ancients, he 

 obtained the means of accomplifning that immerility of trea- 

 tifes, which a man, who only attained to 49 years of age, 

 could hardly -be fuppofed capable of producing. 



Gesneu, JojiH Matthias, '.vasbornat Roth, in Anfpach, 

 in 1691, where his father was a clergyman. He received 

 the fij-ft part of Lis education at the gymnafium of Anlpach, 



