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Mantell "^vas fortunate in gaining the esteem of his master, who, 

 after his pupil had ' walked the hospitals,' and what was then a no- 

 velty'' in country practice, become a licentiate of Apothecaries' Hall, 

 admitted him into partnership, and he forthwith commenced prac- 

 tice, in which he was eminently successful. He made midwifery an 

 especial study, and contributed several papers on that branch of me- 

 dical science, and on the use of ergot of rye, to the ' Lancet,' and also 

 other articles on various branches of medicine. 



It is recorded greatly to his honour, and as a proof of his early 

 attention to science, that with the assistance of his brother, the late 

 Joshua Mantell, who was a surgeon at Newick, the life of a woman 

 condemned to death for the murder of her husband by arsenic was 

 saved. Dr. Mantell having distinctly proved that the tests used, and 

 which were said to show the presence of this mineral poison, had 

 entirely and chemically failed. This led to his publication, in 1827, 

 of his ' Observations on the Medical Evidence necessary to prove the 

 presence of Arsenic in the Human Body, in cases of supposed poison- 

 ing by that mineral.' 



It was while Dr. I\Iantell was at Mr. Button's school that he first 

 evinced a strong disposition for the study of natural histor}^ and 

 upon commencing practice at Lewes, he devoted as many hours as 

 he could from his very arduous professional labours to the investiga- 

 tion of organic remains, first in the Chalk and next in the Tilgate 

 formations, which were at that period comparatively new ground. 



He was greatly encouraged in these researches by the late Mr. 

 Davies Gilbert, and he was largely assisted b}' the zeal and know- 

 ledge of Mr. Stewart Warren Lee, who was his intimate friend and 

 companion in all his early discoveries. 



For nine years he devoted himself to the prosecution of his re- 

 searches into the chalk formation, and in lading the foundation of 

 the collection now in the British IMuseum. In May 1822 he pub- 

 lished by subscription the result of his labours in a quarto volume, 

 entitled ' The Fossils of the South Downs, or Illustrations of the 

 Geology of Sussex.' The work was dedicated to Mr. Davies Gilbert. 



In 1825 he communicated his first paper to the Royal Society, 

 entitled ' Notice on the Iguanadon, a newly- discovered fossil reptile 

 from the Sandstone of Tilgate Forest in Sussex.' This paper was 

 printed in the Philosophical Transactions, and, at the recommen- 

 dation of Mr. Davies Gilbert, its author was elected a Fellow of the 

 Royal Society the year of its publication. 



AVe now find him eagerly pursuing his favourite stud}'- of Geology. 

 In 1826 he published his ' Illustrations of the Geology of Sussex,' 

 with figures and descriptions of the fossils of Tilgate Forest, which 

 include several discoveries that will always be associated with his 

 name. He also contributed the Natural History of the district to 

 Horsfield's ' History of Lewes,' and several articles on geology to 

 different periodicals. 



All this time he spared neither trouble nor money in collecting 

 geological specimens for his museum, which soon became so famous, 

 that parties from Brighton were in the habit of going to see it. 



