At Litcham, Mrs. Baker, of tke Bull Inn, 
deservedly lamented.- 
At Wells, iNlrs. Bloom, wife of J. B. esq. 
67. 
At New Buckenham, Mr. John Fromow, 
51 . 
At Brocmhill House, T. Willet, esq. 75. 
At Wetchingham, Mr. Elmer. 
At Terriugton, Mrs. Walker, 31. 
Joseph Clover, lately deceased at Norwich, 
xvas born, in that city, on the twelfth of 
August, 1725. His father was a blacksmith, 
in humble life, and could only afford to allow 
his son a short time for instruction, in the 
elements of reading, writing, and arithmetic. 
Ke was taken from school before he had made 
much progress in his education, and when he 
was seventeen years old, he was obliged, by 
the death of his father, to carry on the bu¬ 
siness for the benefit of his mother and her 
family, which consisted of four children. 
About the year 1750, he was first noticed by 
Dr, Kirwin Wright, an eminent physician, 
and a man of learning, who discovered 
genius in his neighbour, the young blacksmith, 
and encouraged him to direct his mind to 
the investigation and treatment of the dis¬ 
eases of horses. To this pursuit he devoted 
his attention with great zeal and with great 
success. Through the same friend by whom 
he was urged to study the veterinary art, he 
was induced to acquire a knowledge of the 
Latin and French languages. His object in 
learning these languages was to make him¬ 
self acquainted with the best authors on 
farriery and on medicine, but particularly to 
read the writings of Vegetius and La Fosse. 
His Latin teacher was a Mr. Pagan, under 
whose tuition he marie a rapid progress: and 
in French he instructed himself without the 
help of any master. He was much assisted 
in his Latin studies by acting as an amanuen¬ 
sis, aird sometimes reading L tin books to 
Dr. Wright, who liad the m.isfortune to be 
deprived of his sight- During this tirr.e he 
was a hard vvoiker as well as a hard stuCent. 
Me used to work at the forge, the regular 
hours, from six o’clock in the morning until 
eight at night, and then frequently got ready 
the nails-requisite for his men the next day. 
To his labours as a blacksmith, a veterinary 
practitioner, a student of Latin and French, 
he added others, as, a studentof mathematics. 
Me became a member of a society established 
jn Norwich, among men cf original minds 
and small incomes for improvement in ma- 
thematiesand experimental philosophy, under 
^he direction cf Mr. Peter Bilby Here he 
associated with John Fransham (of whose 
life some particulars are given in the Monthly 
Magazine tor May last), with Mr. Ardercn, 
F- R. S. a friend and correspondent of Baker, 
whose inquiries with the microscope excited 
jreneral interest at that time, and with other 
working and thinking men. IMr. Clover had 
» greater quickness of apprehension, and excel- 
ssd Fianshum in matheniaiics, but t.hc latter 
liad made a greater proficiency in the classicSp 
and was therefore qualified to become his 
master. After his return from his eccentric 
excursion to Newcastle, Mr. Clover employ¬ 
ed Fransham occasionally to ride the houses 
home after they were shod, and whilst the 
iron was henting, they used both to be em¬ 
ployed in Latin exercises and mathematical 
problems, worked upon a slate hung against 
the forge. Thus the tutor assisted in all the 
labours of his pupil, and after correcting an 
exercise or discussing the properties of a circle, 
he earned his frugal meal by conducting home 
the horses which his pupil had shod. Natu¬ 
ral philosophy, natural history, and botany, 
engaged much of this little Bilbean society’s 
attention. Mr. Clover demonstrated at seve¬ 
ral of their meetings the origin and progress 
of the bots found in the stomach and intes¬ 
tines cf horses, so early as 1753. He dis¬ 
covered the manner in which the larvce of 
these insects (i^strus equi) are conveyed from 
the coat of the^horse, where they are depo¬ 
sited by the fly, into the animal’s stomach j 
and he illustrated by many experiments the 
whole jircgress of their transformation which 
has been since so well described by .Mr. B. 
Clarke, in the Linneean JraasacUons for 
1796. 
In 1765, Mr. Clover’s reputation had in¬ 
creased so much that he relinquished working 
at the forge, and devoted himself wholly to 
the veterinary art. In this he was assisted 
by the most eminent medical pra;titio'ers of 
those days, partiiularly Mr. Gooch, who has 
inserted in the second volume of his Surgi¬ 
cal Cases, a letter from Mr. Clover, giving 
a description ana a drawing of an ingenious 
machine invented by him fer the Cure of 
ruptured tendons and fractured legs in horses. 
For many y’ears Mr. Ciover was severely 
afflicted with giddiness and pain in his head, 
which oblige! him to decline business in 
1781. He c ntinued, however, to interest 
himself in every improvement that was made, 
and always ock delight in recounting the re¬ 
sults of his ex'^ensive experience. One of 
his greatest amusements was to talic with 
those who studied physic ^nd surgery, and 
he continued to read the new medical publi¬ 
cations, and to deliver short private lectures 
on the theory and practice of the healing 
arc with a lively interest, until the very 
cay of his death. It is to be regretted that 
he never could be prevailed upon to extend 
the usefulness ot his knowledge and expe¬ 
rience in the diseases of animals, by any pub i« 
cation of his observations, but he felt a diffl- 
dence and fastidiousness in writing tiiat couid 
never be overcome, though his reaoiness to 
communicate information to those who asked 
for h is advice, was universallyacknowitdged. 
The latter end of his life was cheered by the 
amusement of gardening, in which he excel¬ 
led, and by frequent visits to his highly 
esteemed friend Mr, Stevenson, veterinary 
surgeon in Norwich^ with whom he always 
held 
