Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 2.djvu/257

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GEORGE CLEGHORN, M.D.
551


press a work entitled, "Records of Captain Clapperton's Last Expedition to Africa," which appeared in 1830, in two volumes 12mo. Before the publication of this book, Mr Lander had set out on another expedition, in company with his younger brother, John; and pursuing nearly the same route as that of captain Clapperton, again reached the Niger at Boussa. It was an impression of Mr Lander, that that river ran into the Bight of Benin, and he had, on his return, endeavoured to prove the fact by descending the stream, but was prevented by the natives. He now fairly settled the question by sailing down the river, and entering the sea by the outlet which is marked on the maps by the name of Nun. Thus was a youth of about twenty-six years of age at last successful in solving a problem which many older and better instructed men had failed to expound. It is to be allowed, however, that Clapperton is indirectly entitled to a large share of this honour, as it was he who introduced Lander to the field of African adventure, and who inspired him with the desire, and invested him with the accomplishments, necessary for the purpose.

CLEGHORN, George, a learned physician, was the son of a farmer at Granton, in the parish of Cramond, near Edinburgh; and was born there, on the 13th of December 1716. In 1719, the father of Dr Cleghorn died, leaving a widow and five children. George, who was the youngest, received the rudiments of his education at the parish school, and in 1728, was sent to Edinburgh, to be further instructed in Latin, French, and Greek; where, to a singular proficiency in those languages, he added a considerable stock of mathematical knowledge. At the age of fifteen, he commenced the study of physic and surgery, and had the good fortune to be placed under the tuition of the illustrious Monro, and under his roof. For five years, he continued to profit by the instruction and example of his great master; at the same time, he attended the lectures on botany, chemistry, materia medica, and the theory and practice of medicine; and by extraordinary diligence, he attracted the notice of all his preceptors. He was at this time the intimate friend and fellow-student of the celebrated Fothergill, in conjunction with whom, and a few other young men, he established the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh, an institution of a very valuable kind, which still exists. So great was the distinction of Cleghorn, even as a student, that, when little more than nineteen years of age, he was appoint- ed by the recommendation of Dr St Clair, surgeon to the 22d regiment of foot, then stationed at Minorca, under the command of general St Clair. During the thirteen years which he spent in that island, he applied himself most diligently to his improvement in medical and anatomical studies, in which he was much assisted by his friend Fothergill, who sent him out such books as he required from London. On leaving Minorca in 1749, he went with the regiment to Ireland; and next year he repaired to London, in order to give to the world the fruit of some of his observations, in a work entitled, "The diseases of Minorca." This work not only exhibits an accurate statement of the air, but a minute detail of the vegetable productions of the island; and concludes with medical observations, important in every point of view, and in some instances either new, or applied in a manner which preceding practitioners had not admitted. The medical world was indebted to Dr Cleghorn for proving the advantage of acescent vegetables in low, putrid, and remittent fevers, and the copious use of bark, which had been interdicted from mistaken facts, deduced from false theories. While superintending the publication of this work, Dr Cleghorn attended the anatomical lectures of Dr Hunter: and on his return to Dublin, where he settled in practice in 1751, he began to give a similar course himself, and was the first person that established what could, with propriety, be considered an anatomical school in Ireland. Some years afterwards, he was