tory, provinces which ultimately filled his coffers, and enabled him to figure in a splendid, if not a very respectable light.

His first publication on returning to his professional studies was a translation, in 1746, from the Greek of Theophrastus, " On Gems;" which, being executed with ability, procured him several friends, among whom were Martin Folkes, and Henry Baker, Esquires, members of the Royal Society, and of distinguished celebrity in the philosophical world.

From this period to the year 1774 he produced an astonishing number of works, on subjects connected with natural history, and many of them of considerable bulk. The following catalogue, though by no means complete, will serve to shew, in a small compass, the fertility and indefatigable industry of this eccentric writer.

1, History of the Materia Medica, 4to. 2, Essays in natural history and philosophy, 8vo. 3, A General History of Nature, 3 vols. folio. 4, Supplement to Chambers's Dictionary, folio. 5, The British Herbal, folio. 6, Eden, or a complete Body of Gardening, folio. 7, On the Sleep of Plants, 12mo. 8, On the Nerves, 8vo. 9, The Family Practice of Physic, 8vo. 10, Outlines of a System of Vegetable Generation, 8vo. 11, On the Origin and Production of Proliferous

Flowers, 8vo. 12, Exotic Botany, folio. 13, Flora Britannica, 8vo. 14, The Vegetable System, twenty-six vols. folio. 15, Hortus Kewensis, 8vo. 16, Herbarium Britannicum, 2 vols. 8vo. 17, On the Construction of Timber, folio. 18, On the Origin and Nature of Spar,. 8vo. 19, On a New Mineral Acid, 8vo. 20, Horti Malabarici, Pars Prima, 4to.

It cannot be denied, that, in many of these volumes, a considerable fund of information, especially on Botany, was communicated to the public; and though the mode in which it was conveyed was generally slovenly, and sometimes inaccurate and unscientific, our author must be allowed the merit of having greatly contributed to diffuse through the island a taste for natural history.

Had the prudence and temper of Hill been equal to his industry, his character with his contemporaries, and with posterity, would have been highly esteemed; but no sooner had he acquired a portion of affluence from his practice, and the sale of his numerous publications, than he exhi bited himself as vain, presuming, and vindictive. Throwing off the decorum which, as a philoso pher and physician, (for he had obtained a Degree from St. Andrew's) it was incumbent upon him to preserve, he launched out into the gay world, was

present at every place of amusement, and by his equipage, dress, conversation, and manners, aspired to the reputation of a man of fashion and intrigue. Not content, likewise, with the employment of his pen on scientific subjects, he commenced a writer of pamphlets, magazines, and novels, which were, in general, the vehicles of scurrility and abuse. By folly such as this, he so debased his character, that when he became a candidate for admission into the Royal Society, his conduct, in the opinion of that learned body, had rendered him ineligible as a member. Indignant at this rejection, he immediately published "A Review of the Works of the Royal Society," 4to; in which he has attempted, and sometimes with success, to place their Transactions in a ludicrous light. The attack, however, so far from being prejudicial to these associated philosophers, was of essential service, by rendering them more select in their choice of papers for the press.

The usual consequence of indecent and indiscriminate satire awaited our author; for a time the profits arising from his pen were so great as, sometimes, to amount to 15001. per annum ; but,

* He was the author of the " British Magazine," and of the "Adventures of Loveill," the "History of Lady Frail," the "Adventures of George Edwards, a Creole," &c. &c.

at length, his licentious liberties involved him in such fréquent controversies and quarrels, that he lost all estimation with the public, and consequently with the booksellers. In his paper wars with Smart, Woodward, Fielding, Murphy, &c. he incurred nothing but obloquy and disgrace, and it became necessary to look out for another source of income.

Fertile in expedients, and not delicate in his choice of means, he immediately entered on a novel and very lucrative course of empyricism. He published a variety of octavo pamphlets on the virtues of valerian, honey, sage, centaury, bardana, &c. announcing for sale essences, balsams, and tinctures of the articles which he had recommended; and with such success, that his revenue from this species of quackery exceeded even what he had derived from literary labour. He had been early, indeed, distinguished for a propensity to empyrical practice, and in the year 1752 he is mentioned by Mr. Murphy, in a parody on Dryden, as the successful rival of Dr. Rock.

Three great wise Men, in the same æra born,
Britannia's happy island did adorn:
Henley in Cure of Souls, display'd his skill,
Rock shone in Physic, and in both John Hill:
The force of Nature could no further go,
To make a Third she join❜d the former Two.

Towards the close of his life fortune smiled. upon our adventurer with more permanency than the employment of his literary talents merited. Shortly after the advertisement of his first empyrical preparation, the place of superintendant of the royal gardens at Kew, accompanied by a very liberal salary, was given him by Lord Bute, under whose patronage he was likewise enabled to prosecute his splendid publication, called "The Vegetable System." To this establishment was added, about two years previous to his decease, a title from the King of Sweden, by whom, on receiving a present from the author of his botanical works, he was created a knight of the Polar Star.

After a life of more notoriety than respectability, Sir John died, in consequence of an attack of the gout, in November 1775.

The Inspector, the best of the miscellaneous writings of Hill, was originally published in the London Daily Advertiser. It commenced in the month of March 1751, and was continued regularly every morning for about two years. It is a striking proof of the unwearied assiduity of Hill, that, occupied as he was in writing voluminous productions on natural history, he could find time for the composition of a miscellaneous paper, which he agreed to publish daily, and which he executed without the smallest assistance.