User:Rich Farmbrough/DNB/W/i/William Henry Black

Which Had Been Previously Employed Chiefly In Political And Commercial Matters, Might Be Of Great Service To The Progress Of Medicine. Being Invited To Deliver The ‘annual Oration’ Before The Medical Society Of London, He Expanded This Lecture Into An Octavo Volume, Entitled ‘ A Comparative View Of The Mortality Of The Human Species At All Ages, And Of Diseases And Casualiies, With Charts And Tables,’ Published In 1788. Before Half The First Edition Was Sold He Cancelled The Remainder And Brought Out A Second And Corrected Edition, As ‘an Arithmetical And Medical Analysis Of The Diseases And Mortality Of The Human Species,' 8vo, London, 1789. In This His Design Was To Exhibit Births, Mortality, Diseases, And Casualties As Being Subject To Aritlimetical Proof, To Construct In Fact A ‘medical Arithmetic,' A Phrase Evidently Suggested By The ‘political Arithmetic’ Of Sir W. Petty. Although The Efforts Of Black Have Long Been Eclipsed By The Brilliant Results Of Louis, Quetelet, And Others In The Same Field, They Had Considerable Importance In Their Day. The ‘dissertation On Insanity’ Is An Expansion Of A Chapter In This Book, And Was Based On Observations Fumished By An Official Of Bethlehem Hospital. His ‘sketch Of The History Of Medicine’is A Slight Work, But Was Translated Into French By Coray. He Wrote : 1. ‘a Historical Sketch Of Medicine And Surgery From Their Origin To The Present Tin1e,with A Chronological Chart Of Medical And Surgical Authors,' 8vc, London, 1782. In French, Paris, An Vi. Showed That Statistics|17|8| '''which had been previously employed chiefly in political and commercial matters, might be of great service to the progress of medicine. Being invited to deliver the annual oration before the Medical Society of London, he expanded this lecture into an octavo volume, entitled ' A Comparative View of the Mortality of the Human Species at all Ages, and of Diseases and Casualiies, with Charts and Tables', published in 1788. Before half the first edition was sold he cancelled the remainder and brought out a second and corrected edition, as 'An Arithmetical and Medical Analysis of the Diseases and Mortality of the Human Species', octavo, London, 1789. In this his design was to exhibit births, mortality, diseases, and casualties as being subject to aritlimetical proof, to construct in fact a 'medical arithmetic', a phrase evidently suggested by the 'Political Arithmetic' of Sir W. Petty. Although the efforts of Black have long been eclipsed by the brilliant results of Louis, Quetelet, and others in the same field, they had considerable importance in their day. The 'Dissertation on Insanity' is an expansion of a chapter in this book, and was based on observations fumished by an official of Bethlehem Hospital. His 'Sketch of the History of Medicine'is a slight work, but was translated into French by Coray.

He wrote : 1. 'A Historical Sketch of Medicine and Surgery from their Origin to the Present Tin1e,with a Chronological Chart of Medical and Surgical Authors', 8vc, London, 1782. In French, Paris, an vi. showed that statistics''' (born 17 died 8). 2. 'A Dissertation on Insanity, illustrated with tables from between two and three thousand cases in Bedlam', octavo, London, 1810; second edition 1811. 3. ' Observations, Medical and Political, on the Smallpox, the Advantages and Disadvantages of General Inoculation, and on the Mortality of Mankind at every age', octavo, London, 1781. 4. 'Reasons for reventing the French, under the mask of liiberty, from trampling on Europe', octavo, 1792. 5. 'Observations on Military and Political Affairs by General Monk', new edition, octavo, 1796 (the last on authority of Biography. Dictionary of Living Authors, 1816). His portrait, engraved by Stanier, was published by Sewell, 1790.

Black, William Henry (1808–1872), antiquary, was the eldest son of John Black of Kintore, in Aberdeenshire, and was born 7 May 1808. From his mother, who came of a good family (the Langleys), possessing estates in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, he imbibed his love of religion, and also his thirst for antiquarian knowledge. He was educated at a private school, and at seventeen years of age became himself a tutor among families residing at Tulse Hill and neighbourhood.

As a reader at the British Museum he hecaxne acquainted with many literary men, through whose influence he obtained a situation in the Public Record Oliice, attaining at last to the position of assistant keeper. It was during the time he filled this st that he corrected the errors in Rymer's 'Fœdera'. He was a prolific writer, especially on antiquarian subjects. He prepared an edition of the British part of the 'Itinerary of Antoninus' (never issued), and contributed to Samuel Bentley's 'Excerpta Historica'. He catalogued the manuscripts of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, the Arundel manuscripts in the library of the College of Arms, and Co1fe's library at Lewisham, and left behind him a monograph on the Roman mile, which still awaits e 'ting and publication.

At the time of his death he was in nomination for, and would have been elected on, the council of the Society of Antiquaries. He was one of the earliest members of the British Archaeological Society, the Surrey, London and Middlesex, and Wiltshire Archaeological Societies, and the founder of the Chronological Institute of London, Palestine Archaeological Association, and Anglo-biblical Institute, besides being a member of the Camden Society. His religious views were somewhat peculiar. He was the pastor of a small sect called the Seventh Day Baptism, whose chapel is in Mill Yard, Leman Street, White-chapel, ancl maintained that Saturday was the Sabbath. Black died 12 April 1872. As a conscientious and painstaking antiquary, he has had few equals in the present century.

DNB references
These references are found in the DNB article referred to above.