FORBES, Sir JoaN, an eminent physician, was b. Oct. 18, 1787,at Cutticbrae, Banff shire, and died Nov. 13, 1861. After studying, at Aberdeen and Edinburgh, he entered, the navy in 1807 as assistant-surgeon, and continued ou active duty, till 1816,-when he finally left the service. In 1817, he Wok the degree of M.D. at Edinburgh, and soon. afterwards settled as a physician at Penzance, from whence lie removed in the course of a few years to Chichester. In 1810, F. went to London, where he speedily obtained a, large practice. lie was knighted in 1853 by the queen, to whose household he held the appointment of physician in ordinary, while lie was at the seine time physician extra ordinary to prince Albert. IIe was a fellow of the college of physicians, and the royal society of London; io.c.L. of Oxford, and a member of numerous foreign societies. P., conjointly with Drs. Tweedie and.Conolly, was the editor of the Cyclopccdia of Practical Medicine, which, in addition to the numerous contributions of the editors, included the labors of more than sixty British physicians, of the first rank. This work, which has exercized a most beneficial influence both on the theory and practice of medicine, was completed in 4-vols. 8vo, in 1835. In 1836, F. founded the British and Foreign Medical.
R,esiels, which he carried on with great success for twelve years. The services which he thus rendered to his brother-practitioners placed him deservedly among the foremost of his profession. To F. in a great measure belongs the merit of having introduced the use of the stethoscope in England, and of having successfully directed the attention of British practitioners to the art and practice of physical diagnosis. In 1831, he published the first edition of his translation of La6nnec's Treatise on Auscultation; and in 1838, when the fifth edition appeared, the new method was already extensively used. F. was a ready and pleasant writer, as is amply shown by the various records of his,summer rambles; among which we may instance his Holiday (1849), and his Sight seeing in Germany and the Tyrol (1856). His last professional work, entitled .A'ature and Art in the Cure of Diseases (1857), contains a systematic exposition of his medical opinions and doctrines.