MEAD, Dr. RICHARD, a celebrated English physician, was born at Stepney near London, where his father, the Rev. Mr. Matthew Mead, had been one of the two ministers of that parish; but in 1662 he was ejected for non-conformity, though he continued to preach at Stepney till his death. As Mr. Mead had a handsome fortune, he bestowed a liberal education upon thirteen children, of whom Richard was the eleventh; and for that purpose kept a private tutor in his house, who taught him the Latin tongue. At sixteen years of age Richard was sent to Utrecht, where he studied three years under the celebrated Grævius; and then choosing the profession of physic, he went to Leyden, where he attended the lectures of Pitcairn, on the theory and practice of medicine, and Hermann's botanical courses. Having also spent three years in these studies, he went with his brother and two other gentlemen to visit Italy, and at Padua took his degree of doctor of philosophy and physic, in 1695. He afterwards spent some time at Rome and Naples; and then returning home, settled at Stepney, where he married, and practised physic with a success which laid the foundation of his future celebrity.
In 1703, Dr. Mead having communicated to the Royal Society an analysis of Dr. Bonomo's discoveries relating to the cutaneous worms that generate the itch, which they had inserted in the Philosophical Transactions; this, with his account of poisons, procured him a place in the Royal Society, of which Sir Isaac Newton was then president. The same year he was elected physician of St. Thomas's Hospital, and was also employed by the surgeons to read anatomical lectures in their hall, which obliged him to remove into the city. In 1707 his Paduan diploma for doctor of physic was confirmed by the university of Oxford; and being patronized by Dr. Radcliffe, on the death of that famous physician he succeeded him in his house at Bloomsbury Square, and also in the greater part of his business. In 1727 he was made physician to George II., whom he had served in that capacity whilst he was Prince of Wales; and he had afterwards the pleasure of seeing his two sons-in-law, Dr. Nichols and Dr. Wilmot, his coadjutors in the same eminent station.
Dr. Mead was not more admired for the qualities of the head than he was loved for those of his heart. Though he was himself a hearty Whig, yet, uninfluenced by party principles, he was a friend to all men of merit, by whatever denomination they might happen to be distinguished. Thus he was intimate with Garth, with Arbuthnot, and with Freind; and long kept up a constant correspondence with Boerhaave, who had been his fellow student at Leyden. In the meantime, intent as Dr. Mead was on the duties of his profession, he had an activity of mind that extended itself
Meadow to all kinds of literature, which he spared neither pains nor money to promote. He caused the beautiful and splendid edition of Thuanus's history to be published in 1713, in seven vols. folio; and by his interposition and assiduity Mr. Sutton's invention of drawing foul air from ships and other close places was carried into execution, and all the ships in his Majesty's navy provided with this useful machine. Nothing pleased him more than to call hidden talents into light; to give encouragement to the greatest projects, and to see them executed under his own eye. During almost half a century he was at the head of his business, which brought him one year about seven thousand pounds, and for several years between five and six thousand; yet clergymen, and in general all men of learning, were welcome to his advice. His library consisted of 10,000 volumes, of which Latin, Greek, and Oriental manuscripts formed no inconsiderable part. He had a gallery for his pictures and antiquities, which cost him large sums. His reputation, not only as a physician, but as a scholar, was so universally established, that he corresponded with all the principal literati in Europe. Even the King of Naples sent to desire a complete collection of his works; and in return made him a present of the two first volumes of Signor Bajardi's treatise, which may be considered as an introduction to the collection of the antiquities of Herculaneum. At the same time that prince invited Dr. Mead to visit his palace, that he might have an opportunity of shewing him those valuable monuments of antiquity; and nothing but his great age prevented his undertaking a journey so suited to his taste. No foreigner of learning ever came to London without being introduced to Dr. Mead; and on these occasions his table was always open, and the magnificence of princes was united with the pleasures of philosophers. It was principally to him that the several counties of England and our colonies abroad applied for the choice of their physicians, and he was likewise consulted by foreign physicians from Russia, Prussia, Denmark, and other countries. Besides the above works, he wrote, 1. A Treatise on the Scurvy; 2. De variolis et morbillis Dissertatio; 3. Medica Sacra, sive de Morbis insignioribus, qui in Bibliis memorantur Commentarius; 4. Monita et Pracepta Medica; 5. A Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the methods to be used to prevent it. The works which he wrote and published in Latin were translated into English, under his own inspection, by Dr. Thomas Stack. This great physician, naturalist, and antiquarian, died on the 16th of February 1754.