Alexander, principal of the university of Aberdeen in the reign of James VI. of Scotland, was born in the year 1538. He studied first at Aberdeen, and was afterwards sent over to France, where, under the famous Cajacius, he applied himself to the study of the civil law. In the year 1563 he returned to Scotland and took orders. Whether he was ordained by a bishop or by presbyters is a matter of uncertainty. In 1568 he was appointed minister of Arbrothnot and Logie Buchan; and in the following year Mr Alexander Anderson being deposed, he was made principal of the King's College at Aberdeen in his room. In the General Assembly which met at Edinburgh in the years 1573 and 1577 he was chosen moderator, and to the end of his life was an active supporter of the Reformed religion. He died in 1583, in the forty-fifth year of his age, and was buried in the College church of Aberdeen. It was by him that Buchanan's History of Scotland, published in 1582, was edited. The only production of his own is his Oratiores de Origine et Dignitate Juris, printed at Edinburgh in 1572, 4to. His contemporary Thomas Maitland wrote a copy of Latin verses on the publication of this book: they are printed in the Delit Poet. Scot. The same collection contains an elegant epitaph on him by Andrew Melvil.

John, M.D., the son of an Episcopal clergyman in Scotland, was born soon after the Restoration, at Arbrothnot, near Montrose. Having gone through a course of academical studies and obtained the degree of doctor of physic at Aberdeen, he went to London, where he began to display his talents in teaching mathematics, in which he was well skilled. An Examination of Dr Woodward's Account of the Deluge, &c., in 1697, first made him known to the learned world. This performance was received with great applause; and in 1700 a treatise On the Usefulness of Mathematical Learning increased his reputation. A very interesting paper On the Regularity of the Births of both Sexes, demonstrating from authentic proofs the universal similarity which is observed by nature in this circumstance, and drawing from these several political and moral inferences, which he presented to the Royal Society, procured his election in 1704 into that body. Meanwhile he was acquiring considerable eminence in his own profession, and was appointed physician extraordinary to Prince George of Denmark, and shortly afterwards one of the physicians in ordinary to Queen Anne. He was admitted in 1710 a fellow of the college. He formed about this period a very intimate acquaintance with Pope, Gay, and Swift, which lasted with unabating affection during the rest of his life. In 1714, in co-operation with Pope and Swift, he engaged in writing a satire upon all the abuses of science in every branch, under the form of the history of a fictitious character, and in the grave ironical style. The plan was never finished, but the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus, published in Pope's works, form a part, of which much is the performance of Dr Arbuthnot. It is very probable that the whole of the first book is of his composition, in which the profound knowledge that is displayed, and the good-natured pleasantry with which the satire is directed, has gained it the character of one of the most original, learned, and interesting pieces in the English language. Those parts which relate to anatomy, the manners and customs of antiquity, and logic, are particularly his performance.

On the death of Queen Anne, which was a serious blow to his personal and political views, Arbuthnot visited Paris, where he spent some time. On his return he retired from St James's, where his services were no longer required, and attended to the practice of his profession. His literary pursuits were carried on, at the same time with undiminished ardour, though considerable intervals elapsed between the publication of his works. A work entitled Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights, and Measures, explained and exemplified in several dissertations, appeared in 1727, in a 4to volume, which is the chief of his serious performances. Although there are inaccuracies in it which could hardly be avoided in so intricate a subject, it is a work of great merit, and is still considered as a standard authority, though the more recent work of Hussey is generally preferred. A treatise On the Nature and Choice of Aliments, which was published in 1732, and another published in 1733, On the Effects of Air on Human Bodies, finish the list of his acknowledged works. Respecting his humorous works, which were the productions of his leisure hours, they are so confounded with those of his contemporaries, that it is not easy to distinguish them. But a piece which, independent of any other, would rank him among the best humorous writers in the English language, entitled the History of John Bull, is confidently ascribed to him. It is written with great wit and humour, and all the circumstances and characters are most admirably adapted. Among his several avowed ironical pieces are, A Treatise concerning the Altercation or Scolding of the Ancients, and the Art of Political Lying.

In the year 1751 there were published two small volumes, entitled The Miscellaneous Works of Dr Arbuthnot; but the greater part of what they contain is denied by his son to be of his composition. Through all his pieces of this kind there runs a vein of good-natured pleasantry; and this tends to confirm the character given of him by Swift, "He has more wit than we all have, and his humanity is equal to his wit."

In these occupations he passed his days, amid all the pleasures that can render domestic life happy, in the affection and estimation of his friends, beloved and esteemed by all his literary associates, who have each taken great pains to celebrate their mutual friendship. Swift, in one of his poems, sincerely laments that he is

Far from his kind Arbuthnot's side, Who knows his art, but not his trade.

Pope has dedicated to him an epistle called a Prologue to the Satires. Of his two sons, he witnessed the death of one; and the other, with several daughters, survived him. At length, from an inveterate asthma, he fell into a dropsical disorder; and in order to try the effect of a change of air, he repaired to Hampstead, though without any hope of recovery. Returning to his house in London, he died February 27, 1734-5.